Securing wire rope? How do you do it?

[Beenalongtime79]

So, I'm going to be hanging some T5 actinic lights with reflectors over my tank. I'd like to use wire rope to do it as it is economical, convenient, and very strong.

They are just 24" lights, so they will not weigh more than 5 pounds with the reflectors.

I was going to use the 1/16" one and was wondering how you guys secure your rope. I'm going to run it through some eye fasteners and then I get a little bit lost.

I know tying is definitely not the way to go. I've seen the ferrule and stop sets, but don't want to go that route as I'd like to keep it all fairly adjustable. They do have clamp sets for the wire ropes, which are kind of hard to tighten.

Anyways, I do have an idea. I was just going to take like a 1/2" male thread PVC fitting and a 1/2" female thread fitting and drill a small hole through the male fitting. Thread the wire through the hole, leaving a loop at the far end to attach to my eye fasteners, and then just tighten the two pieces together. I feel that this should be fairly secure and it holds just a low amount of weight and the canopy is very secure and doesn't move and doesn't vibrate so I can't see it unscrewing itself. For extra security, I may just add a little rubber O-ring to the the male fitting to keep the wire from slipping.

What do you think?

Cheers,
John

 

[flfirefighter13]

http://www.stageriggingonline.com/wireropeclip1.html

http://peaktrading.com/productpages/default.aspx?ProductPageId=1863

Either will work, top one should be easier to find locally nut the gliders are super easy to adjust. Top one are known by many as crosby's which is the company that makes most of the american made ones.

 

[flfirefighter13]

http://peaktrading.com/categories/default.aspx?CategoryID=117

sorry hit emter to soon, some more options can be found here.

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Thanks firefighter! Those gliders look like they would work great for my purposes.

 

[Scooter12ga]

It sounds like you have a solid plan, but I thought I might offer a suggestion FWIW.

Are you opposed to using chains? You can get pretty nice, strong, black powdercoated chain that would be more than plenty to hold a 5lb fixture. The combination of chains and hooks gives you instant height adjustability and also allows you to easily raise the lights when you need to work in the tank.

Heres a pic of how mine is hanging:

 

[drstupid]

hey mike, that funny looking coral in the bottom tank looks like it's browning a bit...

 

[Beenalongtime79]

Thanks for the info. I've decided to go with the wire though because I just don't feel like dealing with chains... I'm not really sure why, it just doesn't look as clean in my opinion.

I'll be using the 1/16" wire rope, which is nice and thin and innocuous.

Cheers,
John

 

[flfirefighter13]

Not sure if you have the cable yet but FYI they make it in black, stainless and some companies even sell a rubber coated wire that comes in various colors. You can paint it as well but im sure the gliders would peel. Post some pics when you get it done, Im interested in what you do with it. I spent years as a theatrical lighting tech and have an idea of making my next reef lighting system out of thearical truss and rigging it on motors to lift and drop out of the way........... I guess I just have WAY to much time on my hands

 

[Scooter12ga]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9370226#post9370226 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drstupid
hey mike, that funny looking coral in the bottom tank looks like it's browning a bit...

LOL, yea, that fake gorg was a freebie that came with an online order. Does a great job of distracting your view from the big-ole pump and heater sitting behind it.

Anywhoo - Back On Topic!