Carl_in_Florida
Active member
Yes, post the demo pics. We love demo pics.
Carl
Carl
A First Plywood Project...
- Thread starter Sean : EbN
- Start date
Sean : EbN
New member
Hello everyone...
lpkirby : I am in Covington, Louisiana. My shop went without power for 16 days. It wasn't that bad because almost all my inventory is cold-blooded. We have over 3000 reptiles (almost all snakes) so I was able to keep everything going with 3 gasoline powered generators. We breed a lot of rodents for sale and food and lost nearly all of them (have to keep them really cool and it was REALLY hot after Katrina left.) As for my 90... I left it sit for about 7 hours. It had just started to turn cloudy and I couldn't bare to lose all my live rock. After having most of this rock in a tank for over 7 years, I couldn't see it all die. I knew my SPS and Fish were toast at that point so I ran an extension cord to the main sump pump (a Gen-x PCX 40) and just ran it non stop the whole 16 days. At first everything STUNK! All the other people staying at the shop (5 of us using the shop as shelter) voted to tear the tank down because of the smell. But after about 24 hours the tank started to clear and after it was all over I lost my fish (just 2) and a few really nice little SPS heads. I never re-stocked after the storm so here we go with this project!
Carl : Sorry no demolition pics. I was too busy moving stuff to take pics of the process. Sorry
So on with the updates...
Yesterday and this morning I worked on cleaning and painting the "ex-kitchen" You can see in these pics, the 90 gallon's Korralin CA Reactor, CL-650 1/4 hp Chiller and Gen-x PCX40 Closed Loop ...
Here is the new sump room (formerly known as kitchenette)...
Then I finally convinced myself to drill my sump. I broke out the ole (seldom used) Rotozip and all I can say is WOW!! If you want to drill a tank yourself and you don't mind the holes a little sloppy then the ROTOZIP with the Tile cutting bit is for YOU!! This was MEGA EASY! I took the tank (43x15x24) outside and ran the hose on it while I drilled. To lay out the holes with the right measurements, mark the holes and cut them took all of 10 minutes for ALL 3 holes!! Man I was floored about not buying those damn glass hole saws. Finally a use for the crappy Rotozip. Here are somp pics of the holes...
And some pics of the side of the sump with 1- 1.5" bulkhead and 2 - 1" bulkheads. the holes are kind of rough but who cares, the bulkhead flange covers them with plenty of sealing area...
Continued in next post...
lpkirby : I am in Covington, Louisiana. My shop went without power for 16 days. It wasn't that bad because almost all my inventory is cold-blooded. We have over 3000 reptiles (almost all snakes) so I was able to keep everything going with 3 gasoline powered generators. We breed a lot of rodents for sale and food and lost nearly all of them (have to keep them really cool and it was REALLY hot after Katrina left.) As for my 90... I left it sit for about 7 hours. It had just started to turn cloudy and I couldn't bare to lose all my live rock. After having most of this rock in a tank for over 7 years, I couldn't see it all die. I knew my SPS and Fish were toast at that point so I ran an extension cord to the main sump pump (a Gen-x PCX 40) and just ran it non stop the whole 16 days. At first everything STUNK! All the other people staying at the shop (5 of us using the shop as shelter) voted to tear the tank down because of the smell. But after about 24 hours the tank started to clear and after it was all over I lost my fish (just 2) and a few really nice little SPS heads. I never re-stocked after the storm so here we go with this project!
Carl : Sorry no demolition pics. I was too busy moving stuff to take pics of the process. Sorry
So on with the updates...
Yesterday and this morning I worked on cleaning and painting the "ex-kitchen" You can see in these pics, the 90 gallon's Korralin CA Reactor, CL-650 1/4 hp Chiller and Gen-x PCX40 Closed Loop ...
Here is the new sump room (formerly known as kitchenette)...
