# HD Worklight Light Fixture



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

To design this I made a full size sketch of the cross section, then printed a full size copy, cut out the inside of the print, leaving just the wood parts, and checked that it fits around the worklight reflector. It fit fine, so I used this to measure for the end pieces of the fixture, trapezoid shaped pieces, and measured the sides of those to mark for cutting the sides, which I made 20 inches long to match the 10 gallon tank.

I chose not to make a simple square cornered box in order to try to reduce the visual impact of that big box above the tank.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Two 5" squares of 1/2" plywood, with 1 1/4 inch holes (sanded a bit larger to fit sockets), glued in place to hold the sockets. I may epoxy them in place with plumbers epoxy putty.

Now there are enough pieces of plywood glued together that it is a very rigid "box" so no corner reinforcement is needed.


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## J.farrand (Jul 12, 2010)

Looks great wish I had a garage or a basement to build such things.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Years ago I used a spare bedroom as a workshop. Then I used my studio apartment as a workshop, until my landlord essentially evicted me. Later I used the water heater closet, which was off my carport, as a workshop. (I build a large coffee table and a sofa there.) Now I have a small area of my 2 car garage, where I work. It doesn't take a big shop to make lots of stuff.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

This is one of the two Home Depot worklights I'm using for this project. All it takes to remove the socket from the clamp is loosening one wing nut. These are 8 1/2 inches in diameter, just right for a 10 inch depth tank, like a 10 gallon or 15 gallon high.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Excellent. I have just placed the worklights on cover glasses, but your design improves the looks a lot.

Bit bulkier than LEDs though. :hihi:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Wasserpest said:


> Excellent. I have just placed the worklights on cover glasses, but your design improves the looks a lot.
> 
> Bit bulkier than LEDs though. :hihi:


Unless I really spend a lot of money on the finishing operation I expect this project to be a bit cheaper than an LED fixture:biggrin: So far I have spent all of $000 on the project.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

Yep, bulkier was the first word that came to mind. But nicely done so far. Where are you planning to use it? Which tank?


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

I'm gonna go shoot some stick!

Looking good Hoppy!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Subscribing to this thread 
I never really realized exactly _how_ much I loved woodworking until recently. A small workshop is definitely on the list for something to have in the future 

Looks great so far. I wish I had my own table saw so I could cut wood myself at angles other than 90 degrees like I get at lowes. :biggrin:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

CL said:


> Subscribing to this thread
> I never really realized exactly _how_ much I loved woodworking until recently. A small workshop is definitely on the list for something to have in the future
> 
> Looks great so far. I wish I had my own table saw so I could cut wood myself at angles other than 90 degrees like I get at lowes. :biggrin:


So far the only power tools I have used on this are a hand jig saw and an electric drill. I will use a small random orbit sander before I get done, but those should be the only ones.

The end pieces I cut by first cutting a strip of plywood the height of the ends. Then one angle cut in the middle. Then I reversed the pieces and stacked them with the angle cut edges carefully aligned. But, before that I used one of the angle cut pieces to mark a line about where I would make the cut to get the ends to size. That was to help get both sides at the same angle. Now, with the two pieces aligned I clamped them to the Workmate, marked the line for the second cut through the sandwitch, and cut both ends at the same time. That way they match exactly. To straighten the cut edges I kept them clamped together and used a scrap of wood with some coarse sandpaper for a sanding block to make those edges straight. No table saw needed or wanted.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That's pretty good that you cut that by hand. I just don't think that I could do it on a larger scale. Mitiring the edges on anything that wouldn't fit into my miter box would be a different story all together.


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

The only problem is, compact flourescent bulbs emit very little light when mounted vertically. The broad size of the bulb is emiting the most light. Even with a reflector, every time the light has to bounce off of an object, it is losing intensity. I would have mounted them horizontally with a metal reflector to make use of all of the light you can.

