Coralife turbo twist wiring?

mstockmaster · Mar 19, 2018

I was given a non functioning coralife turbo twist by a local. I am trying to fix it up to use on my own tank and make it available for other local club members. The major issue is that one of the previous owners was running it and water got into the base/socket area. It has completely dissolved anything metal including all of the wiring. I purchased a new socket and bulb and cut the bad portion of the wiring off so I'm working with fresh copper. The main issue is that I have no idea which wires go where on the socket. If anyone can help I'd appreciate it greatly.

Brew12 · Mar 20, 2018

mstockmaster said:
I was given a non functioning coralife turbo twist by a local. I am trying to fix it up to use on my own tank and make it available for other local club members. The major issue is that one of the previous owners was running it and water got into the base/socket area. It has completely dissolved anything metal including all of the wiring. I purchased a new socket and bulb and cut the bad portion of the wiring off so I'm working with fresh copper. The main issue is that I have no idea which wires go where on the socket. If anyone can help I'd appreciate it greatly.

Any chance you can take some pictures? I'm not familiar with the coralife turbo but might be able to figure it out with a picture of the wires and socket.

mstockmaster · Mar 20, 2018

I would have been able to figure it out also, unfortunately the wiring that was once attached to the original socket is like dissolved, completely dissolved. I ended up snipping the cord to uncover fresh wire, there are four wires. I think white, black, red, and green (from memory I'm at work now).

Brew12 · Mar 20, 2018

mstockmaster said:
I would have been able to figure it out also, unfortunately the wiring that was once attached to the original socket is like dissolved, completely dissolved. I ended up snipping the cord to uncover fresh wire, there are four wires. I think white, black, red, and green (from memory I'm at work now).

That would make sense. The green should be ground which can be determined with an ohm meter. White and black will be the power supply. We might be able to figure out that with an ohm meter, also. Not sure why the red would even be used unless it has a remote on/off switch.

I'll need to think on that one.

mstockmaster · Mar 20, 2018

I believe that the coralife ballast has the starter built into the ballast. The strange thing is that I can see the nubs of 3 wires exiting the base. Perhaps one of the wires is unused. But I can't tell for sure.

reefwiser · Mar 20, 2018

This is the problem with this unit an Salt water systems. The metal inside the unit will dissolve contaminating the water in the tank.

mstockmaster · Mar 20, 2018

The metal is not supposed to be exposed to water. But in this case it leaked, thus why I got it for free. It might just go in the trash though, not sure if it's worth the risk. I found green stains on the glass lens that would indicate copper corrosion.

Brew12 · Mar 21, 2018

mstockmaster said:
The metal is not supposed to be exposed to water. But in this case it leaked, thus why I got it for free. It might just go in the trash though, not sure if it's worth the risk. I found green stains on the glass lens that would indicate copper corrosion.

If you haven't tossed this yet, you may find this useful.

mstockmaster · Mar 21, 2018

Brew12 said:
If you haven't tossed this yet, you may find this useful.

Awesome! Thanks for tracking this down! Amazing help!

Brew12 · Mar 21, 2018

mstockmaster said:
Awesome! Thanks for tracking this down! Amazing help!

Not a problem, hope you get it working! Coralife was very helpful once I made contact with the right person!

mstockmaster · Mar 21, 2018

Brew12 said:
Not a problem, hope you get it working! Coralife was very helpful once I made contact with the right person!

Wow, crazy super awesome. If you're ever in Columbus Ohio area I'll buy you a beer.

mstockmaster · Mar 21, 2018

So now that this part is figured out. There is some blue green staining on the inside of the housing that possiblity means copper chloride/sulfate/whatever. What would remove this? Could I run this on a bucket with muriatic acid followed by thorough rinsing and maybe running it with some polysorb?

Brew12 · Mar 21, 2018

mstockmaster said:
So now that this part is figured out. There is some blue green staining on the inside of the housing that possiblity means copper chloride/sulfate/whatever. What would remove this? Could I run this on a bucket with muriatic acid followed by thorough rinsing and maybe running it with some polysorb?

I have no idea.. I would recommend asking that in the chemistry forum. Maybe someone there has an idea.