T5 ballast shorting out?

[Goubli]

Hi all,

I have had a Gieseman aurora for about 7 years without issues. I have been in the process of replacing t5 bulbs and now for some reason one of the channels refuses to work properly.

Essentially, I changed out bulbs on one of the t5 channels (which btw worked perfectly turning lights on and off and has been working for years no issue- including the dimming function) and initially the bulbs turn on. When I get new bulbs I power them at 100% for a 50hr burn in period, so no issues previously.

So I set my schedule to run and when I come home the first day the channel I just replaced the bulbs in did not turn on. I fiddle a little with the bulb and then it turns on.
Yesterday, I was home to watch the lighting schedule and the new bulb channel turned on without issue. The lights remained on for about 2 hours (1 hr with the other channel also on at 100%) and then the new bulb channel turned off and the other channel worked without issue. I barely rotated the bulb and then they came back on. They stayed on for about 20-30 min then turned off again. I repeated this process probably about 4-5 more times yesterday but the bulbs would not stay on.

Today, I tried to just individually control the channels and could not get the "broken" channel to turn the lights on. I would get a quick flash of light but immediately off after a flash. So, I attempted a new bulb-still won't turn on. I took one of the bulbs from the working channel and tried using it, but still only a flash.

So, it seems to me this ballast may have gone bad somehow, and this "going bad"/non-functioning somehow has only appeared now that I tried to change bulbs? It seems weird to me. This leads me to what is likely a bigger issue-how am I going to get this checked out and repaired? I certainly can't take down the fixture and then pay to send it to Germany for repair and have my aquarium without lights for weeks.

What are some ideas any of you may have about this and what I should do. As of now I have 2/4 bulbs functioning and the LED panels work without issue. I have a tank with a bunch of sps so I can't go too long without some lighting. Also, of course this happens just after I decided to buy a bunch of t5 bulbs-lol

Thanks for any help/suggestions

 

[dieselkeeper]

I had salt creep get into the bulb socket on my ATI fixture. Replacing the ballast and swapping bukbs didn't fix it.

 

[Reefering1]

Try rotating the build around a bunch of times, see if you get a better connection @socket

 

[Goubli]

Try rotating the build around a bunch of times, see if you get a better connection @socket

Yeah, I have rotated it all 360 degrees. With multiple bulbs. It doesn't explain why the channel lights both bulbs for 20min to 2 hr then suddenly turn off.

 

[Reefering1]

It could be that the terminals inside the socket have some corrosion, excessively rotating the bulb may rub some of it off. Normally, when a ballast fails- they fail to light at all.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

More than likely the tombstone. If it's the ballast, there are some diy's out there, to swap it out. Just get another same rating t5 ballast from a electrical supply house.