diy compressed gas light suspension system PICS

[latazyo]

well, since I got a total of 0 replies on a thread requesting ideas for a light suspension system that did not involve the ceiling, I had to think of one on my own

with the help of my brother, I came up with the idea of a compressed gas strut light suspension system

this was very simple to assemble, however the first configuration I tested did not work

due to the fact that the strut was very difficult to compress by hand, I thought I needed to design the system with the least amount of torque, so I made the strut nearly vertical...while I accomplished the goal of providing nearly the least amount of torque, this resulted in the strut being too weak to hold my lights up

so I had to improvise and adjust the angle that the strut was positioned

this picture shows the assembly of the top portion of the light stand, the red line indicates the position of the mount after I moved it, the strut in the picture is in its original non-functioning position

this picture shows the bottom part of the assembly...again the red indicates the current position of the strut

this picture shows the assembly from the front...the blue line indicates where I"ll be jigsawing material away to make for a cleaner look...I also might just put some plywood over the gaping holes...IM obviously going to paint the wood black to match the stand...the strut in this picture is shown in its final, and working, position

and this picture shows the side view of the unit, the yellow line indicates the FORMER and NONWORKING position of the strut...you can see that I basically went from minimum to maximum torque...I guess I underestimated the weight of my light fixture

tomorrow I will be getting the cables all connected into the eyebolts on my light fixture and will post pics of the final product

the basic point of making this unit is so that I can lower the lights (with the strut under pressure) and latch them into place...then when I wish to do tank maintenance or raise the lights for any other reason I simply have to unlatch whatever latching mechanism I choose and the lights automatically raise and stay raised up out of my way

the system is able to raise the lights approximately 8 inches higher than they would normally sit

a few potential problems I can see right now
1. rust on the hardware
2. oil from the strut making its way into the tank somehow
3. failure of the strut (highly unlikely since this is intended for use on a car's trunk or hood, which most of the time are closed with the strut under compression)

I guess I'll have to wait and see what comes of it

thanks for looking I'll post more pics of the finished product tomorrow

comments and questions are welcome

 

[Letmegrow]

Ridiculous. I love it.

Find some pink foam ?

 

[Versus]

Poor alf =/

 

[latazyo]

thanks letmegrow

yes I found some pink foam, your lead on the styro was perfect, fade hooked me up with a sheet of it

 

[Stipe]

why does alf always cope all the sh** .

Great idea, what light fixture?

 

[latazyo]

stipe, alf has finally met his match, my puppy is a fierce player, sometimes he can't keep up

anyways, the fixture is a 6 bulb t5 fixture, details found here http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=903477

 

[Fluxion]

I used similar gas struts on my hinged hood. I had a little trial and error to get it right but now it works great. Yours looks like it will work. If it was me I would set the geometry so in the down position it would stay down on its own with out a latching mechanism and would still raise with minimal effort. That is how I have mine. I have to raise the hood about 4" and then it opens on its own and stays up. However, I do have to be careful when lowering it, cause it will slam shut. I have my struts arranged so that they are verticle behind the tank for when they leak. One thing I would suggest you change it to mount you cylinder with the rod on the bottom, the way you have it causes dust and salt to wear out the seals.

 

[latazyo]

the system is finally completed and in great working order

I took fluxion's advice and flipped the strut to have the rod on the bottom

here is a side view of the assembly, you can see my latching mechanism

this if the final front view with the lights in the down position, this is where they will be when in use (apparently my dog needed to be in every picture)

and here are the lights up and out of my way

thanks again everyone for looking and please leave any questions or comments