Cali Kid Corals

Light hood/canopy DIY.

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sfsuphysics

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<questions removed out of frustration>

30 views and not a single damn comment? You suck :p

Ok anyways, I was in home depot on a non-related matter and looked at wiring to hang the thing, which I believe is the direction I'm going to go, also saw some aluminum angles, C channel and square tubing, the stuff felt so damn light I decided to try to go that route. Not a welding route since I don't have a welder, but nut & bolt route, erector set style! Since I saw they also had stainless steel nuts, screws and washers where as the last time I asked at a homedepot they said all they carried was zinc coated stuff..

Keeping things simple, build a frame, hang lamps, be happy, no need to skin it... although if I want to, that is an option.

I am a bit pissed though each piece was $2 more than the price listed, when I confronted them about it their only explanation was "vendors bring in stuff and sometimes its more expensive"... yet they couldn't change the damn prices on the wall. Anyways, they missed a piece of square tubing at the check out, so it all evened out at the end. Although I'm getting that really pissed off feeling since a few of the stainless steel washers and nuts I bought were also mislabeled.

Anyways, I'm pretty damn bored today, but I want to make sure I measure everything a few times first to double check on how much I need to cut :D
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=4715.msg57342#msg57342 date=1222977559]
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I am a bit pissed though each piece was $2 more than the price listed, when I confronted them about it their only explanation was "vendors bring in stuff and sometimes its more expensive"... yet they couldn't change the damn prices on the wall. Anyways, they missed a piece of square tubing at the check out, so it all evened out at the end. Although I'm getting that really pissed off feeling since a few of the stainless steel washers and nuts I bought were also mislabeled.
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[/quote]

I thought by CA law they have to honor the list price?? If you want to make a big deal, email HD customer services..
 
Ok, so I cut the pieces to fit, and put together a basic box shape in the size that I desired, and realized I feel old as my knees were popping and snapping as I got up and down off the ground. I'm pleased with it so far. I need to put in my special light adjusting plan to work, and then some attachments for the T5s which I have some ideas about, just don't know how expensive it'll be (since I need to get a whole long length it seems... but I'll see what I can think up.
 
Didn't get terribly much today, was in home depot looking for hanging solutions. Ended up going with this fine stainless steel braided wire that claims to hold 50 pounds, now me making this out of aluminum this will be way under 50 pounds, however some wiggle room is needed and I'm hanging it from 4 corners so that should give the useful load 200 pounds, as long as I don't lay on the damn thing it'll be fine.

I did put in the center C-channel rail and cut and trimmed the square tube for the pendants (in pictures), the whole plan is to allow them to slide on the c-channel, so I don't have to worry too much about placement now, I can simply slide them to where I want them. The down size is that 3/8" C-channel isn't terribly rigid over a distance of 6 feet :) so I had to put a brace along the middle which limits my freedom to slide, but as long as I don't need a light in the dead center I should be fine (I'm doing 4 pendants anyways so shouldn't need the middle.

Couldn't really go any further with the bracing along the 6' length (1/20" thick angle aluminum isn't terribly rigid over 6 feet either :D), as I need to wait for my T5 endcaps to get a feel where I'm going to put them, as the bracing is going to tie into my T5 support structure.

BTW, anyone happen to know how thick glass needs to be to block the UV from a 150 bulb? (anyone have a 150 pendant with glass they can measure handy?)... I used the pendants out of a larger system with one large (4 feet long) pane of glass, obviously I'm not going to use that. And I need to figure something out before I fire the center bulbs up.
 
Ok pissed off moment this morning, nothing wrong with my setup... except I popped open my electronic ballast, because it only has 1 power cord, figured I'd rewire it to do two power cords so I could control each lamp independently, in fact what I was shooting for was to have T5s on "all day" and have each metal halide fire up in a sequence such that the intensity would move across the tank, occasionally there would be overlaping areas, but it'd really start to mimic what the sun does, and the light won't be so static....

WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL... I pop open one side of the ballast only to find.... the whole f'er is filled with epoxy!!! GRRRRRRRRRR What the hell do they do that? Please tell me it serves some useful function like discipates heat very effectively or something... not that they just want you to buy a whole new one if ONE part breaks, or don't want you to know what they're made of... *sigh*

Either way, I almost wish there was a way to open and close the connection between the lamps and the output cords.. because as it stands this ain't gonna work like I wanted, guess I'll have to go for sun coming from two directions towards the middle of the tank instead. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for a couple HQI (pfo?) ballasts
 
I might take you up on the offer Eileen, I'll see how much I don't like both coming on at the same time first though.

Thanks though, that aluminum frame is so fricking light its not funny, I could literally hold that whole thing balanced on one finger.
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=4715.msg57600#msg57600 date=1223222637]


WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL... I pop open one side of the ballast only to find.... the whole f'er is filled with epoxy!!! GRRRRRRRRRR What the hell do they do that? Please tell me it serves some useful function like discipates heat very effectively or something... not that they just want you to buy a whole new one if ONE part breaks, or don't want you to know what they're made of... *sigh*


[/quote]

Tar ballasts, they piss me off too, if a component fries on one they melt :D
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=4715.msg57642#msg57642 date=1223244140]
It's an electronic ballast though
[/quote]Yep, electronic tar, like a blue line, they seal them right up, you betcha
!
 
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