-- liam


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

mordalphus said:


> The only problem is, compact flourescent bulbs emit very little light when mounted vertically. The broad size of the bulb is emiting the most light. Even with a reflector, every time the light has to bounce off of an object, it is losing intensity. I would have mounted them horizontally with a metal reflector to make use of all of the light you can.
> 
> -- liam


Not according to 
http://www.jeremysquires.com/img/aquarium/Diagram6.jpg
http://www.jeremysquires.com/img/aquarium/Diagram7.jpg

Makes sense. In the vertical position, none of the light is being sent straight up into the reflector, and back down to the bulb, (restrike, which also decreases bulb life from what I understand) Granted, you can buy a high end reflector that is specially made to prevent the wasted light that goes straight up such as some metal halide reflectors, but is it really worth buying expensive reflectors when you could just mount the bulb vertically?


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

This point has been beaten to death in the indoor garden community, and it is why 99% of all indoor gardening lights have bulbs mounted horizontally. You don't have to trust me, just trust what industry has been doing for 30 years. I'm assuming this is an indoor garden of sorts, so I thought I'd give solid advice.

Here's an example of a CFL fixture for indoor gardening:

http://www.horticulturesource.com/h...6229/?osCsid=1bce8d3d207e7789201e4dd82ca65f2d

You can find dozens just like that one, not to mention the thousands of HID fixtures that are just like it, with bulbs mounted horizontally. All it takes is looking at them side by side, that's how I was once convinced.

Anyways, the project looks great! I know you're probably too far along now to do a design change, but perhaps when someone else goes to build something similar in the future they'll see this post.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Those bulbs are cylindrical, though. The bulbs that hoppy will most likely be using (and were used in the test) are more of a bulb shape, which I'm sure has something to do with the way the light is reflected.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Read the sticky on screw-in CFL bulbs, for actual PAR data with bulbs both horizontal and vertical. When Jeremy first posted that I was surprised to see there was so much difference in the light intensity. Later, when I started using the Home Depot clamp on work lights for a riparium I measure the PAR and got almost identical numbers to Jeremy's PAR readings.

It doesn't matter that 99.99% of the world thinks these bulbs give more light mounted horizontally. A few minutes with a PAR meter tells you otherwise. And, a little thought tells you that the PAR readings are correct. With the bulb horizontal, little of the light from the back half of the bulb can get around the bulb, no matter what the reflector looks like. But, with it vertical, all of the light from the outside of the bulb gets reflected out.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The sockets installed, with plumbers epoxy putty used to hold them in place.










The two sockets wired in parallel, with a single power cord. I put a simple knot in the cord to act as a strain relief.










Tested to make sure both socket switches were on. Once I get the top on, there is no way to turn them on at the sockets.










Gluing the top in place. I pre-drilled vent holes to avoid drilling into the wiring later.

This fixture will go back on top of my riparium nursery tank for now, a 10 gallon tank, but I may set up my 15H tank as a full riparium and use it there, even though I have an AH Supply light for that tank.


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## DtEW (Jul 21, 2010)

Hi *Hoppy*. I joined this forum upon reading this thread.

I am new to planted aquariums, but I've been slowly shopping and collecting equipment appropriate to my desired setup, which is a CO2-tank-supplemented ~21.5 gallon (ADA ~24"x~12"x~18") setup.

It seems like I happened upon a similar setup while waiting for the promised Marineland HO LED, which the Marineland rep told me was not going to be available until October. :icon_frow

My rationale (completely unhindered by any studied evaluation of PAR, restrike, etc.) was that I wanted a stopgap lighting setup that I could 1) re-deploy in other usage should the Marineland HO LED turn out to be the Holy Grail of energy-efficient lighting, 2) continue using for the long-term if the long-awaited-LED-in-question turn out to suck, 3) and be able to acquire replacement bulbs for easier than T5HO, PC, etc. Also, T5 is going to be a difficult form-factor to re-deploy in a different usage, so that was out-of-the-question almost instantly.

So I have two of the exact same Home Depot worklight fixtures that you're using, except I don't want to build an enclosure for it, and might even take a reamer/grinding bit to the vent holes to decrease the heat stress on the bulb... which is what brings me to the question of the post.

So far I have a pair of the GE 6500K Daylight T2 26w CFLs in these fixtures. I have tried positioning these above the tank about 1-2" above the glass lid... and it seems very bright, almost too bright. No, I do not have a PAR meter, and don't know of a planted aquarium club in my area (can somebody direct me to one?).

