overheating lights

So last night, since i haven’t had a chance to change my heater yet, my high temp alarm started to go off again on my thermometer. So, first thing I checked was the heater to see if it had stuck on again. But, when I put my hand on the heater, to see if it was hot, it was not on. The temp was only like 82.4 degrees and as I sat there and watch the thermometer, it would waiver back and forth between 82.3 and 82.4, and the alarm would sound when it hit 82.4. This went on for about 15 minutes or so.

The only thing I could think of was the fact that I am running Nova Extreme 4x54w T5HO which seem to be EXTREMELY hot. My first question is, does anyone else run this lightset, and do yours get abnormally hot? Almost to the point where the light housing is too hot to touch, or at least too hot to hold your hand on it for more than 15 to 20 seconds?

My second question is, has anyone ever experimented with changing the ballast in a Nova Extreme to one that may be a lot cooler? I ask this because, over the weekend I helped a cousin of mine install shop lights in his new shop that we just finished building this summer. Those lights are 4 T5HOs with individual reflectors and a type of ballast that the box boasts is cool to the touch. I also realized that his lights for the shop do not have any fans or anything like my Nova set has, which is by far the loudest part of my aquarium setup. I would be very interested in changing my ballasts when the time comes to these ballasts if it is deemed it would work. It had a wiring diagram for lights 1 and 3 and 2 and 4 on switches and everything.

I run the 6 bulb version of that light and it gets warm but not ungodly hot. The fans on the side do pull out some very hot air as the ballasts are contained in the hosuing.

I’ve never changed out the ballast but I imagine it’s probably not a big deal to do so. People swap ballasts all the time on retro units. Yours is a retro unit that just ahppens to be contained in a plastic housing.

The shop lights are probably not HO lights which is why they can boast to be in a ballast box that stays cool to the touch. HO lights in a shop would be an unneeded expense. They are probably Normal Output T5s.

If you’re lights are too hot to touch make sure you check that the fans are not obstructed obn either end and are able to move air freely.

I am 100% sure these shop lights are 4 T5HO lights. Here is a link to a similar style but not the style that we installed, and they are a good $80 cheaper than the lights that I purchased:

http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html

Also, on my unit, the fan blows hot air out of the back, not the sides, and it is not obstructed in any way and the main part of the housing is metal, not plastic. I believe it does have air holes on the side of the housing, but the fans are located on the back of the housing.

One other thing, we have not powered the lights on yet in the shop, just finished wiring them up to the panel, so I cannot vouch that they are ‘cool to the touch’. Their cool may just be cooler than other ballasts.

Oh, my apologies. I thought you were running the Nova Extreme Pro not the Nova Extreme. I can’t speak for the temperature of that unit, but the fact that it was redesigned and released as the “Pro” version with individual reflectors may indicate that they had other upgrades done at the same time.

yea i had the 4 bulb nova extreme and it did get hot but with the acrylic splash shield and the cooling fan it shouldnt heat your tank too much, the bulbs heat is confined to the area where the fans are drawing it out or the top where the heat is leaving the unit.

second i would not freak out at 82 degrees, i run my tank regularly at 83/84 and everyone is happy.

edited i wrote would freak out lol sorry

i have a 6 bulb extreme pro, heat, but no real prob. rarely use a/c and my temp got to 84 twice and 83+ a few times, but the cheappo clip on fan brings it down ervery time. diverse temps can help critters adapt, rather that a rock steady temp, the thinking seems to have gone. steadiness means if sompin goes wrong, they’ve had no chance to experience swings in temp before and may not fare so well as those that have had the temp shifts. ken or jon have put up water variation charts prev’ly i think showing large shifts day/night. i don’t believe shift of any other params but temp is good , tho.