ATI Sunpower Overheating

jimrawr

New member
I've had this 8x54w dimmable sun power for a few years now. Recently after running the lights for 3-4 hours the temperature of the sunpower will rise from the normal 35 degrees to 39 degrees at which point it will display an exclamation point on the display and going into safe mode and dim the lights considerably. This started happening about a week ago. I've dusted off the fans and made sure they are all working normally. I've cleaned the acryulic bulb shield since it was a bit dirty and that may have been trapping in some heat. I've checked into the software to make sure the fan voltage is set to 10v max. The lights are hanging and are not in a canopy, and my house is always with central AC on. So the problem is limited to the fixture I believe and no outside forces.

What could be causing this? I am going to leave the fans on manual ON 100% today and see how the unit does, but this would be a temporary fix as the fans would be running even at night time.

Do bulbs tend to run hotter with age? They are about 19 month old bulbs but my corals are doing swell so I dont want to change every 12 months as suggested unless really needed.

20161223_103739_resized_zpsi1pr1nqh.jpg
 
Correct, but the air needs to exit the fixture as well. It should exit on the side of the fixture. Probably opposite of where the cord side. Is air coming out from there?

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This must be related to the fans. there is not much that can be done besides looking into those. If you checked the fixture, you would have notice any air restriction inside the unit?
 
If you figure it out, please post it here. My ati run hot straight out of the box. I'm assuming maybe there are more powerful fans out there that can push more air but I haven't found any
 
If you figure it out, please post it here. My ati run hot straight out of the box. I'm assuming maybe there are more powerful fans out there that can push more air but I haven't found any

I believe the fans and airflow are designed to keep the bulbs at a certain temperature, for peak performance. Maybe others can pitch in more info, but I remember watching a video where it was said ATI's have the perfect design to allow bulbs for maximum output, thus why their fixtures are such par beasts compared to others(besides reflectors).

If one is running uncommonly hot, there could be a problem though
 
My fans are working fine and one is running at 48 Celsius I think with the ! On display. The fixtures are completely open so it's not a matter of airflow blockage


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Did a bit of reading around, and found this post where owners were concerned about hight temps of their ATI's as well.

Sonny,

I think it depends on the wattage and amount of bulbs you are using. I can imagine that the same fan cooling a Sunpower 4x24 watt requires a lower voltage then the Sunpower 4x80 watt :)
Also, the 6 bulb version has two fans, so actually one fan per 3 bulbs instead of four. That also effects the cooling abilities.
The PAR results can only be applied to the tested ATI pendants. Besided that the test was performed using a Powermodule which has MUCH better cooling.

I would suggest to let the fans run 15 minutes after all the lights are off to cool the ballasts, like stated before.

To get the optimum output without the ability of testing with a PAR meter, try to aim for the ideal temperature for T5 HO bulbs (35 C)
I measured the air when entering the bulb ends, and at the end of the pendant. When you take the average and get around 35 C I think that's the best setting.

Said that I did some tests myself and my ATI Sunpower 4x39 pendants (one fan) gets 31 C at the bulb ends and 55 C at the end of the pendant at 12 V.
So the cooling is insufficient on the Sunpowers to say at least. I'm thinking about modding the Sunpowers with larger, high quality fans.

I suggest to run at 12 V Sonny, and ignore the sound ;)

Leonardo

Reefpharmer,

Yours running at 48 Celcius seems a bit high. Maybe you should try contacting ATI for further help
 
Did a bit of reading around, and found this post where owners were concerned about hight temps of their ATI's as well.



Reefpharmer,

Yours running at 48 Celcius seems a bit high. Maybe you should try contacting ATI for further help

i did contact them and they were pretty much no help. They asked if the fixture was in a canopy (no), whether anything was blocking the air outtake (no) and for me to reset the fixture (did it). Nothing changed unfortunately
 
If you are certain both fans are working and there is good airflow through the unit I would change the bulbs. They're old anyway and nothing to lose IMO.
 
I love ATI, but hate sometimes their customer support. I read SO many issues with failing ballasts and overheating, figures they woukd know why these things happen.
Most of the complaints are however with the dimmeable ballasts. The non dimmeable seem like dont have quite as many issues.
 
And of course I got the dimmable version . I'm setting up a fan overtop to blow air over it


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And of course I got the dimmable version . I'm setting up a fan overtop to blow air over it


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I cant remember where but did read somewhere a guy replaced the stock fans with more powerful ones. Im not sure if you are handy with soldering, etc.. but im positive you can get computer fans and adapt for a fixture running cooler. It kind of sucks to pay for a sleek fixture snd have to put a fan over it ruining your tank looks.
Let me see if I can find the threa Ii saw the mod for the fans.
 
Correct, but the air needs to exit the fixture as well. It should exit on the side of the fixture. Probably opposite of where the cord side. Is air coming out from there?

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Ok guys this is what my problem was. There needs to be a space between the acrylic an the end of the fixture on the opposite side of the cord. When I had previously opened the unit the do work on the fixture, I must have swapped the left/right end caps when I put them back on. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. Air gets pushed through small holes right above the bulbs on the right side of the fixture. That air should run down the length of the bulbs and exit the unit on the left side.

The space between the acrylic and the end of the fixture was on the right side for me. This meant that the air being pushed down onto the bulbs would just immediately exit the fixture. The unit seems to be keeping temperatures lower much better now.

ReefPharmer, take a look and see if this helps you. If this isnt your problem, go into the menu and change the voltage to 10 for maximum settings. Maybe its not set correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGggDftyaew

This video shows what I am talking about right around the 2 minute mark. Make sure that space is on the opposite side of the power cable.
 
I love ATI, but hate sometimes their customer support. I read SO many issues with failing ballasts and overheating, figures they woukd know why these things happen.
Most of the complaints are however with the dimmeable ballasts. The non dimmeable seem like dont have quite as many issues.

The guy I spoke with on the phone did mention that sometimes its the ballasts that over heat.
 
I'm experiencing the same problem with my dimmable fixture. Lately has been in safe mode 41C. My fish room is air conditioned and fixture is not in canopy. The exit side of the cover has space to allow hot air to exit too. I'm thinking of putting a fan on top of the fixture in the location of the fan inlets.
 
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