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Re: Lighting
I`m not the greatest with wood or electrical projects , but...
Last month I went to cabnet maker and had them make a light box of cypress .
All I told them was to make the internal dimentions
4"X5"X6" and have the top piece 1/2" thick while the rest was 3/8ths
thick . This made a great box for two 110 watt bulbs and 2 fans and a
reostat....they charged me $27.00 for the box . For $2 they added 5 coats of
laquer...... the whole deal took 1 1/2 hrs. for them to fabricate and an
evening for me to finish it . A set of (2) endcaps cost $25 + I added two
fans I already had and used maybe $6.00 worth of Radio Shack connectors and
wire and simple disconnects (so I could easily remove it for tank
mantenance) to finally complete it . Plus $10 for a used polished alum.
reflector I got at my LFS . All for around $70 . Oh yea..I forgot the IceCap
ballast for $170.00 , ( OUCH)....but I bought that before I found the
cheapoes at a trucking sale for $25.00.....Oh well ....you can beat the
ballast price a lot if you look around a bit . In the end the internal
reflector bulbs run so cool I didn`t even need the fans to exhaust the
heat...that would`ve saved me a lot of effort .
I guess this still makes me not the greatest with wood or electrical
projects but the feeling of accomplishment is wonderful ! If I can do it
anyone can do it .
Now all my fish squint from the bright light !
DT
Wilmington , Ohio