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Burnt VHO End Cap

C

cmsurfr22

so i'm starting to get things set up in my new house after about a year of being out of the fish hobby and i go to replace the bulbs and i was shocked to find one of the endcaps had started to melt and the plug in the bulb was loose and wobbling around. what would have caused this and how do i avoid this in the future? i was lucky in that it didn't catch fire but i'm sure it very easily could have happened. ???

MeltedEndcap.jpg

BurntVHOBulb.jpg
 
blange3

blange3

Hey Chris,

Welcome back! If the bulb wasn't seated properly it will run hot and melt the cap.

Glad to have another VHO guy around! ;D
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

That looks like a JBJ end cap, they are notorious for going up in flames. Put the German 3 piece end caps on this time around. They seal against the bulbs better than the JBJs.
 
C

cmsurfr22

Jcurry@wesketch said:
That looks like a JBJ end cap, they are notorious for going up in flames. Put the German 3 piece end caps on this time around. They seal against the bulbs better than the JBJs.
Click to expand...

they were definitely the 3-piece german ones...
 
J

Jcurry@wesketch

Then I would check to see if the end caps are aligned properly. If their not then the o ring won't seal tightly and allow things to corrode over time.
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
If you go with t5s IceCap came out with prewired retros. I have 4 of them on my 265. Best part is you don't have to worry that you didn't install them correctly. I had End Caps burn out like that twice. Both times it was because I had the end caps to far away.

icecapinc001016.jpg
 
C

cmsurfr22

oh nice! do they sell them without the ballast? i already have 3 440 ballasts that i was going to use to power 4 3' bulbs each for a total of 12 3' bulbs over my 210
 
Edwardw771

Edwardw771

NJRC Member
They are prewired for 4 bulbs but Let me know if your interested I'm sure I talk him into a special wiring for you.
 
C

cmsurfr22

i send chris a pm about it, i basically need a 6 rows of 2 three foot bulbs end to end and i have three icecap 440 ballasts. i think each 440 can power 4 three foot bulbs. so something like this if its possible, each color represents a different ballast:

bulbs.jpg


so really the only one i need that is special is the red set.
 
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