I have the photos of the finished set up ready but I will have to wait a few more days to snap some of the tank, the leather is still closed but most everyone else is looking good, I am running at about 30% power and will increase over the next week or so.
Used my label maker to make some nice labels.
I used a 6 circuit molex connector to run from the power supply project box up to the fixture. I picked out the panel mount one because I thought I could cleanly mount it but that did not exactly work out because the wall of the box was too thick for how I think the mounting tabs work, any ideas?
Looking up
Looking down, I used this desk lamp I picked up at target as the hanger, I removed the lamp part and attached a piece of trim to match the fixture. I am using those little triangles in the corners to hold it now but I need to modify it a bit as I dont really feel comfortable with the lack of overlap. I think I am going to use some L aluminum once I have a chance o pick some up.
Side View
Looking down. Also note to connect the fan to the heat sink I did not want to use really long screws and drill into the heat sink because it would be a pain so I used some plastic hollow wall anchors I had around and stuck them into the space between the fins and then used screws just long enough to grip them, its works perfect and holds securely.
The fixture is quite a bit heaver than the little lamp head that used to be on there so the stock springs could not support the LEDs, it would just drop to the desk under the weight. Obviously this is no good as it would fall in the tank! I thought about how to fix this issue and came up with a few stupid ideas before thinking about the mechanics of how the lamp works. I realized you just need to control the distance between the two pegs that the springs were attached too. I used some cable ties to test it and it worked but I don't trust them long term so I made some from the left over cable. The only disadvantage is that the height is semi fixed but I figure thats okay, I can always swing it to the side for maintenance for it will lean back several inches for feeding with out issue. One other issue dealing with the added weight is a need for increased counter weight. I imagine the included was a little light even for the lamp, so I picked up one brick to sit on top of it and spray pained black to match, still is not enough so I have the ream of paper on there for now until I can pick up another and paint.
The whole deal. I am really happy with how this fixture turned out(thanks for the inspiration/information soundwave! I started reading this post on the day you first posted it and have read every reply since) and I feel ready to take on the larger one. The fan I am using to cool the project box is a little loud so I might order one that is 10mm larger or 20 if it will fit that will hopefully run a little quieter. The large fan on the heat sink is virtually silent, and I would recommend its purchase.
If you have any questions or ideas for improvements I am open to hear them!
