I unfortunatly bought a CoraLlife lighting system for my 40 gallon...I should have saved a bit more for something better....anyhow lesson learned...so it has one Actinic bulb and one daytime light. There are 2 switches and only one plug (I didnt notice this until I got home or I wouldnt have bought it) and I want to be able to put in on a timer where the blue light comes on first and then a couple of hours later the daytime lights....is this possible?
Can I somehow re-wire it?
Is there anything I can do?
Keep in mind here that I am not that handy so if its complicated and expensive just let me know.
Quote from: wenkye on August 12, 2009, 04:34:38 PM
Keep in mind here that I am not that handy so if its complicated and expensive just let me know.
2 switches and one wire means either that the one cord splits inside the lamp to 2 ballasts or that there is one ballast and that the switches control the output after that.
Either way, you're looking at rewiring something in there. So, taking it apart and putting it back together and everything in between.
If you're not comfortable with the wiring, I would tell you not to do it.
Umm, short of buying a second fixture and swapping bulbs so that the actinics are in one fixture and the whites on another, I don't think that there's much that can be done.
Is the re-wiring really difficult...could someone explain a little to what I would have to do to see if I can handle it or not?
TY
You'll have to do some basic analysis in the canopy... Get your multimeter out... (if you do not have one, they are pretty inexpensive)...
Open it all up so you can see as much as possible. You'll need to find the spot where the wires connect to the switches... We need to know the level of voltage across the switch. If it's 120, then your laughing.
You'll need tools to open the canopy (typically a screwdriver) and a multi-meter to measure voltage. In essence, you need to find the place where 120v is switched, hopefully this is at the switch.. then simply re-wire things from switches to plugs (kinda) and connect the plugs to your timers...
This would eliminate your switches, but if you get the timers from Canadian Tire, they come with a remote and you can turn them on/off anytime you want (they are about $25 each).
I'm kind of a hack-n-slash DIY guy, so hopefully someone else will give some detailed explanations...