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
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