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Re: The Mother of All Hoods




>From: steveb at bga_com (Steve Benz)
>Subject: The Mother of All Hoods
>
>My modifications were as follows:
>
> -  It's hot here, so having the ballast in the hood is a no-go.
>    (too much heat build-up).  In spite of what you might read,
>    the ballast can be located anywhere, but with non-T8 bulbs,
>    you need to put the bulb within 3/4" of a grounded surface.
>    A strip of aluminum will fit the bill.

Very interesting design.  And thanks for the excellent article. 
I also built my own hood, but my hood was much simpler.  The top
is one solid piece, hinged at the back.  Much easier to construct.
One thing though:  I also have my ballasts in the cabinet under
the tank, with six-foot cords between the ballasts and the bulbs.
However, I do not need any grounded surface anywhere near the 
lights.  I am using T10 and T12 bulbs, with electronic ballasts 
(Magnetek and Coralife Wizard).  So is the grounding requirement 
only true for some types of ballast/light?

Hoa