Mr. Grim Check This Out.

[MstgKillr]

What do you think of the 12 x 54w T5 or the HQI/T5 combo for a 60" x 24 x 25".

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1077066

[The Grim Reefer]

The halide looks interesting. Awfully expensive stuff. The straight T5 fixture looks nice but how good is the output? The Fauna Marin and ATI fixtures get strong output by cooling the ballasts and lamps. The T5 unit just has the fans slapped on to cool the lamp ends. I would want to see the output documented before I dropped that kind of money on a fixture that looks pretty close to the ATI styling wise. That modular stuff they have also looks promising.

[hahnmeister]

You can get ATI powermodules that are 10 bulbs deep... about 20". Thats where I would go.

[Putawaywet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9784549#post9784549 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
You can get ATI powermodules that are 10 bulbs deep... about 20". Thats where I would go.

Hanh do you know who other than Reefgeek has them? Last I heared Greg's been in a permenent holding pattern for the last three months. He supposedly has a small shipment scheduled soon, but at this stage of the game I have no idea if they are all spoken for.

I was also looking at the Stealth fixtures but I need something longer than the 54w units. I'm holding out for someone to release a 60" version somewhere.

Brett

[hahnmeister]

Any reason you just dont make a fixture? I ended up bending up sheet/plate aluminum on a break and mounting waterproof endcaps, ballasts, fans.... all inside. Just take a Tek retro with Icecap reflectors and mount it inside a shell... fixture!

[Putawaywet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9786558#post9786558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
Any reason you just dont make a fixture? I ended up bending up sheet/plate aluminum on a break and mounting waterproof endcaps, ballasts, fans.... all inside. Just take a Tek retro with Icecap reflectors and mount it inside a shell... fixture!

I guess I should have added it needs to be functional AND stylish since it's an open top tank

Brett

[hahnmeister]

Sure... my DIY is functional and stylish. I even have the blue LED fans in the top like the ATI, and a bright aluminum finish. Functional? Yep... airflow is guided over the ballasts, then over the ends of the bulbs inwards towards the center of the bulbs on both ends. $20 of aluminum sheet, a $10 computer fan w/ blue, red, green LED... your choice, and a 12v adapter from fry's for $9.

[steve the plumb]

hahn do you have any pics?

[Putawaywet]

Well I'm speechless...

All this time I've been longing for the fruits of European engineering and here I find out what I seek has been under wraps at Casa Hahn deep in the heart of good old sudsville USA.

Speechless I tell ya :D

Brett

[hahnmeister]

Pics, sure. I should have new batteries for the digital cam later today... but heres how I did it...

I got my hands on some thick sheet aluminum.. something like 2471T18 at mcmaster.com

Then I used a break to cut it up and bend it. For a 4' fixture with 4 bulbs, the sheet should be cut to 47.5" long (or you could leave it at 48") by 16.5-17".

Then you bend it like so...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/fixtureprofile.jpg

Then drill/dremel a 4" hole in the dead center of the 10"x47.5" section for a 120mm fan, as well as additional needed mounting holes.

Then mount the rest of the retrofit inside the fixture.

Then, using acrylic, cut four pieces that are 10"x3". Then weldon these pieces together along the 10" edges to make two pieces like so...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/endcaps.jpg
Then these two pieces get attached to the ends of the fixture. The 'L' that these two acrylic pieces make allows them to cover the ends of the fixture, as well as the 3" on each end of the bulbs/endcaps. The 1/4-1/2" lip on the front and back edge of the fixture can be used as an attachment point for the acrylic. I drilled the acrylic and aluminum and bolted mine on.

So what happens is the 120mm fan sucks in air from above the fixture, then because the reflectors are there, the air gets ducted over the ballasts, which are thin enough to fit behind the reflectors. Then the air hits the ends where the acrylic is, and the air can then get around the end caps and reflectors... blowing across the ends of the bulbs inwards across the middle of the bulbs. The backside of the reflectors act as the channel that guides the air over the fixture.

An alternative to this is needed though for shorter bulbs, as the ballasts are too long to allow a fan and ballast on the backside of the fixture. In the case of a 2' fixture for instance, I just left the ends open, and I stuck a couple small computer fans at one end to blow in one end, and out the other.

These pics are of an early one I did without fans because its only 2' long... so the fans will go on one end (I left a 3/4" overhang on one end beyond the endcaps to enclose the fans. But you can see how the reflectors enclose the ballast right behind them. If there are any gaps behind the reflectors where air can get through, dont worry... there is plenty of air moving potential in a 120mm fan to bleed some air and still have enough to cool the bulbs. Or, you could take another sheet of aluminum and bend it up like corrugated roofing to fit behind the reflectors and keep the air from getting through... but its no big deal.

Looks slick to me though... you can use any sheet metal you want as long as you can bend it on a break... Im using aluminum that Im polishing for a mirror effect.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/fixturefromend.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/wetworx101/fixturefromtop.jpg

The pros:
-cheap ($20 in sheet aluminum, 120mm fan, 12v adapter)
-tunable cooling and very effective cooling at that (fans on gav a 18% boost in output)
-quiet (large 120mm fan can do 50cfm with silence)
-waterproof endcaps
-low profile
-industrial polished metal look
-you can angle/position the reflectors individually just like a fauna-marin or retrofit.
-you can drill the unit to add on 'eye-bolts' for hanging, or simply drill the ends to attach legs.

cons:
-raw metal look may not be for everyone, but there is no reason why one couldn't make one and have it powdercoated
-2' fixture requires alternate mounting of fan due to length of ballasts... not a huge deal... the fan could be mounted on the top still, just outside the enclosure (if you were to use an aluminum fan or LED fan, this would actually look slick), or, the fan(s) could go on the end. Heck, if it works for you, you could do 3' and 4' units like this as well.

[steve the plumb]

looks nice

[Inflames]

Hahn = DIY []D [] []\/[] []D

[hahnmeister]

I hope to have some pics of the larger one later... I had taken those before (all my digital cam batteries have crapped out on me). The 4' one for 4 bulbs is 10"x3"highx47.5" long, sports the same look, and has a LED fan in the top center... alot like an ATI. The LED is any color you want really... white, UV, purple, green... Im using these Aerocool Aluminum LED fans I have left over from building computers. Oh, and the ends are capped with the acrylic. I use clear and think it compliments the aluminum very well, but you could use black or something if you didnt want to see down the ends so easily.

Its 5pm though and no Fed-Ex... something tells me Im not getting my new batteries today as expected...

[Zoos]

Hahn, that is super pimped out, I have something similar in mind but it will incorporate MH's as well. how did you bend that aluminum again? I'm not familiar with a break.

[hahnmeister]

A sheet metal break... used for doing flashing/siding.