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Twinstar 900E Issue

LondonDragon

LondonDragon

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UKAPS Team
Joined
21 Feb 2008
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Location
London
Hi guys,

Just got home from the office to a living room full of smoke, after some hunting around the living room found the culprit, my Twinstar light unit :(

looks like it burned through the cable and then switched itself off hence there was no smoke inside the cabinet any longer and was a little misleading when I first looked in there, then realized the lights were not on when they should be!

So this is the connector on the light unit side:

WhatsApp Image 2022-10-13 at 17.23.02 (1).jpeg
WhatsApp Image 2022-10-13 at 17.23.02.jpeg


Can this be saved? or just bin it? Don't want to start a house fire!!

many thanks
Paulo
 
Hi Paulo
I would contact Twinstar....see what they say, could be a fault with the manufacturing or the assembling of the cable!!!
 
LondonDragon said:
What if I replace the whole cable from the unit and solder a new one in place?
Click to expand...
Why does it look so odd? I mean Twinstars are just ps and light head. Where is the +/- come in?
Why does there seem to be a yellow led lit?

Need to find out why it did that.
Most likely a bad power supply.
Twinstars are noted for being cheap.
 
LondonDragon said:
Will see if I can source one quickly as I don't have any alternatives at the moment and the plants will die quickly!
Click to expand...
Plants will be fine for a good week or two. Only the finicky stuff dies off in a Couple days. Had a couple power outages and once I went a week without co2, only losses were my eriocaulon! Stems, epiphytes, crypts all fine!
 
So had a quick chat with Twinstar on Instagram and the recommendation was to swap out the cable completely as it was a couple of easy solders! Rather than trying to get a new connector! They did offer to send a replacement cable to a local dealer, but I just went on Amazon and ordered a DC cable with the right termination.

Ended up ordering this: Amazon product ASIN B09NBLZJWC it arrived this afternoon, cut one end, soldered it to the light unit and is working fine. Result :)

I did notice that connector getting quite warm in the past but assumed it was normal as it always did that, about 2-3 weeks ago I started to notice the light flicker a couple of times and also not as bright as it used to be (hence I asked Dean on Sunday if he would post the Twinstar he was selling ;) ), I thought it might have been the dimmer/controller I had in there, so I removed that but didn't improve much.

The light has been on since 4PM and the connection is not getting warm as it did before, the cable I purchased is also of a much better quality than the stock cable, it's just black rather than clear which doesn't really matter. I have noticed the light is slight brighter than it used to be.

See how it goes over the next few days but looks like its sorted for now ;)
 
Got it tested, and it's all good, and just managed to avoid the rain which is a bonus otherwise would have had a wet light unit ;)
Come to think of it as soon as I noticed the connectors getting warm maybe should have had it tested, but then again how often do you test the stuff in your house or Chinese products you purchase for your fish tanks?
Maybe I was just unlucky with this unit, but it's been running for a couple of years now, could the controller I added have caused this issue? or totally unrelated? as I like the controller but worried about using it now!
 
What controller is it?

Your light is 5A @12V, so the controller needs to be good for at least 70W.

Also double check your power supply is 5 amp, I had Chihiro light sent to me with inadequate power supply and after a while on high setting light would start to flicker PS was getting very hot - also I did not realise at first - I just trusted it was correct.

Matt
 
LondonDragon said:
Got it tested, and it's all good, and just managed to avoid the rain which is a bonus otherwise would have had a wet light unit ;)
Come to think of it as soon as I noticed the connectors getting warm maybe should have had it tested, but then again how often do you test the stuff in your house or Chinese products you purchase for your fish tanks?
Maybe I was just unlucky with this unit, but it's been running for a couple of years now, could the controller I added have caused this issue? or totally unrelated? as I like the controller but worried about using it now!
Click to expand...
I'm sorry still not sure as to which cable you replaced
Power supply to controller or controller to light head?
Being "clear" I'll assume light head to dimming unit (which?)

The controller normally will just "blink" the light so it looks dimmed. Can't increase voltage or current besides what is supplied by the power supply.
The MOSFET that is the main "switch" on the light head could fail open (no light) or closed (power supply output)
AFAICT.

As a guess it just looks like the plug failed by somehow shorting out at it.
An insulation failure at the plug "joint" maybe?
Too much current (wattage) could start the failure though but that would be a pass through from the power supply..
On max the light itself should only pull 60 watts or so.
Which means 5 (12v) or 2.5 Amps (24v).
I'd test the current draw at 100% between the light head and dimmer.
Make sure it is close to spec.
Little thing I use to avoid cutting cables..Clip on a meter
BUT best practice is the light unplugged and meter added (or removed) in a dead state.
No hot wiring.
Once the meter is attached and on the right range then plug the power supply in to the wall.
amp.jpg


If it's drawing too much current there may be leakage at the light panel itself.
If you still have the old cable I'd take a razor and peel away the burnt plug insulation to see where it failed. More for fun than anything.
What is the output on the power supply in volts?
 
BTW.. IF I remember correctly there is something about the Twinstar that is different than a "normal" constant voltage light.
More specs..
-iii-aquarium-light-fixture-30661183996104_966x612.jpg
 
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