# Near (fire)Disaster with UNS Titan 1



## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

Was working at my desk today when I noticed my UNS titan 1 flickering. Open the cabinet and the power adapter was buzzing. I immediately unplug it and when I pick it up to examine, I immediately dropped it because it was so hot. It is also leaking a weird oil that smells like burnt electronics. Now that it has cooled off, I can hear something large rattling around inside it. 

Luckily I was at home and could catch it before something bad happened. We live in an apartment so the damage would have been catastrophic if it burnt up. But now I guess my tank is going to be dark for a few days. I have some backup lighting from a few kessils but they are definitely not bright enough to keep things going at the levels they were for long. Either way I'm pretty pissed that a 400 dollar product ends up being a fire hazard! I should have either just built my own or stuck to T5s it's so ridiculous. Barely 6 months in to its service life too! 

When I got this light I initially rated it a solid 7/10 light for the price. Now I highly recommend that this light is NOT purchased: no controllability, no dimming, spiked spectrum were one thing that I could get over with as I liked the look out of the box. House catching fire is where I draw the line.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Yea that sucks..
Power supply was weird to begin with if I remember correctly..

for what it's worth.. 1 year warranty.
http://ultumnaturesystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/TITAN-INSTRUCTIONS.pdf


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

It comes shipped with an unbranded chinese 36V 4A power adapter. When I finally hear back from the company I'll do a tear down and failure analysis.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> It comes shipped with an unbranded chinese 36V 4A power adapter. When I finally hear back from the company I'll do a tear down and failure analysis.


That would be great..
Instruction sheet makes it sound "special" (beyond the uncommon (for lights) 36V??) so I'd like to know why..


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## Ben3721 (Jan 20, 2018)

I would just replace the power supply with one of the same voltage and amps. Power supplies can fail, especially when made in bulk for cheap.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

Ben3721 said:


> I would just replace the power supply with one of the same voltage and amps. Power supplies can fail, especially when made in bulk for cheap.


The female end on the power supply is not a common fitting so it's not exactly one you can buy easily.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> The female end on the power supply is not a common fitting so it's not exactly one you can buy easily.





Well.. Cracking open the case and desoldering the cord and then just hooking it to a Meanwell open frame PS is pretty simple.. 



Sale Price: $27.99
You Save: $1.10
PART #: LRS-200-36


https://www.ledsupply.com/power-supplies/mean-well-lrs-enclosed


IF it's not "special"...


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

I might end up doing that down the line. I already have 5A rated screw terminal M/F power connectors for another project. I could change them to a "normal" type of fitting or something.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> Well.. Cracking open the case and desoldering the cord and then just hooking it to a Meanwell open frame PS is pretty simple..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Here is an album containing the pictures I took of the inside.

https://imgur.com/a/IK6ocMi

My guess is that either faulty board design (filter cap touching common choke causing capacitor failure and a short occurred). OR Electrolyte leakage from cheap components cause a short and the downstream effects. Notably you can see both AC in and DC out ends of the power adapter are badly burned. This was definitely the start of a potential electrical fire.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> Here is an album containing the pictures I took of the inside.
> 
> https://imgur.com/a/IK6ocMi
> 
> My guess is that either faulty board design (filter cap touching common choke causing capacitor failure and a short occurred). OR Electrolyte leakage from cheap components cause a short and the downstream effects. Notably you can see both AC in and DC out ends of the power adapter are badly burned. This was definitely the start of a potential electrical fire.





Looks terribly cheap and one of the few power supplies I've seen w/out at least a fuse on the AC side..
Pretty sure I'd try a Meanwell..


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> Looks terribly cheap and one of the few power supplies I've seen w/out at least a fuse on the AC side..
> Pretty sure I'd try a Meanwell..


I received a replacement from them in the mail today (looks just as cheap). I will see if I can rig up one from a meanwell driver in the future.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> I received a replacement from them in the mail today (looks just as cheap). I will see if I can rig up one from a meanwell driver in the future.



You earlier said you heard it rattle.. did the Bridge Rectifier actually de-solder itself or did you remove it?


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> You earlier said you heard it rattle.. did the Bridge Rectifier actually de-solder itself or did you remove it?


Rectifier was completely desoldered.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

The .pdf is pretty explicit about how the power supply should be placed. It apparently needs clearance of up to 4 inches from any vertical wall because it has passive cooling heat sink fins? 

Did you say the power supply was in a cabinet? Was the cabinet well ventilated and was the power supply away from a cabinet wall enough to allow for free air circulation?

