# coralife hood just broke



## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

my coralife aqualight 2x65 watt hood for my 40 G has been running for a week and one of the ballasts just up and turned off....it happened right before my eyes as i was watching my tank....all of a sudden, ......, the right one just turned off....i switched the bulbs to see if that was the problem, but both bulbs work fine.....darn ballast....anyone else have a similar problem with these coralife hoods?


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

No, but did it have a warranty? Call them and tell them what happened...


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

I've had no problems like that with either of mine. I would definitely call them.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

just to let you guys know, i called the coralife peeps, they were very nice and helpful, they told me i have 1 year warranty and that includes the bulbs! anyway, since i know how to hook it up correctly, they are sending me a new ballast. Very smooth service, and I'm happy again. Just hope the plants can survive with half the lights. Anyway, I thought this would be good for you to know, George (and coralife lurkers out there :wink , in case your coralife hood breaks within the year you buy it. happy birthday to me!


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

Many ballasts will shutoff at a certain temp if they get too hot. I think it's like 80 C or so. How long was your ballast running? Have you tried letting it cool and turning it back on? 

or 


It could just be junk. Anyway. Nice thing to have a warranty and friendly customer service people.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

my ballast had only been running for 1 hour before it shutoff on that day.... typically i run my lights on for 8 hours because i'm in the early period of planted tank and i haven't completely filled it with plants yet...i take it slow and i run the lights a little less. anyway, this hood has been running for 8 hours a day for approximately 4-5 days....and yesterday it did this.... kind of odd isn't it?? I was a little worried bout the hood not having enough ventilation because it didn't have holes or fans...but i figure it's cuz it's a 2x65 watt and 48 inches.... if it were next to each other, it would have a fan...


oh and when i get back home from work this afternoon, i'll test to see if it will run, thanks for the suggestion, i sincerely hope it's that easy


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

that sucks....grrrr

Hopefully the new ballast will fix it.

No vents eh?


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

yea, no vents, ....a little odd huh? George is your coralife hood without vents too? i wonder how the heat escapes. maybe since aluminum is a good heat conductor that heat escapes very easily ...

also i was thinking perhaps i could remove the acrylic lens cover and that would help everything to cool down a bit... 

in the meantime, i've got a shoplight that holds two T12 40 watt bulbs over a 40G long (4feet long) ...i've read before that using shoplights, you won't get exactly 80 watts of light but maybe lower because the ballasts underdrive the bulbs...is that true? What do you guys think? would this be enough lighting for : 

Crypt wendtii, vallisneria spiralis, echinidorus tennellus, sagitttaria subulata, anubias, rotala rotundifolia, bacopa caroliniana, ludwigia repens, riccia. 


let me know if any of these plants can't take it...


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

My fixture is the 30" 130 watt one and it came with two vents and two fans.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

yea, that's a nice fixture. i believe coralife puts vents and fans in fixtures that have the bulbs next to each other. say, where are they located on the fixture?


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Hubba,

The Coralife enclosures (as well as Hamilton) come with vents and fans. The one that I'm currently using right now is like so and so does the one that George is currently using. I was a little puzzled last time when I saw your lighting since there was no ventilation at all on that sucker :shock: . I can't seem to recall, but are the ballasts in the enclosure too? With no ventilation, the ballast can get very hot if it's placed in there, and can cause the problem you're experiencing. You might want to mount the ballast remotely somewhere else, where it isn't heated up like when it's mounted in the enclosure.

BTW, the lighting of yours isn't truly from Coralife. The guts of it are most likely from them, but the rest isn't (otherwise, they would vent the sucker and would not use an aluminum).


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

dude i guarantee you it's coralife...
for the money i paid for it, it better be coralife...



it's right here, buddy boy,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2377512352&category=46314


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Ibn said:


> Hubba,
> 
> The Coralife enclosures (as well as Hamilton) come with vents and fans. The one that I'm currently using right now is like so and so does the one that George is currently using. I was a little puzzled last time when I saw your lighting since there was no ventilation at all on that sucker :shock: . I can't seem to recall, but are the ballasts in the enclosure too? With no ventilation, the ballast can get very hot if it's placed in there, and can cause the problem you're experiencing. You might want to mount the ballast remotely somewhere else, where it isn't heated up like when it's mounted in the enclosure.
> 
> BTW, the lighting of yours isn't truly from Coralife. The guts of it are most likely from them, but the rest isn't (otherwise, they would vent the sucker and would not use an aluminum).


yes, the ballasts are inside the hood behind the lights as all coralife hoods are i imagine. maybe i'll take off one of the black endcaps of the hood and that could help with ventilation... or you are right, perhaps i could mount the ballast somewhere else....oh wait, but i just remembered the cord of the bulb endcap is not that long....so i wouldn't be able to do that.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

Not to sound like a punk, but the only things in that ebay item that are corallife are the bulbs.

I wouldn't know though, I don't own any coral life stuff. Regardless, it sucks that your lights went out. If it happens again, I'd return the system.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to agree with FG here...as the only thing that looks like it came from Coralife are the bulbs. Coralife does have a 130W set-up (2x65W), but that one comes with fans built into the top of the enclosure.

Here's the link for the Coralife enclosure I found:
http://www.hellolights.com/302xcoaqpcho.html

Read up on it...especially on the bottom of the page where it covers heat...


