embryoguy Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 i recd it yesterday and it fired up right away with no buzzing sound. but i did not leave it on long. for only 15 minutes. ill test it out longer tonight and post if anything is odd. Link to comment
chieferich Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 embyro. cool. please keep us posted as well. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 ok ive been running it since i got home., so far. 6 hrs , fired up immediately, and no loud sounds. no humming. very bright, 14 k light. not blue not yellow. im happy with it so far. i havent used the moonlights yet though what is the scheme for the moonlights everyone is planning on using? when areyou using yoru white or blue lights. Link to comment
proraptor Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 You should have bought the aquamedic ocean light like I suggested.... Link to comment
chieferich Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 i was actually wondering when you were going to chime in with that. lol! Link to comment
danskim Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 yeah i considered the ocean light, but i thought hanging it would be troublesome Link to comment
MillerLite Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 My brother had a similar problem but with a different MH fixture. It appears that some [cheaper] bulbs (the company shall remain nameless) have a little play which sometimes can affect them from turning on properly. He replaced the bulb with one from a different company and had no further problems. Perhaps the connection between the bulb and the light fixture is not quite right. Just a suggestion... Link to comment
embryoguy Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 its been a full day running and im very happy with my sunpod fixture. i really like the options with the white and blue moonlights. i placed my fixture over a piece of glass and even the glass does not get very hot. only warm to the touch, surprisingly. but my mh fired up immediately. 2 secs. full intensity at about 2 min. Link to comment
chieferich Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 yeah , mine fired up immediately last night as well. I think this is the bulbs/ burn in. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 chief. thats good to know. maybe your bulb was lose thru shipment., chief, how are you planning to use your moon lights? what scheme>? Link to comment
NanoMark Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Don't get too excited about your lights turning on. I've had my SunPod for a month and every day it varies as to how long it takes to turn on. When it turns on instantly the tank looks more blue. Today, it took 10 minutes for the light to turn on and now the tank looks more pink. When your lights are on, what color does it look like? Someone mentioned 14000k, but I don't know what that looks like. As for the moon lights it goes blue for an hour, blue and white LEDs for an hour, halide for 12 hours, blue and white LEDs for an hour, blue for an hour, then off. Link to comment
chieferich Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 the light should appear "blue." and gradually get a little "whiter" as time goes on. I (eventually) will run my mh for 9 hrs, then blue leds with 13w pc light in fuge at night. white leds are not used. Embryoguy- bulb wasn't loose (unfortunately). tried reinstalling two occasions. Nanomark- yes, it seems hit or miss so far. what will tonight bring? Like I said, I'm working with Ike from Current to figure this one out. when they reach a verdict, I will post it here for all. Till then, hang tight. Link to comment
NanoMark Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I emailed Current and they wrote me back within a day! The humming noise is normal for their electronic balasts. I checked out my old smartpaq retrofit PCs by Current and that ballast makes a similar sounding hum. So no worries there. He said MHs won't turn on if the ballast isn't producing 150W of power - which means when the light is on it is at 150W, nothing less. As for the slow start ups he said it sounds like a lamp issue. They sent out a new lamp and he wants to hear if that changes anything. I'll let you guys know too once I get the new lamp. You might want to email Current and let them know of your troubles; then they have on record that you have the same problem as me, and then if my new lamp works then you will get new lamps too. Mark Link to comment
danskim Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 alright i emailed them about my problem too. Link to comment
Reeflogic Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 Sorry I havent seen this post guys, but I was all worried at first too, the hummmmm, the cold starts taking up to 10 minutes, blah blah, but I figured it was normal. The sound is pretty minimal and the lights never take more than 10 mins to fire, however, if a new bulb is the solution let me know Atleast we arent alone here... Link to comment
embryoguy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 still after several days, mine still fires up immediately and all i hear is the fan. it is at full intensity within 5 min max. Link to comment
scottj2 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hey guys, I was able to contact the ballast engineer for Current USA and this is what I got back Dear Jeremy, I spoke with our ballast engineer today and gave me the following information: You want to make sure that the HQI lamp is correctly seated into the socket. If it is off a bit (sometimes due to shipping), the ballast will try and fire the lamp. After about 2-3 attempts, it will shut down for 20 minutes or so and try to ignite the lamp again. He also stated that sometimes the lamp will ignite faster upon start up - after the initial "burn-in" time, which can take a week or so. We do hear of customers who state that the lamp changes color - the reality is it just takes a little while for it to burn into its normal color temperature. He also wanted me to find out if you are using the system with a timer or not, this would help us troubleshoot the problem. We have really had no issues with these fixtures. The ballast used in the SunPod is the same reliable electronic ballast we use in our Outer Orbit HQI fixtures. Those ballasts have proven to be very reliable, safe and energy efficient so we are really interested in seeing if the problem continues to occur. Please keep me updated. Thanks, Ike Link to comment
NanoMark Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I am using my fixture on a timer. How about you guys? Also I have not received my new lamp yet so I can't tell you guys if that helped my problem. Link to comment
Palmettopark Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Im experiencing a high pitched eeeeeeeeeee sound in the balast. Stripped a screw that wing nut attaches glass to cover light Any fixes for that one?? Link to comment
danskim Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 the sound off of mine isn't so high pitched, but it's very LOUD. pretty sur eit's not supposed to be like that. i received the new ballast today, but i have yet to put it in. Link to comment
MikeR. Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 got mine , hooked it up today 30" sunpod, fires right up fans too..... Link to comment
Whitten Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 And when I did a search last night, nothing like this popped up. I just made a post about the very same thing. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...ST&f=35&t=77940 My friend recieved a 70 watt fixture that eventually made a poping noise and then sent out an EMP which shut off every working electronic in the house including his Xbox, and Computer in the next room. After that little issue he waited almost 2 and half weeks before his replacement ballast showed up. Getting ahold of the Current People was difficult but we did manage to get Ike and he seemed to be helpful. He upgraded my friend for free by sending him a 150 watt bulb ballast and socket, and so after the waiting period we finally recieved the stuff. Hooked it all up, turned on, heard the tell tail Current ballast hiss and we were off to the races. Two days later the new ballast was not firing properly. I have told him to just leave the sucker on and see how long it will take for it to fire. Before he was turning it off, letting it sit for 20 minutes, and the trying again this is what we were doing when the last ballast popped and shot the EMP. I am really not happy with this, my friend is new to this hobby and it makes it very hard for me to explain to him what is going on and justify his purchase especially since there is always that off chance that the ballast might not fire when he is gone and he could at the very least loose some coral or at the worst it could start a fire. I have two MH fixtures one is an Aqua Medic AquaSpace light with e- ballast and the other is a self built system with an Ice Cap...I have never had problems with those products, and if things don't get resolved here I am thinking I am going to tell him just to buy an Ice Cap ballast and....hell I don't even know. I am frustrated and ironicly my friend just IM'd me to tell me that the fixture has been on for close to an hour and still hasn't fired, what a pain. Link to comment
embryoguy Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 why doesnt he simply return it? contact the retailer and return it? i personally would pursue that option before the manufacturer. Link to comment
Whitten Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 why doesnt he simply return it? contact the retailer and return it? i personally would pursue that option before the manufacturer. Well that is the problem, Drs. Foster and Smith will not just accept the light system back. Since he bought it conjunction with the Aqua Pod, they want all of it back. Trust me we already tried this avenue and Drs. says that they want all or none. So right off the bat we had limited options. Link to comment
NanoMark Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Wow, this sucks. I think we should keep this thread going to see if more people have the same problem. If enough people do maybe current will recall their sunpods. Link to comment
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