I failed…so badly

[Miami Reef]

I’m just pushing each button, removing wire then pushing wire back in.

 

[Miami Reef]

How do I know which ballasts control group 2?

 

[CanuckReefer]

There’s a reason us electricians cuss light designers.

You know it! How many times have I said, 'these guys certainly didn't have an electrician involved in the process!!!'

 

[olonmv]

Now you start to make sure all wires are seated correctly individually.

 

[olonmv]

Which lamps were flickering? That’ll be your group 2. Follow the wires on the tombstones back to the ballast.

 

[CanuckReefer]

How do I know which ballasts control group 2?

Do you remember which sockets were controlling group 2? I probably could have suggested marking them before opening. Whoops. I would check all connections methodical regardless.

 

[olonmv]

heres schematic for you ballast. I assuming you have 4 groups?

 

[olonmv]

If there’s only 2 groups I’d look into these. Can you get us a close up of those?

 

[olonmv]

You don’t want to hear this. I’d put money on sockets. Why do I say this? It’s part of what I do. This tunnel:

And these ballasts:

Are all for 106 T5’s. Sockets are the most common failure point when flickering or failure to ignite is happening.

This some kind of curing machine?

 

[Miami Reef]

Okay. Time to put bulbs in and fire it up. If I electrocute myself tell my corals I loved them.

 

[Miami Reef]

Lights are on. Very slight flickering in some bulbs. Very slight. Almost like a twitching. Is some flickering normal?

Anyway, this doesn’t mean anything. The fans aren’t spinning (wire obstruction) and…I don’t know. Sign. I need a break.

 

[Smite]

Lights are on. Very slight flickering in some bulbs. Very slight. Almost like a twitching. Is some flickering normal?

Anyway, this doesn’t mean anything. The fans aren’t spinning (wire obstruction) and…I don’t know. Sign. I need a break.

On first fire they’ll do that. They’ll also look dimmer in the middle for a moment. After a few minutes they should be uniform with no flickering.

 

[Smite]

I’m on my phone. I’ll take a closer look once I’m home.

 

[Smite]

So normally N is white or grey but I’m your case it appears to be blue. Check all connections that have an N. No need to pull them out, tug test them. Also I only see 2 leads leaving the contactors so follow those leads to the first connection point. Each ballast only has 2 leads so there needs to be a connection point for the 3 group 2 ballasts somewhere

 

[olonmv]

Lights are on. Very slight flickering in some bulbs. Very slight. Almost like a twitching. Is some flickering normal?

Anyway, this doesn’t mean anything. The fans aren’t spinning (wire obstruction) and…I don’t know. Sign. I need a break.

Some new lamps have a swirl flicker effect which will go away with burn in.

 

[olonmv]

I’m still curious what the role of the 2 objects I circled are.

 

[Smite]

They look like contactors to me. The tiny display probably cant handle a load so it just controls the open/close function on the contactors. I think the module above is probably for 0-10v dimming?

 

[Smite]

So here are the connections you should focus on first in my opinion. Tug test them, make sure they are in there good. You also need to follow these pairs back (out of view of the picture, possible farther up in the fixture) to their connection point. There will be a set that has 3 ballast leads tied together. The other will have 1 single ballast, that's your two lamp ballast that's functioning properly. You want to dive deeper into the set that has 3 ballasts tied together. Follow that back checking all connections until you get to the contactor controlling it. If alls good, then follow the leads on the opposite side of the contactor to the terminal block I circled and check those connections.

If all are good then we have to go from there. Look at the plug itself, if there is an adapter swap adapters and see if it symptoms change channels.

 

[olonmv]

They look like contactors to me. The tiny display probably cant handle a load so it just controls the open/close function on the contactors. I think the module above is probably for 0-10v dimming?

If they’re contactors, that could be the culprit. If that flickers everything downstream will flicker.

 

[Miami Reef]

Why aren’t my fans turning on?

@ATI North America I’m struggling SO much with this unit. I want to rip my hair out.