Ablite Lowbay mounting screws

[Bud Buddy]

Hi all, I'm a little new to all this Lighting stuff and am trying to work out what screw thread size I need for my Ablite Lowbay 400 watt HPS so I can mount it to some hooks or something. I got my light given to me and it didnt come with any. Any help or ideas appreciated.

[Pure]

the gauge generally depends what your screwing and where your screwign it to, all of my screws that are into structural wood are 8 guage these also work well for the alloy tubing but be sure to get self tappers if there is a specific hole your needing a screw to go into though I am sorry I can't help ya without a bit more info

 

If it helps at all what I do with my lights is put up an an eye bolt in celign ( U bolt may be more sutable ) and then thread starter motor cord through it , one end attaches to the light while the other end is tied up with a "cleat hook" which is one of the things you see on boats all the time that they use to tie up the ropes

[Bud Buddy]

I suppose I should make myself a little more clear. I have a cupboard that is 1.8 meters high and 1m wide and deep. The cupboard has no rails or hooks or anything to be able to connect the light to at the moment. The light it self has 2 mounting holes which seem to be about 5mm in diameter (One at each end of the light).

 

My idea to try to get it hanging in the cupboard was to get a kind of towel rail metal pole and mount that to the top of the Cupboard using Self tapping screws. The wood it self is either chipboard or Medium Density Fibreboard so I am a little concerned about the screws not holding once there is weight on the Towel rail. But for now lets say it will (Unless someone has had experience otherwise).

 

"Pure" then gave me the idea to use Eye Bolts and a washer and Nut which I could use to place in the mounting holes on the light itself so that I have something to tie the light onto.

 

Now this is partly where I'm stuck. I am thinking of either mounting the light at a certain height and leave it that height permenantly OR preferrably I would like a kind of pulley system that I can lower and heighten the light as needed.

 

I was thinking of using a Chain to do this (I thought about rope also but would rather metal chain due to the heat of the light and possibility of the rope catching fire)

 

Using chain I would attach one end to the eye bolt mounted on the light and the other would tie off somewhere else (Not sure where yet, possibly a cleat hook like "Pure" suggested.)

 

Does this all sound right?

Can anybody see any possible problems with this?

Or can someone think of a better way to do it?

 

Thanks for your suggestions Pure. Came in handy.

[Pickle]

You could nail an 1"x2" piece of wood across the top of the cupboard drill a hole through to the cupboard and mount the bolt to that, being on top of the cupboard it has all the support it needs and being an inch thick it won't break.

 

On the inside of the cupboard you have hooks on the light or attached to the 1"x2" piece of wood, attach the chain to them and when you want to go up or down just unhook the current link and count a few more or less links and hook it back up.

 

The boat cleat would do a good job to keep the excess chain out of the way but boat chandlery is quite expensive, you can buy all sorts of screw in hooks from the hardware for realy cheap and if all it's holding is the excess chain (not holding the light) one of these would do fine and if you realy want to save some money, hammer in a nail and bend it over so you can hook the chain on that.

[Pure]

Ok now I have used both pullies and eye bolts and to be honest the best for the job just depends on how much weight your needign to lift , in the case of lights it is never all that much so it really boils down to a cost and preferance thing , one thing I will mention though is that the pullies have give in them and MUSH be attached with a u bolt instead of an eye bolt to get the rest results , otherwise they will sway as you adjust the lighting

 

have a look at the diagram I have attached to see if that explains what I am sugesting a little better , sorry for the kid like drawing but it's been a few days between sleeps and my hands are shakign liek crazy

 

as for what to use to actually hang them I find that rope is a far better alternative to chains Particularly when noise probelsm can be involved , I don't know if you have heard a set of chains workign their way through a gap but it's nto the quitest sound in the world nor is it as smooth a motion as a rope travelign through the same path ,

I personaly like to use the stufff that they use for starter motors , it has tight fibers is as hard as hell to break without cuttign it and is also heat and chemical resistant in many cases, not to mention that it s allot easier to secure with soemthign liek a cleat hook than a chain is

 

followign my example you will have yourself a fully adjustable light setup that isn't gonna cause you drama's or be a pain to use when you need to adjust the lights as they grow

 

If you still don't quite get how it works from lookign at the diagram I can explain it a little more and perhaps take some pics of the veg room I just did for a friend

[Pickle]

I have to say ropes and pulleys are lots more difficult to hang a light evenly, If you use a chain you can count the links and there is no guess work or spirit level needed.

 

Also, i have to say hanging a chain on a hook, whether it be for holding the light or keeping the chain out of the way is easier than any knot i have ever tied.

 

As far as noise goes, as long as you aren't dragging the chain through a pulley it's quiet as.

 

My example is just as adjustable, very easy to handle too, and with no pulleys or boat chandlery, much cheaper too.

 

That diagram serves my example too, just replace all the eye bolts and boat chandlery with a $2 pack of hooks from the hardware.

Edited December 20, 2004 by Pickle

[Pure]

yeah it does indeed server your purpose aswll ,I took a while to make my post and hadn't actually seen yours whatever you use is going to work in this way wether it be wire, rope or chain , I don't use knots to tie off personaly I agree that they are a pain and thats why I found cleat hooks to be the perfect alternative, as for checkign light levels well I think you'r generally fine unless you have been smokign too much or your looking crosseyed he he

 

again though sorry I hadn't seen your post before so I wasn't arguing at all I have used both methods sucsessfully , and if it' does the job who cares what ya use

[F420]

mine is rigged up-

 

I have two cup hooks in to ramplugs fitted to the ceiling.

Coming off that I have Jack chain. its just a matter of lifting it by say 3 links at a time on either side.

 

http://www.gizmos-uk.com/products/Jack_Chain_2.jpg

[Bud Buddy]

Some excellent suggestions.

You's have really given me some things to think about.

I think I will be using a few Bolts and nut from the ceiling as has been suggested to make sure theres no way the light could fall as well as giving it stability from swaying. Gives me peace of mind in the end.

 

I do like the sound of using rope though as I would prefer to have it as quiet as possible to be honest. I was just worried about the heat issue from the Lamp itself.

But from the sounds of it I should be able to use heat resistant rope and have no problems at all.

 

As for tieing it off to something I think a Cleat hook will most likely be ideal. Will have to look around my local hardware store and see what they have available.

 

Anyway I will get the bits and pieces I need together and will try to do to get things sorted out in the next few days or so.

 

Will let you's know how it all goes.

 

Thanks for your help everyone.

[nouseforaname]

heres an old pic that i found thought it may help...

 

to avoid the noise of chains swap to plastic coated wire as shown in pic... you could also attach extra lines from the light to the side walls to stop movement and also as a fail safe incase it falls :scratchin