108 W CFL Light Fixture

[Hardy85]

Ok, I saw this on another forum and gonna give it a try. I have been debating buying a 108w or 162w light fixture but the prices range $70-250 and replacing the bulbs are $20 each and you need to hope the ballast last

So I am going to use my All Glass aquarium 24" light fixtures as a shell. Pictures to come on Monday, but I just bought everything I need for a 8 bulb cfl set up (will be 108w mixed between 5000k bulbs and 6500k bulbs) for $48

[AllenIsbell]

I love DIY! Subscribed for the build!

[Hardy85]

All materials cost about $48

- 4 ea 2 lamp sockets ($4.29 ea)
- 4 5000k 14w bulbs (4 pack $6)
- 4 6500k 13w bulbs (3 pack $7)
- krylon fusion gloss white ($5)
- zip strips with screw hole ($2)
- replacement screws, wire nuts, painters tap ($5)- not needed but better to have just incase

Pull out the guts of the lamp.

Paint inside white, I also resprayed the outside of mine black while I had it out

Two sockets per cover, with the all glass you can use the original screw holes with the zip strips.

I used a stone for each to provide spacing so bulbs don't touch plastic

I will be posting pics on Monday. So far so good. May consider adding computer fans if heat becomes a problem

[Lady Hobbs]

Hope it works well for you. Tank lights are expensive and like you say, the expense only starts when it comes to replacing the bulbs.
The last bulb I bought lasted one month. Company replaced it but the second one they sent me only lasted that long, too. I like their little trick, too, that when one bulb goes out, neither bulb can be used.

[Hardy85]

Colors in the tank look amazing.

[gurglegurgle]

subscribed. Have been thinking of doing this mod myself but was worried about melting my light fixture without having metal reflectors.

[Hardy85]

Just an update, been on 5 hours and bit warm, I used some gorilla tape to hold some of the wires off of the bulbs. Just a precaution. The lighting is great so far. Glad I mixed the bulbs up

[gurglegurgle]

any pics of this mod? We would sure appreciate it!

[Hardy85]

Ok, now that I have access to the computer more than just my phone I can go about this...

First off, I want to give credit to where I first saw this
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...Retrofit/page2

So this is how the light looked before anything was done, just two 18" 15W bulbs


So what you do is take the bulbs out, remove the 4 screws


Untwist the wire ties, I put a piece of tape on the wires to note which was which. Mainly, mark which goes from the wall plug to the switch, this is your hot wire

Remove the fluorescent fixture, tape it off, and spray paint white with Krylon Fusion


I was a bit impatient, but I was able to work on it about 30 mins later

Wire the hot wire back to the switch (why I marked them), then the other wire from the switch goes to the black wire from the light fixtures. I used zip strips with mounting holes to attach fixtures to light (two per set, its a bit tight, but it works well)
The white wire goes to the other wire from the wall plug


Once you are wired up, and safe, put the bulbs in and test it... no smoke... you're good. I had to use two small stones as a spacer so that the bulbs weren't touching the plastic

[Hardy85]

After using this all weekend i love it. It does get a bit warmer than they did before, however it is nothing extreme

Tank before


Tank after


It doesn't look like a ton in the pictures, but I can assure you that the whole thing is a ton brighter, fish look better, and plants seem to like it so far