Replacing Ballasts on a Quad T5 Odyssea?

[Connorology]

Hello All,

I have a 36" quad t5HO fixture from Odyssea - it has worked well for about three years, but yesterday two of the lights started flickering. My understanding is that this indicates a ballast is going out (the pairs are on separate switches). Is replacing a failing ballast something that is reasonable to do, or is my fixture effectively totaled?

Full disclosure - I am not actually a reef tank person, I keep reptiles and this fixture is for my chameleon. Commercially available equipment made for reptiles and chameleons tends to be sort of crummy IMO so I repurpose general-use equipment or equipment from the aquarium hobby. Which usually works well, but means I have no leads on DIY hacks or where to get replacement parts since I don't really exist in the aquarist ecosystem. This fixture is worth some time and effort to repair if possible because it has cooling fans which promote airflow into my vivarium, and has an integrated timer that turns the paired tubes on and off separately so I can change UVB output depending on the time of day.

I figured no harm in asking around to see if I can avoid throwing more junk into the landfills. If anyone has suggestions I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

-Connor

 

[oreo54]

Hello All,

I have a 36" quad t5HO fixture from Odyssea - it has worked well for about three years, but yesterday two of the lights started flickering. My understanding is that this indicates a ballast is going out (the pairs are on separate switches). Is replacing a failing ballast something that is reasonable to do, or is my fixture effectively totaled?

Full disclosure - I am not actually a reef tank person, I keep reptiles and this fixture is for my chameleon. Commercially available equipment made for reptiles and chameleons tends to be sort of crummy IMO so I repurpose general-use equipment or equipment from the aquarium hobby. Which usually works well, but means I have no leads on DIY hacks or where to get replacement parts since I don't really exist in the aquarist ecosystem. This fixture is worth some time and effort to repair if possible because it has cooling fans which promote airflow into my vivarium, and has an integrated timer that turns the paired tubes on and off separately so I can change UVB output depending on the time of day.

I figured no harm in asking around to see if I can avoid throwing more junk into the landfills. If anyone has suggestions I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

-Connor

Flickering can mean bad bulbs too. Swap out the other set and see if it's ballast or bulb.
Replacing ballasts is relatively easy but requires some electrical knowledge and or experience.
Sometimes disassembly is the worst part. Which you will probably need to do.
you will need to figure out whats inside to match..
Example of a ballast:

T5 Ballast 39W Internal Fluorescent Replacement Power Supply F39T5 HO Odyssea | eBay

T5 Ballast 2x 39W Internal. T5 fluorescent electronic ballast. Plug and play. Dual output. Outer shell may look scratched due to rubbing against one another in 200 pcs master box.

www.ebay.com

Unlike above this model has an external ballast:

Odyssea T5 Quad Aquarium Fish Light HO LED White Blue Marine Cichlid 24 36 48 72 | eBay

An aluminum reflector is used to increase reflectivity over other materials. All parts are plug and play for easy maintenance. 110V only. Optional hanging kit is available for those that needs to suspend the fixture.

www.ebay.com

topdogsellers on ebay can probably help you out..
Teardown..there are err errors in it though.