Coralife Hood blinking (failure indicator?)

Pat Niemeyer · 04/13/2018, 03:29 PM

I just replaced the 96w square pin power compact bulbs in my Coralife hood and what happens now is that one blinks at a rate of about once per second - To be clear it's not flickering or random it seems to be deliberate. The second bulb stays black. If I swap the bulbs the result is identical (the one in the A position blinks the one in B is dark).

Now, my previous set of CF bulbs had died and I had been running on MH only for a few months, so I can't say for sure if it's related to the bulbs themselves (like, do I somehow have the wrong type) or the hood...

Googling this turns up surprisingly little for something that really looks like an error indicator

Anyone seen this?
thanks.

nikon187 · 04/13/2018, 06:04 PM

probably something to do with the ballast firing the bulbs or the endcaps that the bulbs are inserted into. unfortunatly wont find much on PC lights these days as they are 2 genertaions back in lighting. PC-T5-LED

kurt_n · 04/19/2018, 11:23 PM

I ran PC lights for a while, but never had to replace a ballast. How old are the lights?

I just recently had a power compact floor lamp with a built-in ballast start doing exactly what you mention: deliberate on/off cycle, almost like a timer. Swapped out bulbs and it still did it. Put the bulbs in an identical lamp and they were fine. A little research on the ballast part number said that this was indicative of a ballast going bad. My guess is it's the same for your fixture and you need to replace the ballast.

04/13/2018, 03:29 PM	#1
Pat Niemeyer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: St. Louis, MO, USA Posts: 165	Coralife Hood blinking (failure indicator?) I just replaced the 96w square pin power compact bulbs in my Coralife hood and what happens now is that one blinks at a rate of about once per second - To be clear it's not flickering or random it seems to be deliberate. The second bulb stays black. If I swap the bulbs the result is identical (the one in the A position blinks the one in B is dark). Now, my previous set of CF bulbs had died and I had been running on MH only for a few months, so I can't say for sure if it's related to the bulbs themselves (like, do I somehow have the wrong type) or the hood... Googling this turns up surprisingly little for something that really looks like an error indicator Anyone seen this? thanks.

04/13/2018, 06:04 PM	#2
nikon187 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Edmonton Alberta Posts: 4,717	probably something to do with the ballast firing the bulbs or the endcaps that the bulbs are inserted into. unfortunatly wont find much on PC lights these days as they are 2 genertaions back in lighting. PC-T5-LED __________________ ----------------- Current Tanks: New 210 custom 84 x 24 x 24, 60g sump, SWC 250 extreme with bubble blaster 5000, 2 vortech mp40, 2 vortech mp10, 12 T5, Water blaster 5000, warner marine bio pellets, 60g clownfish cube, red carpet anemone with a 25g sump,SRO octopus 1000sss, 250w radium, lumenarc large.

04/19/2018, 11:23 PM	#3
kurt_n Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: WA Posts: 2,592	I ran PC lights for a while, but never had to replace a ballast. How old are the lights? I just recently had a power compact floor lamp with a built-in ballast start doing exactly what you mention: deliberate on/off cycle, almost like a timer. Swapped out bulbs and it still did it. Put the bulbs in an identical lamp and they were fine. A little research on the ballast part number said that this was indicative of a ballast going bad. My guess is it's the same for your fixture and you need to replace the ballast.