Need Help ASAP!

[ZoaFan08]

I am away on business and will not return home till August 2nd and my GF just called to tell me that the fish tank light will not turn on anymore. The fixture is a Icecap T5 retro kit that is less than 6 months old and I have not had any problems with it. She came home and the lights were on, then as she was watching TV the lights turned off. She says they will not come back on unless she unplugs it in and they will flash on then turn right off. She said it makes no noises like it is shorting out and sees nothing wrong with any of the lights or ballast.

Anyone have any ideas I can tell her?

 

[Gtstricky]

not sure how those are wired but are they wired individually so that she could disconnect them all and try one at a time? If not maybe remove all bulbs and put one at a time back to see if a bulb is the problem.

 

[ZoaFan08]

she just called and said one bulb had a crack. She removed the cracked bulb the the light still does the same thing. She inspected all the bulbs and no others have cracks and they are all dry with no moisture, salt, or rust.

 

[ZoaFan08]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12970185#post12970185 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gtstricky
not sure how those are wired but are they wired individually so that she could disconnect them all and try one at a time? If not maybe remove all bulbs and put one at a time back to see if a bulb is the problem.

I don't think there is any way she could rewire the ballast....

 

[ZoaFan08]

Ok so she removed a bulb, checked it, still did it, removed another bulb, checked it, still did it. She did it until she got to the last bulb and then put a bulb in another spot to check the last bulb and it still did it.

 

[Playa-1]

I would replace all the bulbs and then if that didn't fix it then I would replace the ballast.

 

[Sk8r]

Tell her take it to your lfs and ask them to make it work...if it won't, you're in it for a ballast.
On the positive side, the absence of light won't kill your tank if your heat doesn't fall as a consequence, and I wouldn't have her adjust your heater: they're tricky things, and you can't believe the printed numbers, as you know. Hurricanes can darken a section of a reef for days on end---3-5 days is just SOP for bad weather. Worst that will do is diminish any cyano or hair algae...
So 3-5 days would give her plenty of time to work this out, even if you have to bite the really big bullet and order a whole new light rig online. I've found Foster/Smith is very fast.