Mounting Radion lights over a eurobrace tank???

[mfinn]

I am looking at this for an 84" tank and assuming the 80.5" track will work for that application. Looks like it will need some reinforcement as mentioned in other posts. I am planning 4 XR30's and they weigh 4.5 pounds each. Seems like a lot of weight over that distance. One thing I am not crazy about is them just sitting on the eurobrace with nothing holding them on. One bump would send them into the tank I am afraid. Is anyone else using them and is this an issue?

If you use the RMS mounts and put them on the ends of the tank, you can pull the rail and RMS mount together so there is tension that will keep them in place,,,, mostly.
I had that setup on my 72" tank with 4 gen 3's. One day I was standing on a chair over the tank trying to reach the back bottom of my tank ( 30" wide and 25" deep), when my shoulder bumped the rail with the 4 gen 3's on it and it fell over into the water. It was the middle of the day and the lights were on. 3 of the 4 lights shorted out immediately, and in the 20 seconds or so it took to pull them from the water and shut off the circuit, the 4th went out.
So while it is a easy way to set them up on a eurobraced tank, it's not the safest.
I wouldn't use the RMS brackets ever again.

 

[Caseyz]

If you use the RMS mounts and put them on the ends of the tank, you can pull the rail and RMS mount together so there is tension that will keep them in place,,,, mostly.
I had that setup on my 72" tank with 4 gen 3's. One day I was standing on a chair over the tank trying to reach the back bottom of my tank ( 30" wide and 25" deep), when my shoulder bumped the rail with the 4 gen 3's on it and it fell over into the water. It was the middle of the day and the lights were on. 3 of the 4 lights shorted out immediately, and in the 20 seconds or so it took to pull them from the water and shut off the circuit, the 4th went out.
So while it is a easy way to set them up on a eurobraced tank, it's not the safest.
I wouldn't use the RMS brackets ever again.

That is exactly what I am afraid of. I am wondering if there is a way to modify them to be able to clamp onto a eurobraced tank. Can anyone take a close up picture of what the base of the arms looks like? Hard to tell how they go together from their website.

 

[mfinn]

That is exactly what I am afraid of. I am wondering if there is a way to modify them to be able to clamp onto a eurobraced tank. Can anyone take a close up picture of what the base of the arms looks like? Hard to tell how they go together from their website.

If left alone, they will stand up just fine. I had them mounted this way for 3-4 years with no problem. But like I said I bumped mine with my shoulder and over they went. Totally my fault.
I've moved them out of the way many times to get into the tank. It was pretty handy to be able to slide them back, but this one time,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Caseyz]

If left alone, they will stand up just fine. I had them mounted this way for 3-4 years with no problem. But like I said I bumped mine with my shoulder and over they went. Totally my fault.
I've moved them out of the way many times to get into the tank. It was pretty handy to be able to slide them back, but this one time,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Understood. Thinking I may just weld up a steel support to mount them and address the bowing issue at the same time.

 

[X-37B]

Tslot mounted from the back would work also.
Mine are mounted differently for halides but you could mount 2 vertical from the back with arms extending to mount your lights on.
Here is mine but you get the idea.
Was going to come from the back but tank was alredy up so no access.

 

[Caseyz]

I think what I might do is construct a custom light stand of 1" steel tube stock and 1" steel angle stock and then suspend the EcoTech track beneath it on 1/4" bolts. Would use 12" long bases of angle stock on each end which should be pretty sturdy. Definitely better than the stock EcoTech solution for eurobraced tanks IMHO.

 

[lakai]

I'm using T-slot that can adjust 12-24" with linear actuators.

 

[lakai]

Radion Mount for Eurobrace tanks by rickcavanaugh

The ecotech radion multilight mount is poor. The lights could tip over as there is nothing preventing this. This is a clamp for the multi mount that allows the mount to clamp to a eurobrace. It may work on a single light mount too if using a strong plastic such as abs or petg and you have...

www.thingiverse.com

Someone made a extension piece for the RMS.

 

[Caseyz]

I'm using T-slot that can adjust 12-24" with linear actuators.

Would you mind sharing the CAD file for this?

 

[metzer]

mfinn i have 70.1 to cover. I see some replies on BRS complain about sagging. Do you have any of these issues on the long rail. Thank you.