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

that one is a 30 incher


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

i just found my hood on the website that you gave me.. here it is....

so there, it is a coralife, okay?

http://www.hellolights.com/482xcofraq2x.html

is there anymore doubt whatsoever as to it being a coralife??? please let me know......

sorry, this is a bit frustrating for me.....


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Interesting...guess it is indeed a Coralife hood. Wonder why they opt to place fans into some of the enclosure but not others...


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

If you had the 260 watt 48" fixture you'd get vents and fans, but not with the 48" 130 watt fixture. If you look at the smaller single-bulb fixtures they don't have them either.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

exactly George, i agree, my guess is that because the bulbs are not positioned side by side they do not feel that fans and vents are necessary.....


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

Where's Momo he's got a single coralife strip-light! I haven't heard of any problems from him.


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## Verminaard (Dec 4, 2003)

I have two 2x65w coralife strips- never had a single problem. They seem very durable and IMO are better constructed than a JBJ 2x55w I just replaced. Sorry about your luck.


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

what lengths are yours Verminaard?


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Verminaard said:


> I have two 2x65w coralife strips- never had a single problem. They seem very durable and IMO are better constructed than a JBJ 2x55w I just replaced. Sorry about your luck.


Verm, that's very interesting that you mention JBJ, cuz i was thinking of switching to JBJ, LOL. so what don't you like about the JBJ's?


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## Verminaard (Dec 4, 2003)

Both are 48" and fit perfectly over my AGA 72g. The JBJ is a venice model that I got on closeout, it was more expensive then the coralifes and I had to replace the bulbs (50/50 actinic) which was a bit pricey. The JBJ was a bit short and never fit well; I had to "angle" it with one end resting on the glass top and one end resting on the plastic top of the tank. The other thing I didnt like was that the power cord on the JBJ was only about 3" long and it made connections a bit tight. I replaced this unit with the coralife after it began to have a ballast problem (I think) that caused it to lose power from time to time. Overall I feel that the Coralifes have a more rigid construction and reflectors are every bit as good as the JBJs--and much cheaper.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

do you ever feel that the reflectors on the coralife are small and the opening for the lights are narrow?


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## Verminaard (Dec 4, 2003)

hubbahubbahehe said:


> do you ever feel that the reflectors on the coralife are small and the opening for the lights are narrow?


I never really thought they were on either point. When compared to the JBJ the opening is maybe .5 in smaller, and the reflector is roughly the same size. The difference between the reflectors is the shape. The JBJ is much more concave whereas the CL is comprised of three distinct angles.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

i have heard of jbj hoods cracking from the heat of the lights.... i can't really see coralife's doing that... so you're next hood would be a coralife again? maybe i just got bad luck and i 'll give them another chance for the 4x65 w hood that i need to get in the future.


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## Verminaard (Dec 4, 2003)

As a matter of fact, I forgot mine did crack  For the money-you cant go wrong with the 4x65 for $205. I wish I had gotten that fixture way back.......


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## EvilKen (Oct 22, 2003)

What was the number you called for warranty? I too have a coralife fixture like you, and recently it has had a few problems turning on by itself. I have the light on a timer, and sometimes when I wake up, the light isnt on. I have to, hit the hood a few times before it will turn on. Maybe someting is loose in there, but since its still under warranty, I rather get a replacement.

Thanks


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I do have a single strip Coralife fixture. It has no fan, and has not cause me any grief, yet! I also have a double bulb Coralife fixture. It also has no fans. It hasn't given me a problem yet either.

Mike


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

evilken, if you look carefully in the hellolights link that ibn provided, the number is there on the bottom.. it's a toll free number, good luck.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Momotaro said:


> I do have a single strip Coralife fixture. It has no fan, and has not cause me any grief, yet! I also have a double bulb Coralife fixture. It also has no fans. It hasn't given me a problem yet either.
> 
> Mike


does it have any vents? i'm thinking it's not a heating issue, but the ballast was just broken that's all.


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## infin (Oct 2, 2003)

man hubba you have been having bad luck with equiptment lately. My coralife 2x65 24" has 4 fans on top of it. I wonder why the longer ones dont have one.


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## Verminaard (Dec 4, 2003)

infin said:


> man hubba you have been having bad luck with equiptment lately. My coralife 2x65 24" has 4 fans on top of it. I wonder why the longer ones dont have one.


Pretty sure they dont put fans in the longer ones because the bulbs arent side by side as in the 24". Not as much heat put out by the bulbs when placed end to end in a 48" fixture.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Verminaard said:


> infin said:
> 
> 
> > man hubba you have been having bad luck with equiptment lately. My coralife 2x65 24" has 4 fans on top of it. I wonder why the longer ones dont have one.
> ...


Thank you, Verminaard, that's what I was trying to explain to people......


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

No vents.

Mike


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## Thooshe (Dec 11, 2003)

The single linear coralife strips do not have fans. The double linear strips have fans. So the 48" strip that includes fans is the 260W not 130W.

Here is there website.

http://www.esuweb.com/


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## hubbahubbahehe (Sep 13, 2003)

Hi guys, I just received my ballast and I hooked up the new ballast to the hook. it works now!!! let there be light! haha. it's great. I love coralife. You just send them a receipt, tell them what's wrong, and they take care of you. Guys, get a coralife hehe, if you have any problems, they'll take care of you.


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