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FAQs about Canopies, Tops and Housings for Lighting for Marine
Systems: Wiring Matters
Related Articles: Canopies, Covers &
Lighting Fixtures,
Marine Light, &
Lighting, Moving Light Systems,
Marine System Components, Used Gear,
Related FAQs:
Canopies 1, Canopies 2, & FAQs on
Canopy/Cover: Rationale,
Design/Engineering, Construction,
Sealing, Reflectors,
Fans, Repairing, &
Marine System Lighting,
FAQs 2,
FAQs 3, Actinic
Lighting, Metal Halide Lighting,
Fluorescent Lighting,
Compact Fluorescent Lighting, Small
System Lighting, | MD.JPG)
If one gets zapped, they all get zapped
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Mounting locations for ballasts in a canopy 7/24/08
Hello WWM
crew,
<Hello Leslie!>
Thank you for the wonderful service you
provide to us fellow hobbyists! I hope you can provide an answer to
my questions on lighting and ballast location.
<I am sure we
can.>
First, a little background. I recently purchased a 75
gallon tank (48" L x 18" W x 20" H) with stand and canopy to upgrade
and consolidate my current 29 gallon and 14 gallon systems. I only
have Mushrooms, Xenia, and Zoanthids, with no plans to advance to
SPS or LPS at this time. I have purchased 2 (2x54W) T5 retrofit kits
with individual bulb reflectors, 2 AquaBlue+ (15K) bulbs, 1 pure
actinic bulb, and 1 actinic+ bulb (all Giesemann brand) and two blue
LED moon lights to install in my canopy. A picture is attached to
show the inside of the canopy with the lights in approximate place.
<Looks nice.>
I plan on purchasing two cooling fans to be
installed on the left inside of the canopy as well.
<Generally a
good idea.>
I understand that ballasts should be mounted away
from water, and if mounted inside the canopy can contribute extra
heat above the tank.
<Not to mention moisture accumulation on
the ballast, leading to corrosion or worse.>
The lights don't
leave much room inside the canopy for ballast installation anyway!
Is it reasonable to mount the ballasts on the outside lip of the
back of the canopy if the wires will be covered by wire loom?
<This is actually where I mount my VHO ballast. Just a few
precautions doing this. First, use something waterproof at least on
the wire connections, something like the common black electricians
tape. Next, do form a drip loop. You do not want any moisture
accumulation that may happen to lead back into the ballast or the
electrical plug it uses. Your fans will help out here too, keeping
fresh air moving through, preventing some, if not most, of the
condensation. Last, keep an eye on it! If you notice any moisture on
the ballast you will need to move it, and by all means, unplug it
before you touch anything. >
This lip is about 2.5" tall, and
just fits the ballast size. If that location is not recommended,
what would be my next best (and safe) option?
<Ideally the
ballasts should be mounted away from any moisture. Not in the canopy
or stand. A lot, if not most, do anyway.>
My local reef club
lighting gurus recommend mounting them on top of the canopy and
covering with a homemade "top", but I prefer a seamless look on the
tank.
<This is a good mounting option, but I too do not like
having anything showing.>
Thank you again!
Leslie in sunny
Florida
<Welcome, Scott V. in overly sunny California.>
Re: Mounting locations for ballasts in a canopy 7/26/08
Hello
again WWM (Scott V),
<Welcome!>
Thanks for your prompt reply
to my question about ballast mounting locations! One more quick
related question: How far away from the back wall should the
ballasts be situated to safely prevent overheating or melting of the
paint from the wall? I would think at least 6 inches, but that
leaves a pretty large space at the back of the tank. If this proves
to be the case, I will probably mount them remotely at the side of
the tank.
<Ah, for these ballasts an inch or two will do. The
fact that you will have exhaust fans in the canopy will keep things
at a reasonable temperature. I assume you will have them blowing in
and flowing out the back where the ballasts will be? Even if you
have the fans blowing out of the canopy, air will still flow over
the ballasts.>
Thanks,
Leslie
<Welcome, have fun, Scott V.> | .JPG%20mounting%20ballast.JPG)
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MH 175 and enclosed canopy
Bob, I have not asked anything of you
as yet.
Now, I may be getting into trouble.