Not to hijack the thread but i bought an extra hanging kit and added it to the center. I ended up having a total of three wires supporting the rail with four XR30's. So far, no sag .

Note that the gen 5 mounts on the RMS system come from the top and not from the bottom. So you need to be careful that the wire supports do not interfere with any of the lights.

 

[Steve180]

Setting up my new tank and finally got the mounts resolved. Had a metal stand made and he welded brackets for the lightings.

 

[Michael Gray]

Wait so on eurobrace those rms mounts just sit and rest on tank? No way to secure it from falling or sliding around? I'm looking at a peninsula 72x36. Looking at using these rms tank mount to hang 3 lights per rail but they just sit loose on eurobrace???

 

[mfinn]

Wait so on eurobrace those rms mounts just sit and rest on tank? No way to secure it from falling or sliding around? I'm looking at a peninsula 72x36. Looking at using these rms tank mount to hang 3 lights per rail but they just sit loose on eurobrace???

Yeah, that's pretty much it.
You can fasten one side and tighten the bolts and pull and tighten the other side to create some tension.
But they can fall over if it's bumped hard enough.
Mine did and 4 gen 3 Radions went into the water.
In retrospect, maybe a thin rubber gasket material between the tank side wall and the brace might create some extra grip.

 

[a4edwin]

Radion Mount for Eurobrace tanks by rickcavanaugh

The ecotech radion multilight mount is poor. The lights could tip over as there is nothing preventing this. This is a clamp for the multi mount that allows the mount to clamp to a eurobrace. It may work on a single light mount too if using a strong plastic such as abs or petg and you have...

www.thingiverse.com

Someone made a extension piece for the RMS.

Anybody use this?

 

[travdixon]

I have a eurobraced tank with a rim as well. For my RMS mount I bought two 1/4” square aluminum rods and glued them to the two side mounts, kind of like extended feet. Keeps it very stable, and only about a $5 fix

 

[travdixon]

I have a eurobraced tank with a rim as well. For my RMS mount I bought two 1/4” square aluminum rods and glued them to the two side mounts, kind of like extended feet. Keeps it very stable, and only about a $5 fix

 

[LVReef]

If you use the RMS mounts and put them on the ends of the tank, you can pull the rail and RMS mount together so there is tension that will keep them in place,,,, mostly.
I had that setup on my 72" tank with 4 gen 3's. One day I was standing on a chair over the tank trying to reach the back bottom of my tank ( 30" wide and 25" deep), when my shoulder bumped the rail with the 4 gen 3's on it and it fell over into the water. It was the middle of the day and the lights were on. 3 of the 4 lights shorted out immediately, and in the 20 seconds or so it took to pull them from the water and shut off the circuit, the 4th went out.
So while it is a easy way to set them up on a eurobraced tank, it's not the safest.
I wouldn't use the RMS brackets ever again.

The exact same thing happened to me and I'm devastated. I found this thread trying to find a way to mount them properly.

The long rail with the weight mostly above and away from the side friction points make it easy to tip over. I'm hoping that this reply can discourage new reefers from using RMS on an eurobraced tank as it will end up in a $4,000+ mistake in hardware alone.

I have the tank in my office so I'm looking at a canopy to contain light as well.

 

[mfinn]

The exact same thing happened to me and I'm devastated. I found this thread trying to find a way to mount them properly.

The long rail with the weight mostly above and away from the side friction points make it easy to tip over. I'm hoping that this reply can discourage new reefers from using RMS on an eurobraced tank as it will end up in a $4,000+ mistake in hardware alone.

I have the tank in my office so I'm looking at a canopy to contain light as well.

As soon as it happened I called Ecotech.
I talked to a guy named Alex (not there anymore) whom I talked with a few times over the years.
I asked him if he thought they could be salvaged and he said most likely not.
These four lights were originally gen 1's that had the upgrade kits installed to gen 3's.
They were 4-5 years old.
Alex then offered me a pretty good deal on 4 gen 4 fixtures which I jumped on.
At the time I had him ship me a hanging kit and went with a single hanging kit attached to the long RMS rail.
For the longest time I resisted going to any sort of ceiling hanging option. I always that it was unsightly. But the picture I have in my mind of the 4 XR30's laying in the water was worse.