Then I finally convinced myself to drill my sump. I broke out the ole (seldom used) Rotozip and all I can say is WOW!! If you want to drill a tank yourself and you don't mind the holes a little sloppy then the ROTOZIP with the Tile cutting bit is for YOU!! This was MEGA EASY! I took the tank (43x15x24) outside and ran the hose on it while I drilled. To lay out the holes with the right measurements, mark the holes and cut them took all of 10 minutes for ALL 3 holes!! Man I was floored about not buying those damn glass hole saws. Finally a use for the crappy Rotozip. Here are somp pics of the holes...
And some pics of the side of the sump with 1- 1.5" bulkhead and 2 - 1" bulkheads. the holes are kind of rough but who cares, the bulkhead flange covers them with plenty of sealing area...
Continued in next post...
Sean : EbN
New member
...continued (too many pics for one post) 
So I kind of conquered that worry so I moved on to the next project... the light rack. I have these cool 4 way connectors for 1" tubular metal stock that came with some commercial reptile racks that we use at the shop. I ordered a ton of these racks for the shop and I guess the guys that packed the order couldn't count because they sent me quite a few of these pieces extra. So I went to Lowe's and they have 1" x 96" aluminum square tube at $29.00 a piece! Perfect! So I'm at Home Depot last night and they have the same stock for $11.00 each!! I bought every stick they had both 48" and 96" lengths. I also got some 1.5" x #8 stainless bolts and nuts so that I can drill the pieces and use these bolts to secure everything (like a retaining pin) So I put together the upper frame that the MHs will mount on. Each 400w MH will mount to one of the 4 bars spanning the width of the tank from front to back. So far my result is a little wobbly and not quite straight, due to the material or my cuts not being very straight (I HATE JIGSAWS!) By the time all the rest of the structure leaves my head and is attached to this, I think it will be plenty strong. The canopy "door" will be mounted to the face of this 3-d rectangular box and the entire unit (box and canopy door) will raise and lower by way of the 18" actuator that will mount on the ceiling above the tank. I hope I don't have too many kinks in this idea... I think it will be cool! Here are some pics...
And finally... my electrician friend came by to pick up some stuff from my shop and to look at what I needed as far as the new sub-panel for the new tank. We are going to install a 60 amp breaker running to a 6 pole sub-panel. There will probably be about 5 individual circuits for this set-up. While he was there I borrowed one of his 3"hole saws to cut the holes for the 2" bulkheads in the overflow trough as well as the closed loop inside the tank. Here are some pics of those...
What a day... I feel like I got some stuff done, or started at least. I need to go back to HD tomorrow to get more bolts and some flat bar stock for the light rack as well as some 2x4's and 2x6's for the sump room rack. I also need some acrylic to make baffles in my sump. I just silicone them in. I've never had any trouble with silicone on acrylic for use as baffles. I also need to decide where in the tank to put the 1" closed loop return bulkheads.
Oh well... off to bed. I'll see what I get done tomorrow so I can maybe post some more pics.
G'night... LATER!
So I kind of conquered that worry so I moved on to the next project... the light rack. I have these cool 4 way connectors for 1" tubular metal stock that came with some commercial reptile racks that we use at the shop. I ordered a ton of these racks for the shop and I guess the guys that packed the order couldn't count because they sent me quite a few of these pieces extra. So I went to Lowe's and they have 1" x 96" aluminum square tube at $29.00 a piece! Perfect! So I'm at Home Depot last night and they have the same stock for $11.00 each!! I bought every stick they had both 48" and 96" lengths. I also got some 1.5" x #8 stainless bolts and nuts so that I can drill the pieces and use these bolts to secure everything (like a retaining pin) So I put together the upper frame that the MHs will mount on. Each 400w MH will mount to one of the 4 bars spanning the width of the tank from front to back. So far my result is a little wobbly and not quite straight, due to the material or my cuts not being very straight (I HATE JIGSAWS!) By the time all the rest of the structure leaves my head and is attached to this, I think it will be plenty strong. The canopy "door" will be mounted to the face of this 3-d rectangular box and the entire unit (box and canopy door) will raise and lower by way of the 18" actuator that will mount on the ceiling above the tank. I hope I don't have too many kinks in this idea... I think it will be cool! Here are some pics...
