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Posted by Stevie B on December 18, 2006, 6:06 pm
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Hi all, this is the first time that I have posted in this group so I
hope that someone can help me or at least point me in the right
direction. I currently have a Juwel Trigon 350 tank housing tropicals.
I have just got to the stage where my CO2 and lighting regime have
started to come together and plant growth is going crazy. Typically
though, no sooner is this all sorted, my front Multilux lighting bar
decided to stop working. I have changed the plug fuse and replaced one
of the tubes but this did not sort the problem. At this point I dusted
off one of my old single tube starter units and tested all tubes
individually - needless to say they all fired up straight away - this
meant only one thing - the dreaded (very expensive) whole unit has
failed !! I have ready on many news groups that these things are
impenetrable and that attempting to open the unit to replace the
ballast will invalidate the warranty etc. I don't care about the
warranty as it has expired and I simply do not believe that the damn
thing won't come apart. I have had a go at opening it but any advice as
to how to open these things without causing too much damage would be
gratefully received. Another possibility is if anybody knows exactly
whereabouts the ballast is located, I am thinking that it may be
possible to drill a large hole (25-35mm ish) above it, replace it /
them, and then reseal the unit etc.
Please help, I really can't justify nearly =A3100 on a starter that's
not worth more than =A320 at any time of the year, let alone the week
before Christmas !!
I look forward to receiving any information on this topic.
Kind regards,
Steve.
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Posted by funfly3 on December 19, 2006, 3:33 am
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Stevie B wrote:
> Hi all, this is the first time that I have posted in this group so I
> hope that someone can help me or at least point me in the right
> direction. I currently have a Juwel Trigon 350 tank housing tropicals.
> I have just got to the stage where my CO2 and lighting regime have
> started to come together and plant growth is going crazy. Typically
> though, no sooner is this all sorted, my front Multilux lighting bar
> decided to stop working. I have changed the plug fuse and replaced one
> of the tubes but this did not sort the problem. At this point I dusted
> off one of my old single tube starter units and tested all tubes
> individually - needless to say they all fired up straight away - this
> meant only one thing - the dreaded (very expensive) whole unit has
> failed !! I have ready on many news groups that these things are
> impenetrable and that attempting to open the unit to replace the
> ballast will invalidate the warranty etc. I don't care about the
> warranty as it has expired and I simply do not believe that the damn
> thing won't come apart. I have had a go at opening it but any advice as
> to how to open these things without causing too much damage would be
> gratefully received. Another possibility is if anybody knows exactly
> whereabouts the ballast is located, I am thinking that it may be
> possible to drill a large hole (25-35mm ish) above it, replace it /
> them, and then reseal the unit etc.
>
> Please help, I really can't justify nearly £100 on a starter that's
> not worth more than £20 at any time of the year, let alone the week
> before Christmas !!
>
> I look forward to receiving any information on this topic.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Steve.
>
your terminology is backwards the starter is the little twist in
plastic part the ballast is the big heavy lump but apart from that I
cant help as I have never dismantled one, but I cannot imagine its that
hard to repair but the trick is finding which parts to drill or cut to do it
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Posted by Stevie B on December 19, 2006, 4:10 am
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funfly3 wrote:
> Stevie B wrote:
> > Hi all, this is the first time that I have posted in this group so I
> > hope that someone can help me or at least point me in the right
> > direction. I currently have a Juwel Trigon 350 tank housing tropicals.
> > I have just got to the stage where my CO2 and lighting regime have
> > started to come together and plant growth is going crazy. Typically
> > though, no sooner is this all sorted, my front Multilux lighting bar
> > decided to stop working. I have changed the plug fuse and replaced one
> > of the tubes but this did not sort the problem. At this point I dusted
> > off one of my old single tube starter units and tested all tubes
> > individually - needless to say they all fired up straight away - this
> > meant only one thing - the dreaded (very expensive) whole unit has
> > failed !! I have ready on many news groups that these things are
> > impenetrable and that attempting to open the unit to replace the
> > ballast will invalidate the warranty etc. I don't care about the
> > warranty as it has expired and I simply do not believe that the damn
> > thing won't come apart. I have had a go at opening it but any advice as
> > to how to open these things without causing too much damage would be
> > gratefully received. Another possibility is if anybody knows exactly
> > whereabouts the ballast is located, I am thinking that it may be
> > possible to drill a large hole (25-35mm ish) above it, replace it /
> > them, and then reseal the unit etc.
> >
> > Please help, I really can't justify nearly =A3100 on a starter that's
> > not worth more than =A320 at any time of the year, let alone the week
> > before Christmas !!
> >
> > I look forward to receiving any information on this topic.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Steve.
