Loss Of Light In Hagen Tropiquarium 68

[crmpicco]

I have an urgent problem with my Hagen Tropiquarium 68 tank at the moment - over the space of a week I have gone from no problems with lighting to no light at all.

I have two 18" bulbs in it, with two starters and gradually they went from fine to flickering occasionally to serious flickering and then off - and that is both of them.

I took one of the bulbs out to replace it as I wanted to see if it was a bulb issue first, but after fitting a new interpet bulb today I'm still getting no light.

I've just ordered two Philips S2 starters off of ebay, but after that I'm struggling to work out what to do next.

Could this be the lighting unit itself that has died? Surely I don't need to replace both bulbs at once?

Any help appreciated.

 

[star4]

Is it still wired up to the control panel at the front? these often go. Another thing could be the wires have corroded. On the back of the lid is the lift up section, next to this is a small section that you will need to unscrew, switch everything off first and check no water has got in here and corroded the connections, if it has give them a clean up with a wire brush and it should work again.

 

[crmpicco]

Thanks for the comment.

I did have a problem a year or two back with the control unit. The lighting went out then, but I disconnected the control unit and wired the wires together (see the photo below).

Both the control panel area and the section at the back are both bone dry. I have taken the wires out of both and put them back in, but there is no hint of any light.

Any other ideas or have I done anything wrong? I don't quite understand what has happened as i gradually lost light rather than an sudden loss.

Is there anything else that can just "go"?

 

[star4]

*scratches head* I am at a loss now sadly. Mine is wired up the same as yours, I am not aware of anything else that could go as it is a direct connection. The only other this is where the bulbs actually fit the connectors there, are they clean and free from any corrosion? I have had that problem with juwel lights before.  There is a chance both bulbs have gone at the same time, try changing the other one too just in case. I thought with these if one bulb went the other stayed on though, but I maybe wrong. Sorry I am not much help

 

[crmpicco]

I'm really at a loss now.

I have replaced the starters, both bulbs and also as of this morning fitted a new ballast unit. It seemed to work for a few hours then started blinking again!

From what I can see there's nothing left to actually change. What else can I do from here?

 

[star4]

On the lead to the plug do you have a switch on the actual wire to turn the lights on and off? if so it could be the switch has gone, I have had that with my Juwel lights before. My Tropiquarium does not have a switch on the lead so not sure if it is standard. With the Juwel lights I just cut the switch off and re-wired up the plug.