help with floating light bar

Seanb1 · Dec 29, 2019

hello
im trying to figure out where these materials come from and am wondering if anyone has built one here.
in this video a guy made a floating light bar for his peninsula tank.
i would like to copy it and cant find a video or info from reef dudes on how to make it or what materials were used.
any info would be appreciated .
thanks for your time.

sbash · Dec 29, 2019

It's T-slot extruded aluminum. It is a hefty bar, possibly 8080 or 4040. Likely 4040. Most places that sell the bars will sell the hardware to go with it.

TheOne · Dec 29, 2019

Yes, it is 80/20. I wouldn't go any smaller than 40 series. I've built things with it at work. Very easy to work with. All of the fasteners add up in cost though. You can email 80\20 and tell them what you want to build and a rep will get back with you on some costs and ideas. Even better if you can send them a pic and some basic dimensions.

80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems | 80/20 Aluminum Extrusions

T-Slots, aluminum extrusions, and parts. Architectural solutions and frames for industrial machine guards, workstations, data center enclosures, and more. Build your idea with 80/20 today.

8020.net

AbjectMaelstroM · Dec 29, 2019

Go to Tnutz.com to source the extrusions and the external fasteners and corner brackets. Depending on how long of an arm you need, you may be able to get away with 1515 profile. If you go 4040...that's a good bid of weight.

I'm building two arms for my 120g to hang viparspectra lights. Arms are 1515. They are attached to a 4040 (42" long) piece bolted to the studs on the back wall.

Profiles and all mounting hardware was $143.

kyleinpdx · Dec 29, 2019

AbjectMaelstroM said:
Go to Tnutz.com to source the extrusions and the external fasteners and corner brackets. Depending on how long of an arm you need, you may be able to get away with 1515 profile. If you go 4040...that's a good bid of weight.

I'm building two arms for my 120g to hang viparspectra lights. Arms are 1515. They are attached to a 4040 (42" long) piece bolted to the studs on the back wall.

Profiles and all mounting hardware was $143.

Any chance you can post pictures of how you mounted the 1515 to the 4040? I’m trying to figure out my t slot light hanger and I’m interested in the fasteners you chose. Thanks!

AbjectMaelstroM · Dec 29, 2019

kyleinpdx said:
Any chance you can post pictures of how you mounted the 1515 to the 4040? I’m trying to figure out my t slot light hanger and I’m interested in the fasteners you chose. Thanks!

Yeah, I'll take some pix tomorrow.

Seanb1 · Dec 29, 2019

AbjectMaelstroM said:
Go to Tnutz.com to source the extrusions and the external fasteners and corner brackets. Depending on how long of an arm you need, you may be able to get away with 1515 profile. If you go 4040...that's a good bid of weight.

I'm building two arms for my 120g to hang viparspectra lights. Arms are 1515. They are attached to a 4040 (42" long) piece bolted to the studs on the back wall.

Profiles and all mounting hardware was $143.

nice tank thanks for the reply.
im having a hard time finding the wall mount part in the video i posted.
ive tried wall mount,support,end support and it nothing ive seen looks like what is in the video.

AbjectMaelstroM · Dec 30, 2019

This is how I have mine mounted.

-4040 profile 42" long bolted to 3 joists.
-1515 profiles make the inverted L arms, they are connected to each other with a 2 bolt corner bracket.
- The 1515 arms are attached to the 4040 with 2 corner brackets. Allows for lateral and vertical adjustments on the arms.

kyleinpdx · Dec 30, 2019

AbjectMaelstroM said:
This is how I have mine mounted.

-4040 profile 42" long bolted to 3 joists.
-1515 profiles make the inverted L arms, they are connected to each other with a 2 bolt corner bracket.
- The 1515 arms are attached to the 4040 with 2 corner brackets. Allows for lateral and vertical adjustments on the arms.

This is great! Thanks for the follow up pictures. Any idea how much weight you are supporting at the ends of the "L" brackets/arms? I'm looking to hang a small canopy (24" aquatic life hybrid + LEDs) and I'm thinking it'll be in the 20lb range.
I'm probably going to steal your design. Thanks again.

AbjectMaelstroM · Dec 30, 2019

kyleinpdx said:
This is great! Thanks for the follow up pictures. Any idea how much weight you are supporting at the ends of the "L" brackets/arms? I'm looking to hang a small canopy (24" aquatic life hybrid + LEDs) and I'm thinking it'll be in the 20lb range.
I'm probably going to steal your design. Thanks again.

Each arm holds a Viparspectra light which is about 10lb. There's no flex as my as my bubble-level can tell.

cvrle1 · Dec 30, 2019

You can also look into using square aluminum tubing. You would be able to do same thing, and would cost a lot less.

Idea on what that would look like can be found here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622878

Of course, you can modify how it is mounted (with or without legs) I used this idea to build my light rack that I am putting finishing touches on. I got about 20 feet of square tubing for $50 or something like that.

kyleinpdx · Dec 30, 2019

cvrle1 said:
You can also look into using square aluminum tubing. You would be able to do same thing, and would cost a lot less.

Idea on what that would look like can be found here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622878

Of course, you can modify how it is mounted (with or without legs) I used this idea to build my light rack that I am putting finishing touches on. I got about 20 feet of square tubing for $50 or something like that.

Thats also an interesting idea, I hadn't considered alu profiles because I assumed they would need to be welded. I think I'm probably going to have to go with T slot alu, I dont know how I would gusset the vertical arms without welding or doing some cantilever setup. I could cut two small pieces on a 45* but I dont know how I would attach them. My weight is going to be roughly 15" out from the horizontal mounting points. Every time I think I've settled on a plan, a new idea comes up!

cvrle1 · Dec 30, 2019

kyleinpdx said:
Thats also an interesting idea, I hadn't considered alu profiles because I assumed they would need to be welded. I think I'm probably going to have to go with T slot alu, I dont know how I would gusset the vertical arms without welding or doing some cantilever setup. I could cut two small pieces on a 45* but I dont know how I would attach them. My weight is going to be roughly 15" out from the horizontal mounting points. Every time I think I've settled on a plan, a new idea comes up!

I used combination of flat corner braces and brazing to connect pieces of aluminum together. Whole light frame is held with corner braces, and along with cross beams where my lights will be mounted, it is rock solid

In order to attach legs to the frame above, I used MAP gas and low temp Aluminum-Zinc brazing rod. It worked out great and again it is really solid. While I didnt try it, I think that aluminum would bend before 2 pieces would come apart if I hit it with a hammer. Caveat is that it needs to be brazed properly, or it will fail really fast.

AbjectMaelstroM · Dec 30, 2019

cvrle1 said:
I used combination of flat corner braces and brazing to connect pieces of aluminum together. Whole light frame is held with corner braces, and along with cross beams where my lights will be mounted, it is rock solid

In order to attach legs to the frame above, I used MAP gas and low temp Aluminum-Zinc brazing rod. It worked out great and again it is really solid. While I didnt try it, I think that aluminum would bend before 2 pieces would come apart if I hit it with a hammer. Caveat is that it needs to be brazed properly, or it will fail really fast.