Ecotech Radion Lighting issues

[Emac909]

So this morning when I passed by my tank I noticed one of my radions flashing on and off. At first I thought It was an updated firmware error. So I factory reset and updated the software. After that not working I took a look at the light to make sure the fan was working. Well the fan was working and nothing looked wrong with the light its self. Well at noon my lights dimmed down to 50% and the light stopped flashing. So I started messing with them and I plugged the light into another ballast and tired it up to 100% and the light wasn't flashing anymore. When plugged it back into the original ballast and the light started flashing again. So the ballast is bad! Well I started looking at the ballasts on ecotechs website and there upwards of $300. So I did a Google search on the specs of there ballast and found this

It has the exact same specs and looks the exact same. So I ordered it. I should b here next week some time and I'll see how things work out.

My thought tho is who the hell is ecotech putting a 11% markup

 

[MxReEfEr92]

Very interesting! Tagging along to see how this works for you


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[Emac909]

I'll post pics of the swap when I get the new power source.

 

[SandStorm]

Kindly post also how and process of swap. Tahnx

 

[Goober]

Nice find E. Maybe I could use that for the rapidled aurora pucks that I have and have "radion pros" at 1/2 the cost

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[MxReEfEr92]

Any update?


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[Emac909]

Any update?


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I'm still waiting on shipping. I opted on free shipping. Big mistake. Should of paid the extra $5 to have it shipped express.

 

[Emac909]

Update!!!!
So the ballast came in the mail last night but didn't have time to mess with it yesterday. So it was at the top of the list for today when I got home.
Let me say the new ballast works and now my Radion runs at full power again. I sure will b ordering a few backup ballast in a bit.
Wait a few min for the write up. I'll leave u with a pic to show all five back in action.

 

[Zoarder]

Emac always have something awesome to share, thanks man! I'll be waiting for the write up.

 

[Emac909]

Here's a few tools u well need

A drill (will make the job quicker but it's not necessary), Philips and flathead screwdrivers, wire cutters/strippers, and a soldering iron with solder (the soldering iron is not needed but I wanted the original led on indicator to work so I needed to solder the wires to the board).
So u need to take the ends off by unscrewing the 4 screws on each side.

Next lay the ballast on is side and unscrew the 3 screws on the bottom of the ballast

Now the ballast will slide out of the aluminum housing.
Here's a few pics of the new and old ballasts side by side

So now disconnect the old ballast from the connection plate that attaches to the ballast case by unscrewing the 5 screws on the board

You will need to cut the wires for the led on indicator and 110/220 converter switch that connect to the old ballast.
Now that I had the connection plate off I soldered the led on indicator light to the board (sorry no pic it's tough to get a good pic of it, but if u know what your doing then u don't need the pic).
The wire connected the same way to the new ballast as they came off the old ballast.

Also while your connecting the wires to the board u might want to take the top aluminum grated cover off the new ballast and select the right power input. Mine was in 220 when it arrived.
Let me say I was not messing with the power selector switch on the new ballast, so the power selector no the connection plate is for looks. If I ever what to convert the lights to 220 power input I will need to remove the ballast from the housing and flip the switch inside the ballast. If u want to mess with that mess and make that switch functional again more power to you.
Ok so now that I got the new ballast on I tested it. Cause nothing like getting everything back together to realize you did something wrong. For testing I didn't want to put my hands on the ballast with live power running to it so I took a extension cord and connected to the light to a power plug that was connected to a switch on the wall. I made sure the power was off and connected the ballast to the power plug and radion

I stood back and flipped the switch. Boom the light came on with easy. I logged into ESL and manually messed with the light and all the functions and everything worked properly. So I turned it off and disconnected everything so that I could now put the new ballast in the aluminum housing case.
The new ballast bolted up in the same place as the old ballast I didn't have to do a thing other then line the screws up right. Every the screws that held the old ballast in place fit perfectly on the new ballast.

 

[pgr11]

Nice informative write up. Thanks

 

[Emac909]

It's kinda funny how a new ballast from ecotech is a little over $300 and this Chinese one was $26 and it mounted up the exact same way as the old ballast did.

 

[civicdemon]

You should find al lthe other components and start building you own to spec. EmacTEch LED lights do squares and not round Led Pucks and bam money in the bank. lol

 

[xmas_one]

Good show man, this should be a sticky in the DIY.

 

[Emac909]

Here's something I'd like to add after I was thinking about the difference in the two ballasts. I don't think the original ecotech ballast is truly 220 compatible. Unless the ballast can detect the 220 input and automatically switch to the right current. Here's why I think this. The original ballast only had to wires going to the current selector switch. Where the new ballast has all 6 prongs soldered to the board.

 

[Justkeepswimming]

Thank you For sharing this! I am always worried my ballasts are going to get wet or go out but after this I have piece of mind! Cheers to your beautiful tank!

 

[MxReEfEr92]

Just ordered up 2 of these to have on hand


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[playaslk]

Gotta give credit when its due. Excellent write up. I picked up 2 for my radions. Great job and thanks!

 

[Super Mickey]

Nice informative... love it!!!

 

[Emac909]

Ok so I found out something about the new ballast that I never had the original ecotech ballast do.
Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed the radion that had the new ballast was off. So my first thought was "dammit cheap chinese crap, the new ballast has already gone out". So I look at the light and the fan was off witch means there no power going to the light. "Dam ballast already burnt out". So I look at the ballast but the light is on. I would think if it burnt out the light would be off. So I touch the ballasts and there all pretty hot to the touch, not hot enough to burn but just enough to say "wow that's pretty worm. So I took a little desk fan I had and set it up on all five ballast. Well about 10 minutes later the little came back on. This leads me to believe the new ballast have a temp sensor with overheat protection.
So I've had radions for a few years now well shortly after they came out I bought my first one. I've never seen the original ecotech ballast cut out do to ballast over heating. In my opinion I really like this feature in the new ballast do to maybe fire or longevity of the product.