Re: fixing light fixtures

["Wayne Jones" <waj at mnsi_net>]

tsuh yang in NY wrote:

one of my aquarium light fixtures stopped working.  i tested the light
bulb,
which is fine, so the problem is with the fixture.  what could be wrong
with
it/where should i look for a problem first?  can they be easily fixed?
thanks.

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Sure they can be fixed. There is not much to them. You have to isolate
the problem by working from the wall receptacle to the lamp following
the path of the electricity. It depends a bit on what sort of fixture
and what sort of ballast you have and what sort of symptoms you have if
you want something more specific. The easy things to check for are
broken sockets, bad ground on your reflector if you have a rapid start
ballast, loose wire on a tap in connector. Check to see if the ballast
is coming on and getting warm. Look for a leaking ballast. This is bad
and indicates you need a new ballast. If there is nothing obvious then
you have to get a tester and start trying to figure out if your ballast
is putting out the correct current and voltage. There is a good trouble
shooting page somewhere in Advances website I will see if I can find it.
It would help if you described the light fixture. Is it fluorescent?

Wayne