Light hanging help

medi · Jan 8, 2011

I am building a new hanging lighting fixture for my tank. I am going to suspend the fixture with 1/8" steel cable. As you can see in my horrible sketch I am going to have two cables attached to the ceiling, and then each cable is going to split and connect at four points on the frame of the fixture. I need the fixture to be able to adjust vertically so I can raise the lights off of the tank, and I also want the cables to be easily adjusted at the four connection points on the frame so that I can easily level the fixture. Also, this is in my living room so it needs to look aesthetically pleasing or else my wife might kill me. I've got a few different ideas of how I'd like to accomplish this, but I wanted to throw this out there and see what everyone else's thoughts are. I am open to all ideas so throw it out there. Thanks

secretreefer · Jan 8, 2011

look into acutators.......they're unreal.. i'm gonna try to do actuators on my next build which will either be a 220G or 360G.

Troylee · Jan 8, 2011

i hung my t5 fixture this way above my frag tank it looks awesome.... i bought the cables from a lfs but i think there the ice cap ones.... they work great and look super clean and easy to adjust...;)

Troylee · Jan 8, 2011

oh yeah just remember when the cords come out the back it makes the light hang un level i corrected this problem by adding a little weight inside the front of the fixture..... i only used the vertical cables thou.... you might not have that problem with it attaching to a 4 point system on the fixture....

medi · Jan 8, 2011

Hmm..hadn't even thought of actuators. What kind did you use? Where did you get them? I want the four points to be adjustable to compensate for the weight of the cables and other equipment. It should be easy to level if you can shorten or lengthen every point.

medi · Jan 8, 2011

WOW!!! Actuators are expensive. Does anyone know where you can buy them cheaper? Also, I was thinking about small cable winches to raise and lower the fixture. Anyone know where to buy something like that?

Troylee · Jan 8, 2011

Ice cap sells a 4 point cable system I believe just google light suspension cables... There is a ton of them coming out now since all these led fixtures hit the market... I'll try to snap a couple pics when I get home for ya of the set up I got... I just popped a toggle bolt in the cieling with the top mount and cable hanging then drilled and tapped my light fixture to accept the bottom piece with the adjuster on it... Just screw the bottom hanger piece into the fixture and thread the cables through and your done... Very easy and clean..;)