Drilling APS stand?

[Tyler White]

Is it possible/recommended to drill through the metal of an innovative marine APS stand to attached a stand mounted light hanger? Wanted to do standard arms but the tanks overflow is in the way for the middle lights and i want them in the center. Thanks for any help or ideas

 

[Billdogg]

I doubt that you'd hurt it at all. I'd consider drilling and tapping it so that you can then just snug a bolt or two up rather than have nuts on the inside to mess with although I don't know how thick the aluminum is.

 

[Tyler White]

I doubt that you'd hurt it at all. I'd consider drilling and tapping it so that you can then just snug a bolt or two up rather than have nuts on the inside to mess with although I don't know how thick the aluminum is.

Its pretty thick id say a couple inches.

 

[Billdogg]

I'm guess that it's extruded, however. Not solid. Extruded would be much more structurally sound than solid I think.

 

[Tyler White]

I'm guess that it's extruded, however. Not solid. Extruded would be much more structurally sound than solid I think.

Self tapping metal screws would do the job i think? Might need 2 anchor points to the stand but should be sound enough to hold a couple led pucks im thinking. I just dont wanna ruin the stands integrity at all :/

I'm gonna throw the stand together tonight and see how much material we're working with here exactly

 

[Sparky27]

Self tapping metal screws would do the job i think? Might need 2 anchor points to the stand but should be sound enough to hold a couple led pucks im thinking. I just dont wanna ruin the stands integrity at all :/

I'm gonna throw the stand together tonight and see how much material we're working with here exactly

How did this work out? I have a Nuvo on the way and was also wondering about mounting light hangers and other accessories to the aluminum frame.

 

[Tyler White]

How did this work out? I have a Nuvo on the way and was also wondering about mounting light hangers and other accessories to the aluminum frame.

Sorry I never updated this thread but I used the grooves that are built into the stand frame to throw some 80/20 fittings on there to create a light canopy of sorts.

 

[Martingale]

Sorry I never updated this thread but I used the grooves that are built into the stand frame to throw some 80/20 fittings on there to create a light canopy of sorts.

That’s awesome! Could you post all of the sizing details (extrusion, thread, length) of the hardware you purchased?


I was looking at 10 series hardware and it seems like a drop-in t-nut and corner bracket at that dimension would work. I was a little uncertain on screw dimensions, to ensure a snug fit, given the APS stand has different dimensions than the usual T slot.

 

[Tyler White]

(This was all on tnutz)

The actual internal fasteners... I ordered 10 series to start with and 40 series with a later order all with 1/4-20 threading so im not sure which ones I used and to check back there would be a neck cracking good time now lol.

But I'd say measure your opening with a pair of calipers depth width and all that and see if it will fit with the measurements they have online on the fasteners product page.

When I get home I'll try to see if I can tell or not and let you know.

Bolts were 1/4-20 1/2 inch black button head screws and some washers to go with them.

To mount to the stand I used their "(CB-010-G) 6 Hole Inside Corner Bracket"

As far as extrusions it was all their EX-1010 1" smooth extrusions at the lengths I needed.

Although the top piece that I mounted my main LED fixtures to was a EX-1050-BLACK - 1" x 0.5" thinner piece that I had machined with two access holes "Access Hole - Style "C", thru "R"" which would have them drill a hole a half an inch from the end right in the middle of the extrusion which let's you run a bolt through it to attach to the main structure I built.

There it is in its finished state.

That’s awesome! Could you post all of the sizing details (extrusion, thread, length) of the hardware you purchased?


I was looking at 10 series hardware and it seems like a drop-in t-nut and corner bracket at that dimension would work. I was a little uncertain on screw dimensions, to ensure a snug fit, given the APS stand has different dimensions than the usual T slot.

 

[Martingale]

(This was all on tnutz)

The actual internal fasteners... I ordered 10 series to start with and 40 series with a later order all with 1/4-20 threading so im not sure which ones I used and to check back there would be a neck cracking good time now lol.

But I'd say measure your opening with a pair of calipers depth width and all that and see if it will fit with the measurements they have online on the fasteners product page.

When I get home I'll try to see if I can tell or not and let you know.

Bolts were 1/4-20 1/2 inch black button head screws and some washers to go with them.

To mount to the stand I used their "(CB-010-G) 6 Hole Inside Corner Bracket"

As far as extrusions it was all their EX-1010 1" smooth extrusions at the lengths I needed.

Although the top piece that I mounted my main LED fixtures to was a EX-1050-BLACK - 1" x 0.5" thinner piece that I had machined with two access holes "Access Hole - Style "C", thru "R"" which would have them drill a hole a half an inch from the end right in the middle of the extrusion which let's you run a bolt through it to attach to the main structure I built.

