Tropiquarium 68 Lighting Problem

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chris_1127

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the lights on my tropiquarium 68 have recently packed up - the tubes and starters are both good as i've tried them with another light controller; the timer makes an audiable click when i press the on/off button, and ive even tried bypassing it by touching the switch wires from the timer together but still not a flicker from the lights. Does anyone know if its possible to replace the controller/transformer thingy itself in these tanks, and where i may be able to pick one up?
 
They are hideous ! I have one and the timers are indeed rubbish :grr: and cost £45 to replace grrrrr....
You can of course open the hood and rewire it so that it bypasses that silly timer. Run the wires to a normal plug (make sure you understand what you are doing!) and plug it into a normal £2.99 timer. Problem solved.
If you can open the hood (royal pain in the behind!) it will take you less than 5 minutes to do the re-wiring.

All that said, I've now completely stripped the hood and installed made my own ! :D the level of light that gets through that piece of plastic is atrocious.

(If you want to see what I did with the hood, check out this thread)
 
i don't think its the timer, as even if i just join the two wires that lead to the timer (i guess its just a latched on-off switch anyway) the lights dont light up?

cheers for the link re the hood modifications, will take a look at that
 
It could be that one tube has blown and that it doesn't work unless there are 2 fully working tubes. So you migth want to check that out.
Otherwise, try here for a new switch - they're actually selling for £34.99 + P&P
 
no i did try both tubes (and both starters) with another lighting controller and they worked fine, so i dont think it was them either.

Out of interest when you stripped the hood did you keep the light transformer that was inside? if so would you be willing to sell it?
 
no i did try both tubes (and both starters) with another lighting controller and they worked fine, so i dont think it was them either.

Out of interest when you stripped the hood did you keep the light transformer that was inside? if so would you be willing to sell it?
sorry, I chucked it in the bin ! :eek:
 
no worries, thought that it might be worth asking anyway :) After seeing your modifications, i'm now thinking of gutting the hood and just fitting a t5 light of some description in there instead. thanks for the help btw
 
Chris, are you still getting problems with your Timer on your Trop ?!? ;)

Might have a solution for you..... drop me a PM if you're interested !!! :D

Andy
 
Chris, are you still getting problems with your Timer on your Trop ?!? ;)

Might have a solution for you..... drop me a PM if you're interested !!! :D

Andy

dosnt sounf like it is the timer... if you tak ethe timer out and short thr 2 white wires it should start up... since its not - it sounds like the balast is screwed :(
 
yeah i dont think its the timer, i can hear the relay inside click when its supposed to light up, and even tried bypassing it altogether. Been just hanging a 24" tune down the back of the tank as a stop gap.
Just picked up a rio125 cheap anyhow so think that I am gonna just leave the tropiquarium as it is and set up the rio
 
Chris,

Did you ever managed to get your Trop working?

I've just been passed some info which might help.

There's a company in Birmingham who can aquire replacement Ballast units for the Trops.

Eddies Electrical: Tel 0121 2444004


Apparently they only cost £5 !! ;)

Might be worth a try!

Andy
 
i don't think its the timer, as even if i just join the two wires that lead to the timer (i guess its just a latched on-off switch anyway) the lights dont light up?

cheers for the link re the hood modifications, will take a look at that

Excellent advice! Thanks very much.

This is exactly what I have just done. My timer on my Tropiquarium 68 seemed to have malfunctioned and was preventing the light from coming on. It was displaying "AUTO" and showing the bulb icon. I hadn't changed the settings, mainly because none of the buttons work so I couldn't have possibly changed it myself.

I removed and disconnected the timer unit and joined the two white wires together, that were leading to the timer, with a clear joining box (sorry, don't know the real name for these units) and screwed the two wires together. This worked a treat and saved me from having to look for another timer unit, which I never used anyway, and also some expensive fault finding such as new starters, bulbs etc...

Again, some excellent advice and suggestions from this forum. :good:

I thought my Tropiquarium was on its way out - but there's life left in it yet.

Cheers,
Picco
 
Hi Andyj
I have a problem with my timer control and cannot find any parts and Haden don’t do them anymore. Is it possible to connect directly without the timer so that the pump and heater works and the lights can be turn on and off without having them on the whole time. If so, is there any instruction of how to do them.


Thanks
 

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