And finally... my electrician friend came by to pick up some stuff from my shop and to look at what I needed as far as the new sub-panel for the new tank. We are going to install a 60 amp breaker running to a 6 pole sub-panel. There will probably be about 5 individual circuits for this set-up. While he was there I borrowed one of his 3"hole saws to cut the holes for the 2" bulkheads in the overflow trough as well as the closed loop inside the tank. Here are some pics of those...
What a day... I feel like I got some stuff done, or started at least. I need to go back to HD tomorrow to get more bolts and some flat bar stock for the light rack as well as some 2x4's and 2x6's for the sump room rack. I also need some acrylic to make baffles in my sump. I just silicone them in. I've never had any trouble with silicone on acrylic for use as baffles. I also need to decide where in the tank to put the 1" closed loop return bulkheads.
Oh well... off to bed. I'll see what I get done tomorrow so I can maybe post some more pics.
G'night... LATER!
Justjoe
New member
[QUOTE
Then I finally convinced myself to drill my sump. I broke out the ole (seldom used) Rotozip and all I can say is WOW!! If you want to drill a tank yourself and you don't mind the holes a little sloppy then the ROTOZIP with the Tile cutting bit is for YOU!! This was MEGA EASY! I took the tank (43x15x24) outside and ran the hose on it while I drilled. To lay out the holes with the right measurements, mark the holes and cut them took all of 10 minutes for ALL 3 holes!! Man I was floored about not buying those damn glass hole saws. Finally a use for the crappy Rotozip. Here are somp pics of the holes...
Does the tile cutting bit plunge down thru the glass, then you just make the circular cut after that?
Very nice,
Joe
Then I finally convinced myself to drill my sump. I broke out the ole (seldom used) Rotozip and all I can say is WOW!! If you want to drill a tank yourself and you don't mind the holes a little sloppy then the ROTOZIP with the Tile cutting bit is for YOU!! This was MEGA EASY! I took the tank (43x15x24) outside and ran the hose on it while I drilled. To lay out the holes with the right measurements, mark the holes and cut them took all of 10 minutes for ALL 3 holes!! Man I was floored about not buying those damn glass hole saws. Finally a use for the crappy Rotozip. Here are somp pics of the holes...
Does the tile cutting bit plunge down thru the glass, then you just make the circular cut after that?
Very nice,
Joe
Sean : EbN
New member
Joe : Yes sir! Just plunge it right in. I ran a good bit of cold water on it and it just melted right through it!! Sooooooooooooo easy! If you have a rotozip, go get a tile bit and give it a shot on a scrap piece of glass.
Later!
Later!
JC Pollman
Premium Member
Sean: you might want to "upgrade" your bulkhead holes. I also have a plywood tank and found that one of my bulkheads leaked water into the plywood. I would suggest, as you do not have water in the tank yet, either epoxy the holes, or at least put silicon in them. I am not talking about putting it on the bulkheads, but rather, on the exposed plywood in the hole. Just a thought.
Sean : EbN
New member
Hello everyone,
lpkirby: Thanks a lot! It feels good to make some headway on the project. I called to check on the glass and everything is as planned. Probably the week after next. I'll keep you posted!
baotchi: Yup... I was sure glad that I read about that trick here in the fantastic RC DIY forum! Thanks for your input too Simon, it will give people more confidence in doing it themselves!
JC Pollman: Thanks for the tip. I actually planned on doing that anyways but I really appreciate your input! A question for you though... Did you use silicone on your bulkheads as opposed to the rubber gasket?? I would never silicone a bulkhead on a glass tank but there is this sort of wavy texture to my plywood tank's epoxy finish. I was wondering if I should just abandon the rubber gasket and use silicone. I want to do this just ONCE! But I am going to epoxy the inside edges of the holes with some of the leftover West Systems stuff.
