self made hood

[troutman11111]

i didn't now what else to do with my light it made the living room to bright.2x250mh x 2x65wpc actnic. so i cut 2 pieces of cardboard, painted the inside gloss white and the outside gloss black. put one in front and one in the back. what a differance, the sides are not coverd but it does not affect anyone. cheap and it works.

 

[justDIY]

sweet work man...

are you planing on building a wood 'wrap around' ... maybe some luan with 1x2's inside for ribbing?

 

[troutman11111]

it would be nice, but i'm no carpenter. if the cardboard warps to bad i'll cut two more pieces. so far no problem going on 3 months.

 

[cj10488]

I would be cautious about using Cardboard.. I dont know about your MH bulbs but mine get extremely Hot.. I left a thermometer on top of my canopy on accident and it read 125f in a pretty short time.. My canopy is made of 3/4 Marine Grade plywood..

HTH,
James

 

[justDIY]

well, the good thing about cardboard is there isn't much to burn - if it caught fire, it'd likely fall apart and into the tank rather quickly 8O

on the other hand - how about fumes from your spray paint? getting cooking by the MH, must have an unpleasent smell for the 1st few days?

 

[Bearfan]

I think this is a bad idea. If one of your fans fails on your MH fixture, there is a severe chance of fire. I think something a little more flame retardant would be a wise investment.

 

[BillyZ]

I agree. The cardboard scares me. I would go to Home Depot/Lowes and pick up 1/4" particle board. They can even cut it for you if you give them the dimensions. It's light enough to support itself the way your cardboard does, but it's also dense enouch to not worry me about fire as much as cardboard does.

 

[troutman11111]

sorry, i did not reply 2months sonner. the paint did not smell at all,and my fans did not come on because of the timer losing time, yes the top of the light did get hot, but since the 2 peices of cardboard are only leaning on the back and front and nothing on the sides they did not get hot only warm. i like the particle board idea to replace my cardboard. this was only a temp hood, till i got more info. but man does time fly. 8)

 

[Thaiboxer]

I'm making plans for a wood hood right now... I'll post when I get them. I'd be very anxious if I had a cardboard top!

 

[NASCAR_Dave]

I just built a canopy...well, am building a canopy. I usually draw all my woodworking projects up in Visio but this time I kinda winged it. I will see if I can draw up the plans this weekend and psot them, along with pictures of the canopy.

 

[troutman11111]

thanks, i'll be checking in later walt.