Aquaspacelight meltdown

[reefsmurf]

Left the country for a week and my 250DE Aquaspacelight decides to stop working, great timing.

My friend who was looking after the tank for me noticed "a strong burning electrical smell" and "visible waves of heat" eminating from the fixture. The room was A/C on to 79 degrees. He unplugged it but there was nothing else he could do.

Tank has been w/o lighting for close to a week, I just put on about 100W of PC lighting for it yesterday.... no losses but things don't look too happy.

Luckily, it didn't burst into fire. I tried to see if it was just a burnt bul, and plugged in the fixture with a new bulb and immediately smelled burning and there were crackling noises

How do you guys deal with the stress of having metal halide lighting?

 

[dz6t]

Is it a 48 inch version?

 

[ScottM]

Ballasts internal?
chances are its the transformer rather than the ballast. I should have a spare depending on your MFG date.

 

[reefsmurf]

It's the 24inch Aquaspace (not oceanlight) one with an internal ballast. I bought it around Sept 2003 but don't have the manufacturer date handy (thanks Scott)

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Ouch, I always leave this site as a reference when I am away in case of problems.

 

[this is me]

I've read a couple of threads about the spacelight that goes up in flame. Scary.

 

[reefsmurf]

It says 10.02 on it, must be the production date...

 

[scavdog]

Have you ever replaced any of the inner components? Ignitor, auto tranny etc? They tend to have a limited shelf-life. If you have been using this thing since 02 and have never had to replace anything, then you are fortunate.

I had issues with my 48" spacelight and will eventually move to an external ballast.

I never really understood why they would jam the ballast into the fixture to begin with. It makes it way hotter and much heavier.