# Upgrading the light in an Eclipse 12 hood



## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

My Daughter has an eclipse 12 gal tank and she wanted to turn it into a planted tank, the first thing to do is get enough light in it. I decided on a twin strip 18" fixture with overdriven 15 Watt t-8 bulbs.

Here is the hood in stock form.










after gutting the stock light.










I had to grind off the ribs inside the hood and cut off the post's for the mounting screws for clearance.

here are the materials used in this project.










The first thing to do is remove one end from the shop light, I do this by grinding the spot welds from the outside and gently work the end panel out.









then assemble the fixture with the short bulbs and hold the end panel in place, mark the length of the fixture for the cut.









After it is cut I drill and pop rivet the end in place, for clearance I use a punch and flatten the pop rivet.

















Mark the length of the new reflector and cut it off. Lay the cut off end over the cut end and mark the notches for the end caps.

















Next use a sheet metal notcher to cut out the notches for the end caps.

















This is the fixture with both ballasts installed one driving each bulb.









And installed in the hood, I used 3 pop rivets to secure it to the hood.









This has given us 40-45 Watts in an eclipse hood for about $28.00 in materials.

It is a tight fit but by not snapping the end caps into the reflector it clears with a little trimming on the front edge for the lip and center brace. Lots of light for a low cost.


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## bradac56 (May 9, 2007)

Very cool does that clear the filter or did you have to scrap it for a canister?

My current community tank is an Eclipse 12 and it's growing low light plants
very well with the stock rig (upgraded the bulb tho) and Flourish but I'm
more of a NPT type of hobbyist.

- Brad


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

The light clears the filter, you just can't snap the end caps out into the locked position. This is a soil tank also, it may get CO2 in the future depending on haw She keeps up with it.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

That is a very neat retrofit. I assume the overdrive is about 4X? What do you think the equivalent wattage is?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Thanks Hoppy,

The overdrive is 2X and I expect it to be putting out 20-22 Watts per tube. I haven't had a chance to measure it yet.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

All this talk about lights makes me want to modify mine.
I have the two bulb - all-glass aquarium 36" but 24" bulbs.
I'd like to be able to turn off each bulb seperately. So I can have smother transition in the morning and evening.
But I notice that the wires going to the switch looks like mini-phone jacks.
Any idea what they are, what type of guage wire I need for the electrical plug.
Kind of hard to hack in radio shack.
And HSC is closing it's doors in Sacramento. And I've never been there yet. Man 
Going to the closing out sale next week.


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## Gilles (Oct 12, 2007)

Nicely done! Do you have a before and after shot of the aquarium?


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

Gilles:
Thanks, I didn't take a before picture, it was an algae encrusted mess that you couldn't see much light through anyway.

newbie314:
As for switching the lights independently, only if each tube has it's own ballast. which I don't think is the case in your fixture.


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## newbie314 (Mar 2, 2007)

I can see from the top. Looks like two ballasts. Rectangle box both rated 22W - the bulbs I have are 20W



bpimm said:


> Gilles:
> Thanks, I didn't take a before picture, it was an algae encrusted mess that you couldn't see much light through anyway.
> 
> newbie314:
> As for switching the lights independently, only if each tube has it's own ballast. which I don't think is the case in your fixture.


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