Broken Ballast

Hi guys.

I asked for advice on changing my lighting to LED's a few weeks back and a few days later my ballast blew (that'll teach me). Being a DIY nut i decided to replace the ballast rather than get a new hood.The tank is a Juwel Rekord 800 and as everyone knows they are notorious for having weak lighting systems.

The first thing i did was to check the bulbs, the connections, seals and of coarse the fuse in the plug.After all of these were in good health the only option left is a ballast problem.The ballast on this particular hood is quite easy to get too.Just behind the feeding hatch there is a rectangular panel that runs the length of the hood , this is held down with sealant.DO NOT US A KNIFE to open this as you may cut the wires.I used the handle of a tea spoon, once you get one corner up then just insert spoon and run it around the perimeter.

Once the hatch is open you should see the ballast, one end will have the mains feed (brown/blue/earth)the other end will have 6 wires coming from the lights.The wires are held by a small clamp connections , to release these just press the small orange buttons.Its best to number each wire as you remove them, but its pretty easy to wire it.

There are two bulbs, each bulb has two pin contacts at each end.At one end of each bulb two wires go back to the ballast, these are numbers 1,2,5,6.At the other end of the bulbs one wire returns back to the ballast numbers 3,4 .The last two contacts are a loop and run from one bulb to the other. Its easier than it sounds, i'll try and load some pictures later.

I found a website that deals in aquarium lighting and ballasts and i placed an order for the exact make and model.They emailed me a day later and said they had none in stock but he could get me another type that would be the exact same.As it turns out it wasn't .The ballast that arrived had 7 wire connections not 6. After a bit of tinkering around i realised that the loop at the top needed another wire to run back to the ballast, so long story short my lights work again .

This is all terrible boring but i hope someone might find a use for it.As i said ill try and get some pic's up and maybe some of this will make more sence.

Stuart.

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the photos, would make it easier for an electrical novice like me to understand
Well done Stuart. Bet you will have a new business repairing Juwel light units!

I think I have the same problem with my 180L juwel ballast my light worked for a few minutes then it started to flicker and turned off I checked everything else and they are all ok. Can u show how you opened the unit? I taught I would have to cut a piece out to get at the ballast.

irish-zx10r wrote:

I think I have the same problem with my 180L juwel ballast my light worked for a few minutes then it started to flicker and turned off I checked everything else and they are all ok. Can u show how you opened the unit? I taught I would have to cut a piece out to get at the ballast.

Had to open the light unit for a Juwel Vision 180 a while ago and the only uption is to cut open the unit itself. Depending on the height of the tank, you can open the unit from below or above. The top edge of my tank is way above the eye level so i was able to make the cut from above and didn't had to seal it afterwards. If you cut the unit from below, make sure you seal it very good to stop water wapors getting inside.

m4r10 ,Yeah i think it was your thread i looked at before i tried this.I was just lucky that on my light unit the hatch was removable and i didn't need to cut the unit.

I'm trying to upload pictures of the job but it just wont up load.I click add file then open my pics and click the one i want then nothing happens.

Stuart.

Anyone have any idea's why i cant upload photo's?I click add file, my pic's appear and when i select a picture to up load it returns back to the forum screen and noting happens?

Stuart.

Ok hope this works, i had to setup a photo bucket account and hopefully link the photos from there.Before you attempt anything like this make sure the unit is unplugged.

Ok first is just a pic of the top of the tank.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=9

next shows the light setup.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=8

next shows the removed panel and the exposed ballast. Note there is a knife in the picture but i just used this to lift the corner do not use it for cutting the sealant just in case you damage the wires.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

So just number all the wires as you remove them.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=6

Remove the two hold down screws on the ballast and it pops right out.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=3

This is the wiring diagram i explained earlier . pretty easy to follow especially when u have everything numbered.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=5

Ok so that's how to remove a ballast from a juwel rekord 800 other models may be different.If you can get the exact same type ballast then it goes in just as easy, just seal up the panel and your good to go.My problem was when the ballast arrived it was different, so i had to add a wire. In the above pic of the wiring diagram on the right hand side you can see the loop which runs from on light to the other i had to join a wire here and run it back to the bank of wires on the other end of the ballast unit.

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

s1350.photobucket.com/user/wylam82/media....jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

The new wire i put in was slightly thicker than the origional wires but its better to have it a bit thicker than thinner. The connection you see in the picture was just temporary to check if my wiring worked.I later replaced it with a proper soldered connection and shrink wrapped coverings around it. Make sure to clean the panel of all sealant before applying new stuff and make sure to weight it down until it dries to make sure you get a universal seal.

I hope the links work , if anyone has any questions or comments feel free.

Stuart.