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Re: Enclosing AH Supply PCF or Not
> Do you need to build an enclosure for the lights or can you mount them to >the underside of your hood? I would rather do that because 1. I don't have >to build the enclosures 2. When I lift up my hood I won't have to move >around the enclosure to lift up my cover glass.
Well, it depends on the hood :-) I have some of the AH supply lights
mounted inside some All Glass "deluxe" hoods and they are a pretty much
perfect fit. I mounted them to the existing molded standoffs that supported
the old light reflector assembly. I use a small fan that blows air through
the length of the hood and out the existing top vent on the opposite end of
the hood. This has worked well for me for a little over a year now.
I actually have some of the little 13 watters mounted with no hood. The
reflector is supported by an aluminum/stainless steel mounting assembly I
made that snaps into the rim around the top of a 5 1/2 gallon tank
(hospital/growout) and allows me to run the tank open top. This is great
for high-maintenance tanks since there is little in the way of the light
mounting to get in the way of working on the tank.
>I would like to hear from anyone who mounted the AH Lights under their >hood. How close are they from the cover glass and how did you mount them.
The reflector edges come almost all the way to the cover glass, but the
tube itself is maybe 3/4" above it or so (hard to measure though with the
hood in place :-).
>If I do build the enclosure does anyone know the exact dimensions I would >need (LxWxH). I want to be able to fit this under my existing hood. And >how much airspace should you leave above the enclosure for ventilation?
I seem to recall seeing the dimensions of AH Supply's own wooden enclosures
on their site that you could use as a reference. As for air space, you
don't need all that much. My hoods have maybe an average of 1/2" all the
way around the tubes with a bit more on the bottom of the tube than the
top. I was having some heat issues with the plastic until I added the fans
(one per hood), but not serious enough to be a fire hazard. If you are
building a heavy wooden hood with no fans you should probably leave some
extra room around the reflectors and provide ample vents to allow for
convection.
-Bill
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Waveform Technology
UNIX Systems Administrator