+dapettit Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 I know it's Christmas day. . . I have noticed that the light color output on the right side of the tank is much yellower than the left side. I switched the bulbs and it seems to be even yellower. I have not been able to switch the connections to the ballast (hard to get to). I'm running XM 250W mogul base 10K bulbs which are know for being bright white. Does this sound like a ballast problem? Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Did you switch which side of the ballast is running which bulb? BTW I am interested in the answer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted December 26, 2007 Author Share Posted December 26, 2007 Not yet. it's a pain in the --- to get to. Might try later this week or this weekend. I'll let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 I had a thought! If you switched bulbs and the yellow bulb looked fine on the "good" side then I would suspect the ballast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted December 26, 2007 Author Share Posted December 26, 2007 I'm also runnig it through an RK2. Could I be pulling to much power that only one side is getting enouhg energy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted December 26, 2007 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Plug it directly into the wall and see. That would be surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted December 26, 2007 Author Share Posted December 26, 2007 That's a good idea. I'll give it try after work. let know the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted December 28, 2007 Author Share Posted December 28, 2007 I took the ballast off the RK2 and plugged it directly into the wall. 30 minutes later the bulb one the left went black. Replaced it with bulb from the right side and it glows yellow. the light inputs were switch the night before and bulb was bright white. I will be pulling the base off and double checking the wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted December 29, 2007 Author Share Posted December 29, 2007 After all the troubleshooting it looks like its the mogul base. It's either crosswired or just plain bad. How do I know your ask? I removed the bases from both reflectors and put the know good on the side I was having problems. Screwed in the bulb, connected the cable to the suspect input on the ballast, powered the ballast on and presto changeo we have white light. Since my eyes are really bad I'll check the suspect base in the morning. Thanks for all the input. I'll keep everyone posted. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headless_donkey Posted December 29, 2007 Share Posted December 29, 2007 Congrats! This is filed in the ever growing list of things that can go wrong with aquariums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 I exchanged the mogul and re-connected everything and viola we have even white lighting. I be sooooooooooo happy now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Nope didn't fix it. . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 Ok here is the weird thing. We have the halides set up so that the left side comes on first then the right side 30 minutes later. We have it set to do the same when they go off, left then right. We noticed last night, when the left side turned off the right side lost its yellow tint and brightened up. I think with all the electronics connected to the RK2 we might be puling more than 15 amps total. I will be ordering the expansion today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Just wanted to give you guys an update. I ordered the expansion for the RK2 (back ordered for 3 weeks). I was talking with a Joseph about the situation and he loaned me a a Reeflux 14k. Low and behold it worked correctly. I spoke with the folks I bought the bulb from and my replacement will be here Friday. Problem is we like the look of the 14K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomanero Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 It's not the bulbbbbbb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 (edited) what is it? I'm tired of wasting time and money lol. Edited January 9, 2008 by dapettit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomanero Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Dave, Ballast. Give me a call tomorrow and we can discuss it. To long to explain with my two finger typing. Steve 461-3120 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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