Random Thought Thread

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

One radion down due to humidity in tank. Thank god for back up lights

Makes me wonder why the manufacturers do not make IP65 rated fixtures that goes over the tank. It's just few gaskets/silicon seals.

[lockrookie]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Makes me wonder why the manufacturers do not make IP65 rated fixtures that goes over the tank. It's just few gaskets/silicon seals.

Then ppl wouldn't have anxiety attacks and buy new high priced lights. But it has me thinking on how to improve the situation so I don't have it happen again. It's not like the light is close to water or has no ventilation. But before I put the light back on it I will attempt a fix of some sort

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

Then ppl wouldn't have anxiety attacks and buy new high priced lights. But it has me thinking on how to improve the situation so I don't have it happen again. It's not like the light is close to water or has no ventilation. But before I put the light back on it I will attempt a fix of some sort

Good point

You can always put some silicon around the seem of the lens covering the light engine. Apart from sealing, there is no real way of keeping moisture out of these fixtures. They do not note their ingress protection but I am assuming these are IP54.

[Delphinus]

When I ran with halides it was a constant battle against humidity in the house. Ended up with an HRV and wow, does that ever eat up the humidity (basically because it's always so dang dry outside around here). Now with LEDs and T5's I find it's actually a battle for the opposite, it's TOO DRY in the house. I have to water my plants daily otherwise they start to wilt. (#firstworldproblems ?). I've shut off the HRV for the season some time ago but it's still a mystery to me where all the water is going.

It's nice not having to worry about humidity and heat but the truth is I miss my halides. I know I can up the intensity of my LEDs (and I really need to get on with that, I suppose). The few corals I have do not retain their colour, and when I had Radiums over the tank everything just popped with colour.

The nice thing about the LEDs is the shifting colours over the day, although on the flip side I really need to get on with fixing it up a little because it's just weird when you look at a orange fish that should be yellow normally, or a crimsom red fish that should be orange. Or a purple fish that, thanks to the strength of astigmatism correction of my eyeglasses, appears as two separate fishes swimming side by side, one that is pure blue and one is that pure red.

When time/budget allows I'm going to fit two halides back over my tank. I'll keep the LEDs for the dusk/dawn effect. I'm pretty sure the T5's I have for dusk/dawn now aren't really doing much for me given that for the size of the tank they probably should be doubled (but this isn't a possibility because there's no space anyhow). So maybe I'll pull them off, use them for overwintering my more light hungry plants. That's the dream anyhow. Time and money don't seem to fall into my lap though, despite that I keep hoping they will. But I digress.

Getting back to the topic of humidity though (which is what started my random thought ... sorry .. hey this IS the "random thought thread" so .. meh.. ). Wouldn't the Radions need to have vent holes for heat dissipation and ventilation? I assume that you can't achieve any kind of IPxx-whatever ingress protection because of that?

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

When I ran with halides it was a constant battle against humidity in the house. Ended up with an HRV and wow, does that ever eat up the humidity (basically because it's always so dang dry outside around here). Now with LEDs and T5's I find it's actually a battle for the opposite, it's TOO DRY in the house. I have to water my plants daily otherwise they start to wilt. (#firstworldproblems ?). I've shut off the HRV for the season some time ago but it's still a mystery to me where all the water is going.

It's nice not having to worry about humidity and heat but the truth is I miss my halides. I know I can up the intensity of my LEDs (and I really need to get on with that, I suppose). The few corals I have do not retain their colour, and when I had Radiums over the tank everything just popped with colour.

The nice thing about the LEDs is the shifting colours over the day, although on the flip side I really need to get on with fixing it up a little because it's just weird when you look at a orange fish that should be yellow normally, or a crimsom red fish that should be orange. Or a purple fish that, thanks to the strength of astigmatism correction of my eyeglasses, appears as two separate fishes swimming side by side, one that is pure blue and one is that pure red.

When time/budget allows I'm going to fit two halides back over my tank. I'll keep the LEDs for the dusk/dawn effect. I'm pretty sure the T5's I have for dusk/dawn now aren't really doing much for me given that for the size of the tank they probably should be doubled (but this isn't a possibility because there's no space anyhow). So maybe I'll pull them off, use them for overwintering my more light hungry plants. That's the dream anyhow. Time and money don't seem to fall into my lap though, despite that I keep hoping they will. But I digress.

Getting back to the topic of humidity though (which is what started my random thought ... sorry .. hey this IS the "random thought thread" so .. meh.. ). Wouldn't the Radions need to have vent holes for heat dissipation and ventilation? I assume that you can't achieve any kind of IPxx-whatever ingress protection because of that?

Yes ventilation has to be there but that's where the designer's experience come in. For example, the radion has a fan to dissipate the heat and the fan should not have have any issue with humidity as long as the fan is sealed to say IP65 or is outdoor rated. For IP65 sealing, the exposed wires (wires from the fan to the circuit and the termination points) need to be sealed by a compound that won't dissolve/react with water, silicon for example. The head sink connected to the light engines need to be sealed with proper gaskets to keep moisture from getting in through the vent into the engines via heat sink. Similarly, all seem will need some sort of seal (gaskets/silicon) to keep moisture from getting in. So basically, the seals have to be such that only the light engine and the circuits are protected.

The company I work for has a IP65 fixture that has two fans and ventilation holes on the sides but has seals in such a way that moisture/water cannot get into the light engine or circuits. Many drivers are already sealed to IP65 now-a-days so drivers do not need to be sealed.

In the end, it all depends on how crafty the light enclosure designer is.

[Dearth]

So after several months of deliberation I finally broke down and bought a spare bed but instead of buying a basic bed I bought a full on storage bed from JYSK. The display bed looks awesome and sturdy and big selling point for me was the storage it offered.

Get all three boxes home and immediately look for the instruction manual and of course it's in the last box I opened. I looked through the manual and discovered that according to the manufacturer it should take no more than 180 minutes to build this bed. Haha jokes on me

The instruction book has no writing or description in it just very basic pictures with corresponding numbers and letters for the wood and screws/fasteners. What made it challenging is that the diagrams did not show any of the corresponding holes in the wood for proper alignment and assembly it was basically a guessing game. Finally stopped for the night and waited for JYSK to open next morning as soon as the store opened I went right to the display bed and started snapping pictures with my IPhone headboards, drawers, bed frame and so on.

Went home and everything I had built the night before which was a grand total of 4 pieces of wood and reassembled in the correct order and after 3 hrs of steady work had the headboard built. Yesterday was all the drawers and sliders on the drawers which took about 2 and a half hours to build and then had to disassemble because 2 pages over in the manual was the final step in finishing the drawers which in reality was the first step.

Today I finished the bed frame connected it all together and now I am the proud owner of a storage bed. Manufacturer suggested 180 minutes for two people to build well it took one person just under 8 hrs total to build the bed with incomplete and confusing instruction manual to boot.

Love the bed but be damned if I will take on another bed from the same manufacturer don't need the stress

[lockrookie]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Good point



You can always put some silicon around the seem of the lens covering the light engine. Apart from sealing, there is no real way of keeping moisture out of these fixtures. They do not note their ingress protection but I am assuming these are IP54.

The water didn't enter at the lens it actually entered around the fan area. And corroded the wire harness for the pucks.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

The water didn't enter at the lens it actually entered around the fan area. And corroded the wire harness for the pucks.

That's just bad design!

[gregzz4]

Aiptasia are like herpes;

-Once you have herpes you always have it, even it it never shows

-Nobody wants to go near you

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Aiptasia are like herpes;

-Once you have herpes you always have it, even it it never shows

-Nobody wants to go near you

This is so tough not to touch.....