4Hummers T5H0, LED, 6Ft custom Hanging Light Build
- Thread starter 4Hummer
- Start date
Sorry for lack of updates. Been slow going lately
Got the First coat of stain on the exterior, and had to wait a few days for the stain to dry (Poly Shades: It's stain and clear coat in one..seems to stay tacky for days)
After which it was gluing the entire assembly together, and waiting for that to dry. (24 hours each side.. Only have 3 bar clamps... not enough to do both ends at the same time :hammer: )
While the PL was drying I moved onto Setting up the Air Flow Tunnel's(Dunno what else to call it.. Fan Tunnels? Vent's? Exhaust tunnels? Glory Holes?)
The Idea here is I have 4 Ballasts (Each controlling 2 Bulbs) 4 Fans, and 4 (well I have 5 but not using one) Temperature Probes from the fan controller. I want each Fan to cool Individually and keep the section of Ballast and Cold spot at the perfect temperature.
Dry Layout Here:
More waiting for PL to dry. Center Section is where the Fan Controller will be, The Power Distribution, the Power Bricks for my 21LED ReefBars, and 12Volt supply
Diagram: Hopefully this explains my madness
Mock up with Fans where they would be
Got the First coat of stain on the exterior, and had to wait a few days for the stain to dry (Poly Shades: It's stain and clear coat in one..seems to stay tacky for days)
After which it was gluing the entire assembly together, and waiting for that to dry. (24 hours each side.. Only have 3 bar clamps... not enough to do both ends at the same time :hammer: )
While the PL was drying I moved onto Setting up the Air Flow Tunnel's(Dunno what else to call it.. Fan Tunnels? Vent's? Exhaust tunnels? Glory Holes?)
The Idea here is I have 4 Ballasts (Each controlling 2 Bulbs) 4 Fans, and 4 (well I have 5 but not using one) Temperature Probes from the fan controller. I want each Fan to cool Individually and keep the section of Ballast and Cold spot at the perfect temperature.
Dry Layout Here:
More waiting for PL to dry. Center Section is where the Fan Controller will be, The Power Distribution, the Power Bricks for my 21LED ReefBars, and 12Volt supply
Diagram: Hopefully this explains my madness
Mock up with Fans where they would be
Last edited:
Very well thought out! I think this is the best DIY T5 fixture I've seen to date. Years ago I made one out of aluminum sheet, with IceCap ballasts. I placed the reflector clip over the cold spot and used the reflector itself as a heatsink cooling the entire length of the reflactor with a pair of fans.
Looking forward to your next update. :beer:
Looking forward to your next update. :beer:
Almost there
Almost there
Final Stages.
Sorry for the Long Delay in updates, I have been waiting for bulbs to arrive. In my old fixture I Ran 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs, 1 ATI Aqua Blue Special, and 1 ATI Purple Plus, I was planning on running this same color combination in this fixture only with double the amount of bulbs in 36" size, However I couldn't seem to find the ATI Blue Plus anywhere in Canada, After weeks of searching I finally gave up and got the Giesemann actinic blue (Only bulb I could find that was a close match) I'm hoping this bulb color combo is still desirable.
This First picture here I'm mounting the 21LED Actinic LED strips, The wire connectors are hidden underneath the LED strips (As they are quite large) the wires themselves will be hidden under the reflectors,
Here is a blurry picture with the reflectors installed (GoPro wasn't playing nice today for some reason) if you squint your eyes a bit you'll notice you cannot see any of the LED wires anymore. Also the reflectors still need to be cleaned, they are covered in finger prints and dust at this time.
Next up I want to show you some pictures of the Temp probes for the Fan controller. Remember I have 4 Fans, each cooling one ballast and the two bulbs that ballast is running. Here you can see the Temp probes (Red Circle) touching one pair of bulbs. The probe is placed near the hot end. If you look to the right of the probe you see the cooling duct
Here is the top side, I have simply hot glued the probe in place. Glued in such a way that the Probes thermistor tip just touches the Hot end of the T5 bulb
And here is an over view of all the electronics in place. Including the massive power brick for the 21LEDUSA.com LED strips and controller,
Everything is wired up at this point.