There it is in its finished state.

This was really helpful, thank you again!

I purchased some 10 and 40 series roll in t nuts just to see which might work better.

Do you remember if you used the slide-in, roll-in, or drop-in t nuts?

Do you get a noticeable amount of sag using just the single gussets? Do you have the vertical bars attached to the stand by a single corner bracket?

 

[Tyler White]

This was really helpful, thank you again!

I purchased some 10 and 40 series roll in t nuts just to see which might work better.

Do you remember if you used the slide-in, roll-in, or drop-in t nuts?

Do you get a noticeable amount of sag using just the single gussets? Do you have the vertical bars attached to the stand by a single corner bracket?

No problem!
I used the roll in tnuts with the rubber handles cause I had the tank on the stand but honestly if you have the tank unassembled you can use any regular ones probably.
Honestly I used 8020's deflection calculator before I bought anything to make sure and it showed negligible amount of sag but I would check it out on there for your use case.

And I have the vertical bars attached with a single point of contact on either side.

Need any more help on how I did it let me know

 

[rtsundland]

I'm having a 150 EXT delivered in June/July... certainly will be going the 8020 (or similar) route to semi-permanently attach by control boards for equipment. I prefer the t-nuts simply because I use them on my 3D printers too (which is a 20mm extrusion).

However, the big question I have (since I don't have the stand yet) is the size of the slots on the APS stand... and that would dictate which t-nuts I would need to get. I can get the 20-series extrusion from 8020, but the t-nuts would need to be fit for the APS extrusion, and then I'd have t-nuts for the 20-series already.

 

[Tyler White]

I'll be honest ol bud I wish I could tell you exactly what it is but I don't want you to order something and it be wrong as I'm not sure if from the 10 aps stand the 40 the 75 or in your case the 150 ext stand they have differing extrusions IM uses to make the stands.

I personally had to get in there with some calipers and check all my dimensions and think I was able to use t-nutz 10 series roll in fasteners and they JUST fit. Their 40 series that I tried to use originally had too much of a... booty on them and wouldn't actually fit inside the slot as it wasn't deep enough. Although if you're putting your stand together while you attach your brackets you should be able to use regular tnuts as I had to resort to drop ins since my tank was already on the stand.

I'm having a 150 EXT delivered in June/July... certainly will be going the 8020 (or similar) route to semi-permanently attach by control boards for equipment. I prefer the t-nuts simply because I use them on my 3D printers too (which is a 20mm extrusion).

However, the big question I have (since I don't have the stand yet) is the size of the slots on the APS stand... and that would dictate which t-nuts I would need to get. I can get the 20-series extrusion from 8020, but the t-nuts would need to be fit for the APS extrusion, and then I'd have t-nuts for the 20-series already.

 

[Martingale]

I just recently started attaching 80/20 to an APS stand so I’m sure I can provide some additional details. I’ll post back some details

Just to be clear there is a chance my experience will be different as I am using an older APS stand back when IM made these in standard aquarium dimensions, and not their custom wonky dimensions that only fit their tanks. They look the same to me, however, I’ve never owned or compared both side by side. I also noticed depending on where you’re wanting to attach you need different sized 80/20. 10 series stuff is good for vertical slots when the stand is built, and 15/40 series is better for horizontal slots when the stand is built.

 

[rtsundland]

I'll be honest ol bud I wish I could tell you exactly what it is but I don't want you to order something and it be wrong as I'm not sure if from the 10 aps stand the 40 the 75 or in your case the 150 ext stand they have differing extrusions IM uses to make the stands.

I personally had to get in there with some calipers and check all my dimensions and think I was able to use t-nutz 10 series roll in fasteners and they JUST fit. Their 40 series that I tried to use originally had too much of a... booty on them and wouldn't actually fit inside the slot as it wasn't deep enough. Although if you're putting your stand together while you attach your brackets you should be able to use regular tnuts as I had to resort to drop ins since my tank was already on the stand.

Yeah I appreciate that. I would have to wait anyway to order the extrusions to the proper size, too... so it may just delay me getting everything up and running.

 

[howaboutme]

Question for you all APS owners.

Can you use this stand for a tank that has a smaller footprint? The PVC foam board for the top concerns me.

Can you replace the included top with something else, like a piece of wood? Would standard 10 series 80/20 hardware work? Is the top extrusion designed to accommodate this hack?

Is the bottom shelf PVC foam too? If so, using it with a sump could be an issue. Same as for the top, replace?

Thanks in advance!