How to mount light fixture to a canopy?

[ReefNole]

I searched the forums and couldn't find very much detail around this, but I know there are tons of folks doing it, so maybe I'm over thinking things.

Our LED fixture will be delivered this afternoon, and this weekend we completed our DIY canopy ( :dance: ). The top of the canopy is 1/2" thick plywood, so it should be fine to hold the weight of the lights. My original thought was to just screw the lights directly into the top of the canopy and cut through the top of the canopy for fan exhaust. Is this how most folks do it?

Other thoughts were to hang the fixture using s-hooks inside the canopy itself, not sure if that's a more preferred strategy.

And just to confirm, is it generally more accepted to leave the fixture in the housing and mount it all within the canopy? Or are there benefits (heat, etc.) to taking out the guts of the fixture and ditching the shell?

Thanks as always!

 

[MondoBongo]

what LED fixture are you mounting? i know with my Vegas the case is also a heat sink for them, so removing them from the case is a no go.

i'm planning on doing a similar setup to yours when i mount in my canopy. screws directly through the wood top, holes cut for the fans, with one caveat, i am planning on mounting the lights an inch or two from the wood, to allow for air flow over the top of them.

 

[billdogg]

What he said. Use something as spacers - a stack of washers will work- to leave a small gap to help the heat sink dissapate the heat.

 

[JammyBirch]

Get some optical posts and use them to stand off of the ply wood. I would put a fan or two in the back of the canopy blowing air into the canopy instead of cutting a hole in the top, it's just going to get dusty and you'll never be able to clean it.

 

[ReefNole]

Thanks for the input! The lights are the Chinese LEDs (Mars Aqua 165w). Im not sure if the housing is a heat sink or not, but I like the concept of spacing it from the plywood. Hopefully the lights will be there waiting for me...

 

[Sn8kbyt]

I cut holes into the top of my the size of the lights and then put a 1/4" lip on the inside of the canopy and placed the whole light into the cut-out. So the whole light is outside of the canopy. Works great and easy to remove the lights if for any reason I need to take the canopy off.

 

[Diverjohn]

I retro a canopy built for my old MH, hung my vega's off the center brace of my canopy using eye bolts and hooks. Easy to remove the lights if I need to do some serious work, enough air flow to keep the LED's cool and I never bothered putting a top skin on the canopy prior because of the heat from the MH so I just left it off with the LED's.

 

[intyme]

i cut holes into the top of my the size of the lights and then put a 1/4" lip on the inside of the canopy and placed the whole light into the cut-out. So the whole light is outside of the canopy. Works great and easy to remove the lights if for any reason i need to take the canopy off.

+1

 

[tharkins]

That is a great idea. Only question is what you do for cable management? Is the power cable just draped over the top of the canopy? If there was a way to conceal it that would be awesome. Maybe a raceway painted to match the canopy but would be great if the wire could still be routed under the canopy.

Only other concern is what if you change you lights 5 years down the road when the next gen version comes out with a different footprint? I guess you need to make a new canopy then but I would prefer to avoid that.

 

[Sn8kbyt]

That is a great idea. Only question is what you do for cable management? Is the power cable just draped over the top of the canopy? If there was a way to conceal it that would be awesome. Maybe a raceway painted to match the canopy but would be great if the wire could still be routed under the canopy.

Only other concern is what if you change you lights 5 years down the road when the next gen version comes out with a different footprint? I guess you need to make a new canopy then but I would prefer to avoid that.

Well the top of my canopy is over 7 feet off the ground so unless you are on a ladder or chair you cannot see the top of it or the lights. That being said the top of my canopy is made out of two panels 36" X 24" that are held on by 4 screws each. If I ever had to change lights down the road I remove 8 screws and put a new top on the canopy.

Cable management is easy on the back side of each rectangle cut-out for the light I made an additional notch big enough to drop the wires down into the canopy. Since my lights have plugs that are removable from each fixture I can take the lights down and still have all cables routed underneath the canopy.

On the road all week for work but I can send you picture when I get home if your interested how it looks.

 

[Live Rockin]

Here is mine as I was installing them Similar to what Sn8kbyt described. My canopy is also high enough where you cannot see the lights and they are easy to remove if the canopy needs to come off. All cabling is ran behind and into the sump area where they are plugged into a controller.

 

[pdiehm]

I cut an opening on the top of the canopy, and placed my 48" light on top, supported by the 1x2's that I used for the frame. Works pretty good

 

[rmcaum]

I used a sliding mount. I wanted the canopy to be short and not have holes in the top. Sliding lets me scoot them back for more access to the tank or even remove them completely by removing the one board if I need to take the canopy off.

 

[bperau]

Here is mine as I was installing them Similar to what Sn8kbyt described. My canopy is also high enough where you cannot see the lights and they are easy to remove if the canopy needs to come off. All cabling is ran behind and into the sump area where they are plugged into a controller.

Would 1 of these work on a 46 bow front (36" length$)

 

[Reef Frog]

I cut holes into the top of my the size of the lights and then put a 1/4" lip on the inside of the canopy and placed the whole light into the cut-out. So the whole light is outside of the canopy. Works great and easy to remove the lights if for any reason I need to take the canopy off.

This is a great idea IMO for any LED with a fan opening on the top of the fixture. Overheated LEDs fail early and shift spectrum.

It's even a good idea for units designed with passive cooling.

 

[A.Astore]

We have our LED sitting on top of the canopy. It was the best thing for us because we didn't waste height but mounting it inside. We can see the cord sticking up a little bit but it also means the fans have a very open space to pull from as well as gives us a good 3 inches further from the water. Our canopy came with an opening in the top that ran length wise so we didn't even cut the canopy in order to make it work. Had we not done that we were talking a rail system so we could slide it out of the way or remove it to make the canopy lighter should we have to take the whole canopy off. This way we want the canopy off we just take it off the top without even messing without anything.

 

[thegrun]

I mounted mine on a sliding rail that is attached to strut brackets attached to the back of my cabinet. I can slide the lights back for maintenance and keep the top of the canopy open for air movement.