New hood for my 10g & wiring help needed

superjohnny · 10-09-2006, 01:17 PM

Hola,
Well after much ado I finally decided to put a 96w quad-flat power compact light over my 10g. I'm having a bit of a "sparky" issue wiring the new light & ballast together. When I plug the light in and try to install the lamp it sparks pretty violently. I haven't tried plugging the light in and then powering it up for fear that something is wrong and it'll blow either the ballast or bulb... both of which are quite expensive. I've included a couple photo's. Pics of the whole tank & hood when i get it all done (oh so close!)

I've followed Fulham's wiring diagram 12 and used 3 leads and tied 1 off. Yellow from ballast to 2 blue on endcap and 3 red from ballast to 2 red on endcap.

On the other side, and I'm sorry for the poor quality photo, ground to green, blue to white and brown to black. Not sure which is power & which is neutral. I'm thinking this is causing my issue.

Can anyone tell me if it is wired correctly?

Thank you!

PS, Fulham support has been totally unhelpful.

Geoff · 10-09-2006, 09:15 PM

could you post a link to the Fulham wiring diagram you are following? something does not look right. could you also take a pic of the ballast?

G~

wharyat · 10-10-2006, 12:51 AM

Yes, wiring diagram is needed.

Where do the sparks come from? Is it from the wall plug?

wharyat · 10-10-2006, 12:52 AM

I just noticed you said it is sparking when you have the ballast powered and then try to install the bulb. Yes, it will spark and arc due to about 13kV trying to decide where to go.

Try plugging the lamp in then plugging the ballast in. I bet it will fire right up.

superjohnny · 10-10-2006, 01:20 AM

Here is the wiring diagram: http://www.fulham.com/images/WDgifs/wire12.gif
it's a quad-flat 96w being powered by a Fulham Workhorse 5. My camera is really bad, but I'll try & get a shot @ the ballast.

Geoff · 10-10-2006, 09:52 AM

also a pic of the bulbs and the bulb connection pins would be nice.

G~

superjohnny · 10-11-2006, 08:31 PM

Hey guys sorry for the slow response. I've taken about 20 pictures, but they all come out dark and blurry. I guess the 600w of light in my kitchen aren't enough :/

As you can see on some of the previous shots I'm using a flashlight to try & brighten them. The bulb is a square-pin configuration. Got it at WavesM.

And one of my gorgeous 7 month pregnant wife

Geoff · 10-11-2006, 09:27 PM

it looks right according to the wiring diagram. are you sure you have the wires connected to the correct pins for the bulb? a pic of the bulb you want to use would help. just wondering if you are cross wiring the pins.

what is your wife's name? your life is gonna change in a couple of months.

i know i have a just turned 4 and a just turned 2 running around now.

G~

superjohnny · 10-19-2006, 09:46 PM

*update* Sorry I haven't gotten back. I took the hood over to Joel @ Waves and he was kind enough to take a look. After much ado we decided either something unknown was still wrong or the ballast was shot. $70 later I walked out with a new ballast & a really cool hammer coral

Pics to come and I need to update my blog as well. I'm slacking. Big thanks to Joel though, he was really nice to me. I'll be back there for sure.

Geoff her name is Dana and she's doing awesome. I'm a little hesitant to go for a bigger tank for fear it will be too time consuming. I sure would like a 90g like Melissa's though

Thanks for the help Geoff & wharyat, I do appreciate your input.

Geoff · 10-20-2006, 08:58 PM

thanks for the update.

bigger tanks can be easier and more difficult. it all depends on how well thought out they were from the beginning.

G~