> >
> your terminology is backwards the starter is the little twist in
> plastic part the ballast is the big heavy lump but apart from that I
> cant help as I have never dismantled one, but I cannot imagine its that
> hard to repair but the trick is finding which parts to drill or cut to do=
it
Hi There, thanks for the response. You are right, it was rather late
when I posted this message so i'll just clarify what I actually meant.
I have both a spare starter and a spare ballast which I can / will make
fit into the Juwel system. Well spotted and thanks again for the
response.
Steve.
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Posted by LSR on December 19, 2006, 4:30 am
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funfly3 wrote:
>>
> your terminology is backwards the starter is the little twist in
> plastic part the ballast is the big heavy lump but apart from that I
> cant help as I have never dismantled one, but I cannot imagine its
> that hard to repair but the trick is finding which parts to drill or
> cut to do it
(OP again) Judging by the weight I'm pretty sure the Multilux has a modern
electronic control unit rather than the old, heavy ballast and separate
starter. I'll check with my supplier; if they can't get me a replacement in
the next day or so I'll tell them I'm going to try to open it anyway to
attempt an emergency repair. They've already seen it "intact" and not
working so this shouldn't invalidate the warranty.
It looks to me like each end-cap is held on by two round plastic welds that
could be drilled out. With those off the housing should be easy to open. It
could be resealed after repair using aquarium-grade silicone
--
LSR
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Posted by Stevie B on December 19, 2006, 4:50 am
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LSR wrote:
> funfly3 wrote:
> >>
> > your terminology is backwards the starter is the little twist in
> > plastic part the ballast is the big heavy lump but apart from that I
> > cant help as I have never dismantled one, but I cannot imagine its
> > that hard to repair but the trick is finding which parts to drill or
> > cut to do it
>
> (OP again) Judging by the weight I'm pretty sure the Multilux has a modern
> electronic control unit rather than the old, heavy ballast and separate
> starter. I'll check with my supplier; if they can't get me a replacement in
> the next day or so I'll tell them I'm going to try to open it anyway to
> attempt an emergency repair. They've already seen it "intact" and not
> working so this shouldn't invalidate the warranty.
>
> It looks to me like each end-cap is held on by two round plastic welds that
> could be drilled out. With those off the housing should be easy to open. It
> could be resealed after repair using aquarium-grade silicone
> --
> LSR
Hi there again funfly3, many thanks once again for your response. With
regards to dismantling, I have managed to remove the end caps, but
everything is still solidly in place after they have been removed and
it is quite difficult to see exactly where they are sealed. It looks to
me like the suspended U shape / box shape section slides out of the top
/ side rails sections but there must be a boat load of sealant or glue
in there holding it tight. It may be possible to bend one of the side
rails upwards, but this will obviously stress and possibly break the
plastic. I am of the same thinking as you though, get into it any whch
way possible and then make it good afterwards with more sealant and
plastic welds if required.
It would certainly be nice to get to the bottom of this problem and i'm
sure that two heads are much better than one. I would ideally like to
get my hands on an old unit so that I can take it apart without fear of
wrecking it so that I can apply the same principles to my existing one.
To this end, if you could get away with doing this to your faulty one I
would extremely grateful.
Kind regards,
Steve.
ps. Juwel do make top quality tanks but I am sure that they could make
these things serviceable or maybe lower the price of the replacements
!! Some come on Juwel - sort it out for us all !!
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> hope that someone can help me or at least point me in the right
> direction. I currently have a Juwel Trigon 350 tank housing tropicals.
> I have just got to the stage where my CO2 and lighting regime have
> started to come together and plant growth is going crazy. Typically
> though, no sooner is this all sorted, my front Multilux lighting bar
> decided to stop working. I have changed the plug fuse and replaced one
> of the tubes but this did not sort the problem. At this point I dusted
> off one of my old single tube starter units and tested all tubes
> individually - needless to say they all fired up straight away - this
> meant only one thing - the dreaded (very expensive) whole unit has
> failed !! I have ready on many news groups that these things are
> impenetrable and that attempting to open the unit to replace the
> ballast will invalidate the warranty etc. I don't care about the
> warranty as it has expired and I simply do not believe that the damn
> thing won't come apart. I have had a go at opening it but any advice as
> to how to open these things without causing too much damage would be
> gratefully received. Another possibility is if anybody knows exactly
> whereabouts the ballast is located, I am thinking that it may be
> possible to drill a large hole (25-35mm ish) above it, replace it /
> them, and then reseal the unit etc.
>
> Please help, I really can't justify nearly £100 on a starter that's
> not worth more than £20 at any time of the year, let alone the week
> before Christmas !!
>
> I look forward to receiving any information on this topic.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Steve.
>