Plywood T5 shade/hood

[parotet]

Hi all

In my next setup I want to hide my 2x24w T5HO fixture into a kind of shade/box that will be mounted on the tank using brackets. I plan to build it using 10-15 mm plywood. I have two doubts but I’m sure you will be able to help me:

- the shade will be about 10-20 cm above the tank… Will this be ok for the plywood? I will coat it with a sealer and then paint it.
- as you know the fixture gets warm after 6-8 hours working. Will it be too much hot inside the shade? Is it better to drill some holes? At least in one of the short sides it will be open (the fixture has there some ventilation gaps, in the side where the cord is)

Jordi

 

[Christos Ioannou]

Hi Jordi,

had a very similar endeavor last week, where I used a 6inch water pipe cut in half, to house two T5HO tubes and a T5 ballast.
T5 tubes are held in diy brackets affixed on the plastic pipe with hot glue gun. So far they did not come off despite the heat from the tubes.
I used strips of wood to hide away the ugly cuts on the pipe as well as to plug each site of the pipe. This wood was treated with a sealer as well.

I think that any humidity that could build up under the shade will evaporate away due to the ambient heat of the tubes. Did not see traces of humidity on the shade that is hanging about 15cm from surface.
Heat can also escape from below the fixture so I see no need for drilling extra holes. Its not an enormous build up of heat anyway.