One Problem I ran into was the wires for the Fan's themselves, Since the Fans are attached to the lid and sit outside the center section, I originally cut four slots in the barrier that separates the center electronic section from the Fan/ballast section, However when closing the lid the fans wires were next to impossible to keep in there "slots" and I often ended up crushing these wires when securing the lid. I needed a way to keep the wires in place.
What I did was create a kind of J-Hook in the slots, (Did this with a round file) now as I'm closing the lid I slip each of the wires coming from the fan to the controller in this J-Hook and close the lid. So far I haven't kinked the wires
Up next, Hanging the Fixture.
Almost there
Final Stages.
Sorry for the Long Delay in updates, I have been waiting for bulbs to arrive. In my old fixture I Ran 2 ATI Blue Plus bulbs, 1 ATI Aqua Blue Special, and 1 ATI Purple Plus, I was planning on running this same color combination in this fixture only with double the amount of bulbs in 36" size, However I couldn't seem to find the ATI Blue Plus anywhere in Canada, After weeks of searching I finally gave up and got the Giesemann actinic blue (Only bulb I could find that was a close match) I'm hoping this bulb color combo is still desirable.
This First picture here I'm mounting the 21LED Actinic LED strips, The wire connectors are hidden underneath the LED strips (As they are quite large) the wires themselves will be hidden under the reflectors,
Here is a blurry picture with the reflectors installed (GoPro wasn't playing nice today for some reason) if you squint your eyes a bit you'll notice you cannot see any of the LED wires anymore. Also the reflectors still need to be cleaned, they are covered in finger prints and dust at this time.
Next up I want to show you some pictures of the Temp probes for the Fan controller. Remember I have 4 Fans, each cooling one ballast and the two bulbs that ballast is running. Here you can see the Temp probes (Red Circle) touching one pair of bulbs. The probe is placed near the hot end. If you look to the right of the probe you see the cooling duct
Here is the top side, I have simply hot glued the probe in place. Glued in such a way that the Probes thermistor tip just touches the Hot end of the T5 bulb
And here is an over view of all the electronics in place. Including the massive power brick for the 21LEDUSA.com LED strips and controller,
Everything is wired up at this point.
One Problem I ran into was the wires for the Fan's themselves, Since the Fans are attached to the lid and sit outside the center section, I originally cut four slots in the barrier that separates the center electronic section from the Fan/ballast section, However when closing the lid the fans wires were next to impossible to keep in there "slots" and I often ended up crushing these wires when securing the lid. I needed a way to keep the wires in place.
What I did was create a kind of J-Hook in the slots, (Did this with a round file) now as I'm closing the lid I slip each of the wires coming from the fan to the controller in this J-Hook and close the lid. So far I haven't kinked the wires
Up next, Hanging the Fixture.
Last edited:
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Not until you take a small brush for the bare wood in the "J' slots.
You've done such a nice job it would be a shame not to "make it right".
You've done such a nice job it would be a shame not to "make it right".
Hahaha Already Done. My OCD would not allow me to finish this project and leave that area unpainted.
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Good Job!
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Very Nice, question -- what kind of hangar for the triangle from the hood?
I only know the straight from the ceiling one.
I only know the straight from the ceiling one.
It's the Ecotech Marine Radion LED system Hanging Kit
http://ecotechmarine.com/products/radion-mounting-system/hanging-kits
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Thanks, have to keep that in the file that never returns information anymore.
Reef Reactor
Member
Very nice!!!
Good job!
Good job!
Just remember the Timer is like a light switch when your wiring it. Meaning your just "switching" the neural line to the ballast (Not positive and negative)
So One power line goes to ballast, the other goes to Timer, and then to ballast
Post up pics of your build. Glad this was able to help someone.
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