jdiver Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 If anyone has put the 32w SmartLite Retrofit kit into the standard hood for an AGA Mini-Bow 7, would you be so kind as to share your experience and provide some tips? Mainly, how did you go about attaching the reflector to the hood? Link to comment
SLOreefer Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 ive ssen everything from double sided tape to using small bolts with a nut on the other side...many ways. be creative. Link to comment
jdiver Posted June 6, 2002 Author Share Posted June 6, 2002 Double-sided tape would obviously be the easiest way, and one which I had not thought of. I would think the stickiness would eventually wear off though, especially with the heat. When I get creative on projects like this is usually when the power tools come out and my costs start increasing exponentially. LOL! Thanks for the tips SLOreefer. Link to comment
Toyfreek Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 If you just continue to screw the screws provided with the retro kit they will go into the plastic and hold fine. Don't screw too far though or they poke through. HTH, Toy Link to comment
netwizz Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 I used some spacers from the hardware store to get the light correctly placed in the hood. Otherwise it's up in the hood to far and the light didn't seem to spread out to well. I have since built a custom hood allowing me to add another 13w actinic. Link to comment
RickD Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 Get a 3/8" plywood stick from the local hobby shop, cut into 4 small spacers and epoxy then to the inside of the hood. Make sure you place them where the screws would want to go. Link to comment
jdiver Posted June 6, 2002 Author Share Posted June 6, 2002 Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The spacers sound like the way to go, so it looks like a trip to Home Depot today is in order. Link to comment
SaltyMember Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 I just did this retrofit last night. What I did was measure off on the reflector where the canopy holes were then drilled new holes into the reflector. Just screwed it in after that. It was a little tricky getting the holes to line up properly, but I eventually got it. Link to comment
jdiver Posted June 6, 2002 Author Share Posted June 6, 2002 SaltyMember- That is the option I started to do last night, but the battery for my drill was dead, which prevented me from completing it. Now I am debating between that and the wood spacers option. Link to comment
Dustin Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 I put nail polish on the existing screw holes, pushed down hard on the reflector, then drilled where the polish was. Link to comment
Yup Posted June 16, 2003 Share Posted June 16, 2003 I put it in clay and made a mold of both sides. Then I melted the light enclosure down in a copper pot with all the trace mineral bottles I had. I greased the mold and the reflective side of the reflector. After that I proceeded to pour the molten plastic into my mold, place the reflector on top, and place the other half of the mold on top of the reflector. After it cooled, I had the reflector molded into my lighting hood Then I took the glass out of the tank hood, so when the water condensed on the newly made light strip, it would pull the trace elements I put in the new fixture and drip back into the water! Then I just used the 2 screws and mounts that were there to mount the reflector and light it the new strip I had to buy with the new retro kit Link to comment
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