DIY canopy

[scotchy]

Built myself a new canopy at work last night. Made it from .125 mill finish aluminum. I built it out of all aluminum so that I can polish the inside and not have to worry about making a reflector for it. I need to cut some fan holes in the ends and paint it black yet too, but I want to polish the inside first. Then I will mount my 250 M/H and 2 36" vho actinics. Here's some pics.


Scott

[Panda]

Looks great, forget the paint and polish the outside to. You should make a matching ballast box.

[Quinster]

Looks Great Scott :xyxthumbs Can't wait to see the finished result!

[scotchy]

Here's some pics of the inside all polished up. Marcus, it would be nice to do that but the outside of the material was all scratched up, so I'd be there for a month of sundays just to hide the scratches. This way I can hide all the imperfections with some primer and gloss black paint. Thanks for the good words guys. The first pic is when I just started the polishing so you can see the difference between the polished and the mill finish.:icon_mrgr


Scott

[scotchy]

For the post above, it's the last pic that shows the start of the polishing. Here she is all dressed in black. I'll let the last coat dry overnight, add the fans and bulbs of course and she'll be ready to rock and roll by saturday.


Scott

[scotchy]

She is complete. 250w M/H and 2x95w super actinic VHO's installed. Damn thats bright, I still have a big white spot in front of me. The fans aren't running yet as I have not made it back to princess auto yet for the power converter. Other than that it's ready to light up the tank tomorrow.:new_multi On a lighter side here's a picture of what happens when you put a 250w halide over a center brace.:headscrat Ummm I better fix that soon lest I get wet feet. By the way, the front of the tank may look bowed out in the picture, well thats because it is. There is a 1/4" difference between the front and the sides.


Scott

[sphelps]

On a lighter side here's a picture of what happens when you put a 250w halide over a center brace.:headscrat Ummm I better fix that soon lest I get wet feet. By the way, the front of the tank may look bowed out in the picture, well thats because it is. There is a 1/4" difference between the front and the sides.


Scott

Just Euro Brace the tank, drain half to 2/3 of the water out of the tank, remove the plastic trim, a 2" euro brace all the way around should be good. Then you can even cut the center brace out and reinstall you black trim.

[Benjamin]

Whats a euro brace
?

[Quinster]

It is where the bracing goes around the perimeter of the tank rather than across the center http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/Eurobracing1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/Eurobracing2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Quinster/Equipment/Eurobracing3.jpg