18" - 20" DIY lighting

[dskidmore]

Promised progress shots:

Building the box:

I seemed to be missing my box of short deck screws, so I built this mostly with drywall screws. Worked all right, only had to back out a couple and re-drive with stronger clamping.

Not very pretty. If I was thinking long-term, I'd paint/stain it at this point.

The roof flashing I'm using for my conductive reflector.

Reflector half completed:

I found that although this metal is soft enough to work with your hands, the pliers give a much sharper bend. Speaking of sharp, desipte thinking I had learned my lesson last night, I did get several shallow cuts doing this work.

Layout test:

 

[mr funktastic]

looks good so far. u may want to re think your placement of the ballast. it will produce alot of heat aswell as the bulbs so u mahave issues. plus the coller u run the ballast the longer it will work and the better. other than that it looks like u are off to a great start. cant wait to see the finished product.

 

[dskidmore]

There is room to place a small fan on either end of where the ballast is. Might be easier on me later if I make the holes now though. I'm going to order a few extra fans next time I get computer parts.

I also have the option of turning the ballast 90 degrees and attaching it to the sidewall, giving a bit more clearance between the ballast and bulbs.

 

[mr funktastic]

if u can doa fan it should be ok... but if not i highly suggest mounting it exteriorly. i hope it works for u!

 

[dskidmore]

The ballast directions are very clear about mounting to a grounded housing, so I'd have to figure out another set of shielding if I mounted it outside.

Although a remote ballast would give me an excuse to leave the wires long enough to use in my other fixture.

 

[fish_4_all]

I would agree with the fans, especially if you are overdriving. A couple vents in the ends for airflow could be good also. It could get really hot. I love the design and the look, much more like what I was planning to design but I would have 4 bulbs in mine and no overdrive. Really nice and will look really good stained in a dark walnut.

BTW, what made you decide to go with the folded metal? I have thought about using metal mirrors in mine when I build it. Would be really easy to make an "M" type reflector then if I go to that extent with 60 watts over the top a 10 gallon with 4 bulbs anyway it might be overkill but worth the try for a larger tank.

Looks good and I can't wait to see how bright the tank is. Get your fish some sunglasses!

 

[fish_4_all]

Knowing that, I would have done the same thing. Either that or take another piece of the metal and put it on top. This is why when I go to make mine I will build the housing and take it to my uncle who works for an electric supply company and let them tell me how to do it! And yes, I will ask about discounts but don't keep your fingers crossed.

As I said, me know noffin about electrical stuff except how to instal the physical parts. Wiring is for the ones who know what they are doing.

 

[dskidmore]

All high-powered florecents need grounded conductive reflectors. I'm not sure what the diffrence is between the cheap lights with the plastic reflectors and no groud wire, and the electronic ballasts that are very clear about grounding in thier installation instructions, but I figured following thier advice was wise.

Given the end-caps I had picked out, I wasn't sure if I had enough clearance for proper M reflectors, might need more clearance under the bulb. The ballast is also required to be attached to a grounded case, so some of the conductive lining would be required there even if I did have M reflectors. This is also a quick and drity project, I'm not trying to hard to make it nice, just want to get something up quickly.

Get your fish some sunglasses!

Fish? What fish?

If I keep this tank up in the long term, may turn it into a shrimp haven. I've been interested in the idea of breeding ammano shrimp. I have an estuary tank design for shrimp fry that I'm dying to see if it works in practice.

Question:
The major concern with heat is reduced bulb life? This is a plant tank, no fish, so I'm not worried about cooking anybody.

Would there be a problem with running this for a few weeks without the fans? I think I need to mail order the fans, and I want this running tonight.

 

[mr funktastic]

do a test run fr a few hours to see the kind of heat it is producing. if it is to much then dont run it. if it isnt then u can run it short term without the fans. my ballast is not a cheapy one but i am running it without a ground. that is why i mounted mine externally so it wont be near water. and my power coard is grounded.

 

[TwoHobbies]

I think the worse case scenario would be your heater would turn on less frequently. I wouldn't worry about the fans until you find its putting out more heat than you want.

I've DIY'd two overdriven hoods now with electronic ballast and don't use fans on ether of them. In both of my hoods the ballast throw off much more heat than the bulbs, and my ballast's are installed much like yours but vertically to the inside back wall.

 

[dskidmore]

No progress tonight. Instead we got a Great Dane visiting us.

We're going to foster him for a week, then decide if we're going to keep him long term.

By the way, he's huge, and I have a small house. He's very sedate though, the tail hasn't kocked anything over yet. The accidental head butt on the stairs definately gave me pause.

 

[dskidmore]

Ok Pressley is settled in enough to stop following me for every trip to the basement and doesn't seem to mind the sound of power tools.

I figured it would be easier to install the flashing and ballast with the box partially dissasembled. The grounding wire is pinned between the ballast and the flashing.

After that I got the main wiring completed. FYI, #6x3/4 screws probably would be ideal for mouning the end caps, I had #8s, and it was a tight squeze, difficult to adjust.

Fully assembled box:

Unfortunately, it only lit very dimly. I have to look at the wiring diagrams again, I recall something about splicing the wires together instead of putting them into the end caps directly as I did.

I'm severely wishing I had not cut the wires so short. I've already had to put in one extra splice because of my cutting a wire too short.

 

[mr funktastic]

what do u mean lit dimly? my first attempt at a DIY light had the same result. but itwas not due to bad wiring. if u wired it wrong it simply wont work at all. if it is lit dimly it is normally becasue the ballast cant start the bulbs. what is written exactly on the top of the ballast? the problem may be that it cant support the bulbs u have put in.

 

[dskidmore]

The ballast is a 4F32T8, it should be able to handle it. I think I see what I did wrong. There are two valid configurations. Splice all wires together and redistribute to both pins, or put a red and a blue on each pin instead of two red on a pin and two blue on a pin. The short between the reds or between the blues is probably confusing the ballast into putting out the wrong current.

Now I have to figure out how to get the wires out of the end caps. In was really easy and secure.

If that doesn't work, I read something about the conductive reflector helps start the bulbs, so maybe I'll add M reflectors. The M reflector will be closer to the bulb and have more of an effect.

 

[mr funktastic]

to get them out u have to pop off the back of the end cap and use something thin like a paper clip to lift up the little tab that is holding the wire. i had to do this a few times and it is no fun.

 

[dskidmore]

I'm just going to buy another pair of end caps. $3 won't break me. I struggled with the little plastic tab and mauled it.

 

[TwoHobbies]

I 've removed the wires with steady pressure while turning, but its hard.

The electronic ballasts I use are "instant start" and I belive you have wired it wrong. If it is designed for four bulbs ( it looks like it is in your picture) and you are indeed overdriving two, it should be wired..... both red wires to one end of bulb one, and one yellow wire to the other end of bulb one. Both blue wires to one end of bulb two, and the second yellow wire to the other end of bulb two. (no need for jumpers).

I hope that is clear.

 

[dskidmore]

I'm also driving two short bulbs in sierial in place of one long bulb, so it's more like wiring 4 outputs to one bulb. In this case I usually see a red and a blue on each side of one endcap, and both yellows to the other end.

 

[TwoHobbies]

That may be part of the problem!!!! Im confused, thats not the way it looks in your last picture.

I don't think you can overdrive 3 bulbs with that transformer.

I think you should try it with just the two bulbs, ( you'll like it )

 

[dskidmore]

It is only two bulbs. The two bulbs are in serial. The two 18" bulbs should get detected as one 36" bulb.