# light fixture wire melt



## JerseyBiker (May 29, 2010)

I hope I'm in the correct topic for my question. This is my first post on this forum. I have a fresh water Oceanic aquarium. I've owned it for over 10 years. It came with a 48" T8 light fixture. I arrived home today to the smell of something burning. I found it to be the wiring between the ballast and the light fixture. The wire was actually melting in a about a 3 inch area. The light was turned off at the time. I unplugged it of course and the ballast was extremely hot. It was still kind of hot an hour later. Can someone explain to me why this could happen? Can I just replace the ballast or should I trash the whole light fixture? Thanks.


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Welcome aboard. That's a bummer. Check it to make sure nothing else is wrong with it, then cut out the bad parts (the ballast and wires), and install a new one. Make sure to waterproof any new connections. From the sound of it, it's likely salvageable. Although thats a great excuse to go out and get a new fixture, perhaps one with more light or more energy efficient, or both..


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## JerseyBiker (May 29, 2010)

MediaHound said:


> Welcome aboard. That's a bummer. Check it to make sure nothing else is wrong with it, then cut out the bad parts (the ballast and wires), and install a new one. Make sure to waterproof any new connections. From the sound of it, it's likely salvageable. Although thats a great excuse to go out and get a new fixture, perhaps one with more light or more energy efficient, or both..


I did go out and buy a new fixture today. I didn't want to take a chance with the old one since I'm not sure where the over heating is coming from. It was over 10 years old anyway. I purchased a 48" Coralife T5 freshwater fixture. It has two lamps. One is a 6700K 28 watt lamp and the other is a colormax 28 watt. It's much brighter than the single T8 lamp in the old fixture and gives everything a bright new look. It's low profile and gives the top of my tank a less cluttered look. After I got home I researched them online and found them a bit cheaper. I couldn't find any decent reviews for it though. Does anyone have an opinion of these fixtures pro or con? Thanks.

~eddie


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

I've got a coralife fixture on my refugium and I think its great. It's a small CF fixture though, very different than yours. The legs are delicate on it, not sure how the legs on yours are built. Does yours have those clear legs that slide in individually on all 4 corners, and they have a screw to sort of hold them in place? Kind of hard to describe..


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## JerseyBiker (May 29, 2010)

MediaHound said:


> I've got a coralife fixture on my refugium and I think its great. It's a small CF fixture though, very different than yours. The legs are delicate on it, not sure how the legs on yours are built. Does yours have those clear legs that slide in individually on all 4 corners, and they have a screw to sort of hold them in place? Kind of hard to describe..


The fixture lays flat on the glass top. It does have 1 adjustable sliding mount on each end. The mounts are thin wires. They are to keep the fixture in place and not to support it's weight. See the attached picture. It is of one end of the fixture. That thin thing on the very left edge is the mount.

~eddie


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