AI Hydra HD diffuser - New design

[Andreww]

Finally figured something out on how to make a diffuser for my AI Hydra 26 HD since there’s nothing on the market at the moment. 

The difference it makes is night and day, seriously. The shimmer is so calming and soft it’s insane, no more crazy colors on the sand which honestly takes a toll on your eyes and it’s displeasing to look at.

Here’s the parts I used and had laying around from previous lights.

 

-Kessil 90 degree mounting arm (the 2” thingy)

-AI Hydra top bracket from the AI gooseneck

- P95 frosted acrylic (92% light transmission - frosted one side, clear the other side)

 

Note: Acrylic has to be mounted 1” - 1.5” below fixture otherwise mounting it flush to the fixture will give no benefits.

 

I drilled a hole big enough to fit the Kessil adapter through and secure with the Kessil nut on the other side.

Slide AI bracket through Kessil adapter and find a nut to hold them together. 

 

Slide the whole thing on the fixture and voila, floating diffuser that looks quite sexy for a DIY.

 

Now off to Home Depot to find a nut for this thing then mount it.

 

I know not everyone has these parts laying around and purchasing separately might be a bit much for some people but I’m pretty happy with the outcome . Will have to increase the light by 10% and enjoy the sick shimmer I have now.

 

NOTE: the piece of acrylic in these pictures is a test piece , not the P95 . I have that ready to be installed as soon as I come back with the nut:)

Stay tuned for more pictures after install as well as a video of before and after .

[dmw913]

That is freaking awesome!!!  Let's see the video and then quote me a price to ship to 84107!!!!!  Well done!

[Andreww]

Trust me it’s amazing. I’ve ran into a bit of an issue with the power plug in the back, worked around it for tonight with what I had on hand until tomorrow when I’ll search for a cleaner U channel bracket . 

Let me take a short video of this thing:)

[Andreww]

Ok here’s a poor representation of what the shimmer looks like now. Real life is way better. Either way, huge difference.

 

 

[dmw913]

Very, very nice!!!  I was dead serious about you making me some, btw!

[Andreww]

Thanks man I only posted this because I was looking for a diffuser for a long time and thought someone out there would like to make one themselves if willing to purchase all these parts.

For me it would be too much of a hassle and honestly not worth it to order these parts online and then put them together.

Let’s just say I’m a busy man with small kids lol

 

[Andreww]

Ok, update time.

Only way to work around the  power plug is to cut a notch into the Kessil adapter.

 

My skill with limited dremel accessories that I had on hand is pretty poor. If I was to do it all over again id mark it and bring it to a shop to cut it perfectly.

 

Second thing, the panel extends an inch or so over the edge of the fixture because of how the mounting works. So I’ll have to cut a new panel that extends or sits flush with the front edge of the fixture...I’ll decide tomorrow which length I’ll go with.

 

All in all it looks pretty decent , and if I was to cut another aluminum Kessil extender somewhere at a shop, it would look even sharper.

But this is a good option until AquaIllumination comes out with a diffuser for these lights...I had to up the intensity from 50% to 60% to compensate for the lost PAR.

 

Also I can see how this P95 panel would work very well in a canopy. It costs next to nothing and it works very well to get a nice shimmer and blend in colors pretty well.

 

Heres a few pictures of the end product. Like I said, looks like a hack job but better than nothing.

 

My tank runs on reef crest mode and the agitation is pretty wild at times, and without no diffuser I just hate the way it makes the tank look. This is 1000 times better and you really have to see it to believe it.

 

 

[Andreww]

Went down to the shop again to cut a bigger piece of acrylic about 1” more on either side except the front where it’s almost flush to the fixture. 

I can’t tell you how happy I am with this diffuser . When I took off the old one to replace with the new, I couldn’t believe my eyes how nasty the shimmer and colors were on my sand. No thank you!