Rikko: HAHA I have been known to complicate things but WOW! I guess it wouldn't be a bad stand, especially if the tank above it sprang a leak! Take it easy!
ChinChek787: I used the Rotozip tool for my holes but Simon says (HAHA) it fits in a dremel! Cool info... give it a shot one day. I was amazed!
Now on with the update...
Saturday I went to the wonderful HD and picked up some lumber and other supplies. I threw the sump rack together and I am pretty happy with the way it came out. I spakled most of the holes to get it ready for some white paint. We took it easy yesterday (Christmas) and didn't do any work on the set-up. Tonight when we got back from another nice long day off I decided to slap some paint on the sump rack. I have to go to HD tomorrow to look at plywood and maybe some laminate for the counter area on the sump rack. Here are some pics...
I still have to add some base support beams around the perimeter where the sump tank will actually sit. Here is what will be on this rack... starting at the bottom and working upward...
Base shelf : 42x15x22" glass sump with 1- 1" Bulkhead feeding the frag tank and refugium, 1-1" Bulkhead feeding the skimmer (and chiller?) and 1-1.5" Bulkhead feeding the Sequence Dart return pump to the main display.
Middle Shelf (within the vertical support beams) : 36x18x18" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a frag tank. Its overflow will dump right back into the sump. (outside the vertical support beams) There will be a ledge about 10" wide to serve as a work ledge for the frag tank (i.e. frag glueing etc.) On the right side there is a ledge about 20 x 24 for the skimmer to sit on. The skimmer will be a Euro-Reef RC-500 recirc design. I have to call Jeff at ER tomorrow to order it. I think I will sit the calcium reactor and Kal reactor on the counter next to the sink.
Top Shelf : 36x18x24" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a refugium. Its overflow will also dump back into the sump.
Once this stand is operational I can move the rock and leftover corals from the 90 gallon so that I can prep the spot for the main tank. I hope to have water in this set-up by the end of the week. We'll see how that goes.
I called my pump supplier today and changed my order from 3 Sequence Darts to 1 Dart and 1 Hammerhead. I also ordered my Oceans Motions last night. I got a Version 3 8way and a Version 3 4way also got a dozen of those Omni nozzles (the 1" flexible loc-line-like nozzles) This set-up should be pretty similar but less expensive than my other plan. I was going to use 3 4way OMs and 3 darts (1 sump return & 2 Closed Loops) but now I am going to use the Dart as the sump return with the 4way OM and the Hammerhead for the closed loop with the 8way. Hopefully this will all work out as planned.
Oh well... off to watch some TV before bedtime. I'll call and order the skimmer tomorrow and that should be about it for the main equipment purchases (I hope!) Hopefully I will get my lights and the canopy actuator this week. I'll post more pics as I have them...
LATER!
lpkirby: Thanks a lot! It feels good to make some headway on the project. I called to check on the glass and everything is as planned. Probably the week after next. I'll keep you posted!
baotchi: Yup... I was sure glad that I read about that trick here in the fantastic RC DIY forum! Thanks for your input too Simon, it will give people more confidence in doing it themselves!
JC Pollman: Thanks for the tip. I actually planned on doing that anyways but I really appreciate your input! A question for you though... Did you use silicone on your bulkheads as opposed to the rubber gasket?? I would never silicone a bulkhead on a glass tank but there is this sort of wavy texture to my plywood tank's epoxy finish. I was wondering if I should just abandon the rubber gasket and use silicone. I want to do this just ONCE! But I am going to epoxy the inside edges of the holes with some of the leftover West Systems stuff.
Rikko: HAHA I have been known to complicate things but WOW! I guess it wouldn't be a bad stand, especially if the tank above it sprang a leak! Take it easy!
ChinChek787: I used the Rotozip tool for my holes but Simon says (HAHA) it fits in a dremel! Cool info... give it a shot one day. I was amazed!
Now on with the update...