So were you conceiving your setup with the 26w CFLs, or the ~15w CFLs? What wattage do you think might be appropriate for my setup? I want to avoid, if possible, the raising of lights to "waste" light.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

At 18 inches from the bulb you can get about 40 micromols of PAR with a 23 watt bulb, and you could get 3 of those HD Worklights above a 24 inch long tank. So, that's what I would use. You would probably have low medium light that way, which is adequate for growing most plants, if you also have CO2. My bulbs are 26 watt GE 6500K bulbs, and when I measured the PAR I got about the same results as I would expect with 23 watt bulbs. I have had no heat problems with those, with the reflectors out in the air. I suspect they will get hotter with this enclosure, but it is shaped so there should be good convective air flow to help cool them.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Hoppy, that came out fantastic! Looks very professional as always. I like how you spliced the two cords into one. Great job on a very affordable fixture


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Plumbers putty?

Don't tell me that's all you have holding them in there.....


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Plumbers epoxy putty is pretty strong, no? If it's the kind that's supposed to be like metal when it hardens, then I used some on a project a week ago and it's very tough.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Epoxy putty, sold as Plumber's putty. It is intended for stopping minor water leaks, sealing various pieces of plumbing, etc. But, it is an easy to use, very thick, fast curing epoxy that I have used for many different projects, including a couple of plumbing leaks. 

What it does here is keep the socket from twisting in the hole, where it fits pretty tight, when you screw in or out the bulb. The socket is above the mounting board, so it can't go through the hole and drop down even without the putty. I also used a bit of that putty to hold the reflectors in place - they screw onto the sockets, but the thread fit is extremely loose.

There is no joint in this fixture that has a metal fastener in it - all just butt glued. I learned long ago that yellow glue is stronger than the wood itself, so you don't need metal fasteners, nails, screws, dowels, etc.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

That turned out nicely Hoppy.roud: 

I've used pretty much the same fixtures/bulbs in the past with good results, but they could be somewhat unsightly in certain settings. Your idea takes care of that problem quite well.

I agree on the glue as well. 
Recently we've been doing a kitchen reno that's involved tearing out some sections of 40-50 year old cabinets. Every glued joint I tore apart broke wood before the actual glue joint...lol...even end grain split off before breaking the bond, and I imagine some of the glues produced today work even better. (If's that's even possible or necessary.)


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I learned how strong yellow glue is when I used to edge glue boards together to make wide boards (with biscuits aligning the joints). When I next trimmed the ends of the assembly I would take the thin cut off pieces and try to break the glue joints. This was after only 30 minutes of curing the glue. I never did break a glue joint before the wood broke. And, when I make mistakes in gluing, then try to separate the joint, it always breaks the wood, even after only 15 minutes or so of cure time. That stuff is Yellow Magic!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

This is where I will be using this fixture, for now. It looks a lot less tacky now, than with the clamp-on setup. The tank looks bad, because I don't use it for anything except keeping a few riparium plants alive while I decide if I want to keep them.










This is how it would look if I wanted it sitting right on top of the tank. I can't use it that way because there is no top rim on that tank, making it too precarious sitting there.

My total cost for this was $000, because I had already bought the lights, and I used scrap plywood, leftover paint, leftover epoxy, etc. to make it. My goal was to convince myself that this type of fixture is doable, and it certainly shows that it is.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

The light has been on for about 5 hours now, and no heat problems have shown up. The aluminum reflectors are just slightly warm. Apparently there is enough convective air flow through the "box" to keep them cool.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Has anybody used mirror tiles as reflectors inside a box of this sort? I have no meters to measure the output but wanted a really good reflector that I could cut down to the shape/size I wanted. I'm using CFL twisty's mounted sideways with mirrors above. It seems to make a really cheap and workable reflector. Mirror is a bit touchy to cut but they can be found really cheap so breaking a few is alright with me.


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## soundgy (Jul 8, 2010)

Amazing job Hoppy! Opens my mind to new possibilities. Thank you!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

PlantedRich said:


> Has anybody used mirror tiles as reflectors inside a box of this sort? I have no meters to measure the output but wanted a really good reflector that I could cut down to the shape/size I wanted. I'm using CFL twisty's mounted sideways with mirrors above. It seems to make a really cheap and workable reflector. Mirror is a bit touchy to cut but they can be found really cheap so breaking a few is alright with me.


