Lights won't stay on with Icecap 660

[Plato1]

Well, today I woke up and my tank lights weren't on. My timer showed power, so I manually turned the switch off and back on. When I did, the lights flashed on for about half a second, but didn't remain lit. Next, I unplugged the Icecap from the timer and into another socket. Again the same problem occurred. It doesn't sound like a fuse problem or the lights wouldn't have come on anyway.

Anyone know what could be going on? This could be a big problem, because there aren't any stores in my area that have this type of equipment on hand. Plus, I don't just have money to drop on a new ballast.

plato

 

[Len]

I would check with the connections first. Icecaps have circuit protection that will shut off the ballast if the circuit is incomplete. I would suspect one of the connections is loose, or perhaps a dead bulb. It doesn't hurt to check the fuse too (simple turn of a dial), although I'm guessing that's not to blame either.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the same ballast, and if I don't have a tight connection to the bulbs, they will either flash on and stay off or not light at all, or only light up 2 out of 4 bulbs.

When I first wired them up, I couldn't figure out which bulb was loose, so I re-wired it for two bulbs, made sure it worked, made the modification to 3, and then to 4. I haven't had any problems since. (If you look at the wiring diagrams, after wiring the first two bulbs, you can just move the endcaps from one end to the other of another bulb, so you don't have to rewire your initial bulbs and so this made a good troubleshooting technique) It's impossible to explain completely without looking at the wiring diagram.

 

[Anonymous]

If you determine that the ballast is bad, Fed-ex it to Icecap. They'll fix it and fed-ex it back to you. Your critters will be fine going a few days without light!

How old is the ballast?

 

[Plato1]

Looks like one of the bulbs is burned out. I tried to turn it so the other two would come on, but to no avail. I was hoping to be lucky enough to bypass the physics of electricity, but it turns out I'm a mere mortal and must wait for the return of my roommate before I can take the canopy off and fix the problem.

By the way, how long does it take for a bulb to burn out? I haven't even had that bulb on for a year. (I know I should change every six months, but I didn't have money at the time) Besides, I'd heard you could run bulbs a little longer on Icecaps.

I'm presently running two fulls and 1 super actinic (burnt). When I order new lights I think I'll do 1 50/50, 1 full, and 1 super actinic. I think the tank is too pink, but I don't want it too blue...what do you guys think? BTW URI bulbs.

Thanks for the troubleshooting.

 

[ReefMon]

I had the same problem with a couple of 660's, seems they have a capacitor that can go and cause them flash and not fire. IceCap fixed them lickedy split for me and have been running great ever since.

As far as how long the bulbs last, I usally run them for 12-18 months, and have never had one burn out.

HTH
Glenn R

 

[MFisher]

This has happened to me recently. My waterproof endcaps were brittle from UV exposure and moisture permeated them and caused them to short (I assume). The lights barely flickered then wouldn't come on. New endcaps solved the problem.

I'm still a little torqued that the endcaps got brittle after a couple of years. This time I put a little SPF 50 sunscreen inside to see if it lengthens their life. We'll see.