a neighbor bought all their kids these neat compact aquariums last year for christmas.
and now all 4 of the lights have died.they are here now getting upgraded to preheat with a starter.yes with 40 year old stock parts.
a simple 8w t5 ballast wont last a year of 12 hours a day or less use?
pure chinese garbage!

I concur on this. I got two f15 all glass lites from hab and goodwill, and they came with craptastic Cheapese keystone electronic ballasts that failed. The ironic part is the bulbs that came in the fixtures were labeled preheat but the ballasts were electronic RS.

About 6 years ago, I had an allglass f15t8 electronic hood. One day, it just stopped working. I could not get it working again, so I didn't set up the aquarium for a long time. Then, at the thrift shop, I found a preheat version of the exact same hood. I buhgt it, and it works great.

I saw a four foot preheat aquarium hood at goodwill, complete with tank which was 4'x1'x1'. I'd have bought it, but it was fiddy bux.

In most electronic household fluorescent fixtures, you can't replace the ballast, or, if the ballast have a case, it is much smaller than a standard electronic ballast, so there is no room for a replacement, meaning that it is impossible to upgrade the fixture to magnetic (This is also depending on the lamp), without heavily modify the fixture or using a remote ballast in a box, that can be bulky and unsafety.

The aquarium I got used a few years ago for Christmas had a 3' preheat hood. It had a very unusual 30w t10 aquarium lamp in it, and it had a radonic ballast inline on the cord. The starter was non-replaceable, and replacement lamps could not be found, even on the internet, so I just gutted the fixture for the gear and sockets. I have to use an f15t8 preheater on it for now, but hopefully sometime I can build a hood that covers the whole tank.

I concur on this. I got two f15 all glass lites from hab and goodwill, and they came with craptastic Cheapese keystone electronic ballasts that failed. The ironic part is the bulbs that came in the fixtures were labeled preheat but the ballasts were electronic RS.

The electronic hood I had had the exact same lamp, labeled "preheat". I had always wondered what "preheat" meant, thinking you were supposed to heat the lamp in the oven before use.

Quote from: Solanaceae on October 24, 2015, 08:32:44 PM

I concur on this. I got two f15 all glass lites from hab and goodwill, and they came with craptastic Cheapese keystone electronic ballasts that failed. The ironic part is the bulbs that came in the fixtures were labeled preheat but the ballasts were electronic RS.

The electronic hood I had had the exact same lamp, labeled "preheat". I had always wondered what "preheat" meant, thinking you were supposed to heat the lamp in the oven before use.

It means it is designed for lamp made according to "preheat" speciofication (so higher voltage filaments compare to the ones designed specifically for "RS").
But I don't think that really matters that much - when the arc is not yet present, the filament get ~4..5x the rated current, so it will heat up either of these two, and when the arc is there, the heatin g filament current is just 20..30% of the rated current, so again low enough for both specification lamps.

Other meaning of this (mainly in Europe, where the "RS" concept never become that popular) it means the ballast is "preheating" the electrodes before ignition (to prolong lamp life), so in other words what's known as "programmed start" in the US. But in that case I doubt there is anything more elaborate than just a simple PTC...

Interestingly yesterday I was stocking the pets department at my job and was delighted to find that the replacement fish tank lamps we sell are pre heat with a good heavy choke they are listed as T8 in 8 16 34 and 40 watt versions so proper ballasts live on!

Hopefully the lights are generally of good grade too. Chinese imports can be screwed up even when they are Magnetic

I used to have an All-Glass 55-gallon aquarium with two F15T8 fluorescent lights. Fortunately, mine were preheat. Probably some of the last ones that were.

I will try to see where the ballasts and tubes are made next week I know I will be back in pets at some point

It is not actually the country of origin that matters, but how they are made. Sometimes it is not quite obvious - The nasty ones may appear great when new, but use inferior potting materials that just burn off when they heat and such

I had an electronic ballast fail 2 months after I bought an aquarium. Replaced it with a Workhorse #1 ballast and that was 10 years ago. It's still lighting up the F5/T8.

An aquarium light could be considered its being used in a moist area-so--electronic boards may not be good for this unless properly potted.Its like the timer boards in washers and dishwashers.Years back the Wash DC Smithsonian had an excellent coral reef display-they used remote ballasted 400W,1000W MH fixtures to light the display.The ballasts were in a separate room-away from the moisture.And the display had a wave generator-to simulate waves on the shore.The fixtures had lenses on them to protect the lamps.They were mounted just about a foot or so over the water.