24 Nano, Electrical fire, Lighting HELP

[RedStick]

Hi guys im brand new to this form and im looking for some serious help. Christmas time (2008) i bought my 24 nano that is designated as "deluxe" which has 2 pc's that are combo lights (actinic/daylight) and 2 led's to simulate moon light. 2 months later while i was setting up my new tank in my dorm at college, im not sure how but water got into one of the two plugs (5 pin star formation) that goes into the ballast. Lots of smoke, little bit of a fire, hissing electricity. Bad. Anyway since then i have bought a new ballast and a wire harness to solve this problem of fried wires.
Since this problem i have tested continuity on all wires and resistance with a volt-ohm meter. The testing stated that there is zero resistance, which is good and expected on all wires (ground, power to lights, power to circuit board for led's) 5 a piece for the 2 wires that go into the bac of the hood.. Well, the lights flicker and only one flickers and then dims to a low output of light. If i switch the lights it does the same. After testing continuity and conductivity the only problem that I could thing of was fried lights. I went to my local store and told them my problem and we tested some new lights in my hood. Same problem with flickering and only one light working. Customer service SUCKS at nano and all they want me to do is buy a $100 dollar hood brand new. I called them when this incident happened with the electrical and they stated that I wasnt under warranty because water got into the plug and im on my own. If you ask me I think its plan stupid and shouldnt be a problem, but to have non water-proof connections on a tank full of water just makes my hair stand up.
Now im here, hoping you guys can help with my problem. Sorry for this lengthy story. What should I do?

p.s. sometimes if i tap on my hood the light will flicker on and sometimes it will light, but only one light will come on. :S

 

[gregzbobo]

When you said your lights flicker when you tap on the hood, that tells me that the fire traveled up the cable that goes into the hood and damaged it or damaged the endcaps for the bulb/bulbs. Is only one endcap affected, and the other one works normally?

 

[aj2656]

I tend to agree with gregzbobo, that it sounds like your having a problem with your endcaps it could be that they are corroded or that did get fried and you may want to check the connections to the encaps to make sure they are not loose you would be suprised how much trouble a loose wire can cause.

Allen

 

[RedStick]

I snipped all ends of the wires off (just a little bit) for better conductivity and re capped them with those plastic things that you clamp onto wires. So far the one light that lights no longer flickers on or has to be tapped to light, it just comes on when i turn the ballast on as it should. The other light seems to have no power being fed to it.

 

[RedStick]

I also checked the copper contacts on the endcaps and they seem to be alright. I moved them from the port that they were originally in and switched it to the same copper contact but moved it to a fresh spot being that there are 2 ports that allow wire on each copper contact being that there are 4 copper contacts for each pin of the light. So far still no good.