Lumenbright question, fire hazard?

iheartsps · Mar 18, 2016

I recently set up two lumenbright mini pendants over my 150 mixed reef. They are about 17.5" from water surface. I have them mounted directly to my floating canopy. My question is, do they get hot enough to be a potential fire hazard mounted directly to the wood canopy? Does anyone else have theirs mounted

directly? Not trying to set my family on fire.

TUSI · Mar 18, 2016

It should be fine.

iheartsps · Mar 19, 2016

Have you mounted them this way before? I would like to be for sure about this. Should be fine is not definitive enough for me.

TUSI · Mar 19, 2016

yes and never had a problem. your metal halides throw much more heat then the kessil. do you have the halides installed directly to the canopy? the kessil looks like its hanging on a chain so there is air circulation at least. Do you have some sort of a fan to help with the heat?

iheartsps · Mar 19, 2016

The halides are mounted directly to the wood. The flat top of the halide pendants are flat up against the wood.

iheartsps · Mar 19, 2016

The kessil is hanging and no fan yet. I think I'm going to put some type of stand offs between the halides and the canopy just to be on the safe side.

thrasher1472 · Mar 19, 2016

There are no vents on the top flat just the sides right? I think you will be fine but I have no experience with those. Did you a test run while home?

thrasher1472 · Mar 19, 2016

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/
scroll down to design and mounting

iheartsps · Mar 19, 2016

Thanks for the link to the article Thrasher. I have read that whole article before when I was researching the lights. He has the reflectors mounted directly to a hours and I'm sure those create even more heat. But I'm still not sold. I'm worried that the heat will dry every it of moisture out of the wood and maybe not tomorrow or anytime this year may I see a fire but two years down the road who knows for sure unless someone has had them mounted like this for years. They have only been running for two days but I aware I can smell wood burning when I come into the room after they have been on for a few hours. These are my first halides. Maybe the halides themselves put off a burning smell and I'm just noticing that. Either way for peace of mind I'm going to install some 3/4" standoff a between the pendants and the canopy for air flow around the lights. The thought of my house burning down freaks me out.

hybridazn · Mar 19, 2016

I have mine mounted to a 2x4 and the ballasts on top of that. Been running it like this for over a year, and the guy I bought the setup from ran it for years like this as well. All I did when I got it was swap out the ballasts to galaxy ballasts.

hybridazn · Mar 19, 2016

As for worrying about "burning the house down" I'd be more worried about a heater exploding and causing a fire long before I would worry about the halides.

TUSI · Mar 19, 2016

My metal halides are attached to a wood canopy just as yours but I installed 3/4 washers between to allow air flow around them. All you have to do is add a spacer and put a fan that blows through to allow some air circulation and also eliminate some of the heat. If you are still not sold on this then remove everything and add a sheet of stainless steel over the wood and mount the same lights as you have them except they will be on the stainless steel. Hope this will rest your mind

iheartsps · Mar 19, 2016

Do halides put off a burning smell by chance. The only ones I've been around are at my lfs or I. Warehouses

TUSI · Mar 19, 2016

Mine don't but I had one that the wires within got hot and melted inside the fixture. What you are smelling have nothing to do with the wood canopy.

thrasher1472 · Mar 20, 2016

The smell could be the reflector or ballast just getting hot for the first time, kind of like a new oven. I have built a ton of diy light systems so I get that nervous feeling, trust me. So do whatever you need to feel safe, if you can add a spacer do it.
I do upholstery and work with irons, my seamstress would place the iron hot side down on a piece of poplar for years, got darker but never caught fire. I think I have an old iron in the garage, I might do some experimenting, I would think an iron on high would get hotter than the top of that hood.

TUSI · Mar 20, 2016

The canopy will not go on fire with the heat of a light fixture. if the light source direction was amained at a PC of wood, then maybe there will be a risk but in this situation everything is being reflected away from the wood.

Fin · Mar 20, 2016

I have never used the Lumenbright fixtures, but I have used the standard type reflectors with the mogul base mounted directly to the wood of my canopy. The canopy was ventilated with 2 4" fans and a partially open back. I removed them when I mounted my AI LEDs and this is what I found. A definite "singe," but never caught fire. This was after about 6 years of running the 250 watt bulbs. You should have no trouble seeing where they were mounted. If I ever go back with metal halides in the future, I will use some sort of insulator between the reflector and the canopy.