Going thru T5 bulbs constantly

Billldg · Mar 30, 2019

I am constantly going thru T5 bulbs on one side of my @AquaticLifeProducts T5/LED hybrid fixture. I have gone thru 3 corals plus bulbs and just went thru 1 blue plus bulb. The last one lasting less than a week. I am pretty sure what the problem is but need some reassurance this is in fact the problem. I'm pretty sure the ballast is bad causing the issues. Fixture is less than 5 months old and this seems to have been happening from the beginning. T/5 fixture is on for 5 hours a day, but for the past 3 months is has been on for 4 and 3 hours daily. I just recently changed on time duration to 5 hours. If I replace the bulb it will light up, but it will go out in a few days.

hdsoftail1065 · Mar 30, 2019

Sounds like a possible ballast issue to me as well.

WVNed · Mar 30, 2019

That is about the only thing it could be. Not much to a florescent light fixture. If any of the other parts are bad they simply don't light at all.
I used to ride herd on about 200 8 foot lights in retail space. Some of them always needed fixed.

Usctom · Mar 30, 2019

Interesting. I have 2 of these fixtures. On each one I have one side that is dim. I replaced the bulbs but something seems off. They dont always light when turned on

Bpb · Mar 30, 2019

Odd. Those use good ballasts

ccombs · Mar 30, 2019

Do you have a multimeter handy?

jda · Mar 31, 2019

Isn't it under warranty? Contact Aquatic Life for a solution.

AquaticLifeProducts · Apr 1, 2019

You can contact me directly. It would be strange but not impossible. The ballast are HEP, same as the other companies so we do not expect problems and have sent less then 20 out as possibly bad in the last 18 months.

Most replacements have ended up as bad lamps but since you have three lamps it would likely be the ballast, unless the lamps are all from the same batch and they are not operating correctly. That would be my only other thought.

dank reefer · Apr 26, 2019

I might be on the same boat as OP. Purchased AquaticLife 4ft hybrid in December of 2018, with 4 new bulbs. I replaced 1 bulb in March, and all looked good. But now it looks like I need to replace another bulb. I am going to order another bulb today and see how long it last this time.

One thing ill note is that the bulb I am replacing this time, is not the bulb i replaced last time. So the bulb is barley 5 months old.