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Trouble shooting a corallife fixture

cabinetmkr39

cabinetmkr39

DavidG / CCA Member
I just bought a used Corallife CF 24 inch with twin 65 watt bulbs, It was working fine when I picked i up . Light fixture was dirty on the inside with dirt and dust, I dissembled the whole fixture without removing or disconnecting any wires. I put it back together and now it will not light. Its flickering but not lighting. any Ideas what mite of happened? checked all connections 3 times fans work ,I have power to the ballast.I'm puzzled is it Ballast or Bulbs?
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Sounds like you are going to have to change the ballast, but you may want to try and replace one of the old bulbs with a new bulb and see if the new bulb turns on. If the bulb turns on than all you have to do is replace the others, if it still flickers than you will have to replace the ballast. FYI if it's a ballast issue, you can replace the ballast with another of the same wattage rating. It does not need to be a Coralife brand per se. In fact there are much better ballasts out there that aren't made by Coralife.
 
C

Cartel

Members
I had the same problem (minus the taking apart part) with a Current 36in PC setup. I bought new bulbs for it and same difference. Only half the bulb would kinda light up the other half would flicker. Ended up being the ballast. Said screw it and now its a DIY moonlight lol
 
Jumbie

Jumbie

Members
Cartel said:
I had the same problem (minus the taking apart part) with a Current 36in PC setup. I bought new bulbs for it and same difference. Only half the bulb would kinda light up the other half would flicker. Ended up being the ballast. Said screw it and now its a DIY moonlight lol
Click to expand...

I should have done the DIY moonlights that’s the only reason I have my Coralife fixture up...I don’t even use the MH that come with the fixture I just use the 2 96w PC and the moon lights at night. I think the moonlights are really sweet!:D
 
Spine

Spine

Members
We keep a used bulb to test fixtures with. Most shops will test your bulbs for you. Our shop(Tropical Lagoon) does it for free. Check your socket connections also make sure the pins or sockets aren't corroded. Here is a picture of a socket that's gone bad. You can buy a new socket with wires.
b5bdff3f.jpg


1. Like Jumbie said first test to see if a new or known working bulb works
2. Then check your connections(sockets&pins) if that does'nt work
3. Then more than likely your ballast is bad.
4. If the ballast is bad, they can be replaced. All the Corallife CF ballast I've seen, have been electronic ballast. Make sure you copy the ballast type and only replace it with something that's the same. If it's not label or you don't know, call Corallife and they can tell you
 
crazyclowntang

crazyclowntang

Members
Spine said:
We keep a used bulb to test fixtures with. Most shops will test your bulbs for you. Our shop(Tropical Lagoon) does it for free. Check your socket connections also make sure the pins or sockets aren't corroded. Here is a picture of a socket that's gone bad. You can buy a new socket with wires.


1. Like Jumbie said first test to see if a new or known working bulb works
2. Then check your connections(sockets&pins) if that does'nt work
3. Then more than likely your ballast is bad.
4. If the ballast is bad, they can be replaced. All the Corallife CF ballast I've seen, have been electronic ballast. Make sure you copy the ballast type and only replace it with something that's the same. If it's not label or you don't know, call Corallife and they can tell you
Click to expand...

You can buy a ballast at grainger or Rexel. It does not have to a coralife ballast. Just make sure you get a ballast that can handle the correct number of bulbs and wattage. If there are two CF bulbs and each bulb is for 36watts just get a ballast that can light up two 36 watt CF bulbs. It can be either magnetic or electronic start.
 
A

AndyNarwhal

Members
Coralife ballasts are plug and play and you can purchase replacements from a number of online dealers. But I would check to make sure your sockets are clean and you may want to replace your bulbs if you are unsure how old they are.
Andy
 
cabinetmkr39

cabinetmkr39

DavidG / CCA Member
Corallife was very good to deal with, There sending me parts FREE of charge. I'll surely by another light from them.Great guys to work with.
 
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