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HQI Hood - Protective Shield Melting


gefilte fish

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gefilte fish

I have a JBJ 24DX with a HQI hood. Tonight as I prepared to do my weekly water change I noticed a burning smell. Seems the clear plastic shield directly in front of the lights was starting to melt. I did not have any rock up high enough to push against the plastic so cannot deduce what might have caused this to happen. Has anyone experienced anything like this before or have any thoughts as to the cause? I've turned off the main lights only leaving on the moons. Not sure if these pics are useful.....

 

P1010268.jpgHQI Hood - Protective Shield Melting

 

P1010267.jpgHQI Hood-Protective Shield Melting

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gefilte fish

At the same time the shield started to melt I experienced a nitrate spike. Up from 0 to 20. Coincidence? Could a snail or hermit have committed suicide and melted the plastic? Doesn't seem plausible but if I knew the answer I wouldn't be asking.

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Do you not have tempered glass in the hood? Is this a DIY?

 

It looks like you have a bubble on the bulb so you may want to check that.

 

Also i forgot to reconnect my fans one day and noticed a soft spot on the top of my hood so you may want to make sure your fans are working.

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gulfsurfer101

Yeah looks like that bulb has a hot spot in it. I really cant help you other than that since the only problem I've ever had with a MH is breaking untempered glass from high heat expouser from a 250 watt SE bulb over a 24g sunpod. It completley cracked the the glass top from about six inches over the glass. Looks like smebody laid their dirty little fingers on that lamp though and left some oil ressidue causing it to heat to a higher tempature than the reat of the bulb.

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gefilte fish
Do you not have tempered glass in the hood? Is this a DIY?

 

It looks like you have a bubble on the bulb so you may want to check that.

 

Also i forgot to reconnect my fans one day and noticed a soft spot on the top of my hood so you may want to make sure your fans are working.

 

No, it's not a DIY. I purchased the hood from Nanocustoms and it comes with a plastic shield not glass. I'll check the fans and bulb as you suggest. Thanks for the advice.

 

Yeah looks like that bulb has a hot spot in it. I really cant help you other than that since the only problem I've ever had with a MH is breaking untempered glass from high heat expouser from a 250 watt SE bulb over a 24g sunpod. It completley cracked the the glass top from about six inches over the glass. Looks like smebody laid their dirty little fingers on that lamp though and left some oil ressidue causing it to heat to a higher tempature than the reat of the bulb.

 

No one's touched the bulb. I did touch the soft spot on the glass (plastic) to see if it was melting. It was.

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gulfsurfer101

I don't even know if plastic filters UV rays that would be tranmitted from your MH bulb. It doesn't make much sense to me and I would never let this run whil I was away from my tank like I can with my sunpod.

 

No, it's not a DIY. I purchased the hood from Nanocustoms and it comes with a plastic shield not glass. I'll check the fans and bulb as you suggest. Thanks for the advice.

 

 

 

No one's touched the bulb. I did touch the soft spot on the glass (plastic) to see if it was melting. It was.

You definately got some fugly stuff going on with your fixture and I would return it to the place you got it from and explain your situation before you ship it back to them first. See what their policy is and see how they can help you. It looks like some amature work at best.

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simple solution:

-go to walmart and buy a 500w halogen security light.

-trace the glass from it on the plastic

-cut it out

-silicon in the glass

-wait 24 hours for silicon to cure

-no more melting

 

Plastic does filter UV just not good for MH because of the heat.

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No, it's not a DIY. I purchased the hood from Nanocustoms and it comes with a plastic shield not glass.

 

The stock hood comes w/ glass. I can't imagine anyone putting plastic in front of a lamp like that. Be sure to check the fans. Also, I had to "adjust" the reflector to improve airflow.

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gefilte fish
The stock hood comes w/ glass. I can't imagine anyone putting plastic in front of a lamp like that. Be sure to check the fans. Also, I had to "adjust" the reflector to improve airflow.

You think it's going to melt glass? Where it's deformed it's soft to the touch. When I turn the lamps on for 20-30 minutes it gets soft and sticky. It sure seems like plastic to me.

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gefilte fish
Give nanocustoms a call.

Thanks. That's hot on my list for tomorrow. Hey, thanks everyone for your help. I really do appreciate it.

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  • 5 months later...

Don't mean to bring up old posts. But we never found out what Nanocustoms did for you, if anything.

 

I am looking at maybe doing the JBJ HQI hood myself and would like to know if this is a problem with them. The fix seems easy with the glass and sealer. I'm curious to know what the outcome was on yours.

 

Thanks :)

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