Another Problem with ballast??

[Appletree]

Hello IcaCap service, I just received my ballast back from service for a fuse problem. I hooked it back up, stuck it in an outlet (without timer), it fired everything right up. Unplugged it, stuck it in the timer, plugged it back in, two of the lights are not firing. They were on seconds earlier. Nothing changed, to be sure I unplugged it from the timer, plugged it back in straight, nothing on those two. I checked the bulbs to see if they had the little telltale glow that a bulb burned out, nothing there either. Can you help.??

[ASH]

I'm guessing (assuming the endcaps are mounted, etc.) that the lamps will start up again if you let them cool down, as you likely have a filament ready to fail. If you have an Ohm meter, use it the next time they flash on and off. Don't repeat 'rapid on off cycling' quicker than 3 X per minute.
http://www.icecapinc.com/pdf/contest.pdf
Andy

[Appletree]

Oops, I guess I should have mentioned its a 660 ballast.

Ok, I checked the continuity of the harness. Three times..., everything good on my end. The ballast crapped out it looks like. Like I said it DOES light 2 bulbs. It just doesn't light two others. From my previous experience, all the bulbs go out when its a bad bulb. In this case a pair lights and a pair doesn't. I did check the wiring again, like I said, and also made sure that I didn't have a short of some sort. The harness and bulbs check out completely. I think the ballast is bust, again. The bigger problem for me now is that my tank is REALLY starting to look like crud due to the lack of light, I do have two mh175's but my corals are really used to their vho. How can you guys help me out?

P.S. I forgot to mention, The ballast smells like burnt electronics, again.

[IceCap Service]

Don't just ohm out the harness alone. Do the entire continuity test. Go to http://www.icecapinc.com/pdf/contest.pdf and do this test. It checks out the entire system not just the harness. Any way you need to send the ballast back in as I am sure the internal varistors are fried by your description. Everything sounds like an open circuit or poor connection.

[Appletree]

My apologies for not being clear. I did the entire continuity test per your specs (I am also very familiar with electronics). According to your your wiring diagram, this ballast shouldn't light anything, but it lights two of four bulbs (and they stay lit). Like I mentioned before, I just got it back from service (Inv#13985).

A bigger problem for me is that my tank is considerably disturbed without its main lighting. I seriously doubt my corals are going to make it for another 2 weeks (the total time between shipping and repair).

On another note, I seriously have no confidence in this ballast. I am trying to keep in mind that it worked flawlessly for 2 years, but, two failures back to back make me wonder.

Do you have any recommendations? I will send the ballast back, but in the meantime, I would like to keep my tank going. Thanks for your help.

[ASH]

If it's wired for 4 lamps, but only lights 2 lamps and they stay on I can only conclude you have a Model 430 in a 660 case (running on a 660 harness).
In any event, please call 800-742-3227 ext. 5 and leave me a message with your name, a daytime ph # and the repair # and serial # from the back of your ballast. We'll get you up and ASAP.
Andy

[IceCap Service]

I just got your ballast and it is completely blown. Not sure what happened as it was on test a full day here before going back out to you. I found the fuse was blown along with a major internal malfunction. I am replacing the entire internal circuit board so you will be basically be getting a new ballast. The case will be the same for serial number tracking purposes.
Do a double check of where the ballast is mounted. I did find some rust and minor corrosion under a main transformer. It appears at some point in time moisture got inside. The last time it was in for repair obviously I did not catch it. It was in a location where you will not see it unless the transformer is removed.

I will be overnighting the ballast back to you so you should see it 21 April. I apologize for the repeat failure.

[Appletree]

Thank you for your expediant service. I am not sure how any water got in there as the ballast is far and away from any water source including splashes, but, I will double check. The fuse blew in my repeated attempts to get it to light all four bulbs. Thank you again.

[Steve52]

Originally posted by Appletree
My apologies for not being clear. I did the entire continuity test per your specs (I am also very familiar with electronics). According to your your wiring diagram, this ballast shouldn't light anything, but it lights two of four bulbs (and they stay lit). Like I mentioned before, I just got it back from service (Inv#13985).

A bigger problem for me is that my tank is considerably disturbed without its main lighting. I seriously doubt my corals are going to make it for another 2 weeks (the total time between shipping and repair).

On another note, I seriously have no confidence in this ballast. I am trying to keep in mind that it worked flawlessly for 2 years, but, two failures back to back make me wonder.

Do you have any recommendations? I will send the ballast back, but in the meantime, I would like to keep my tank going. Thanks for your help.

[Steve52]

Appletree, you're not alone(although IC told me that i was) I've had problems with a 660 since Oct 03. Had run a 430 for years with no problem, switched to a 660 to "upgrade". I too have done all the continuity checks, etc. Have had 3 660s blow and now Icecap says they will not replace the next one(that blows). I am using a Solar 1000 by Blueline(never again), they have been no help, period. It is ironic that IC recommends the Solar as the only dimmer certified for use with their ballast. Looking at Fulham based on the other posts I see.

[IceCap Service]

I did a review of each ballast you sent in that failed. One was due to an open circuit which heated up an internal varistor. It got so hot it desoldered itself from the circuit board. The other 2 had blown output transistors. Since the problems started after adding the dimmer, I believe that is where to start looking for the cause.
On 2 of the failures your ballast was replaced. The last one was repaired. On your invoice I stated we could not replace again since something external to the ballast was causing the failure. What was meant was the ballast would be repaired which was the case on the last one.

Here is a link to a past post on dimmers. One of our customers "MissKimi" has been through the growing pains of the dimmer system and has some great advice. I will link you to her response as she states everything better than I could. As far as I can tell her units are up and running fine with no problems.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=350639

[Steve52]

Icecap Service,

I have two questions, assuming there is an open, why doesn't the IC protect itself, I thought this was a safety feature? , and if the Solar 1000 L2 dimmer is the problem, why has it been functioning with my 6 year old 430 on the 660 harness.

Also the problem with EMI have never been addressed, it is impossible to use the X-10 features of the Solar with the 660.


:confused:

[IceCap Service]

There is a shutdown feature built into the ballast. However if the dimmer is connected, it has its own protection circuit which overides ours. If there is an open or poor connection, and the solar protection circuit is not functioning properly, and it continues to try to light the lamp, it will fry the internal varistor in the ballast.

As to your 430 operating on a 660 harness, its only using half the lamps for one thing. It will only light 2 of the 4 lamps. If it is working okay with the dimmer, then just possibly the problem lies somewhere in the circuitry not being used.

[ASH]

From IceCap:
The IceCap VHO ballasts have a safety shutdown when an open circuit is detected. When a lamp is dimmed below 65 - 70% of full the ballast determines that's a break and shuts down. The 4 pin I/O port insert shorts out our safety shutdown to allow 100% dimming. The dimmer, when performing properly and installed correctly detects an open circuit and shuts off power to the ballast. A few years ago, before Champion took over making the dimmers, there was an error on the wire size used and wires often fell out of the Molex connector's of the dimmer. That is no longer the case.

We have always recommended that a new installation, or repaired ballast be cycled at least one day to insure everything is properly wired prior to using a dimmer on the application. We also have detailed what proper endcap installation means as poorly mounted endcaps are a fire hazard and increase the chances that a dimmer related failure will occur. http://www.icecapinc.com/pdf/endcap.pdf

Regarding EMI problems with X-10 devises, recently I was told that X-10 sends its signal on the ground wire or otherwise uses it. Possibly grounding the ballasts and reflectors is causing a problem for some people. I don't know.

Andy