This diffuser is staying on this light no matter how ugly it looks lol, although it passed the wife test so I’m good??

[Andreww]

I’ve come up with a much sleeker design, using the existing unit screw holes.

Stay tuned for pictures . Should have it all put together by this evening!

[Andreww]

Here it is:

 

[xiaoxiy]

Ya wanna list the parts and do a instructional?

[Andreww]

Sure thing. Will put something together today after work??

[Travis]

Maybe I mist it, but why the gap between the diffuser and the fixture?

 

EDIT, never mind, I re read the first post haha.

 

Looks great BTW!!!

[Andreww]

Yeah I wish  there was no gap...I wonder if a different material would be ok to sit flush to the fixture and offer the diffusing capabilities .

I did find a specific LED panel but it’s really thin and only comes in 1/16”.... I might have to play with that one see how it works...

[Travis]

Build a box to sandwich between the diffuser and the hydra.

[Andreww]

Yup, Radion XR15 has a diffuser like that. 

It would not be cost effective to have these people do that for me. They can... I’m waiting for AI to come up with a diffuser since it’s now part of Ecotech....not sure if it’ll ever happen though...

[Mooneater]

On 19/01/2018 at 12:53 AM, Andreww said:

Here it is:

 

 

On 22/01/2018 at 1:16 PM, xiaoxiy said:

Ya wanna list the parts and do a instructional?

 

On 22/01/2018 at 3:50 PM, Andreww said:

Sure thing. Will put something together today after work??

 

This is absolutely awesome! I'm anxious to try it at home myself, I'm not a fan of all the shimmer either!

 

How did you manage to screw the thingies on the corners? Did you get new, longer screws with the same diameter? I'm not much of a DIY-genius, so some guidance / directions would be very, very much appreciated! 

 

 

 

 

 

[HarryPotter]

4 hours ago, Mooneater said:

 

 

 

This is absolutely awesome! I'm anxious to try it at home myself, I'm not a fan of all the shimmer either!

 

How did you manage to screw the thingies on the corners? Did you get new, longer screws with the same diameter? I'm not much of a DIY-genius, so some guidance / directions would be very, very much appreciated! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bring your screw to a hardware store and they’ll help you get a matching one of different length. 

[hector.marquez]

Hello! 

I am in the middle of ordering the parts to attempt to make this diffuser. I was just curious how think the acrylic is (I'm assuming 1/4 inch?) and what side do you put towards the light (the frosted or the clear"

 

Thank you for your ideas! This is awesome!

[Noinoi24]

Great idea! How does this work? I’m looking to use it on my Reed Sea 170.

[xlzerolx]

Thanks to this thread I did something similar with my AI Primes:

 

 

 

 

Some of the screws look crooked.  It's because I dropped the fixture on the floor ><. 

 

Works well.  I found the further the diffusers are away from the source the more diffuse and blended the light gets.  for the primes anyway

 

Items needed to make these:

• 60mm Length, Fully Threaded, M3-0.5 Metric Coarse Threads (found these on amazon)
• acrylic cut to whatever size/shape you want
• Frosted window privacy film (local hardware store
• drill and drill bit that will allow the screws to pass through.

 

pretty simple to make too

1. cut acrylic to desired size and shape
2. hold acrylic up to prime. Mark where the holes should be for the screws
3. drill holes
4. Apply frosted privacy film to acrylic
5. poke holes through film for screws
6. remove factory screws from prime
7. put your longer m3 screws through the acrylic that now has the privacy film attached to it
8. screw the longer screws into the prime fixture

The prime casing holds up well and doesn't fall off.  but if you are worried about it you could use a nut to hold them in place.

also instead of buying screws, if you can find it in your area you can use M3 threaded rod and cut to whatever length you want. unfortunately i couldn't find anything locally and amazon prices were not the greatest for the threaded rod so I went with the longest m3 machine screws i could find

 

I also don't know if the thickness of acrylic makes a difference or if the prefrosted acrylic would be better.  I just used whatever thin acrylic i had lying around

[HarryPotter]

46 minutes ago, xlzerolx said:

Thanks to this thread I did something similar with my AI Primes:

 

 

 

 

Some of the screws look crooked.  It's because I dropped the fixture on the floor ><. 

