Hood light doesn't work. Any tips?

[pwrflpills]

I just bought a used 29gal tank, hood w/light and stand from someone on craigslist and the hood light doesn't work. ILO tracking down this woman and making her give me back part of the very reasonable price she charged me for the package (she did say that everything worked) I want to see if it can be fixed.

First I thought the bulb was dead so I tossed it and bought a new one. I put the new bulb in and it doesn't work (They tested it in the LFS and it worked there.) I remembered that when I pulled out the original bulb that one of the contacts was corroded. It was previously a saltwater tank. Is there an easy way to clean or fix the corroded contact? I'd like to avoid having to pay for a new light.

If I did need to get a new light, any suggestions? I had a low-light set-up and basically want to keep it that way to avoid having to do O2, etc. See signature for needs.

 

[neilanh]

you can try to clean the contacts with a pencil eraser, emory board, scraper, anything you can get down inside that thing.

 

[jrp1588]

could also be a bad ballast

 

[joy13]

Check the starter. To do this turn the light over and turn it on if you see it flash it is working. It is the little round thing about the size of a quarter. If it is the light fixture is bad you can replace the insides pretty easy depending on what you are looking for it could be cheaper just to get another light.