retro fit AP24 question

[Purple Penguins]

So I have been having problems with my hood on my 24 AP CF so I called Current who is sending me a new hood and told me to just keep the orig hood that has no problems with lighting so now Im in the thinking process of how to add the lighting from the one into the other safely to up my watts, any suggestions and if this is possible and how to approach this would be greatly appreciated

 

[Azial]

Well... You know what I did...

You can move the ballasts back in the back of the shield, the reflector can be moved back from the front nearly 4-5 inches and another retrofit kit can be added into the stock screw holes.

The old reflector can screw into the ballast holes and the electronics need to be respositioned. Additionally the stock lamp fixture itself can be respositioned on it's relfector (just a rescrew for the endcaps. However the lamps are so long you have to take out part of the side "brace" to get them to fit properly, but it doesn't affect the hood or the shield in anyway.

When done, the shield looks stock but with three lamps in it, you can see the electronics and is an unfortunate side effect of the clipping of the relfector top piece to get things to fit properly.

I am very happy with it.

 

[shouldabenacowboy]

I did a similar upgrade by putting all 4 bulbs in the hood. I ordered two - 2 @ 36watt ballasts and wired it up. There was some mods that had to be done to the heat shield and I replaced the stock fan along with adding another to keep things cool. It looked pretty good when i was done. I can take some pics if ya like.

SBC

 

[Purple Penguins]

pics would be great! somthing to look at while I go through with this, everything in my tank looks great with the lighting I have now but to double it would help with other things I would like to add

 

[Louie3]

I'd like to tag along for pics. Azial gave me the idea of switching out the32w bulbs on the 24 with 40w bulbs

 

[cubular]

I just replaced the 32 watt bulbs with 40s last night. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but I didn't even use my best curses. It really made a difference. I had already replaced the cooling fan with 2 Silenx fans. I put in a Rio 6HF pump and think I'll call it good for now. It's only been running about 3 weeks and I haven't put in any corals yet.

 

[Purple Penguins]

my orig plan was to switch out for 40's but when the chance to have a second hood with 2 sets of lights happend I couldnt help but to think past that from 25% increase to double, I really hope this works and is dooable, the other thing I have been wondering about is double fans, I have only the one in there now but the hookup for the second is not there for some reason so been tossing that around as well, I would rather have 2 fans with double lighting for sure

 

[Louie3]

Do you have pics of the new way they were installed, was it just a bulb swap or was it a major pain in the a** to get them in. I've been checking nano-reefs and its been easy an dhard for others

 

[Purple Penguins]

did you want pics of the upgrade to 40w bulbs? or double the lighting?

 

[Azial]

The fan hookup is a 5 min job. Off of the circuit board is a red and black wire. snip those off at the stock fan.

The silent X fan comes with three wires, red, black and yellow. Red goes to red, black goes to black and snip the yellow wire off. It's not needed. If using two fans, it's red to red to red, black to black to black. I used liquid sealant for the wires and a plastic endcap. Which I am willing to bring into work for you :rollface:

 

[shouldabenacowboy]

Alright....

Here are some pics. They are not the best, but they will get the point across.

1st I gutted the old hood. Everything must come out.

2nd. I flattened the heat shield and cut around where the fans will go. (you will see what I mean in the pictures below)

3rd. From the front of the hood working towards the back, I installed the bulbs.

4th. I mounted the ballasts.

5th. I mounted 2 new Stealth fans

Full Hood Shot

A little Zoomed in

With the clear splash guard taken off

Ballest mounting

Right side fan cutout

Left side fan cutout

Ballast info...for those interested

I ended up taking the fans out for another project where I shoved 2 - 70watt MH under a stock AP24 hood


Hope this helps

SBC

 

[Azial]

One more thing, modifying the light isn't "Easy" by any stretch. It can be done with a minimum of stress. I cut the crap out of my hands a couple times but it's doable.

 

[shouldabenacowboy]

Same here....many cuts on the fingers. The heat shield is sharp.

I also found that when running the 2 stealth fans blowing in keeps it much cooler than sucking air out. I also hooked up the fans to a variable DC transformer. They keep it very cool and run quiet around 6Volts.

sBC

 

[Purple Penguins]

wow those pics will really help alot! thanks! as for cramping my hands and getting cuts I'll let the other half get those while I direct him on what to do, when this happens and my second hood finally shows up I'll post pics of new mods, I just hope the hood gets here soon because my tank has been only running on actinics at the moment due to the problem with the fans always burning out which current thought may come from a problem in the hood, bad = no light for my corals and anemone, good= some of my algae is dying off with no lights

 

[Azial]

If you and your hubby need help, let me know, I have a lot of the stuff you need extra, I can bring it to work or let you see mine as a template too.

 

[Azial]

shouldabenacowboy:

How did you drill the hood? Did you use the stock "pylons" or did you go through the hood itself? I am curious, I did it with a drilled pilot hole and back back through the top wth black screwed and secured with a nut and washer to keep it looking good on the top.. you?

 

[Purple Penguins]

thanks! Im thinking I should probably order my fans asap or maybe call around wausau and see if anyone there carry's them, noone here in this town there is nothing, so I'll check there and if nothing then I'll break down and order from the net

 

[shouldabenacowboy]

I used existing pylons to secure the heat shield to the hood. Pretty much everything else is nuts/bolts to the heat shield. Nothing is loose or vibrates when the fans are on.

SBC

 

[Azial]

That website I gave you was quick and efficient and I didn't have to pay $10.00 in shipping which is a crime imho.

 

[Purple Penguins]

yeah i added it to my fav, I was also planning to make a trip to Mad City to see family and hit up some of the shops there along with the pet stores to see what kind of livestock/corals they have there, although last night I decided I was going to get a nano mush pack and pray for some Ricordia