Pondmaster Danner PUV FILTER and UV Ballast Light
Please do not make the mistake I did and buy any Danner Pondmaster product. As another reviewer stated, its impossible to tell if its the bulb or ballast that failed. My light quit working after only 4 1/2 months.
Its still under warranty so I called the phone number on the warranty paperwork (631) 234-5261. I was told to ship both parts back. I told the lady on the phone that the filter will not work with those parts removed and asked how long it would take to return the parts. Was told its really busy season now, could take a few weeks. I didnt want to go without any filter for several weeks so I procrastinated a couple days. I called back and was told to send in the ballast, it has a high failure rate and likely the cause. Since my water was turning greener by the day, I boxed up the ballast and sent it priority mail to Islandia, NY. Well after waiting a couple weeks I contact them to see if my part was shipped. I was told to prove they received the package...
Works great, but ...
The jury's still out on this one. I bought a Pondmaster filter which had the ballast and bulb included. The bulb lasted a short while before dying. Then, the new bulb which I ordered died as well and so I ordered yet another. It turns out that it was the ballast that actually died, not the bulb, and so I ordered this one to replace it.
The UV light works incredibly well. Within a few days of the bulb dying, my koi pond was green with algae and so dark you could not see the shallow shelf one foot under the water. After installing the new bulb / ballast, the water was clear again within a week.
However, I wish that there was a light on the ballast so that you can tell if the bulb is dead or if it is the ballast that needs replacing.
Another thing, there is a big label on the ballast which says "The light won't work without the ballast". That label should be on the light, not on the ballast and, anyway, there is no way to get the light into the filter...
pricey... but works.
I made a warentee claim on my previous one, and Danner wanted it back for the claim. Since removing the old one meant re-plumbing, I bought this replacement. What hapened to the last one? It seems like it was overheating and then it melted the seal for the quartz sleeve.
Danner customer suport is a bit of a pain... so don't buy their stuff if you don't want to be scratching your head after dealing with them. After sending photos of the damage and clearly telling them the problem (leave on for 30-60mins and it overheats and shuts off) and after makng me send it in (and have to fork out for a replacement to do so) they sent the old one back stating they could find nothing wrong with it, and what they sent back "may" be the same one I sent them, or be a reconditioned one, but it is not clear which... and they will not respond to my queries.
But... it does work really well to get rid of algae and floating critters... when it is working. I have a 1200 gal pond...
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