Quick Radion RMS to 80/20 mount

[drtechno]

Hi all

I couldn’t find many ideas for this when I searched myself earlier so here is the idea I came up with for how to secure Radion’s to an 80/20 system (although there are likely many ways to do this)

It’s very simple and quick.

I bought the RMS mount and put the hole in the center of the plastic as illustrated in the photo. I then used large washers, a nut and a bolt to secure an 80/20 L bracket to the RMS mount. This can then be mounted to an 80/20 rail system fairly easily.

I can post more details on the rail system I used in my application in another post if needed. Hope this helps someone.

 

[T-J]

Couldn't you have just used a washer instead of that black bracket? Bolt the washer to the top of the RMS mount and then slide the washer into the open end of the rail. That way the light is flush with the rail and hangs directly underneath it. :)

 

[drtechno]

Yes. That’s true. But this way the mount is easier to remove off the rail, or to adjust left to right. I think if I went straight into the bottom of the 80/20 with a nut and washer I would have to remove the Radion off the RMS mount if I wanted to adjust its location. But you are right, that would work too

 

[T-J]

Yes. That’s true. But this way the mount is easier to remove off the rail, or to adjust left to right. I think if I went straight into the bottom of the 80/20 with a nut and washer I would have to remove the Radion off the RMS mount if I wanted to adjust its location. But you are right, that would work too

Honestly though, how often are you moving your lights? When you set them up and then maybe a year or two down the road when everything has grown out and you might need to adjust?

 

[reefgeek83]

Can you post a picture of them mounted? Looking for ideas.

 

[lakai]

I just drilled a hole in the middle put a nut on top and put it on a t-nut. wrapped a big zip-tie around the mount just in case.

 

[drtechno]

Can you post a picture of them mounted? Looking for ideas.

Sure

 

[1000rrstunna]

Not sure why I couldn’t think of this myself but THANK YOU. This will make my rack 10x better and I won’t need to buy more 80/20

 

[.Marshall]

This is exactly what I'm attempting to do, but I'm having trouble understanding how the mount pivots? What connection did you make from the mount to the 8020 fastened to the wall?

 

[drtechno]

This is exactly what I'm attempting to do, but I'm having trouble understanding how the mount pivots? What connection did you make from the mount to the 8020 fastened to the wall?

Hi all. Let me update this thread with some details.

So the 8020 part I used as a pivot is 4028/4428 90 degree limit pivot arm with the part number depending on the size of the extrusions you are using. So this pivot mounts directly to the 8020 wall rail using a bolt and T nut, that you just tighten so that it does not slip down over time. You have 3 mounted pivots, so you have some redundancy in case one of them is a little loose (although I tightened mine down). I have not found a need to raise or lower my lights by sliding them along the rail, since I appear to have hit my mounting height correctly the first time around. Here is the part I am using

 

[drtechno]

So these are the additional pictures of the rack in use, a year (or is it two now!?) later. I have added two Kessil A500s (which was always the plan, love the shimmer) in between the radions, and I have rotated the middle radion 90 degrees, as it was entirely over the bracing for the fish tank lid. I think in the future, I will try to get a 3 part lid so that none of the lights are entirely blocked by the plexi portion of the lids, which tends to get dirty.

One of the things that I have included in these pictures is the plastic chain loop, which is the easy way to just rotate the lights out of the way for tank maintenance. I have a couple hooks mounted into the ceiling (into a stud) which allow me to just rotate and secure the lights out of the way quickly. In the usual down position, the chain adds an extra bit of security in case people are freaked out that somehow the 90 degree stop on the hinges will not work (not sure that can happen but who knows). I can also rotate the lights completely out of the way by chaining them to the wall hook seen below.