Mirrors are very bad reflectors. Mirrors reflect a very accurate image of what is being reflected, but only reflecting about 50% of the light. We need a reflector that reflects nearly 100% of the light, but we have no need for an accurate reflection. That's why a good quality ultra white paint or aluminum foil is a great reflector.

Obviously you get the most reflected light from a spiral screw-in CFL bulb when the reflector can re-direct light from all outer surfaces of the bulb, not just one side of it. That is why the round aluminum reflector on a work light works so well.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks for that reply. I was not aware of the difference in reflected light vs a good reflection. Lots of things that seem true are not. I will do some rework on the reflector. As I'm just starting the planted tank, I wanted some lighting that I could change easily and cheaply. Seemed to give lots of options while I find what plants I will have. I fully agree with your thoughts on yellow glue. A good glue joint beats even the largest nail job many times.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

How is the light working out? Did you have to add a fan?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Hilde said:


> How is the light working out? Did you have to add a fan?


The 10 gallon tank it was on now sits on my deck awaiting some future interesting use. The light fixture is attached to the ceiling of my garage "workshop" as a work light. It never did get more than slightly warm, so no fan was needed. I sometimes build things just to see if I can make it work, especially when it is cheap.


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## McGillicutty (Aug 31, 2010)

Hey I'm thinking about building one of these to go along with the stand I just built. I have one question about the type of lights you are using. What type of bulbs are you using in them? I've been looking around to see if Home Depot is selling any of the lights that are 5500k or even 6500k if I get lucky but have been unsuccessful so far.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

McGillicutty said:


> I've been looking around to see if Home Depot is selling any of the lights that are 5500k or even 6500k if I get lucky but have been unsuccessful so far.


Have you tried hydroponics store?


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## McGillicutty (Aug 31, 2010)

Hilde said:


> Have you tried hydroponics store?


Unfortunately the closest hydroponics store to me is almost an hour and a half away and with my work and school schedule I just don't have the time to drive that far away.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

McGillicutty said:


> Unfortunately the closest hydroponics store to me is almost an hour and a half away


Then in the long run it is probably cheaper to buy on line and pay the $8 for shipment. There are hydroponic stores on line.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

You can buy GE screw-in fluorescent bulbs, 6500K, in wattages from about 11 to about 25 watts, or even greater wattage. I got mine at my local Ace Hardware store, where they were more expensive than any of the other bulbs, but well worth it.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/....2568454.2632229.2632283&searchId=50307680374


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Hoppy said:


> You can buy GE screw-in fluorescent bulbs, 6500K, in wattages from about 11 to about 25 watts, or even greater wattage. I got mine at my local Ace Hardware store


Might be cheaper at Wall-Mart. McGillicutty what size tank are you getting light for?


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## McGillicutty (Aug 31, 2010)

Hilde said:


> Might be cheaper at Wall-Mart. McGillicutty what size tank are you getting light for?


I have a ten and 20 gallon. I just built a tandem stand for the both of them and am now working on a fixture to go over both tanks. I'm going to be using the dome lights that Hoppy used for this particular light fixture but I may just be building a bracket similar to the one found in this journal.

Here's a pic of the stand I built:









Dimensions are 52Lx28Hx20D


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Very nice stand. So the 20G and 10G will be side by side? I like Hoppy's light fixture the best between the 2 for with the lamps just hanging above the tank you have a lot of light spill over. Thus whole room is lit up.


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## McGillicutty (Aug 31, 2010)

Hilde said:


> Very nice stand. So the 20G and 10G will be side by side? I like Hoppy's light fixture the best between the 2 for with the lamps just hanging above the tank you have a lot of light spill over. Thus whole room is lit up.


Yes the tanks will be side by side. 

And yeah I know about the light spill over. I actually won't mind that. The photoperiod is only when I'm home and both tanks will be right next to my computer desk so I'll be pretty much looking at them the whole time I'm sitting here.


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