I have a 48" t5 coralife fixture I had it about a year and the bulbs have just went out. Is that about the expectancy of these bulbs. I hope it's not the fixture.
T5 lighting
- Thread starter dat673
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If it's the strait pin bulbs, I had the same fixture. I got about 6 months out of my bulbs. It was too expensive when bulbs were ~$30 each ($60 for the pair).
I got myself an LED fixture to replace it. I'm done paying for bulbs.
If you have an Oscilloscope, or maybe a DMM, you can take the bulbs out, plug in the fixture, turn the fixture on, and measure to see if there's any power to the light bulb terminals. If there's power, you just need new bulbs. If there's no power, you likely burnt out your balasts. You can get new balasts online pretty cheap.
I got myself an LED fixture to replace it. I'm done paying for bulbs.
If you have an Oscilloscope, or maybe a DMM, you can take the bulbs out, plug in the fixture, turn the fixture on, and measure to see if there's any power to the light bulb terminals. If there's power, you just need new bulbs. If there's no power, you likely burnt out your balasts. You can get new balasts online pretty cheap.
In my experience, when one of those starter capacitors goes out, the light will at least flicker when you turn it on. I haven't had one of those capacitors go out, and had the light behave as if it were a dead bulb.
And my coralife fixture didn't have one of those replacable exterior starter capacitors.....may have to open up the case to get in to have a look.
And my coralife fixture didn't have one of those replacable exterior starter capacitors.....may have to open up the case to get in to have a look.
I have some cheap Coralife dual T5 freshwater lights and I had to replace a single tube that burned out in about 8 months. I am in the process of planning to build my own canopy and doing a DIY LED set up instead.
Yeah, I've come to the conclusion that unless you are doing coral or a planted tank requiring more light, T5 bulbs burn out too fast and cost too much. I'm a lot better off now that I've gone the LED route. Not only is it less maintenence money (no bulbs or balasts to replace), but it consumes less power and operating costs are lower.
wow.
my 1 lamp T5 on my planted tank is still going strong after 4.5 years @ 12 hours a day.
my 90 has a 3 bulb fixture with one lamp on 4 hours a day and 2 others on for 6.5 and I've had this for about 3 years and haven't replaced a lamp on that one either.
these are all 54 watts.
my 1 lamp T5 on my planted tank is still going strong after 4.5 years @ 12 hours a day.
my 90 has a 3 bulb fixture with one lamp on 4 hours a day and 2 others on for 6.5 and I've had this for about 3 years and haven't replaced a lamp on that one either.
these are all 54 watts.
I know as far as planted tanks are concerned you'd want to be replacing the bulb at the very least yearly, so I'm not totally sure how long the bulb itself should last
If you aren't planning on doing plants, I'd honestly just look into led, it might be more money upfront but would save money over time
If you aren't planning on doing plants, I'd honestly just look into led, it might be more money upfront but would save money over time