Saturday I went to the wonderful HD and picked up some lumber and other supplies. I threw the sump rack together and I am pretty happy with the way it came out. I spakled most of the holes to get it ready for some white paint. We took it easy yesterday (Christmas) and didn't do any work on the set-up. Tonight when we got back from another nice long day off I decided to slap some paint on the sump rack. I have to go to HD tomorrow to look at plywood and maybe some laminate for the counter area on the sump rack. Here are some pics...
I still have to add some base support beams around the perimeter where the sump tank will actually sit. Here is what will be on this rack... starting at the bottom and working upward...
Base shelf : 42x15x22" glass sump with 1- 1" Bulkhead feeding the frag tank and refugium, 1-1" Bulkhead feeding the skimmer (and chiller?) and 1-1.5" Bulkhead feeding the Sequence Dart return pump to the main display.
Middle Shelf (within the vertical support beams) : 36x18x18" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a frag tank. Its overflow will dump right back into the sump. (outside the vertical support beams) There will be a ledge about 10" wide to serve as a work ledge for the frag tank (i.e. frag glueing etc.) On the right side there is a ledge about 20 x 24 for the skimmer to sit on. The skimmer will be a Euro-Reef RC-500 recirc design. I have to call Jeff at ER tomorrow to order it. I think I will sit the calcium reactor and Kal reactor on the counter next to the sink.
Top Shelf : 36x18x24" glass tank with built in overflow that will serve as a refugium. Its overflow will also dump back into the sump.
Once this stand is operational I can move the rock and leftover corals from the 90 gallon so that I can prep the spot for the main tank. I hope to have water in this set-up by the end of the week. We'll see how that goes.
I called my pump supplier today and changed my order from 3 Sequence Darts to 1 Dart and 1 Hammerhead. I also ordered my Oceans Motions last night. I got a Version 3 8way and a Version 3 4way also got a dozen of those Omni nozzles (the 1" flexible loc-line-like nozzles) This set-up should be pretty similar but less expensive than my other plan. I was going to use 3 4way OMs and 3 darts (1 sump return & 2 Closed Loops) but now I am going to use the Dart as the sump return with the 4way OM and the Hammerhead for the closed loop with the 8way. Hopefully this will all work out as planned.
Oh well... off to watch some TV before bedtime. I'll call and order the skimmer tomorrow and that should be about it for the main equipment purchases (I hope!) Hopefully I will get my lights and the canopy actuator this week. I'll post more pics as I have them...
LATER!
JC Pollman
Premium Member
bulkhead info
bulkhead info
Do not use silicon on the rubber gaskets for the bulkheads: they get to be very slippery/slimy and you can not tighten them down without them slipping out. I speak from experience - and that is why the one leaked. Just use the gasket, without silicon, and tighten it down well - you should have no problems.
Also, these bulkheads are not the strongest things in the world: I have tightened them down so hard that they broke, so you have to use a bit of judgement when you put them on.
Lastly, I hope you bought the bulkheads with threaded, versus slip, connections. No matter how clever and well thought out your plan is, after a while you will change things, and getting a bulkhead off that has a glued in connector can be rather challenging.
bulkhead info
Do not use silicon on the rubber gaskets for the bulkheads: they get to be very slippery/slimy and you can not tighten them down without them slipping out. I speak from experience - and that is why the one leaked. Just use the gasket, without silicon, and tighten it down well - you should have no problems.
Also, these bulkheads are not the strongest things in the world: I have tightened them down so hard that they broke, so you have to use a bit of judgement when you put them on.
Lastly, I hope you bought the bulkheads with threaded, versus slip, connections. No matter how clever and well thought out your plan is, after a while you will change things, and getting a bulkhead off that has a glued in connector can be rather challenging.
