RE: [GSAS-Member] Found! 8' flourescent light fixture

["Hess, Clay A" <clay.a.hess@boeing.com>]

Susan,

There are a number of quick ways to make a reflector for your wood
canopy.  A simple one would be to buy some 12"x12" mirrors and glue them
to the underside of your canopy behind the bulbs.  If you do this, make
sure you leave enough wood area open to connect any mounting hardware
you need to.  You do not want to try and drill through or mount to the
mirrors.
Another way, go to a hardware store and buy aluminum flashing in the
number of feet you need to complete the job.  This will not be as shiny
as the mirrors obviously, but, will offer some reflective capability.
The nice thing is you can drill through the flashing.  If you feel you
need it to be shinier, you can polish it similar to how you polished
your plexiglas.  It will take time to put a shine on the aluminum, so be
ready for some work here.  This option will be lighter than the mirror
option too, which may be an advantage in your situation.
Both of these options will offer some heat deflecting capability too.
This may prove useful in limiting heat damage to your canopy, depending
on how the canopy was designed and how you install your reflectors.

Clay

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Welenofsky [mailto:welenofsky@comcast.net] 
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 5:55 PM
To: 'Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat'
Subject: RE: [GSAS-Member] Found! 8' flourescent light fixture


Aha! But the tombstones are in a metal plate, and they slide out of the
plate quite easily! 

Okay, I will chuck the ballasts. I don't like humming lights or
flickering. There are no bulbs, so, I am not sure what diameter ones to
use. Great idea on using a hatchback car part for the hood. I was
thinking of mounting these lights, as they are probably T-8's, under the
oak hood, and using six lights instead of four, since I got extra
tombstones. I'm not sure about a reflector. It's wood underneath. 

Susan

-----Original Message-----
From: gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com
[mailto:gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Paul M Wallace
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 4:45 PM
To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat
Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] Found! 8' flourescent light fixture

Congratulations on your find.  The good news it that it was a great
find. The not so good part is that you may have scored the tombstones
($1.50-$3.00 a pair) and possibly the reflector  (do you have an 8' tank
or are you going to cut it in half?)  And some of the tombstones are
riveted in and otherwise nearly useless.  Not quite the blue bird of
happiness today am I...

The number following the T is the diameter in 1/8 inch.  So a T12 is
1.5" diameter and the T8 is 1".  You might notice that the T12 is 40W
and the T8 is 32W but the T8 produces more light (in lumens).  Unless
the ballast clearly says "electronic" and looks to be nearly new I would
chuck it (or auction).  I bought a 4X 4' electronic ballast from the
local orange big box for ~$18.  With this ballast you get more light
from less energy without flicker or hum.  You should also replace the
bulbs as you want the right color and they do age.  (I have 4X 4500K
<~$3 for two> and 1X 55W 10,000K) which give a nice color.

I use a particularly large novelty chopstick to hold my canopy open.
There are hinge kits/strut though.  If you are ever in a wrecking yard
try and get the struts from a hatchback that are ~10" long as they work
too...

So great find overall and feel free to hurl things at the next meeting
for spoiling your plans.

-Paul


On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Susan Welenofsky wrote:

> Some building was remolding, and I got an 8' light fixture out of the
trash.
> It has a "rapid start ballast" for four 4' lights. This isn't the same

> as
an
> "electronic" ballast, is it? I think the "tombstones" are for T-10 or 
> T-8 bulbs. (Why is it called "T", tombstone? What does 12, 10, and 8 
> mean?) Also, I was wondering if there was some kind of shock or strut 
> or whatever to make life easier for when I open the lid of the oak 
> canopy top. It
weighs
> a ton, and it doesn't stay open, so I have to prop something in there.

> I worked on a 300 gallon at a CWU, and they had something for their 
> canopy lid, maybe like what a screen door has, and it closed slowly. I

> can't remember how it stayed open.
>
>
>
> Susan
>
> _______________________________________________
> GSAS-Member mailing list
> GSAS-Member@thekrib.com 
> http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member
>


_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member



_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member

_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member