 

 Works well.  I found the further the diffusers are away from the source the more diffuse and blended the light gets.  for the primes anyway

 

Items needed to make these:

• 60mm Length, Fully Threaded, M3-0.5 Metric Coarse Threads (found these on amazon)
•  acrylic cut to whatever size/shape you want
•  Frosted window privacy film (local hardware store
• drill and drill bit that will allow the screws to pass through.

 

 pretty simple to make too

1. cut acrylic to desired size and shape
2. hold acrylic up to prime. Mark where the holes should be for the screws
3. drill holes
4. Apply frosted privacy film to acrylic
5. poke holes through film for screws
6. remove factory screws from prime
7. put your longer m3 screws through the acrylic that now has the privacy film attached to it
8. screw the longer screws into the prime fixture

The prime casing holds up well and doesn't fall off.  but if you are worried about it you could use a nut to hold them in place.

also instead of buying screws, if you can find it in your area you can use M3 threaded rod and cut to whatever length you want. unfortunately i couldn't find anything locally and amazon prices were not the greatest for the threaded rod so I went with the longest m3 machine screws i could find

 

I also don't know if the thickness of acrylic makes a difference or if the prefrosted acrylic would be better.  I just used whatever thin acrylic i had lying around

 

You better patent this, or I'll start selling "AI Prime Diffuser Kits" 🤑

[xlzerolx]

lol. i'll take that as a compliment

 

Patents suck  it's all about open source and sharing ideas.  That's why i love forums like this one

[alfredt]

On 1/22/2018 at 6:50 AM, Andreww said:

Sure thing. Will put something together today after work??

May I also kindly request the parts and instructional procedure :)

[Andreww]

Alright that took a while lol.

Sorry everyone for leaving you hanging, I've had the diffuser off for some time now since I didn't like the thick piece of acrylic I went with the second time around. Looked like it really messed with the spectrum and looked way dimmer. Plus, the pegs I used seemed kinda thick and out of place a little. That's just me though....

 

So after searching the local hardware store, came across "the right" parts to make this look as slick as possible....still not factory look but here you have it. Part numbers and all.

Acrylic is a thin piece of P95 frosted acrylic...clear on one side and frosted on the other. Seemed like no matter the way you install it you get the same results so I just put it clear side up.

You will need 4 x 1" threaded or non threaded aluminum rods (see picture for size-its the 1/4" - 6/32 - 1" rods) and 4 pieces of 6/32 - 2" screws.

Have the local shop cut you a piece of P95 acrylic to the size of the light, put it over the light and mark the holes with a sharpie, drill a pilot hole first then your actual hole. Not sure which drill bit I used but just match it to your newly bought screws size and you should be golden.

 

The screws do show a bit but I didn't want to sink them in since the piece is rather thin but trust me, its unnoticeable and looks quite good. If you find flat head screws in that size even better...I couldn't find them and didn't care that much.

 

The nice thing about these rods is they fit very nicely into the factory holes which is a plus. (see pic)

The drilling and installing took me 10 minutes, if that. 

 

Cost: about 17$. Not bad. I increased light intensity by 10% (the P95 is supposed to block only 8-10% of the light), but a PAR meter would be a better approach to see how much PAR you're actually losing. To my eyes, the intensity almost didn't seem any different but eyes can be deceiving...

 

Oh and the acrylic edges are not polished or anything..that would cost extra or you could do it and it would look even better but honestly, I did have the tools to polish it but I just wanted it on the tank and it was late so thats for another time.

 

Enough with that, here are the pictures. Hopefully some of you will find this info helpful.