Sean : EbN
New member
Hello JC : I wasn't planning on using the silicone on the bulkheads as opposed to gaskets but I still wondered if there would be a problem using the gaskets on the textured surface. The holes in the back of the tank (4) are the only ones with the "texture" around them. The holes in the bottom of the tank (6) and bottom of the overflow trough (2) are smooth as glass. I just hope I don't have too many problems with holes leaking. The Overflow trough has 2 - 3" holes (for 2" bulkheads), the back wall of the tank has 2 - 3" holes ( for 2" bulkheads) for the closed loop feed and 2 - 1.75" holes (for 1" bulkheads) for part of the 8way closed loop return and the bottom of the tank has 6 - 1.75" holes (for 1" bulkheads) for the rest of the closed loop returns. So needless to say... my tank is like swiss cheese! I'll have my fingers crossed around filling time!
I have used bulkheads an uncountable number of times and I know how sensitive they can be! I am nervous using them on this wooden tank because I want to be sure they will seat and seal properly.
I bought what I could get. The 1" bhs are all FPT in and out but my 1.5" & 2" bhs are FPT in x slip out. This is all that I could get. I always worry about tightening the MPT going into the bulkhead too much and splitting the casing or not tightening enough (or with enough teflon tape) and having a slow drip. I guess the slips are nice if I slop enough glue on them they shouldn't leak but I see what you mean by PERMANENT! I plan on using unions whereever I might anticipate change later.
Thanks again!
LATER!
I have used bulkheads an uncountable number of times and I know how sensitive they can be! I am nervous using them on this wooden tank because I want to be sure they will seat and seal properly.
I bought what I could get. The 1" bhs are all FPT in and out but my 1.5" & 2" bhs are FPT in x slip out. This is all that I could get. I always worry about tightening the MPT going into the bulkhead too much and splitting the casing or not tightening enough (or with enough teflon tape) and having a slow drip. I guess the slips are nice if I slop enough glue on them they shouldn't leak but I see what you mean by PERMANENT! I plan on using unions whereever I might anticipate change later.
Thanks again!
LATER!
Sean, awesome job. I scrolled through the entire thread and now I am reading it carefully. (This may have already been posted, but I am thinking of it now) I want to warn your readers that Epoxy is toxic. Like you said a little on your will not hurt you. But it keeps building up in you and eventually you will break out. When you do break out even a little exposer will cause you to break out. This is a serious issue if you plan to be say a boat builder and find you can not longer work with Epoxy. For casual work like yours, I don't think it is a big issue. But I would recommend you wear long sleeves and gloves when working with Epoxy.
Now back to reading the thread.
Chris
Sean : EbN
New member
Man I'm thrilled about the light box!!
Man I'm thrilled about the light box!!
Hello everyone,
I have been working pretty hard on a few things for the tank the last few days and I am here to give an update. But first let me respond to the last 2 posts...
bkiba : Thanks for the post! I think I will silicone around the bulkheads when they are all plumbed up. That will at least give me some more protection against slow leaks which I have had bulkheads do on numerous occasions.
Chris : Thanks for posting that. I agree that saftey precautions should be taken when working with harmful chemicals. I used latex gloves throughout the entire epoxy resin/epoxy paint process. I got a bit on me when I was painting the overflow trough and had to reach down inside of it. I immediately washed off all that I could but the dye remained in my skin for about 2 weeks. I did get a small chemical burn on my cheek below my left eye at some point during the build. It was irritated a little and I kept rubbing it. I thought I just rubbed the skin a little raw but when I stopped that night and looked in the mirror I realized that it was a chemical burn. I need to be more careful and so does EVERYONE reading this thread!! Thanks for the compliments and warning Chris... it is much appreciated.
Man I'm thrilled about the light box!!
Hello everyone,
I have been working pretty hard on a few things for the tank the last few days and I am here to give an update. But first let me respond to the last 2 posts...
bkiba : Thanks for the post! I think I will silicone around the bulkheads when they are all plumbed up. That will at least give me some more protection against slow leaks which I have had bulkheads do on numerous occasions.
