# Eclipse 6 Lighting Upgrade



## Glock Shooter (May 20, 2005)

Eclipse 6 - Lighting Upgrade

This weekend I upgraded my Eclipse 6 hood lighting to a AH Supply 13 watt retro kit. It was very easy and here is how I did it &#8230;.. along with my mistakes.

I ordered the 1 bulb 13 watt kit from http://www.ahsupply.com/ . The kit I ordered is on this page http://www.ahsupply.com/twox.htm I ordered through the internet on Wednesday and received it on Saturday morning.

I recommend this company and it products whole heartedly. Their product was as advertised and includes just about everything needed, the web site/ordering process was well designed, packing and shipping was professional, etc. &#8230;. These guys/gals are first class! Well worth the money.

To start &#8230;..

1)	Remove the existing lighting fixture

This is easy, first remove the steel screw at the ballast, then remove the nylon screw located midway along the tube on the clear plastic.

Once these two screws are removed, remove the clear cover and the bulb. Underneath you'll see two more screws located at either end by the sockets. Remove those and you'll be done. Lift out the lighting fixture.










2) Dry fit the components

The first component to lay out is the reflector. One important point to recognize is that the bulb is not centered within the middle of the reflector. You need to center the bulb on the hood then see where the reflector lands.

I did this by taping the socket with the bulb inserted onto the reflector and then moved the reflector and light around so that the bulb was centered lengthwise within the hood. A hint: the original lighting button is in the center so I located the center of the bulb to the center of the button.

Once I got the light bulb centered lengthwise, I marked the needed reflector position with tape and then I place the bulb and socket in a safe place.

For the front and back location, I shifted the reflector around so that its position was as far back (toward filter) as I could make it without it touching (barely) the filter. There is a little ridge on the hood that was the outline of the original light fixture. I used that ridge for my front to back location. Doing so enabled me to make sure the bulb was square to the front of the tank and as if Marineland planned it, the reflector along the ridge was the perfect position.

Once I felt I had the position correct, I taped the reflector down and mounted the hood on the tank. The reflector fit fine &#8230; just barely touching the filter and I was happy.

Then, I moved onto dry fitting the ballast. This was easy too. Position the new ballast so that the small hole lines up with the hole for the first screw you removed. You will need to do a little cutting to make it fit comfortably, I'll write about that later.










3) Cutting, Drilling & Mounting

First we'll mount the reflector &#8230;. I did a little "Austrian Gunsmithing" to the hood (Gun term - GLOCK Pistol frames are plastic and can be modified with a razor blade. - GLOCK's are made in Austria). There is a ridge of plastic that is not parallel to the front of the aquarium. I used a razor blade and shaved off that ridge. The section I removed is to the right of the razor blade in the picture. This isn't necessary but I felt it would be better to remove.










Once that ridge is removed, I retaped the reflector on the hood and tested it again on the tank (measure twice - cut once). Liking the positioning, I used a drill bit (forgot to note the size) and drilled holes in the hood through the holes in the reflector. This was the hard part. The drill size was just enough for the screws to be inserted through.

Here is my first mistake &#8230;.. Before screwing the reflector in I should have removed the protective plastic film from the reflector. Not a biggie but not doing so means you have to undo your previous work later.

Instead of using the supplied sheet metal screws, I needed to use #6 machine screws with nuts. I purchased ½ inch lengths which wasn't long enough. I did have some 1 inchers in my screw bin and I used those. I think you should purchase #6 - ¾" length when you do this. My screws were the flat head type of screw with a v top profile. I think next time I'd go with the rounded version so the top of the screw is flat against the hood. I think the rounded head would look nicer.

I "bolted" the socket and reflector to the hood using the screws. I used locktite on the screws which was really stupid and unnecessary (another mistake). Now if I want to remove the screws I've got to heat them up to a temperature which will melt the hood. Locktite is gun folk's version of duct tape. Ask any gun person about how to repair a gun, they'll mention locktite at least three times.

Once the reflector is installed, the ballast is easy. First, you'll need to do a slight modification on the ballast. You need to cut/dremel a corner away so that the small ballast screw hole will line up with the original ballast hole. Not much less than 1/8th of an inch. I used wire cutters to make the cut. You don't have to remove too much and could do so with a hack saw or dremel.










My cut is on the upper right side of the ballast in the photo above.

I screwed in the ballast and then drilled through the hole on the other side of the ballast for a second anchor point. Here is where I got fancy &#8230; I wanted the ballast to stand off a little bit from the hood, so I used a second nut as a spacer and then screwed on the ballast to the second hole.

I followed the easy directions for wiring and zip tied the wires to the ballast so they wouldn't fall into the water&#8230;.. Shocking &#8230;. A potential that lead me to install a Ground Fault Interrupt electric socket in the wall by this aquarium. I recommend everyone do this, its $12 well spent to prevent electrocution.

As a final touch, I painted the exposed the screw head black with gun blueing. You could use model paint.

Here is what the inside looked like when I was done - well sort of - the flim is still on the reflector - duh










Here is what the top of the hood looks like with the screws. the silver is the reflector










This is the picture of the aquarium with the hood. It can be best described as the anti-Amano un-natural aquarium. I can already hear your screams of pain. My excuse is &#8230; this is my 6 year old daughter's aquarium and she picked out the gravel color - Clown Puke at 13 watts&#8230; yeh that is the ticket.










BTW, notice the screw heads at the top. As I said before, I think I would go with rounded head screws next time. I think they'd look a lot nicer.

Hope this helps,

Mike

*I'm The NRA and I Vote!*

edited on 7/6 - removed some gun control quotes


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

I like this write-up!

--Mike

p.s. Gun control is also described as "Sight alignment and trigger control. Squeeeeeze...."


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## rusticitas (Mar 10, 2004)

*EXACTLY what I was considering!*

Wow, this is absolutely *perfect*! I was just wondering if/what I could do with my Eclipse 6. I am going to have to give this a shot. Thanks!


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

Strange that you posted this, I just "retroed" an Eclipse 6 to make a nano reef. 

What I did: Ripped out the old lighting, used a dual sided screw-in fixture from an old All Glass fixture(came with reflector). Drilled a hole in the top of the reflector to mount the old eclipse on/off switch (wired it) then screwed the reflector/bulb into the Eclipse hood. Also made an acrylic splash guard because saltwater + electricity = electrical fires. 

I'm running 2x10w Screw-In Coral-Life 50/50s. 

I'd imagine you should be able to find the same dual screw in fixtures at any hardware store. If I ever decide to go planted on this tank I'll just get the 6700k bulbs and I'll be well off. 

I like this set up because the ballast is built into the screw in bulbs and you dont have to mess with hiding a ballast box. 

If you want pictures let me know, I'll get them up when I can.


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