I need help understanding 80w T5 ballast...

[BCT182]

I believe that it would correct it. I understand that the controller is what sends the signal for the dimming circuit of the ballast. If you were to bypass that and give it a signal of your own via a pot or just hardwire it to full on. This could possibly fix that situation. I understand how frustrated you are with this thing I would be pretty bitter about it as well. It sounds to me that it is a possibility that the controller is not sending the correct signal to the ballast to go full on.

Ok I'm going to give it a shot. M's are on and momma's making me a burger with a fried egg on top to put me in a good mood. After lunch I'm going to dig into this thing and rewire the T5's to separate them from the controller. I hope this works, it takes about a half hour to tear it apart, and another half hour to put it back together. If it doesn't work I'll be tearing it apart again once I get a new ballast, but if it does work I'll save 40 to 60 bucks. Wish me luck. Haha.

 

[BCT182]

So I opened up the fixture and the first thing I did was unplug the T5 circuit from the LED controller and tada! It still shuts the T5's down when the LED's turn down because they share a common controlled ground. Here is a video of the way the lights were burning, followed by me unplugging them. See the difference? I plug them in once more and unplug them one last time in the vid. Man what a difference!

 

[tat2z_21]

So am I reading that it worked, I saw the video but confused on the outcome. Let me know I am in suspense here.

 

[tat2z_21]

What it sounds like is the controller is only outputting a percentage of the reference voltage for the dimming circuit. If the lights turn on and turn off with the LED's then I would say to leave it. Even though the design and research team for that certain fixture should have looked at this, and figure a way to fix it.

 

[BCT182]

Yeah its all good now. They are now buring brightly, and shut off when the fixture does, and come on when the fixture does. They are basically now working the way they were supposed to from the beginning. I just left the cable unplugged that connects the t5's to the LED controller. (I re-soldiered a couple more poor connections I found while I was in there too.) Stupid lights cost a full months salary and I've had to open them up and repair them five times now. Not to mention I've been running them the whole time without the T5's working properly....

So here is my next question, are the bulbs that I had in there for a year still good for a while? They were only running probably 20% so would that have shortened the life of them, extended the life, or not made a difference?

What it sounds like is the controller is only outputting a percentage of the reference voltage for the dimming circuit. If the lights turn on and turn off with the LED's then I would say to leave it. Even though the design and research team for that certain fixture should have looked at this, and figure a way to fix it.

 

[mfinn]

Glad you got them working without having to spend more money.
I would think the bulbs should be good for a while longer. Again just a guess.

 

[tat2z_21]

I think the only real way of knowing is to read them with a PAR meter to see if they are putting out enough. I believe that they are only supplemental lights though so if the color is to your liking then they are good.

 

[user 2204]

If you ever need a T5 ballast I'd recommend Advanced ballasts over the Workhorse. I've had 2 Workhorse ballasts almost cause a fire due to burning out. Never had any issues with the Advaced ballasts.

Guess the old saying is sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

[sgwill122]

t-5's are supposed to go 18months before replacing them(providing they are not overdriven on a icecap). I let mine go nearly two years on a icecap as they were just actinic supplement, the bulk of your PAR is coming from your LED's. If you are happy with the color leave em(providing their are just being run for actinic supplement).

 

[tat2z_21]

Hey BCT,
I am glad that it is working for you now. If you ever get the urge to take them out to the driveway again and use your vehicle as a compacting device, please feel free to call me I would love to get those over my tank.

 

[BCT182]

Thanks for all the help and input guys. I think there might be a little more to it than just color for ascetics though. I had spoke with someone a while back regarding LED's and he had mentioned something about LED's not creating some UV that the corals needed. With the supplement of the T5's it would make for better growth and healthier corals. That being said, my growth has been great with the LED's alone. I guess we will have to see what happens...

I was initially displeased with the look of the KZ Fiji purple bulbs, I thought they were more of a pinkish-white color and washed out some of the blue in the LED's. I'm starting to really like them now. I think I'll keep them after all. They really bring out the reds and greens in a way I've never seen before. My yellow belly hippo tank looks like he's got a yellow belly now too. Before the blue lighting just made his belly look bleached out.

I run 18k from 10am-4pm and 21.5k from 4pm-9pm and 23k from 9pm-11pm. I switched the par table earlier so I could see what the tank would look like with the Fiji's on and only the blue/royal blue LED's burning..... My yellow tang looks orange, its a trip. I really like it. It kinda reminds me of when somebody posts a full tank shot and its obvious they were playing with the tint and saturation. The yellow tang looks orange and the blue tang looks purple, I love it and since its only that way for two hours a night it won't hurt anything.

 

[BCT182]

here's a couple pics.