I am greatful that I switched lights so now I can have beautiful corals and what not, but my lights kind of put out a bad "electrical smell" to them. IT's starting to fill up my house, and when ever I walk in it is the first thing I smell. Maybe it's just my lights, the Current Satellight Dual. I hope it isn't bad for me. Does anyone else have this problem?
The smell of lights
- Thread starter BriOnH
- Start date
Adrastos
not getting a free ride
Not at all... I'd check for another reason for the smell. Water, your filter, the dead rat that has been hiding behind your couch for a week...
yote
In Memoriam
Brion have you checked to make sure your ballasts aint over heating?
Hi yote, hope this doesn't sound bad but what are my ballasts? I think part of the proble is that there is only about an inch gap between my light fan and a wall, the smell is for sure coming from where the fan is shooting out air. I have a feeling it may be because of the Florucent Lighting.yote said:
jhnrb said:
I think this could be the problem. I am going to add a fan to the top to blow air up. It says not to house this light in an enlosed top, but this is as close as it comes without it being encased.
Doesn anyone else have datelite dual with this problem? I should just really upgrade to Metal Halide.
yote
In Memoriam
BriOnH said:
Im not sure on how to really explain it cause im not an electrician,BUt the ballasts are what runs florsent lights,they kinda act like power regulaters.
Your problem could very well be from your fans being to close to the wall.If there that close the walls preventing the fans from doing their job of removing the heat,which could cause the ballast to over heat,which will eventually become a fire hazzard.
If at all possiblemove your light so that you have at least 2 1/2 to 3 inches between the fans exhaust and the wall. Half inch of air movement there can turn into a real bad problem real quick.
yote said:
Ok I did that and there is about 2.5 inches. Man I am worried my home is going to burn down now. Right where the fan blows out there is a tiny brown spot on my wall too.
I was thinking about using a computer fan to set on top of the tank and against the wall to blow the air up and out.
bjohanson1234
.........
If you do ever open the fixture, the ballasts will be a matallic rectangle most likely black that all the wires connect to. What this does is both light and keep the lights running.
Im not sure of the terminaology but gas filled bulbs like flourecent and MH bulbs dont have a continuous filiment like regular incandecent bulbs. So the initial start up requires a higher current or voltage but once the gas inside ignites, its resistance drops and would draw alot of current if the ballast didnt regulate it down.
As for the heating, try getting it more ventilation. If that doesnt help, I would contact the manufacturer because it isnt unheard of to have defective ballasts that overheat.
Brian
Im not sure of the terminaology but gas filled bulbs like flourecent and MH bulbs dont have a continuous filiment like regular incandecent bulbs. So the initial start up requires a higher current or voltage but once the gas inside ignites, its resistance drops and would draw alot of current if the ballast didnt regulate it down.
As for the heating, try getting it more ventilation. If that doesnt help, I would contact the manufacturer because it isnt unheard of to have defective ballasts that overheat.
Brian
yote
In Memoriam
Any thing to help remove the heat will work.But like BJ said,,go ahead and call the manufacture to. It might not be anything at all,,but then again its better to safe than sorry.
A brown spot on the wall is definitely a sign of being too close to the wall and too much heat. Im not sure of your setup but can you reverse the lights so the fans blow away from the wall. with that much heat you may need to skin the wall with a non conbustible such as some concrete board or other veneer that will dissipate the heat from the wall. also you do not want to block in any way fresh air to the hood and exhaust from the hood. let us know what you do and how things are working.
jhnrb said:
The light fits perfectly between the walls. This is an old picture (I traded in that huge rock with all the sea anenomes attached to it.):
I have moved the light all the way to the right and it is alot better today.
The brown spot is just barely noticable, just enough for concern. I don't know if I can reverse the fan. I believe hooking up a computer fan and laying it on top and against the wall will help dissapate the heat efficiently. My top is open. I let water evaporate and refill once a week with fresh water. The back of the tank usually looks blue. The flash cathces the loosness well.
I was thinking of trying to trade this in with current for an upgrade to an Orbit. I would really like metal halide, but at the same time I am sure 380 watts throws out a lot more heat then 192; Plus I really need to stop spending money on this :D and make sure the house doesn't burn down.
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Adrastos
not getting a free ride
If you don't have a lot of room for the current lighting - you are not going to want to go with MH - they put off a large amount of heat and typically need to be raised considerably above the top of the tank...
d.french
Reef enthusiast
i would raise that light atleast 4 inches off top of water i keep mine 6 inches above water and still get salt splash on covers.
yote
In Memoriam
I agree with d. You should raise your lights up,That will also help keep the heat transfer to the water down some.
fishbait
I found Nemo
i have the current orbits and the do put off a lot of heat. mine aren't any where near a wall but if it put my hands in front of the fan it's pretty toasty. i dont know if you will ever get enough airflow with the wall that close to both sides of youre lighting. maybe if you have a glass top on you're tank you can take the acrylic lens off you lights. as long as they are a few inches off the tank as everyone else suggest. this will let a little more air flow across the ballast. they will build most of the heat, not you're bulbs. if you're ballast over heat too much they will fail. and sometimes it's not pretty when a ballast fails from overheating.
Yep I agree with the others. you need to get the end stands for the light assembly and get that puppy up a bit above the water this will help to cool it a bit.Keep us posted. Also as close to the wall that you are, you need some thin wall protection to deflect the heat.
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If I move the light up will that cause the bottom of my tank to absorb less light? I am open to try this but it's improtant to me (with only 192 watts) for my corals to get as much light as possible.
Also the glass that covers the lights (on the bottom) has a gap between it and the side of the light that has the fan. Since air is circulating from the Light and water out towards the wall would that be better then rasing it up?
Since I have moved as far possible to the right the electrical smell has pretty much disappeared. I don't smell it anymore when I walk in my house.
Also the glass that covers the lights (on the bottom) has a gap between it and the side of the light that has the fan. Since air is circulating from the Light and water out towards the wall would that be better then rasing it up?
Since I have moved as far possible to the right the electrical smell has pretty much disappeared. I don't smell it anymore when I walk in my house.
