DIY Cantilevered Light Fixture - Page 5 - DIY Aquarium Projects

hoppycalif · 03-28-2008, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiste

Great project. Any thoughts on how this could be done if the wall mount is not practical?

If you were unable to mount this on a wall, you could mount it on brackets mounted on the back of the tank stand/cabinet. To crudely illustrate: nail a vertical 2 x 4 to each corner of the stand. On the back of the 2 x 4's mount a horizontal 2 x 4. Mount this light fixture to that horizontal 2 x 4.

I've been wondering if there were a way to manufacture the parallelogram linkage so it was of adjustable length, and have it mount on the back of any light fixture and to the wall. I'm convinced it is a pretty simple engineering job to design such a universal mount, but since I don't work with metal except for rare occasions, I can't make a prototype. But, I would think there would be a market, given the increasing popularity of open topped tanks.

JERP · 04-01-2008, 12:32 PM

I used a similar concept for a "sit-on-top" light fixture. It's purely functional and ugly as hell, but normally covered by the canopy hood. I can open the hood and move one light fixture out of the way with this setup for maintenance. Shown is the "up" position without the hood on. The light fixtures rest on it's own arms in the up position like your's does in the down position. The only reason I brought it up is that no latches are required. This works out well for fixtures that sit on the tank, rather than attached to a wall. It worked out well for me. I wanted to be able to clean the tank with some light on it. I worked out a more elegant solution, but never built it. I tore down the tank several years ago and am now using a different set up.

http://home.pacbell.net/jrplanck/hoodup.jpg

hoppycalif · 07-31-2008, 07:59 PM

This fixture has worked extremely well for 4 months now. I enjoy it so much I wouldn't change a thing, other than the little mistakes I made in making it.

Now, I am fed up with high light intensity. Bah! I took a week vacation, followed by another week recovering from a head cold, followed by almost another week being too busy with one of my wife's projects to work on the tank, and....... Well, I have a mess. Good time to make major changes.

With this fixture I could replace the 55 watt bulbs with lower wattage, but then I would lose the 9325K bulbs, which I really love. So, I will raise the fixture by about 9 inches, which will be the equivalent of reducing the light intensity by about 38%, from about 2.4 watts per gallon to the equivalent of about 1.5 watts per gallon (based on the intensity at the substrate level). This will entail only removing the bracket from the wall and relocating it 9 inches above the top of the tank. Easy to do. One more thing I like about the design.

I will probably be posting a new thread about the new setup, once I figure it all out.

missewell · 08-03-2008, 01:16 AM

Amazing DIY. Talk about practical. Nice tank

sonaps · 08-07-2008, 03:10 PM

I saw this for the first time today. Great work Hoppy! I like that when you raise it to work in the tank the lights are still pointing down. I look forward to seeing the new setup. I'm interested to see how this fixture looks when it's mounted higher.

hoppycalif · 08-07-2008, 06:52 PM

Here is how it looks, raised 6 inches: Don't look at the tank - I'm in the process of converting that mess into a low light anubias, crypt, Java Fern tank.

I liked the appearance better when it was down just above the tank, but it isn't too bad this way either.

HEY! I SAID DON'T LOOK AT THE TANK! DANG IT!

hoppycalif · 08-22-2008, 10:37 AM

I finished designing a universal mount for light fixtures, using this basic parallelogram linkage design. Since I don't need one right now I didn't make one, but the design is so simple I don't doubt it will work very well. It is on a PDF file which you can download from: http://www.oregonaquadesign.com/hopp...veredlight.htm.
EDIT: Change website reference above.

RestlessCrow · 11-15-2009, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMHdispute

I was thinking of a hood design similar to that and thought of using little hood struts that they use for cars to hold it up. The only probelem that i can think of is that the struts could be too strong and make it go up too fast but then youd just have to hold on to it real good.

It looks real good.

FYI Those hood struts are available in many different strenghths... (EXPENSIVE though!) I once helped someone convert an enclosed trailer to a "Concession" type trailer with a swing up door cut in the side... We went through about three sets of these buggers until we got the right ones.

I'm watching this one closely, because I'm building a similar setup for my 85 gal. I just completed my hood the day before yesterday and went over to my buddy's welding shop for a consultation.. (He loves all these crazy projects I get myself into)

Probably Tuesday I will get on to building my lift mechanism, but I'm building mine right on the top of the tank. No wall mount.

Looks good though! Great Job!