t5 lights wont come on in front of light

[Rubblereefer]

My year and a half old noopsyche 36" t5 unit has been great up till now. The other day I noticed my front bank of lights was off. I tried swapping the bulbs and they are fine but the front 2 t5 bulbs just dont light up. Do I need a new balast or something?

 

[rwreef]

Sounds like the ballast if bulbs work in the other location.

 

[Rubblereefer]

Sounds like the ballast if bulbs work in the other location.

Bummer. @noopsyche can you warranty this or can I at least buy a replacement ballast?

 

[Rubblereefer]

Yup, definitely the ballast, kinda dissapointing that this light is less than 2 years old and its blown already, looks like it totally burnt out, you can see the brown part on the white wire where it got fried. I did a google search and it says ballasts are supposed to last like 12+ years, does anyone know why mine fried so soon?

Hopefully Noopsyche will take care of me!

 

[rwreef]

That sucks, you should be able to find a replacement. Just look at the electrical ratings and buy one that matches.

 

[Rubblereefer]

That sucks, you should be able to find a replacement. Just look at the electrical ratings and buy one that matches.

Thanks, I think size is going to come into play as well, there is basically zero addtional room inside the fixture so I am pretty sure I will be needing a new ballast with the exact same dimensions. Hoping Noopsyche will reply with some help, if not I will have to try to DIY and hope for the best, not really an electrical wiz over here unfortunately.

 

[Rubblereefer]

So the plot thickens, I looked up the model number for the ballast in my noopsyche fixture, and found this. Apparently they are some kind of knock off ballasts that are not really UL listed but are fraudulently marked as such. Apparently they pose a fire hazard which makes sense considering I can see evidence of heat/fire on my blown unit. Pretty dissapointed in Noopsyche so far. :mad:

 

[rwreef]

In this case you are very lucky the ballast failed safely. I would 100% find UL listed equivalent part . Dimensions should be fairly standard. Best of luck!

 

[noopsyche]

It patent certified12 years before but it was produced all the time, it don't mean it was used 12 years old. All of our t5 ballast are in UL list. If you want to buy new ballast to replace you can search OSRAM or Philips ballast, 36 inch t5 using 39watt, 48 inch using 54 watt.

 

[Rubblereefer]

It patent certified12 years before but it was produced all the time, it don't mean it was used 12 years old. All of our t5 ballast are in UL list. If you want to buy new ballast to replace you can search OSRAM or Philips ballast, 36 inch t5 using 39watt, 48 inch using 54 watt.

Uh, sorry but no, "all your ballast are in UL list" is definitely not true, the ballast in my noopsyche t5 is not UL listed, the UL mark is not authorized. Just because they have a fake UL stamp does not make them UL listed. The ballast you put in your t5 costs 3 bucks each on Alibaba! Its junk. I'll fix this light, sell it, and buy an aquatic life light instead, and you can bet this is the last noopsyche product I will ever buy, you guys sold me junk that put me at risk and your answer is for me to spend my own money and time to fix it with the parts you should have put in it in the first place. I will make sure to let people know before they buy your products what they can expect.

 

[Rubblereefer]

It patent certified12 years before but it was produced all the time, it don't mean it was used 12 years old. All of our t5 ballast are in UL list. If you want to buy new ballast to replace you can search OSRAM or Philips ballast, 36 inch t5 using 39watt, 48 inch using 54 watt.

Uh, sorry but no, "all your ballast are in UL list" is definitely not true, the ballast in my noopsyche t5 is not UL listed, the UL mark is not authorized. Just because they have a fake UL stamp does not make them UL listed. I'll fix this light, sell it, and buy an aquatic life light instead, and you can bet this is the last noopsyche product I will ever buy, you guys sold me junk that put me at risk and your answer is for me to spend my own money and time to fix it with the parts you should have put in it in the first place. I will make sure to let people know before they buy your products what they can expect

 

[noopsyche]

Ballast are purchased parts

 

[Rubblereefer]

Ballast are purchased parts

What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying because you purchased the cheapest possible fake ul listed ballast from someone else on alibaba (and sold me your light for the same price as your competitor who uses quality ballasts) that its not your responsibility and your customers should just deal with defective/dangerous products? If you didnt already know it was crap you wouldn't be telling me to buy a phillips ballast to fix it.

Sorry but you are not making me a happy customer or making your company look good to the reefing community. I think your product quality sucks as bad as your customer service, and you should recall the ones you sold so nobody's house burns down.

 

[Rubblereefer]

I just wanted to update this thread for the record. Scott from Noopsyche North America reached out to me, apologized for the situation, and is taking care of the situation properly by sending me 2 new UL listed replacement ballasts to fix my light and make it safe.

He also informed me that Noopsyche switched ballast suppliers a while ago, after my early model was produced. So to anyone reading this on the fence about picking up a new Noopsyche t5 hybrid unit after reading my/thier China rep's prior posts, know that they actually DO have top notch customer service skills after all (at least in the US) and have remedied thier product with safe UL listed ballasts since the early units were produced. I have to say other than this hiccup that they are making right, I really do think this light is awesome in terms of performance and build quality and at the end of the day I would reccomend you do buy one over an aquaticlife unit. I will update this thread to confirm everything worked out when it does, but I am confident it is being handled properly at this point.

 

[rwreef]

Glad the rep saved face and resolved your issue. Go internet!

 

[Rubblereefer]

Just wanted to post a final update. I received and installed the new ballasts from Scott and the light is working fine now.