You may have to document your installation to recover any warranty.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

GrampsGrunge said:


> The .pdf is pretty explicit about how the power supply should be placed. It apparently needs clearance of up to 4 inches from any vertical wall because it has passive cooling heat sink fins?
> 
> Did you say the power supply was in a cabinet? Was the cabinet well ventilated and was the power supply away from a cabinet wall enough to allow for free air circulation?
> 
> You may have to document your installation to recover any warranty.




I opened it up. It has no heat dissipation in any shape or form. It is installed into an open-backed cabinet so it's basically open air. Nothing on top of it. Sitting on the bottom of the cabinet. My house temperature is about 65. The only fault here was cheap components failing prematurely that could have resulted in a fire.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Jeffww said:


> I opened it up. It has no heat dissipation in any shape or form. It is installed into an open-backed cabinet so it's basically open air. Nothing on top of it. Sitting on the bottom of the cabinet. My house temperature is about 65. The only fault here was cheap components failing prematurely that could have resulted in a fire.



Sounds like the company building this cheaped out on the power supply as the Safety Instructions in the .pdf describe the ballast as having external cooling fins. Sound like it's seriously over-rating. The lamp pulls over 90 watts? Should have a couple amps overhead.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> The only fault here was cheap components failing prematurely that could have resulted in a fire.



Yea my guess too. One thing though.. It doesn't look like the Rectifier was ever mounted to the heat sink, which I guess it should be in general..

Hmm can you measure the real current going through the light?
I know, not real easy..


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> Yea my guess too. One thing though.. It doesn't look like the Rectifier was ever mounted to the heat sink, which I guess it should be in general..
> 
> Hmm can you measure the real current going through the light?
> I know, not real easy..


I can check my work (when shelter-in-place is over) to see if we have one of those clamp meters for current measuring. Otherwise I'd have to buy something like a kill-a-watt.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> I can check my work (when shelter-in-place is over) to see if we have one of those clamp meters for current measuring. Otherwise I'd have to buy something like a kill-a-watt.



For fun I asked a few electronics people.. Best answer.. for what it's worth..




> *if the primary of the flyback transformer developes short turns ... say because of 24/7 operation and insufficient cooling -or- continuous - a bit above normal - mains voltage or the aging (secondary side) filter capacitor - the feedback loop is cut and the thing destroys itself in a flash .. . . there might be other failure mechanisms *


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## deeda (Jun 28, 2005)

Great pics link BTW!! Sorry you had this happen but glad you were home.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

jeffkrol said:


> For fun I asked a few electronics people.. Best answer.. for what it's worth..


Was thinking about this light again, and if you look at the back side of the PCB the four holes in the bottom left are where the rectifier is (imgur album). The solder looks like it got melted! Still 4 droplets of solder there...just badly misshapen.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

great pics and breakdown

so crazy that it started burning out but good to know you were also home 

hopefully the replacement will last longer.


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## saltdiscus (Aug 15, 2013)

Thanks it was in my cart but hell no paying 499 for cheap short cut parts. Is ONF one plus any good?


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## Underwater Bob (Oct 2, 2021)

Jeffww said:


> Mine just did the same thing. Started strobing.
> Was working at my desk today when I noticed my UNS titan 1 flickering. Open the cabinet and the power adapter was buzzing. I immediately unplug it and when I pick it up to examine, I immediately dropped it because it was so hot. It is also leaking a weird oil that smells like burnt electronics. Now that it has cooled off, I can hear something large rattling around inside it.
> 
> Luckily I was at home and could catch it before something bad happened. We live in an apartment so the damage would have been catastrophic if it burnt up. But now I guess my tank is going to be dark for a few days. I have some backup lighting from a few kessils but they are definitely not bright enough to keep things going at the levels they were for long. Either way I'm pretty pissed that a 400 dollar product ends up being a fire hazard! I should have either just built my own or stuck to T5s it's so ridiculous. Barely 6 months in to its service life too!
> ...


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## Underwater Bob (Oct 2, 2021)

Jeffww said:


> Here is an album containing the pictures I took of the inside.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the pics. Mine just failed. UNS said they were shipping a replacement but it hasn’t happened.
Mine suddenly started strobing, once a second.
Then ‘snap’ sound inside the ballast.


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## Underwater Bob (Oct 2, 2021)

monkeyruler90 said:


> great pics and breakdown
> 
> so crazy that it started burning out but good to know you were also home
> 
> hopefully the replacement will last longer.


Mine also lasted 6 months.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

Glad nothing terrible happened to you. It truly is a total shame of a product.


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## Underwater Bob (Oct 2, 2021)

Jeffww said:


> Glad nothing terrible happened to you. It truly is a total shame of a product.


Agreed. After waiting two weeks for the power supply I reversed the polarity on the plug. It actually worked normally for about three minutes, then a ‘snap’ in the power supply.. Dead now.


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