retrofit lighting canopy

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tetra_girl

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Dec 21, 2002
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I am retrofitting the strip light canopy that came with my 33 gal tank. It came with the standard wimpy one 24" 20w fluorescent tube set up.

I'm going to rip out the guts and just use the plastic canopy shell to house 2 24" 20w fluorescent tubes (all I can fit in the canopy).

Right now, the inside of the canopy has a molded white plastic bezel to house the light/ballast etc and reflect light down into the tank.

My question is, as I am ripping out the plastic bezel, what should I paint the inside of the plastic canopy with to reflect the most light and help dissipate the heat with?

Should I spray paint it white or chrome? And what type of spray paint? Regular, enamel, plastic, tremclad/metal, appliance?

I've only seen one brand of regular spray paint that specifically said not to apply to surfaces that would be near a heat source, so I assume most will be ok with the heat generated by the two tubes (the new ballast will be relocated outside and away from the canopy).

Any thoughts?
 
I've seen many ppl paint the inside of their canopies white. Silver/chrome will also work. A metallic finish would probably reflect the most light/heat than a flat finish, so whatever finish reflects the most light will work. You could also try putting aluminum foil inside of your canopy instead of painting it (with the shiny side out).
I'm going to move this to Freshwater Products & DIY. There are more DIY informed ppl over there =)

HTH
-Richer
 
Or you could line it with Aluminum Foil, I've never done this, but I've read many times it works great as a reflector.
 
Hmmm...aluminum foil, what an easy idea!

I think what I'll do is spray paint the inside white before setting in the new lighting stuff. That way I can try it BOTH ways and see which seems to work better- white or metallic.

I can try it with the white undercoat first and then with foil over top. If the plain white works better I can just tear off the aluminum foil!

I'll just ask at the hardware store what spray paint sticks best to plastic.

Thanks for all the input everyone and thanks for pointing me over to the DIY area Richer! :)

tetra_girl
 
Originally posted by tetra_girl
I'll just ask at the hardware store what spray paint sticks best to plastic.
Click to expand...

you need to make sure that you get a primer that will adhere to plastic. once its got a coat of primer just about any paint will stick and give you a nice even layer.
 
Imo the reflector apparatus in any tank light is what separates the excellent from the average. if you are retrofitting you might want to take a look at going the power compact route. The kits sold by AH Supply

They come with an excellent reflector- the best I have seen or used to date. They offer a good choice of bulbs. Retrofitting into an existing hood is not difficult and because they are more powerful and more compact in size-to-output, you can get more light than from any similar sized standard flo. setup.
 
Well, I already bought all the supplies (ballast, end caps etc) a month ago as I knew I could do it myself for $20 canuck bucks or less.

But your link had some great info on reflectors and I think I'll build a half proper reflector now instead of just painting the inside of the plastic canopy.

I actually have a piece of sheet metal that is practically as reflective as a mirror (got it to use as a magnet board from a friend and he says it's actually the stuff they use in prisons for mirrors). I can get it bent up into a vaulted shape reflector and drop it in. Or I could just get some metal flashing and bend it myself too. Apparently silver mylar film is also a good option to cover over whatever shape you make.

Found an interesting article that also talks about what shape reflector is most efficient and white enamel vs. metallic surfaces. It appears that it may depend on what kind of lights you have. http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9512/msg00190.html

I was originally going to do the retrofit myself as I'm somewhat handy, but I think I'm going to pull in a favor from an engineering friend as he makes stuff all the time and will do a much nicer job than I would.

Thanks for the info!
 
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