Jewel Rekord 60 Replacement Lighting

whiteboard

The light in the canopy of my Jewel Rekord 60 has stopped working. I have tested the existing tube in another unit and it works; I have also tried another tube in the canopy and it doesnt work either. So my conclusion is that I need to replace the light fixture. However, it appears that to do so you have to buy a complete canopy!! Has anyone any alternative approaches to this?

I have looked at some LED solutions, including here http://http://www.aquariumledlighting.co.uk/index.html.

If anyone has any opinions on this, I would be glad to hear them.

Cheers
Whitey

Pimp Ninja

This post turned out much longer than intended ....

Before you go down this road check your warranty.
As far as I am aware juwel aquariums come with a 2 year manufacturers warranty. If your tank is less than the 2 years, then talk to the shop you bought it from and see will they arrange a warranty replacement for you.

That out of the way, Ive done my own DIY for the same hood. Not because it was faulty, but because I wanted to get a better type of light in there.

What you are looking for is called a ballast. There are several different types of these and you need to make sure that will take bulbs that fit in your hood.

Step 1 - Measure the inside of the hood.
The tank is 2 foot, but as far as I remember you have about 42 inches inside the canopy side to side. Measure to be sure, then find out what wattage bulbs come in lengths to fit. Remember to add an extra inch or two to the length of the bulb as you will have end caps on the ballast which will increase the end to end length either side of the bulb a bit.

Step 2 - Decide on type of bulb, and source it.
There are 2 main types of bulbs you will be looking at. They are not interchangable and you will need to get a different type of ballast depending on what bulb you are going to use.
T8 - current type of bulb
T5HO - smaller diameter bulb, with higher light output

Sourcing the bulb is another matter.
Get them from an electrical wholesaler. They are about 1/4 of the price than you would pay if you go to your local fish shop and buy the bulbs directly there.
Also in the LFS these bulbs are usually a special "aquarium size" bulb and shorter than those you will find in an electrical wholesaler.


Step 3 - Find an appropriate ballast.
Armed with the above information (bulb length, type and wattage) you can start looking at ballasts. the ballast does not tell you what length the bulb is, so you are looking at wattages here.
Make sure the wattage on the ballast matches the wattage of the bulb you have selected.

Here is the one I ordered (I think)

Once you have found the ballasts then order away the ballast, and the bulbs.

Step 4 - DIY
The next step is taking the insides out of the existing hood and installing the new bits. If you get this far let me know and Ill get you more details. Ill also post up a photo of my finished item later this week when I get a chance.


Another option is LED lighting alright, Cheap and Cheerful - Car LED strips.
You will need an appropriate transformer for this, old mobile phone chargers can fulfil this. (thanks Holger )

viper123

I have a spare canopy if you want it. It has all the wiring and light connections, it does not however have the powere supply electronic thingie (don't know what it is:) ) as I used it as a doner for another Jewel I have. Between the two of them though you should have all the parts to get it working again. I'm based in Dublin. Send a PM if you're interested.

whiteboard

Thanks for the replies guys.

I have had the tank for 2 years so the guarantee road is out. I am still finding my way in this fishy world after a number of false starts and quite a few deaths in the tank. I have a clown pleco in my tank and I think it may be acting terretorial (although most websites say its not aggressive); I added a couple of mollies at the weekend to see if something bigger than guppies might stand a better chance in the tank. All good so far.

In the sort term, I want to get some light in the tank so Viper123, I will take you up on your kind off. PM sent.

Pimp Ninja, for the longer term, I will give the 'self build' a go. I like the idea of having more control over the lighting in the tank in case the canopy was to go again or I decide to make some changes to the tank contents and I need to up the wattage.

Whitey

whiteboard

Just a quick message of thanks viper123. Got the canopy today and some additional pointers on how to try and diagnose the issue. Out with the tools tonight to see what mayhem we can cause.

Will update to let all know how we go.

Whitey

whiteboard

Just thought I'd post a little update on where things have ended up. As posted, I collected the additional canopy from Viper but it appears that there has been a change in the design of the inners as they were quite different to mine.

Anyway followed up on the led idea on got some led strips similar to those linked to by pimp ninja. Also got one of these http://www.petplanet.co.uk/shop_dev/assets/new_product_images/hagen/5573.jpg
The tank now has some light in it and for me looks well; not too bright but bright enough and there are no live plants to support with the light.
Will run with this for now and maybe look into the new ballast in a while.

On the livestock front, I now have 4 mollies in the tank alongside the clown pleco. All looks and seems go so far.

So some sort of progress has been made.

Thanks to Viper and pimp ninja for their input and heres hoping.