Chris : Thanks for posting that. I agree that saftey precautions should be taken when working with harmful chemicals. I used latex gloves throughout the entire epoxy resin/epoxy paint process. I got a bit on me when I was painting the overflow trough and had to reach down inside of it. I immediately washed off all that I could but the dye remained in my skin for about 2 weeks. I did get a small chemical burn on my cheek below my left eye at some point during the build. It was irritated a little and I kept rubbing it. I thought I just rubbed the skin a little raw but when I stopped that night and looked in the mirror I realized that it was a chemical burn. I need to be more careful and so does EVERYONE reading this thread!! Thanks for the compliments and warning Chris... it is much appreciated.
Sean : EbN
New member
On with the update...
THE LIGHT BOX IS DONE!!! YEAH! I'm stoked about it. I feel great that another major hurdle has been completed. I feel like the day I put the blue paint on "the box"... something is actually getting done. Man this tank is a TON of work but it should have all the bells and whistles.
As Im sure I stated earlier... I am building a light box to suspend my 4 - 400w XM 15k halides with moon lights over the tank. Attached to this box framework is the canopy "door". The entire light system and canopy door will lift straight up towards the ceiling with the aid of an 18" actuator that will be mounted in the ceiling above the tank. I was unsure about the actuator lifting the mass and the hood being rigid enough to bear the load. Well tonight I put that dog to rest... its done and it runs and has no hiccups!!
I used a 10' 2x10 strung between a wooden ladder and a steel pallet rack with a 4x4" hole cutout in the center to hang the actuator from. In its final application there will be a threaded rod strung between 2 ceiling joists, the actuator will mount to this rod. I was able to measure that the actuator actually travels a length of 17 3/4". The actuator that I purchased came from http://www.firgelliauto.com/ and is made to lift a max weight of 57 lbs" I cut it pretty close with this whole set-up, it weighs 54 lbs ( I lowered it onto a digital shipping scale to find out how close I was cutting it!)
Here are some pics...
The canopy "door" is just clamped onto the hood at the moment as it needs to be sanded, puttied and primed before it is ready for the permanent mounting. This face is made from No. 1 grade pine 1x4"s with the inside edge formed with a edge bit in the router. The "backbaord" is a piece of 1/4" Birch Plywood that I brad nailed & glued to the back of the 1x4" frame. Kind of a fake panel door but since the outer edges of the door won't be seen I didn't need a reall raised panel door.
Just a view of me around the back of the hood.
Here I am trying to tilt it a little so you could see the top.
Just a shot of the back. You can see the rear of the PFO optimal reflectors with their LED Moonlights that mount directly to the mogul socket. I really like PFO products.
Here is a shot from the rear with the actuator ram fully extended.
Same from the front, actuator fully extended.
A shot from under the canopy. You can see more detail of the top and side bracing as well as the PFO reflector, socket and moonlight.
A pic of the connectors I used to joint the 1" aluminum tube. I used 1.5" stainless bolts and nuts to hold it all together tightly.
And finally a shot of the actuator itself and how I mounted it to the canopy.
I am really happy with how it turned out. After all the work I put into it, it sure was nice to see it work as planned. Just an FYI, there will also be a track system on each side of the tank that will guide the canopy ends straight up and down. I haven't made them yet because I don't know exactly how high they are going to be. I have to wait until the tank's stand is completed to be sure of the height for the "track legs"
I think I might also order a wireless remote control for the actuator... just to give it that extra ego! :smokin:
Here is a 1.2 mb quicktime movie of the up/down operation. Sorry about the poor quality, it was taken with a cell phone as all our camera equipment is SLR and doesn't have video support...
1.2mb poor quality movie!
So what do ya think??
THE LIGHT BOX IS DONE!!! YEAH! I'm stoked about it. I feel great that another major hurdle has been completed. I feel like the day I put the blue paint on "the box"... something is actually getting done. Man this tank is a TON of work but it should have all the bells and whistles.
As Im sure I stated earlier... I am building a light box to suspend my 4 - 400w XM 15k halides with moon lights over the tank. Attached to this box framework is the canopy "door". The entire light system and canopy door will lift straight up towards the ceiling with the aid of an 18" actuator that will be mounted in the ceiling above the tank. I was unsure about the actuator lifting the mass and the hood being rigid enough to bear the load. Well tonight I put that dog to rest... its done and it runs and has no hiccups!!
