Building a light rack

mike31154 · #1 06-02-2010, 04:23 AM

I simply used square and angle aluminum stock from Princess Auto in Kelowna. Many big box building supply stores also carry aluminum stock, but I found the best deals & selection at PA. Stainless steel screws/bolts hold it together although in most cases I used a tap to thread the aluminum so nuts were not required. A few photos follow. I built two lumenarc reflectors from solar tube reflective material for my 250w MH and have two 4 foot T5s along the outer edge. There are an additional two empty sockets for T5s near the center, but I took them out after installing the MH. Bare bones, no fancy covering, but works for me. A future build will have it all hidden in a hood.

End shot, the large fans are no longer there, instead I installed smaller ones blowing directly on the end of each T5. The evaporation rate was crazy with those bigger fans running, good cooling for the summer though.

From the front. If I were to do it again, I might go with larger aluminum stock and run the wiring through the inside, but the bigger stuff gets pricey fast. The Workhorse ballasts for the T5 HOs are mounted at each end and blend in nicely with the overall aluminum look. Two hooks in the ceiling hold the plastic chain. This allows me to raise the assembly by hooking lower links in to the hooks. The lower assembly is attached with plastic covered steel wire and the MHs hang on separate plastic hooks. Excess plastic chain all over the place, but it allows for adjustments.

Close up of the new fan set up blowing on the T5 ends. The lamps are overdriven but the fans are doing a great job, no sign of blackening at the ends and I forgot when I installed the lamps. Still going strong. Also note the nylon screws I used to mount the various components.

Another close up of the fan mounting. I had to get creative with some scrap acrylic to mount them.

burrows14 · #2 06-02-2010, 04:53 AM

Awesome there is a PA down the street from my work so ill go check it out. I am gonna be using lumenarc mini reflectors and a 48" reefbrite Led for supplementing and also moonlights. Did you make your rack the same footprint as your tank?

burrows14 · #3 06-02-2010, 04:54 AM

Nice work BTW

mike31154 · #4 06-02-2010, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burrows14

Awesome there is a PA down the street from my work so ill go check it out. I am gonna be using lumenarc mini reflectors and a 48" reefbrite Led for supplementing and also moonlights. Did you make your rack the same footprint as your tank?

Length is same as tank (approx 4ft) but it's a bit wider at close to 19 inches. The tank is a 77 gal Hagen, so 4ft long & about 16 inches wide. If you look closely at the first photo, the width overhang should be apparent.

burrows14 · #5 06-02-2010, 05:36 AM

perfect! hopefully ill have my reflectors next week so I can get a start on this thing lol Thanks for the info Mike

mike31154 · #6 06-02-2010, 06:05 AM

Not a problem, good luck with the build. I forgot exactly why I made it wider than the tank footprint, more than likely because of the space required by mulitiple individual T5HO reflectors. Before I had the MHs, I may have contemplated a row of 6 T5s and they likely would not have fit at 16 inches.