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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