# Problem with T5 light



## D C (Sep 12, 2011)

Good evening,


I am setting up a vivarium with live plants, and a reptile shop I visited recommended using an Arcadia 24w ProT5 light holder with a Reptile Systems New Dawn T5 light to promote plant growth.


I bought both from the shop, and when I tried it out at home there was a popping noise, after which the bulb went very dim. It was still lit, but very dull.


The shop exchanged the Arcadia light holder, and tried it out in the shop for a good minute or so. It was working fine. 



I have since taken it to another city, where I am setting up the tank. I put it on top of the tank this evening, switched it on, admired it for a few moments, and then went away. When I came back, the same thing had happened. It is just a very dim light.


I can't take it back to the store, because it is 200 miles away. But it also seems unlikely that the same thing would happen twice. Is there an incompatibility issue with the equipment I am using, or am I doing something stupid?


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Send a pm to https://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/members/arcadiajohn.html

He works for Arcadia.


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## D C (Sep 12, 2011)

So, for the benefit of anyone with similar problems at some point in the future:


the pet store owner 200 miles away has very kindly been in contact with Reptile Systems (manufacturer of the bulb), who have had a good look at their product when used with the Arcadia ProT5 and have concluded there is a 'communication error'.


So it would appear the issue is incompatibility. We are going to try with a different combination of unit and bulb, and I will update the thread accordingly.


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## Tarron (May 30, 2010)

That's interesting, I've used the Arcadia T5 LED's with arcadia units before with no issues. I assumed it would be the same for the Reptile Systems ones.

That said, I'm getting a reptile systems unit for when I get the New dawn anyway, I'm just waiting on the testing being complete and release of the twin unit, so i can mount my new dawn and T5 UVB together.

Please keep us posted


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Have you checked you have the right holder? Is this a tube light needing a starter unit to make it work?
If so you may have the wrong unit for the bulb.


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

These units are designed for HO-T5 lamps, they will run some LEDs however if that lamp has the tech needed to supply the correct energy. That is all denoted by the driver in the LED not the fitting. 


Single strip LEDs are also not able to create the desired PAR over a wide enough area to be of any use for most of us. Each light source can only ever emit a certain quantity of Photons from source. These spread out over distance to cover area as light travels and spreads. So, we have the same number of photons but spread out over a much larger area. This greatly reduces PAR and as such the energy available for plants to photosynthesise.


This is made worse in LEDs as they are by nature point source. 


We make very powerful versions of this type of lamp but i refuse to include them in the Reptile range due to this fact. You need tight groups of linear diodes to crate enough photons to cover the area beneath the lamp itself or you get high energy over a tiny strip and not much from to back.


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## D C (Sep 12, 2011)

After trying the tube with a different Arcadia unit and it working fine, the conclusion is that the two products mentioned above are incompatible. Hopefully this will help someone in future.


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