DIY Light Hood

[barbuto]

So i just rigged up a 3 gal marineland eclipse system so it can house a 14w CFL bulb, The only problem is the bulb touches the plastic hood, is this dangerous?

I was curious to know how the rest of you guys went about doing this without fire problems?

 

[jpappy789]

Not sure if CFLs produce enough heat to pose a serious problem....

 

[barbuto]

hmmm i c. I was thinking of maybe putting some plexiglass between the plastic and the bulb? saftey precaution? or too much?

 

[mroth_3]

They make diffrent shapes in cfl. You can buy flat ones and minis. Usually they are only 10 watts though. I have had a hard time finding full spectrum cfls that aren't the minis. A quick search showed walmart had the elongated bulbs. Although I wont go to there.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10448675

 

[barbuto]

I already have the CFL bulb purchased already and it all planned out, I jsut don't want to start a fire because of a stupid mistake like this. Does anyone out there with CFL hoods have the same problem?

 

[Cory Keeper]

Incandescents can melt plastic, but rarely do CFLs get hot enough to pose a serious risk.

 

[Scolova]

I haven't run into this problem, but if you can fit this trim piece around the edge of the hood it could raise it up an 1/8 of an inch or so.

http://www.shimeiplastic.com/?action=wareshow|shimei|545|en|33,79|79

You might find something like these at your local hardware store, though probably not those crazy colors.

* Edit: I reread the above ... First time through I was thinking of raising the rim of the hood to keep the bulb off the plastic below.

 

[barbuto]

Does the Lightbulb have to be water tight? I am building a water tight plexiglass box around it but it is giving me problems, has anyone just left the bulbs out?

 

[jpappy789]

My incandescent hood has a single plastic shield blocking the bulbs from the tank water, however a good portion of the bulbs still stick out. No problems so far with condensation or such (knock on wood).