T5 finnex conversion

[mmoore0803]

So I went cheap for my 30g hex and decided on t5 lighting b/c premium aquatics was having a sale on 23" hoods with lights included

I had that fixture on the tank for about 1.5 months and then came across a thread that said one could modify the Finnex hood to contain individual reflectors instaead of just 1 big one (thanks trottman)

Well, I wanted more light w/o the heat of Halides and after being convinced that t5s were the way to go as long as each bulb had it's own reflector...I dove into this project...and when it was all said and done, I spent about $200 rather than the $300+ it would have cost me to buy a TEK hood

so here's what I started with
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/99456mini-DSC_6362.JPG

the ballasts....these hoods come apart real easily
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/99456mini-DSC_6366.JPG

This was fun....figuring out where to drill for the screw holes to hold the reflectors in place...can you see the holes I made in the original reflector?
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/99456mini-DSC_6367.JPG

All put back together
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/99456mini-DSC_6368.JPG

This hurt to look at....seriously...my eyes still hurt
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/99456mini-DSC_6371.JPG

the whole thing from start to finish took me a whopping 30min...now I have to track the growth of my corals.:rollface:

[WarDaddy]

thats hawt!

[dwdenny]

Good work just make sure you protect those endcaps as they are not water proof. I was thinking of doing the samr thing. did you use IC reflectors or the TEK ones?

[mmoore0803]

the end caps are protected by the plastic shield on the finnex fixture

The reflectors were bought from reefgeek.com and I believe they are sold as the tek reflectors

Thanks

[trottman]

nice job and great pics! i wish that i would have taken some when i did mine!

[raydz]

Great thread! I will be trying this with the 48" Finnex fixture... I hope there is room... Has anyone tried modifying a "Orbit" fixture to T5's? I have one and I may try that also...

[drew22to375]

looks great.

Why did you mount the reflectors to the hood instead of mounting them to each bulb. Is there not enough room between each bulb.

Drew..

[mmoore0803]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6387147#post6387147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drew22to375
looks great.

Why did you mount the reflectors to the hood instead of mounting them to each bulb. Is there not enough room between each bulb.

Drew..

Didn't think I could mount the reflectors to the bulbs...there was plenty of room to do so I just did it this way...glad people are liking the mod...again thanks trottman...as he gave me the idea...I want to see pix of the 48" hood....great savings there

[drew22to375]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6389250#post6389250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mmoore0803
Didn't think I could mount the reflectors to the bulbs...there was plenty of room to do so I just did it this way...glad people are liking the mod...again thanks trottman...as he gave me the idea...I want to see pix of the 48" hood....great savings there

The Tek reflectors I got from reefgeek comes with clips that attach to each end of the reflector then the reflector clips right onto the bulb so you get the maximum light reflected to the tank. Of course that was 2 years ago maybe they have changed them since then. Either way will work great tho..

Drew..

[REMF]

Nice job, defiantly a cool money saver. Could you notice quite a lot of difference from 1 large reflector to the individual reflectors while it was on your tank?

[mmoore0803]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6390449#post6390449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by REMF
Nice job, defiantly a cool money saver. Could you notice quite a lot of difference from 1 large reflector to the individual reflectors while it was on your tank?

definately a much brighter tank with the new reflectors in....of course I forgot to take pix of it on the hex before....my bad...now I have to figure out a canopy for this thing as it hangs off the edge of my tank by 2" on each side

[fishypapas]

hey mmoore, did you "bend" the reflectors a bit? from one picture to the other, they look smaller and more rounded.

thanks

fp

[mmoore0803]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6390625#post6390625 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishypapas
hey mmoore, did you "bend" the reflectors a bit? from one picture to the other, they look smaller and more rounded.

thanks

fp

Yup....not much though....enough to get all 4 into the fixture

[tangov559]

How much was your fixture? and where did you get it from, mmore.

[mmoore0803]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6449734#post6449734 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tangov559
How much was your fixture? and where did you get it from, mmore.

bought it from Premium Aquatics.....supporter of this site....i think I paid just over $100

[shouldabenacowboy]

Nice mod.....


SBC

[raydz]

After receiving my 48" Finnex fixture.... I determined that I could not do the mod. The endcaps mount directly into the reflector and the fixture is not wide enough. Overall the Finnex is not too bad.... not nearly the quality of Orbit but considering the price its ok.

Interesting observation I made was that this fixture with 4 t5 bulbs was not any brighter than my power compact orbit fixture. maybe its because they use the single reflector.

I've decided to build my own fixture now that I have all the parts. I did'nt like the sockets so I ordered the waterproof type.

