Ballast maintenance

[Samper]

Do any of you service your ballasts? If so what do you do? Where do you keep them to keep this breakdown and corrosion from happening? The reason I ask is that my ocen light 250 ballast is in need of some tlc. There are rusted parts etc and it's just really dirty and old looking. I'm afraid of a malfunction.

[charlie]

To be honest with you, I go thru mine with just a blower to get the dust out about once a year. Do you have the option of keeping them in an enclosed environment somewhere close to the tank? Do you have a pic?

[Samper]

yeah the cabinet I built has an enclosure for it but I was worried about the corrosion from the previous times that it has been used. I had it out in the open beside the tank before and didn't realize the damage I was doing until I took it apart to inspect.

[charlie]

You say it was corroding in the cabinet???? Any place to put a fan in there for some ventilation maybe?

[Samper]

No, what I meant was that the new cabinet I'm about to be using will house the ballast. With the old setup the ballast sat beside the tank. This caused the corrosion. I actually need a whole new lighting setup because all I have for this 75g is one pendant to start out with.

[charlie]

In that case, if you need new lites, I would take the plunge and grab a new ballast while you are at it. Better to be safe than sorry!!!!