reefbrite metal halide ballast wont work anymore.

zheka757 · Aug 26, 2022

this is reefbrite digital 250w ballast im dealing with.
i just installed it and the lamp turned on several times after disconnecting and reconnecting it to make adjustments to my cables, it wont work any more. i know its a ballast because the light fixture was plugged into a different ballast and light turned on. I don't know much about them but there is a reset button on a ballast that i tried to press many times and it wont do anything. do i need to buy another $200 ballast or is there a trick to make it work again.

thatmanMIKEson · Aug 27, 2022

zheka757 said:
this is reefbrite digital 250w ballast im dealing with.
i just installed it and the lamp turned on several times after disconnecting and reconnecting it to make adjustments to my cables, it wont work any more. i know its a ballast because the light fixture was plugged into a different ballast and light turned on. I don't know much about them but there is a reset button on a ballast that i tried to press many times and it wont do anything. do i need to buy another $200 ballast or is there a trick to make it work again.

Would you really buy another? There's plenty of mh ballast out there, seems like it should handle going on and off a few times .. Idk last m.h I had was around 2001

ikaros70 · Aug 27, 2022

Sounds like ballast went out, how old is it?
Icecap ballast ~$130

rtparty · Aug 27, 2022

Reach out to ReefBrite and see if they have any tips to troubleshoot

zheka757 · Aug 27, 2022

got it from another reefer, just installed it yesterday

Smite · Sep 10, 2022

Are you sure that's a reset button and not a fuse? If it's a fuse it may have just blown and needs replacing.

zheka757 · Sep 10, 2022

You got my hopes up, I went back and check it out. If I plug it in, that red light comes on.
....anyways I got a new $200 one, but I would love to see if this one can be saved to have as spare

Smite · Sep 10, 2022

zheka757 said:
You got my hopes up, I went back and check it out. If I plug it in, that red light comes on.
....anyways I got a new $200 one, but I would love to see if this one can be saved to have as spare

Did you ever contact Reefbrite? They are super helpful in my experience. I feel like a lot of electronic ballasts have a fuse to protect them from damage, maybe there is one still?

If you look at this picture (looks like a different gen of RB ballast) you can see that it's labeled fuse, near that button.

Makes me wonder if there is a fuse of some kind in that reset button. That thumb screw cover has me thinking it's accessible for a reason. Might be worth a email to RB, could be a simple fix and you'd have a spare. Hopefully!

zheka757 · Sep 10, 2022

i have contacted them, he said my ballast is "cooked" but maybe i should take it apart and see maybe there is something simple. reefbrite told me, being that its a digital ballast meaning that is electronic chip that controls on/off and what type of bulb you use, that could be the problem.

zheka757 · Sep 10, 2022

Took it apart to see, they poured this rubber/plastic material all over it inside so nothing would be accessible. And don't see a fuse.

Smite · Sep 10, 2022

zheka757 said:
Took it apart to see, they poured this rubber/plastic material all over it inside so nothing would be accessible. And don't see a fuse.

Sorry man, that sucks. I wonder if all that is to help protect it from moisture/humidity? So just a set of wires connected to that press button then?

zheka757 · Sep 10, 2022

Lol, I threw it in trash right after posting that picture, it's ok thanks for the help

oreo54 · Sep 10, 2022

zheka757 said:
Lol, I threw it in trash right after posting that picture, it's ok thanks for the help

The "reset" button was a circuit breaker so probably no fuse since it takes its place.
There is no way to repair that thing.
On a side note I've popped power supplies by short cycling them, you know plugging/unplugging/plugging them rapidly BUT usually was going anyways (bad caps).
Most idiot lights aren't very helpful. At best they may tell you the ac side works.

zheka757 · Oct 16, 2022

wow. so second ballast went bad in last 2 month. kind of regretting going into metal halides business (but not really) just ordered icecap selectable wattage ballast. about $40 cheaper then 250w reefbrite, and gives me option to go 400w bulbs if need to.
just to be clear, this is not the same light that i posted about month ago, i got 4 of them over my tank, just another light that I have me problem with

Smite · Oct 16, 2022

That's crazy! Sorry to hear that. I wonder what is causing it, I thought they had pretty good reviews?

zheka757 · Oct 16, 2022

I'm just new to metal halides, I guess I'm trying to figure out what is life span of ballast in general?
Other thing is I got them used, and I was "told" they being barely used.

Dcloser12 · Oct 16, 2022

The inside of the ballast. That material is what we call "potted" it's not for moisture but for both heat dissipation and to prevent any thing from becoming loose. It's non repairable.

Smite · Oct 17, 2022

I'd expect years out of a ballast. I've got galaxy and lumatek selectable ballasts that have who knows how many years on them?

I bought my reefbrite hybrid used as well. I was told it had been used for a year or two but the dude had 3 sets of used reefbrite bulbs to go along with it so I'm guessing 2 or 3 years of use. I put about a year on it sold it to a buddy who has been running it for a year. I plan to buy it back here soon.

Their full warranty is 2 years so they expect that at a minimum. I would be expecting at least 5 but maybe that's not the case for these smart type ballasts. Hopefully you get much better life out of the next.

Heat kills (shouldn't make them fail that early though) so mount them so the cooling fins are up and down so heat naturally rises through them. Don't mount them so tight they touch one another ect, try to reduce heat as best as possible. Somewhere with a bit of open air or air flow is ideal.

zheka757 · Oct 17, 2022

This is my setup, they are laying in a 90F canopy ballast is 100F with a big fan blowing from a side, and exhaust fan in a ceiling right above the fan. Do you think It could be heat?

Smite · Oct 18, 2022

Dang that's one heck of a lighting rig! That all looks pretty open air to me so should be fine.

Fan blowing over them and you're good, as long as they are spaced out a bit and not directly over a pendant I don't see an issue. Space all that out as best you can. I wouldn't be putting LED drivers on top of one another for the same reason like you have with the 2 silver ones.