Aquatic life T5 fixture, hard to change bulbs.....

[waxhawreefer]

First I have to say that I’ve had this thing for almost a year, nothing but love for it, I had two 360’s with it, switched to three xr15 pros, for better coverage, I had four of those sun blaster fixtures before, cheap but work, I’ve been using four of the the giesemann actinic blue bulbs, I bought four ati blue plus bulbs to replace, it’s been almost a year and one wasn’t working so..., but when I went to change them , it took three people to change them out, those rubber coated bulb holders were some how melted on to the bulbs, my wife and daughter held the fixture while I gently pryed and prayed that they would let loose and not shatter in my tank, one side of the bracket would always pop off easy but the the other extremely stuck, I finally got them off but wondered why they didn’t use plain stainless brackets??? Should Vaseline be applied before or some sort of lubricant so it doesn’t happen again, who knows, something to think about!!

 

[Phillyd1990]

This happened to me except one of the bulbs shattered. Luckily I had taken the fixture down and this happened on the floor. Did you let the bulbs cool down first? I think the key is to do it while they are still hot so the coating doesnt cool down. I had luck doing it like that before

 

[waxhawreefer]

This happened to me except one of the bulbs shattered. Luckily I had taken the fixture down and this happened on the floor. Did you let the bulbs cool down first? I think the key is to do it while they are still hot so the coating doesnt cool down. I had luck doing it like that before

Yes the bulbs were cold, who would have known!

 

[Pmj]

It's in the fixture thread. Same for me except I broke 3/4 bulbs. They recommend removing the white plastic and I believe can send you some without it. The new ones don't have it anymore.

 

[T-5unsystem]

Those bulbs are highly abused! That black mark near the end cap is where the cold cathode is located, it should not ever get as black as shown in your photo. Either these were massively overheated, low quality or older than 1 year.

Regardless, super glad you were able to get them out!

 

[waxhawreefer]

Those bulbs are highly abused! That black mark near the end cap is where the cold cathode is located, it should not ever get as black as shown in your photo. Either these were massively overheated, low quality or older than 1 year.

Regardless, super glad you were able to get them out!

Geismann bulbs about a year old maybe longer but the fixture is less than a year, and those marks are on both ends, the responds previous says allot!! But thx

 

[T-5unsystem]

Geismann bulbs about a year old maybe longer but the fixture is less than a year, and those marks are on both ends, the responds previous says allot!! But thx

Perhaps I am wrong and it is burnt plastic from the end caps not a burnt up cathode? Does it appear inside or outside of the glass tube?

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I know this is SUPER old but dang...I just tried changing my bulbs last night and low and behold...I have the old style with the glued in bulbs! Argh...thank goodness I found this thread before I broke a bulb in my tank! Thank you R2R!