Homemade 48" canopy for a 90g

Phishnoob · 10-24-2004, 12:11 PM

Eeeps...we love our sunpaq for the 55 but the version for the 90 is 500 bucks. I have new bulbs and mounts for our current 90g which is in a fully enclosed hood. I am ready to toss in the whole mess as the fans and all that are too much of a pain.

It looks pretty easy to make the mounts but I would like to get something like just the shell and reflector similar to a Sunpak type system and then take it from there. It is a ellipical shaped metal canopy on risers. I have all the moonlights ready to go and the rest of the wiring is cake with our external power supplies.

Has anyone done something that looks sort of elegant that can house 4x96w PC's over a 4 ft 90g? Also...is there a place that can make one off eliptical sheet metal in a tube...if I get that one piece it might be enough to make the rest. I was thinking about taking a couple of huge pieces of PVC and painting them for a double tube thing but that might be a bit too techno and cheesy.

If there is a way to bend the metal over some sort of jig that might work. I have a 110V welder and can weld in the ends and can do all the grinding and sanding but this is the hard way.

This is also crazy but I was thinking of sort of a stainless steel hood with rivets showing. My work box has autocad but if anyone has heard of doing this I can make a few proto drawings tomorrow.

RobinsonFam1 · 10-24-2004, 12:49 PM

You could probably go to a jobsite where people are hanging siding and borrow their matal brake while it is setup. heck they will be all over you to see what you are making. try going to rental tool place and borrow their brake. most places are real cool about things like that. if you dont use an actual brake it will very difficult to get it right and not look like a tin can bent over your knee!

HTH
BR

Phishnoob · 10-24-2004, 02:59 PM

Ohh good idea. We don't have siding out here and all I can bum is a bucket of stucco from a construction site.

I used a brake in shop class ages ago and did not know you could rent them. There might be a fabrication shop for something in my industrial park that will do it for a twelve pack. Two clean bends in a piece of sheet metal and that is the angled hood. I am thinking about end caps made out of plain sheet metal made here sort of with a wrought iron look for the supports that is painted sort of a blue or green to take in a color in the house. I can cut out the sheet metal with the rotozip and tack weld it to the supports before grinding and painting it.

Phishnoob · 10-24-2004, 05:22 PM

Okies I sketched this out. I will need just a single piece of 48" by 48" stainless that will have a cut down to 40" and two bends to make the hood. I would like a narrower top portion with long dropped front and back pieces but that is a lot to attach without sandwiching lights as the top flat middle section needs some width for the 4 pc's and the MH's. I will make the ends out of stainless sheet metal as well and rivet them to the canopy. A piece of 24" by 48" x 3/4" delrin will work great under the canopy as a mount for everything and will hold up great to the heat. I have a bunch of press in brass inserts laying around for the PC brackets then can use 4-40 screws for the mounts.

As with any project mission creep is setting in and it might be a good idea to mount up the MH sockets just in case now that cooling won't be an issue.

The only thing still lacking is how to mount the canopy and hide the wiring. Hanging it is not really an option as we have a vaulted ceiling and the joists are not in the right places. With firebreaks in the walls and no attic access this makes this project tough electrically to do it that way.

The other thing that might not look tidy is that there will be a sheer edge still on each side of the canopy that will be nice and sharp. My plans are to ask the shop on Monday if a rolled edge is a big deal. Stainless is supposed to be not really malleable so time to ask the pros.

The digital camera is coming home tomorrow to keep a photo journal of this project...good or bad.

tims · 10-24-2004, 07:45 PM

So did you find a place to bend you metal? not sure what is near you but a machine shop should have everything youmight need. ( thinking of a custom car or motorcycle shop)..
what do you mean mount the canopy?how it will sit on the tank? if so since it will have rivets, why not use wood on the inside to sit on the tank?, i really want to see a picture of this!
to hide the wiring and stuff can a mini channel be made to fit over it?.these are just suggestions, i never played with metal before..

what kind of affect does exposure to SW have to stainless?
not much help.. i know but this sounds really interesing..

Phishnoob · 10-24-2004, 10:01 PM

lemme sketch this out and see if I can paste the autocad file into a jpg

stainless should work well and delrin is a heat resistant machinable plastic that is ultra hard

Phishnoob · 10-25-2004, 07:30 PM

I don't want to pile on too much on one thread but do I need cooling fans if there is say 8" of distance from the lights to the water? Do I need to factor in a splash shield? This is designed to be a moderate level project. I have not decided whether this is a 4 x 96 pc or the pc plus 2 MH deal yet.

Also, good news on the hood itself. A local shop can supply the sheet metal and make the 48" hood with two 45 degree bends to cover the tank for about 50 bucks including the material. This is better than the price of my buying the sheet itself. Now only the 24" by 48" delrin sheet is going to be expensive.

Also while looking at the ceiling I ignored the perfectly good wall and it looks two stud mounted bent tubular cantilevers can support the light and let me run enough wire through for the lighting with nothing showing.

Geoff · 10-25-2004, 11:15 PM

if you are going to put any kind of MH's in there then i would say add fans. actually i would always add fans anyway. they aid in gas exchange along with keeping the tank cool. besides they are prolly the cheapest thing to add to the hood.

G~

Phishnoob · 10-26-2004, 04:10 PM

I was thinking of the 4x96 PC's with two 175W MH's without any sort of cover. If I put a fan at each end without any sort of cover does it add value. If it was a sealed tube then then a push me-pull you set up might be fine. Without a cover it might be better to just run an exhaust fan on each end.

Since this hood will be sort of a trapezoid shape with an open bottom with end caps for a 90g there is room to mount huge 6 or 8" fans on each end if that is not overkill. This weekend it looks like time to draw the tank in to AutoCad along with the hood and see if it looks proportional.