Ballast is too hot. Why?

[CStoner]

Please see this thread. Then respond here. Thanks.


http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=15042993#post15042993

 

[swpassion]

Where and how is it mounted?? You might want to move it to a place with better airflow are add an additional heatsink.

 

[THE ROOK]

Never had that ballast but it sounds like the heat sink is doing it's job. I plugged a small fan into the same timer as the halides. The result was a much cooler ballast & never had one burn out.

 

[DarG]

Some ballasts definitely run hotter than others. I dont know about the newer Icecaps but seems to me that when the guys in the Icecap forum wakeup this morning, they will reply as to whether it is normal for that ballasts heatsink to be as hot to the touch or not. If it isnt shutting down it is probably fine. They have a thermistor or some type of more advanced internal circuitry that will shut the ballast down if it is running beyond a maximum temp.

 

[CStoner]

Still no answer form Icecap. Anyone else? There's plenty of air movement around the ballast. It's out in the open.

 

[Entropy]

I think that is a bit odd, but as Rook mentioned, the heat sinks job is to shunt heat away from the ballast enclosure. Oddly, I have an older IceCap 250w ballast and it rarely gets more than very warm. It never gets hot enough to where I cannot keep my hand on it for several minutes. Mine is inside the canopy on the side of the stand.