Like any electrical appliance, your AquaLumi Universal will perform best if it is maintained correctly.

This blog post will run through a few fixes should you encounter a problem and also detail how best to keep your light unit working at its best long term.

Let’s start with your ongoing maintenance, you will by now know that your light unit is of aluminium construction, to keep this looking it’s best we recommend that the light unit is wiped down regularly to reduce any build-up of general aquarium grime such as salt creep in a marine aquarium for example.

Next, we need to look at the T5 tubes and the seals and washers that are used to prevent water from getting into your T5 connectors, iQuatics recommends that your T5 tubes are replaced periodically, every 9-12 months (depending on daily use) to maintain your optimum lighting levels.

During this bulb change procedure, we would advise that the screw caps and seals are changed at the same time, these are available here. Over time with the constant heating and cooling of your lighting system the seals and screw caps may become a little brittle, this can cause them to not perform at their optimum, a regular change will keep your light unit working at its best.

In terms of maintenance, this is about it all there is to it, the better you look after your unit the longer it will survive the rigours of the aquarium environment.

Next, we move onto troubleshooting, the AquaLumi universal is designed to be a simple to use item, there isn’t anything overly technical that can go wrong.

1 – Both tubes don’t light – The AquaLumi Universal utilises a twin ballast, it needs two functioning T5 tubes for it to work, firstly ensure both tubes are inserted, if they are it is likely one of the tubes may have failed, especially if they are over the recommended age for replacement. New T5 tubes would always be the first port of call in this situation.

2 – The light unit is new but it’s not working – The AquaLumi Universal is made in house by iQuatics here in the UK, each unit goes through a series of tests, including PAT testing before it is boxed for shipping, it is highly unusual that a customer would receive a light unit that didn’t work, we simply do not box any unit that shows a problem during its assembly.

With this in mind this leads us to two scenarios here, firstly have the supplied T5 tubes been damaged in any way? if they are it’s unlikely the unit will work, secondly, have the tubes been inserted into the connectors correctly, as per the instructions provided?

The screw caps on the T5 connectors create a compression seal when they are tightened up, it is easy to dislodge one of the tubes a little when performing this part of the installation.

The first thing to do is re-seat all of the T5 tubes and try again, if you have further options please call us on 01538 542070 at this point and speak to one of our technicians, who will talk you through some tests.

3- The light unit will not work, I’ve tried all of the above but there is nothing – This could be due to two things a blown fuse in the plug (simply replace the fuse) or a ballast failure within the unit.

iQuatics use high-quality Helvar ballasts within the AquaLumi Universal, unfortunately, with ballasts they can and do fail from time to time!

Do not despair, luckily your AquaLumi lighting system is fully repairable in these circumstances, a quick call to our friendly customer services team here on 01538 542070 and we can get these issues resolved. Even if your light system no longer carries a warranty we are happy to help you get things back up and running again.

4 – I’ve noticed scorching on the T5 connector – This only occurs if the T5 tubes have not been inserted correctly into the connectors (pushed in until you feel and hear a click & equidistant between the two connectors) as per the supplied instructions.

You may notice that when you install your T5 tubes there is a small gap at the ends of the connectors, this is due to manufacturing tolerances in the production of T5 tubes and is perfectly normal. It is vital that in these instances the gap is equal on both sides, scorching will occur if one side of the T5 tube is pushed up against the connector while the other side is only just in. This will cause the heat from the connector to escape and potentially scorch your connector.

Please ensure you follow the install procedure correctly, although your connectors can be repaired and replaced it is not a self-repair job and your unit would need to be returned to us to carry out this work. 

That just about covers your Aqualumi Universal, as you can see there isn’t much required or a great deal to go wrong, the better you keep to the maintenance schedule the less chance you have of running into issues.

The important thing to remember is your Aqualumi Universal is a fully repairable lighting system, there is no need to dispose of it if you run into problems or something needs attention, even when your warranty expires or friendly team will be more than happy to talk through your options for servicing and repair and we never carry out any out of warranty work without quotation in advance.

 

Just call us on 01538 542070 or email sales@iquaticsonline.co.uk