I have built a killer
lower canopy for my 125 all glass (about 16 in. high), with large doors
that keep *all* light from escaping and easy access to the reef. This
thing will also slide forward, so that I can service the overflows, etc.
<Sounds very nice>
The canopy is in two parts and of abs plastic. The
top ( or lighting part) is a work in progress.
I have a limit switch
to cut off the 175 MH lights at 160 degrees that I can place at the
hottest (or any) part of the upper canopy and a 130 make/ 90 break snap
disc control for the two 4 in. RS, 115v fans.
<Have your later input
re the lower limit (110) for the high shut off>
Lighting will be, two
175 MH, four 4 ft (40 watt) and two, 3 ft. tubes. By the way, those
(White-Rodgers) snap disc controls are great and available from Grangers
<Grainger> for only 7 to 8 bucks each and I have tested them for several
hours, but not on the canopy !. The limit switch will take care of up to
10 amps and I chose the (3L02-161) with a manual restart instead of an
auto restart. I figure that if it cuts the hot lights off, there is a
good reason and the problem needs to be corrected prior to switching
back on.
<Yes>
My thinking on this project is to keep it light
weight so that I can remove it without help and I hope to be able to use
a lightweight acrylic shield between the two canopies as I wish to avoid
heating up my tank.
This same thinking is the reason, I do not wish
any motor in my sump or in the tank.
I am running two Quiet ones and
driving the skimmer and the 5 nozzle water movers that are in the lower
part of the tank and behind and between the live rock off of one pump.
The upper supply (six directional nozzles) are on the other pump.
The
two fans are both blowing in and can be partially directed at the
acrylic sheet, below the MH lights
<An acrylic sheet below the
lights? I would not use one here... and want to mention/ask that you
have heat and light deflectors as part of the fixturing above,
separating the MH lamps from the ABS sheet plastic making up the
canopy?>
This should not cause much pressure, because I will have
some holes in the top, covered by a four foot by one foot, black plastic
roof heat dissipater from Home Depot, on top of the light canopy.
<On
top... but also something inside... deflecting the heat from the
structural hood>
My question (before I get further with the upper
part of the canopy), is...
How close to those 175 watt, 10k MH
lights, can I place the acrylic lens?
<Were these supplied as part of
the fixture? As UV filters? To protect against touching, splashing? If
so they should be mounted per the fixture. If not provided as a
component, I would mount the lamps at least a foot from the waters
surface, sans any in-between material>
Do you know at what point the
would start to deform, melt or bend etc.?
<Depends on some properties
of the specific make-up, thickness... likely not too far from just being
near the lamps... in the mid to upper 100 degrees F. Do take care here,
contact the dealer you bought these units from. Am cc'ing Dave Adkins
here. Dave? Bob Fenner>
Thanks,
Dave Moose Electrical
safety in aquaria
Thank you very much for your input,
Anthony. Trust me when I say it's valued greatly. I think I'll keep a
close on it (for condensation and salt), and buy my own cheaply made
plastic cover if necessary, or better yet, a high quality one.
<agreed, my friend>
One more follow-up question if you don't
mind. What, in your opinion is the worst that can happen if
condensation or salt builds up. I know that an electrical arc will be
created eventually, but am I just in danger of blowing a bulb, or is
there a possible fire hazard here? Thanks again, and a happy New Year to
you! Eric Newman
<there are bigger issues here than product
application and durability. Regardless of how safe or unsafe any such
devices are... every aquarium should have the aquariums electrical life
support equipment plugged into two separate lines (for safety in case of
non- whole-house outages (single devices fails or breaker trips
otherwise). You don't want all of your eggs in one basket, so to speak.
The two biggest draws for any system are pumps vs. lights. Those two
system are your separate lines. Those lines should be shock protected
with ground fault interrupters (GFI). Nowadays, you can even buy an
extension cord with a GFI built right into it! If you run your aquarium
equipment off these two GFI protected lines, you will have little or
nothing to worry about with any reasonable electrical application. Best
regards! Anthony> - IceCap Wiring Information -
Hello,
I was just wandering if you had a direct route to info about IceCap
Industries Model 660 Electronic Ballast. Like, where the wires go and
what colors... Thanks for the help!
<For all information IceCap,
please go here:
http://www.icecapinc.com
Cheers, J -- >
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