[REMF]

You should still be able to do the mod.
The endcaps mount directly into the reflector thats ok since the reflectors mount onto the bulb itself with clips.


fixture is not wide enough You might have to bend the reflectors a bit to get them to fit, the Ice Cap reflectors are 2.5" wide.

Interesting observation I made was that this fixture with 4 t5 bulbs was not any brighter than my power compact orbit fixture. The reflectors will change that.

[mmoore0803]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6457945#post6457945 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by raydz
After receiving my 48" Finnex fixture.... I determined that I could not do the mod. The endcaps mount directly into the reflector and the fixture is not wide enough. Overall the Finnex is not too bad.... not nearly the quality of Orbit but considering the price its ok.

Interesting observation I made was that this fixture with 4 t5 bulbs was not any brighter than my power compact orbit fixture. maybe its because they use the single reflector.

I've decided to build my own fixture now that I have all the parts. I did'nt like the sockets so I ordered the waterproof type.

That's odd...the tek reflectors I recieved were actually shorter than each bulb (see pix)...You can cut the end caps out of the 1 large reflector and then cut out the ballasts and mount them to the top of the finnex hood or the tops of the individual reflectors....The light output is similar to PCs when their is 1 big reflector...T5s are most effecient and produce the most light when each bulb has it's own reflector.....also, as I said....the reflectors have to be bent to fit in the hood.

[raydz]

Well... I finally got all my parts. After looking at the Finnex endcaps..... I decided to go with the waterproof type. After laying out the individual reflectors, There is no way they will fit in the Finnex canopy. The relectors would have to be bent to the point of altering their design (thus diminishing their effectiveness)

I've decided to just build a new canopy using mostly new parts. The only thing I'm going to use from the Finnex is the 2 ballasts, which seem to be decent quality. It was a expensive experiment for me. It at least made me research all the components carefully. I even replaced the bulbs. In a test.... The Finnex (Jalli) bulbs don't even come close to a good quality german bulb.

If anyone is interested... I can post some picks of the dis-assembled Finnex.... or the new project,

Ray

[mmoore0803]

pix are good!

[won digity]

I like dose "Jamicon" ballasts you got dere mon.

Sorry couldn't resist.

Do you think the fact that the reflectors have to be bent a little in order to fit, will somehow affect the...er... reflectiveness of the reflector? If that makes any sense...lol.

Do you think it is possible to remount the sockets giving a little more space between the bulbs.

Does this fixture have legs too? This seems like a really nice project!

[perpetual98]

I've got the exact same fixture and I was going to try to put individual reflectors in it, but I think I'm going to go from a 26G bow (24") to a 20L (30") and in that case I'll just gut the Finnex and retro everything into a canopy. Hopefully I can still squeeze a couple of halides over the tank in addition to the T5s and the individual reflectors.

I also took one of the 24W ballasts off and replaced it with a 39W ballast on the white bulbs. They're a lot brighter. Throws a little more heat and the bulbs life may be diminished, but it was a curiosity thing for me.

[thefuture]

where can i purchase good individual reflectors at? is it possible to do the same mod but with Nova Extreme T-5 Fixtures w/Lunar Lights ?

[raydz]

I got my reflectors on the reefgeek site.... measure your fixture carefully... each relector is 2.25 inches wide. I had to build a hood to get 6 relectors in.

[Tremolo]

How would this mod compare to the 4 x 24 watt tek light? I was planning on buying a tek but hey if i can mod the finnex and save a few $$ im all over it. I will be using it on a 29 gallon tank (30") i want to keep softies and LPS. Anyone konw the size difference between the tek and the icecap reflectors...i think i would rather use ice cap reflectors if they will fit.

Thanks

Vince

[perpetual98]

You won't be able to fit individual reflectors into the Finnex fixture

[Tremolo]

ok i will go with the tek reflectors then. How would a finnex with the tek reflectors compare the tek light?

[perpetual98]

Sorry for the short answer before, I was in the middle of something.

I had a 24" Finnex T5 setup that I gutted and put over a 20L a while back. I've since sold that setup. I basically just used the ballasts and bulbs. I got IceCap waterproof endcaps and standoffs as well as IceCap SLR reflectors. The setup was pretty nice. I don't know how it compared to a straight TEK setup, but I'd have to think that it would be as good. Better if I ran an IceCap 660 ballast, but that's comparing apples to Corvettes. :)

[Tremolo]

so there is room for the IceCap SLR reflectors or did you have to bend them a little to get them to fit?

[perpetual98]

No, I tossed the Finnex and just used the guts from it and ran them retro style.