Changing bulbs in Coralife T5: An Adventure Story

[XanAvaloni]

So I have two Irks with this fixture: I got it less than 3 months ago and the 10,000k bulb burned out/quit last night. :nono:

Today I go to twiddle it to make sure it didn't just come loose or something, in the forlorn hope that the bulb is really still quite fine and just needs to be seated properly. Project comes to a screeching halt when I realize the tubes are so close together, and the enclosure they are in so narrow, that there is no conceivable way to GET AT the durn things. Thinking dark thoughts about the lack of strong enforcement of child labor laws in China I think maybe the fingers of a child from newborn to 3 months could reach in and grasp them, rotate, extract etc, but having no such persons available for testing the theory puts the matter on hold.

So I wonder, is there a special tool for this purpose, presumably obtainable only from Coralife at an exhorbitant price? Or something that could be cobbled together out of random household objects? I have never had T5 bulbs before but from the looks they are even more delicate than "normal" T12 tubes.

I haz a Sad :shakehead: as well as two Irks :rant2::rant2: over this matter as I lusted after this fixture for a long time, not to mention saving up shiny new quarters to get it. and it really did an infinitely better job lighting this deep 29g than the piece o'WM junk that came with it.

Casting about for options I reach automatically for a swiss army knife. Big Champ comes first to hand and it has pliers. Aha.... (dramatic music should really play at this point)...some twisting about and the bulb pops right loose. In the moment of triumph a discordant note is struck...that was easy. TOO easy. This fixture, my pride and joy, is, um, not very solidly built it seems. But for the heck of it I throw the switch anyway and IT WORKS. Both bulbs spew forth glorious photons in all directions.

Until I slide the plastic protector strip back in, jostling the light ever so slightly, and the 10,000 goes right out again. grrrr. twiddle more, it comes back on. Very very delicately everything is reassembled, put back in place, cords threaded back around to reach the plug etc and my dubious aquascaping skills are revealed again in all their lack of glory.

The end.

Epilogue: what's the next-better-quality light than Coralife, with sockets that hold bulbs in place a little better but doesn't cost all THAT much more? Suspecting that this problem is likely to recurr I do not want to keep futzing with this thing on a regular basis. So it is time to start hoarding shiny new quarters again against the day that a replacement can be afforded. One other question: can you use T5 HO bulbs in a T5 regular lamp? Suggestions welcome.

 

[SubRosa]

You can't use HO bulbs in a NO fixture. The problem sounds like a loose connection in the end cap. An easy fix.

 

[Narwhal72]

You can use HO lamps in a Coralife NO T5 fixture. It will light them just fine and the bulbs will last longer than the NO T5 but they will not be any brighter than the NO T5. The only issue may be heat which can melt the lens near the filaments.

To remove the lamps turn the fixture off, lay the fixture on it's back and remove the lens.
Place a thumb on the lamp base on each side and rotate the lamp until the pins are facing straight up (it's easier to start with the rear lamp first). Then flip the fixture over and the lamp will fall out into your hand (be sure to catch it).

It sounds to me like your lamps are not rotated into place properly which is why they are not staying in place. Try rolling them with your finger until they lock into position.

Having a tightly packed light fixture is the price you have to pay to make the fixture so small. Going to a larger fixture gives you more room to access the lamps.

Coralife makes a twin tube HO T5 fixture that is a lot roomier.

Andy

 

[platytudes]

My new dream fixture for my 29 gallon tank is the 30" NO fluorescent fixture that came with it, retrofitted to take two incandescent bulbs, and fitted with two LED bulbs. The process is trial and error since LED bulbs are so new. I've got my eyes peeled, however the problem with LED bulbs is that they're either too cold, too directional (giving off a flashlight-esque beam of light, which is not useful in a fixture that is oriented horizontally) or both. Other options are slowly becoming available, but until then I'm doing fine with the $5 10 watt compact fluorescent bulbs that Walmart sells in their aquatics section. Curiously, 20 watts of these compact fluorescent bulbs is way, way brighter than one 18-20 watt normal fluorescent!

 

[dbosman]

You can't use HO bulbs in a NO fixture.

I do it.
That saves cash by not having to keep two different sets of spares on hand.
Most T5NO fixtures can run T5HO bulbs/tubes/lamps. They just don't burn as brightly as they would in a T5HO fixture with a T5HO ballast.