New light rack

[StirCrazy]

well sence I am getting new lights I decided to make a new rack system for them. This whole light rack will slide out the end of the stand in order to make work easyer on the lights and also to make more room when I am working on the tank.


http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/lights/newlights/rack_base.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/lights/newlights/halfway.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/lights/newlights/side.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/lights/newlights/done.jpg

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/diy/lights/newlights/end.jpg

Steve

[Red-Sea]

Steve, where did you get the end reflectors & are you going to mount VHO's or PC's on them...:dance:

[IJO]

nice TV...errr light setup you got there hehe

IJO

[StirCrazy]

Originally posted by Red-Sea
Steve, where did you get the end reflectors & are you going to mount VHO's or PC's on them...:dance:

I have both.. so I am going to see how it is with just the MH and actinics.. if I think it has to many shadows I will put the PC's on also.

Steve

[afss]

Man, you've always got something on the go.
Where do you get the energy:D

Scott

[StirCrazy]

Originally posted by afss
Man, you've always got something on the go.
Where do you get the energy:D

Scott

hmm.. yo uhaven;t seen my other project I have running at the same time have you? ;)

I forgot to post it.. hang on I will :jester:


Steve

[Wayne's World]

Great idea about the slide. I am doing a light hood at the moment so I might see if I can incorporate the same idea. Now where did you get the reflectors?

[StirCrazy]

Well, I got my Ballast yesterday, and got a box for them this morning so now they are assembled and tested.

I am Verry impressed.. they are more blue than white and very very bright, the mail man did a double take when he was dropping of the mail :wink: I ran them for 20 min and the ballast were still cold to the touch. the start up was nice.. no flicker or anything.. just like turnning on a normal light in your house.. I will do a PAR test on them later after I get them installed on the tank but I am expecting a numb er that is quite high.. I can look at my 175 watt bulb with out to much squinting.. thease I can't it starts to hurt after 2 seconds :shock:

oh if the lights in the pic look a little different it is because the one on the right was on for 10 min and the one on the left only 3 min when this picture was taken..

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/temppics/running.jpg

Steve

[johnfish]

What kind of ballasts are you running, Steve?

Cheers,
John

[StirCrazy]

Well I built the last part of my light rack tonight.. I just put the second coat of urathain onit and tomorrow I should be able to mount the new system.. this is the part that will be screwed inside the frame and will hold the extensions that will allow me to pull the light rack out when I want it out.

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/temppics/mounting.jpg

johnfish, the lights are the AB 10000K (actualy 13000K now) 250 watt HQI and the ballast I am using are Ansi M80 250 watt HQI ballasts.


Steve

[johnfish]

Hi Steve,

Very nice colour on those AB's. Are they a new version that is rated 13000k?

I Thought the 10000k AB's were the same bulb as the Ushio 10000k, but those ones look nice and blue white, much better than the Ushio's.

Where did you get the M80 ballasts?

Thanks :)
John

[StirCrazy]

I think they are the ones that are sold as a 10K but are actualy a 13K, I got them used but the boxes do say 13K on them.

the ballast I had to get special ordered and wait almost 3 weeks to get it.. they are a lot more expensive than a normal 250 watt ballasnt and 90% of the places that deal with lighting have no clue what you want and will quote you on the wrong part.

Steve

[johnfish]

Thanks for the info, Steve.

I found a blurb on the AB bulb:

"Soon after its introduction in 1994, the 10000 Kelvin bulb became the best selling specialty bulb for seawater aquarias. We have set a standard with this bulb by which other bulbs have to meet their standard.. After a development of more than a year, we present now the aqualine 10000 second generation. This light bulb was reworked and substantial improvements have been made :

To improve the stability of the color a second ion getter has been introduced in the 150 and 250-watt light bulbs. This results in the fact that ions of the quartz glass, which gradually go into the bulb and lead to a yellowish color, will be absorbed. Thecold white light color now remains over the entire operating life.

The bulb is now elliptically preformed. Through this, production tolerances can be reduced and the resultant color differences of the single bulb are reduced to a minimum.

The color temerature of the bulbs has been increased by 3,000 Kelvin to an effective 13,000 Kelvin increasing the cold white component.

The 400-watt light bulb has been completely reworked to remove the time to time problems such as damage due to transport, and the thermal effect.

Improved the socket holder with nickel plating vibrations during the operation are avoided and the bulbs are substantially quiter now."

Interesting about the quartz glass ions making the bulb look yellow. I wonder if this happens during storage or just during operation. Might explain why some people say the Usio 10000k looks yellow and some say it looks blue-white. The one I have looks purpley yellow.

Cheers :)
John

[StirCrazy]

well, I managed to get it installed by myself today (well a little help from the wife to actualy conect the sliders.

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/temppics/installed.jpg

and here is how the tank looks with it all running

http://members.shaw.ca/s.l.s/temppics/result.jpg

now all I have going is the two MH and the two VHO actinics I have not put the PC's back in and I don't think I will at this point.

Steve