Totlxtc Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 Well i'm trying my hand at making pendants since the "Aquarium companies" want so much for such a simple thing. I would never pay $100 for a bare pendant. I'm looking for some answers Here are 2 i built recently. The first is for a HQI setup and is an experimental setup. Wish i didnt sell my 250w ballast and bulb as i would love to try it out. The housing is made out of brushed stainless steel. The reflector made out of normal aluminum. I'd like to install a fan but need to find a good source for small, quiet fans. Preferably VAC so i can wire it with the bulb. I'm also going to see about making one which includes PC bulbs but it'll be awhile before i can buy all the parts so i know how much space i need to fit them. So i'm looking for everyone's opinions on what to use for these. I read that you dont need a fan for HQI setups since the bulbs like to be run hot but i think a fan blowing between the pendant shell and reflector would be nice to keep the shell cool. Any thoughts? The dual 250w HQI setup i built at the beginning of the year didnt have any fans and did fine but the pendant sure was hot to touch after afew hours. Can normal plate glass be used for the setup or does it need to be tempered? Not sure if the heat will make a difference?? On my previous setup i used the glass from those Regent fixtures but cant see buying them just for the glass. Anyone have the factory made one? What do they use on the top to hang them from? I'm thinking a piece of metal with a hole in it to put a cable or hook onto and bolted inside the pendant? What material gives off the best light? Polished? Dimpled? What size pendant would be good for a 70w MH bulb? The one below for a 250w DE is 12x10x4. The 250w SE is 14x12x6. Thanks for any help you can provide. Double ended setup. Single ended setup. Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted August 9, 2004 Share Posted August 9, 2004 very nice look... they would make a nice addition to a modern industrial looking home...how much for an hqi type? Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 Thanks for the compliment. As of right now their not for sale til i can workout some details on them. I still would like to fix some design issues on the HQI setup and waiting on info on the reflector material. Anything will work but i would like to use what will direct the most light into the tank. Link to comment
seis66 Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 hey totlxtc: Can you send me some blueprints of your pendant? I have some ideas for the fan for your pendant but I would like to see the plans for it. Link to comment
Von digity Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Wow, that looks really good. I'm still trying to get my hands on some metal so I can play around with some designs, looks like you beat me to it (like I have the time anyways). I heard the dimply material isn't so good. It would be really cool if you could incorporate some type of batwing design into the reflector. Normal glass if fine as long as it can handle the temp swings of the MH. Link to comment
bgoode Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 How do you know if normal glass will handle the heat, without throwing it on there and seeing if it breaks or not? Is there a place to find out the heat capacitites for different thicknesses of glass? Link to comment
Blackjazz Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 I get good fans from the local second hand computer junkyard ... you can pull off little fans from the CPU heatsinks for as little as 50c a small fan of 2 bucks for a big fan! And they work well and extremelty quiet......... Link to comment
Samc Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Yeah, I can get them for free at the local computer junkyard (thats why it is the junkyard). Still, a good find, since it is local to you! Sam Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 a few notes: 1) HQI bulbs are not shielded, your livestock depends on the pendant glass for UV protection. Now I am not sure if the glass is coated or if tempered glass offers enough protection. 2) Fan in the pendant shell has been advised against on other forums for the reason you pointed out. 3) Are you able to bend the reflector out on the ends instead of it being straight up and down? 4) Looks great, good luck! Link to comment
sheffboyrd Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Tempered glass should be enough protection. I know that is what PFO uses with their mini hqi pendents. Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by seis66 hey totlxtc: Can you send me some blueprints of your pendant? I have some ideas for the fan for your pendant but I would like to see the plans for it. Blueprints? I'm suppose to have blueprints? LOL! Sorry i dont have any blueprints. I built it as i went. Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by MrKrispy Are you able to bend the reflector out on the ends instead of it being straight up and down? It shouldnt be too much of a problem making the sides angled. I just dont know if it would make much of a difference in the amount of light it reflects back down. Might help with the spread but would require alot more work. Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 Originally posted by Von digity I heard the dimply material isn't so good. I just knew that most of the DE pendants you saw were all dimpled but seems to be changing to polished from what i've heard. My last one was dimpled and visually i dont see a difference? Maybe a light meter could tell. Either way its easier to get non dimpled aluminum for me. Link to comment
Von digity Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Yeah, I don't think its that much of a difference. I think I got my info from about dimpled material from an article Sanjay wrote (reefcentral's reefing magazine or whatever they call it). I have seen something on RC about batwing reflectors and how they are really, really, efficient at distributing light and I'm sold (if they make t5's rock, imagine how kicking a DE would be!). However no-one that I've seen makes a bat wing DE reflector, so you might be the first (if you try). Link to comment
just dave Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 By Batwing are you refering to parabolic reflectors? If so they are supposed to be the best if designed correctly. Link to comment
Totlxtc Posted August 10, 2004 Author Share Posted August 10, 2004 I think i know what your talking about with batwing. You'd have to cut slots for the reflector to drop over the mounting tabs otherwise the bracket would block some of the light. Thanks for the heads up on Sanjay's article was since i was looking for it. Link to comment
Von digity Posted August 10, 2004 Share Posted August 10, 2004 Yeah, thats what I'm talking about. Well, theres a smooth style batwing, and theres a parabolic style batwing. The parabolic version is dope. I'd link the post on RC, but RC is down again or something. Link to comment
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