ATI hybrid T5 channel not working properly

[Bars]

So 2 weeks ago I replaced my old bulbs with new ones. Had to change the program to burn the bulbs in, which - due to a bad usb dongle - resulted in a bunch of errors. A week ago I received a new dongle. Everything worked, great! Until.... I removed the fans to give them a good clean. Didn't disconnect any wires or anything. Simply took the fans out, removed all the dust and placed them back. Now all of a sudden one of the T5 channels sometimes won't turn on. I then have to reload the program for it to start working again.

As of just now, this channel won't turn on at all. I tried reloading the program, lights came on for a second and immediately turned off again. The fan is spinning just fine.

Any ideas what's going on this time?

 

[NH MadReefer]

I have the same light and a similar issue. My light is an 8 bulb version and the 2 front and 2 back t-5 bulbs are suppose to come on at the same time which they do, but after about 10 minutes the 2 back set of bulbs go out and don’t turn back on until the next morning. It has been doing this for over a week. The other t-5 circuit works fine. Does anyone know what may have caused this? I have never taken the fixture apart.

 

[Bars]

Hmm, I just read something about a bad relay causing a channel to not turn off or have problems dimming.

Could a bad relay cause it to not turn on properly as well?

 

[NH MadReefer]

Guess I will have to look into that.

 

[Bars]

Guess I will have to look into that.

Do you have a dimmable fixture?
I contacted ATI today and they told me my long sunrise/sunset could be causing problems. I've reduced them both to just 1.5 hours instead of 3 hours.

 

[SPS2020]

Do you have a dimmable fixture?
I contacted ATI today and they told me my long sunrise/sunset could be causing problems. I've reduced them both to just 1.5 hours instead of 3 hours.

Following as I have a dimmable ATI hybrid, but no issues thus far (knock on wood). My longest ramp is 1.5 hours.

 

[Bars]

Following as I have a dimmable ATI hybrid, but no issues thus far (knock on wood). My longest ramp is 1.5 hours.

I was told a long ramp up/down between 0 - 25% is especially bad. They advised me to ramp up/down from 0 - 25 (or 25 - 0) in 5 minutes.

 

[SPS2020]

I was told a long ramp up/down between 0 - 25% is especially bad. They advised me to ramp up/down from 0 - 25 (or 25 - 0) in 5 minutes.

Thanks for that info! One would think they might consider placing such information in the Item Description or in the Manual. Another option would be the sheet that specifically calls out a 50 hour burn in time prior to using the dimming function on a new bulb. Their recommendation sort of defeats the purpose of having a dimmable fixture, IMO.

 

[Midrats]

Dimming T5s has always been a bit of an adventure. I have fixtures that will dim up and down smoothly, and others that don't. My newest 8 bulb reaches 0% during its one hour ramp down a little before 10pm so when it shuts of at 10pm I get a quick flash that startles everyone in the room. ATI advised me to program 2159 15% 2200 OFF. He said at the lower power levels they can be finicky. I pretty much don't use sunrises and sunsets anyway, I've always been an ON and OFF kind of guy. I like the tank to be bright if I'm looking at it. I find the greatest advantage to dimming is the ability to match the output of the new bulbs to the old bulbs for acclimation purposes.