I used a 10' 2x10 strung between a wooden ladder and a steel pallet rack with a 4x4" hole cutout in the center to hang the actuator from. In its final application there will be a threaded rod strung between 2 ceiling joists, the actuator will mount to this rod. I was able to measure that the actuator actually travels a length of 17 3/4". The actuator that I purchased came from http://www.firgelliauto.com/ and is made to lift a max weight of 57 lbs" I cut it pretty close with this whole set-up, it weighs 54 lbs ( I lowered it onto a digital shipping scale to find out how close I was cutting it!)
Here are some pics...
The canopy "door" is just clamped onto the hood at the moment as it needs to be sanded, puttied and primed before it is ready for the permanent mounting. This face is made from No. 1 grade pine 1x4"s with the inside edge formed with a edge bit in the router. The "backbaord" is a piece of 1/4" Birch Plywood that I brad nailed & glued to the back of the 1x4" frame. Kind of a fake panel door but since the outer edges of the door won't be seen I didn't need a reall raised panel door.
Just a view of me around the back of the hood.
Here I am trying to tilt it a little so you could see the top.
Just a shot of the back. You can see the rear of the PFO optimal reflectors with their LED Moonlights that mount directly to the mogul socket. I really like PFO products.
Here is a shot from the rear with the actuator ram fully extended.
Same from the front, actuator fully extended.
A shot from under the canopy. You can see more detail of the top and side bracing as well as the PFO reflector, socket and moonlight.
A pic of the connectors I used to joint the 1" aluminum tube. I used 1.5" stainless bolts and nuts to hold it all together tightly.
And finally a shot of the actuator itself and how I mounted it to the canopy.
I am really happy with how it turned out. After all the work I put into it, it sure was nice to see it work as planned. Just an FYI, there will also be a track system on each side of the tank that will guide the canopy ends straight up and down. I haven't made them yet because I don't know exactly how high they are going to be. I have to wait until the tank's stand is completed to be sure of the height for the "track legs"
I think I might also order a wireless remote control for the actuator... just to give it that extra ego! :smokin:
Here is a 1.2 mb quicktime movie of the up/down operation. Sorry about the poor quality, it was taken with a cell phone as all our camera equipment is SLR and doesn't have video support...
1.2mb poor quality movie!
So what do ya think??
Impressive. Looks top notch.
Only real challenge I see with it is ensuring its balanced so it hangs level when you start adding lights and cords and stuff.
Are you planning to use ballast where needed to level it out once you get it installed or do you have another approach ?
Only real challenge I see with it is ensuring its balanced so it hangs level when you start adding lights and cords and stuff.
Are you planning to use ballast where needed to level it out once you get it installed or do you have another approach ?
Sean : EbN
New member
Hello Festus,
Thanks for the compliment! It is actually quite balanced. Everything that is going on it was applied to it and tested several times. All that I didn't attach to it was the actual Halide bulbs. All cords, reflectors and even the canopy door were attached and the canopy is incredibly well balanced.
Please keep in mind that there will be a track system in place on both ends front and back, top and bottom. Each corner of the assembly will sit within these guides so there will be 8 total guide points, 4 on each side. The actuator can be adjusted forwards or backwards on the threaded rod/pin to balance the system front to back. I think I can make it work this way but I won't know until everything is in place.
Thanks for the reply!
LATER!
Thanks for the compliment! It is actually quite balanced. Everything that is going on it was applied to it and tested several times. All that I didn't attach to it was the actual Halide bulbs. All cords, reflectors and even the canopy door were attached and the canopy is incredibly well balanced.
Please keep in mind that there will be a track system in place on both ends front and back, top and bottom. Each corner of the assembly will sit within these guides so there will be 8 total guide points, 4 on each side. The actuator can be adjusted forwards or backwards on the threaded rod/pin to balance the system front to back. I think I can make it work this way but I won't know until everything is in place.
Thanks for the reply!
LATER!
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