Aluminum extrusion mounting system for lights... Need help - Any engineers around?

Richmond

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I'm going off of siggy's guide to building 8020 mounting for aquaticlife hybrid. It's a great read, if you want to take a look. Based on his guide, I've come up with the attached photo of how I want to create my mounts. I'm going to have two 36" lights, so my current play is 4 vertical arms - 2 going to each light. I'm going to tie them together, so I can use an actuator to raise and lower them as well.

In a brief convo with siggy, he suggested mounting the brackets to a piece of plywood, so I can slide the entire assembly out for maintenance, since I'm adding automation it will be very handy to be able to have access. Upon further consideration, I've now decided to further complicate my life by trying to use linear bearings.

My first thought: build a frame on horizontal linear bearings, then attach the mounts to that. The mounts go up/down, the frame goes side to side, so I can slide out for maintenance. I'm mildly concerned that this will bring the tank too far from the wall. I'm also having trouble finding bearings that will handle the load, and work for my needs.

How can I make this dream a reality? Any advice? Any guidance? Anyone want to tell me to stop and keep it simple? HELP!

Blueprint.png
 
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Richmond

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Would it be possible to just use like a bar mounted to the floor with rollers on the base pieces of the mount? Then I could just slide them over as needed?

This idea came from "can I just put wheels on it" - but obviously that won't work as with ~60 lbs of light on the arms, it will be a "little" top heavy.

Edit: no, the bar would have to go WAY past the tank and that isn't a possibility. Back to the drawing board.
 
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Richmond

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Okay so if it goes on a telescopic rail, the vertical linear bearings can't be mounted to the stand as they would hold everything in place. I think this idea will work... So it's on a horizontal telescopic rail that will slide out with 4 vertical pieces mounted to the bottom structure being held in place. Then there will be linear bearings holding the top 4 vertical pieces, which will be able to raise and lower based on the actuators. I THINK this is the solution, as long as the components are available and will bear the weight of this monstrosity.

Maybe.jpg
 
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Richmond

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Still think the above will be my only option, to have a vertical lift, with a horizontal slide for maintenance. With that said, how do I keep it from sliding against my tank / crashing into it when it tries to lean.
 

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Still think the above will be my only option, to have a vertical lift, with a horizontal slide for maintenance. With that said, how do I keep it from sliding against my tank / crashing into it when it tries to lean.
I did something similar in my build thread. You can see images of how I did it.
 

metzer

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You may want to reach out to framing tech. They helped me with my stand, loading calculations, etc.
 
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Richmond

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You may want to reach out to framing tech. They helped me with my stand, loading calculations, etc.
They helped me, but they don't have a few of the pieces I need and the overall help was... very responsive, very attentive, but not very informative.
 

lakai

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you won't be able to use only one linear actuator. You'll need a 4 channel actuator with hall effect sensors.
 
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Richmond

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you won't be able to use only one linear actuator. You'll need a 4 channel actuator with hall effect sensors.
I'm assuming the hall effect sensor would be so all 4 channels move uniformly? I have modified, for a 4th and probably not final time.

My current design is two separate mounts. Each separately controlled by a single actuator, located near the edge of the mount, for access.

Your response seems like something I need to consider, but I don't understand it and/or why.
 

lakai

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I'm assuming the hall effect sensor would be so all 4 channels move uniformly? I have modified, for a 4th and probably not final time.

My current design is two separate mounts. Each separately controlled by a single actuator, located near the edge of the mount, for access.

Your response seems like something I need to consider, but I don't understand it and/or why.
You are correct. The Hall effect sensors make sure the actuators are in sync to account for the weight differences between each actuator. I originally bought actuator without them and sometimes one would go higher than the other. But to be honest if I had to do it again I would go without the actuators because I don’t ever adjust the height.
 
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Richmond

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You are correct. The Hall effect sensors make sure the actuators are in sync to account for the weight differences between each actuator. I originally bought actuator without them and sometimes one would go higher than the other. But to be honest if I had to do it again I would go without the actuators because I don’t ever adjust the height.
Thanks for the clarification.
 

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