Danner Mfg DF12996 Pondmaster UV Sterilizer 40W Replacement Ballast

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 and the water is very clear without needing chems.

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 without the ballast. This label makes it appear as if you need another piece to go into the ballast; you don't.My issue is that it takes several days for me to get a new bulb or ballast. Since you cannot tell which part is not working, you would be wise to have a spare of both. This is especially true where I live since my pond will grow algae in a few days.The other issue that I have is that the manufacturer (Dana) would not help me out on this matter. I had to order new ballasts and bulbs, and then send the old parts to them for evaluation before they would do anything. I thought that perhaps the issue might have been the seal on the tube that the ballast will screw onto (into which the bulb is inserted). I thought that perhaps there was moisture getting into the sealed system. It was suggested by Dana that I buy a new tube because they do not sell, nor would send me, the seal by itself.So I am now into my 2nd ballast, 3rd bulb and 2nd tube. This can get real expensive!I will send the parts back to Dana, see how they respond, and update this report.On the other hand, when the light works, it works great.