PacSun LED & canopy lift

[cmor1701d]

I replaced my MH fixture with LEDs. I didn't want to mount them individually to the ceiling as I wanted a way to lift them as a unit for tank maintence. That was something that was difficult to do in the past. While I was researching new lights I looked at a used 250w Geisseman Infinity that was connected to a linear actuator to raise and lower it. Great idea, so...
A friend and I tossed around a bunch of ideas for a frame or canopy to hold the light units (3 of them). Then one day I passed by my canopy in the basement and thought there might be a way to use that. Voila!

Oh, the linear actuator is remoted controlled by a car start remote system:



So, we had to build a frame inside the canopy.


And seal the screws from moisture:



So here's what it looks like (almost done)


But, we had to make sure the lights wouldn't slide into the tank and fortunatley the PacSun units have 4 holes in the bottom.

[cmor1701d]

So here's what it looks like so far:


But the power cords won't reach when the canopy is raised. Great, let's mount them to the canopy!


And mount an extension outlet (GFI rated) with a long cord.


So now it looks like this:

Time to get the ceiling mounts in. Oh s..t, just empty space where I need to mount it and this is going to weigh about 100 pounds when done.

OK, no problem:
We'll just mount the pulleys to a board.


And the Right side pulleys:

[cmor1701d]

So now to test everthing. The actuator is just to the right of the tank and allows for a 30" lift:





The rope is just temporary. It will be replaced by cable soon.

[Jimbo7]

Very sweet man. Have you had any ability to take before and after PAR readings?

[cmor1701d]

I don't know anyone with a PAR or PPFD meter. Don't think I want to spend the $360 for the Apogee Model MQ-100 for one time use either. I wish a local club would buy one as a group and then pass it around.

[Zer0]

Great job cmor! And your tank looks freakin awesome.

[Bige]

So it will have actuater that raises? That is sweet. I love actuaters. I use them all the time. So will the actuater be hooked up to the cable? What is the travel of the arm? Those lights look great and are very bright (as expected).

[ryshark]

That is awesome! Great job, I wish I could have a light slide like that. I am thinking about adding LEDs to my canopy to put in between my halides but I'm not sure where to start.

[ccCapt]

Very cool!
How are your corals reacting to the LED's?