Cali Kid Corals

Ceiling Mount ideas for my new Kessil 350s?

denivorium

denivorium

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Hey guys,

I recently convinced the wife to let me purchase 2 of the Kessil 350's (the form factor won her over) and she wants them hanging from the ceiling. The only real difficulty is the giant powerbrick that converts the AC to DC (think laptop charger.)

I've had one of the lights running for the past 3 hours and the temp of the powerbrick seems to have stabilized around 110F, so I can hold it in my hand, but it's not very comfortable.

My first thought was to stash those in the ceiling, but I'm now a little worried about the powerbricks overheating. Should I be?

Does anyone have other thoughts for how to achieve a nice clean, hanging look? The wife wasn't too excited about the gooseneck option.
 
Well if you mean "stash those in the ceiling" meaning drywall over them and have the power popping out, I'm pretty sure that's against electrical code. You could always build a box and attach it to the ceiling, perhaps cut some big holes for air, or something along those lines. Either way I'd suggest emailing Kessil just to get their feel on how ventilated their driver needs to be, then you can be better equipped to brain storm "the wife doesn't like that" ideas :D
 
sfsuphysics said:
Either way I'd suggest emailing Kessil just to get their feel on how ventilated their driver needs to be...
Click to expand...

This is a good idea. BTW Kessil's support responded to my email in a couple of hours, pretty fast response times. They said
As long as there is circulation and temperature control it may work fine. Keep in mind that your power supplies need to be kept cool as well.
Click to expand...

The box attached to the ceiling idea is probably the best compromise between aesthetics and circulation. If only the wall wasn't quite so empty and long right there it might not be so noticeable.

I'm still open to other ideas...
 
How about building a soffit in the ceiling ? You could put some discreet vents in there and a muffin fan to keep things cool in there.
 
Hmm, looks like my comment last night didn't submit properly... Here's a quick rewrite.

Current "probably not" ideas:
  • Soffit. I liked this one, but it would be hard to incorporate with our room properly, see pics below.
  • 'Floating' Canopy (the ones the cantilever out from the wall. Will stick too far into the room.
  • Upper mounted cabinets. Then we'd need a new stand, not 100% sure the tank will be there for the super long term.
  • Ceiling box.
  • Gooseneck's from Kessil. Really want to hang if we can figure it out.


    Current "that might work" ideas:

    Hanging canopy. Hang a fake canopy with just enough structure to hide the electrical while leaving the tank still open top.
    Extend the DC cabling. Then the in wall run is all DC and I can mount the adapter in the stand (where the MH ballasts are now) Emailed Kessil about this option.
    Get some chunky chandelier/fan mounting plate we can hide the power adapter in. Not really sure whether this is feasible or likable yet.
    Return them. Obviously not my first choice, but I can't take it off the table without a better solution.

And for some better background here's the tank and surrounding area.
[IMG=640X480]http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jthomas0412/72g%20Lighting/IMG_9802.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG=480X640]http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn252/jthomas0412/72g%20Lighting/IMG_9805.jpg[/IMG]
 
Something else that might be interesting given the pictures that I see. Is to do a floating shelf that's attached to the wall (hopefully you own the house and can do this sort of thing :D), but basically it's a shelf that's attached to the wall with some 2x material, you frame around it, or someplace like Ikea I think even sells them. You could hang your fixtures from it, and have the power supplies on top... although I don't know where the plugs are in that picture you might still see power cords.

Here's a picture to give you an idea if you don't know what I mean
floatingShelf.jpg
 
I'd just extend the DC cable. Remember that voltage drop is important. If it were me, I'd one up the current gauge (ie, if the current cable is 18 gauge, extend with a 16 gauge)
 
Tony,

I did mention my concerns about voltage drop in my original phantom post :) I wasn't sure whether they would be significant over such a short run. The last time I really had to pay attention to that sort of thing was over 100' runs between floors in a business building.

The connectors on the Kessil lights are odd, a flat pin and a straight pin, but not something I'd see before. Does anyone have a site full of connector options if I do need to change from 18awg to 16awg? I'll post of pic of the connector and examine the sleeve for markings tonight.
 
My suggestion:

1) Make a really long extension to the DC cable (as Tony mentioned)
You might consider splicing in wire, instead of dealing with connectors.
Meaning, cut the wire, then solder a long (and larger) wire in between.

2) Mount the power supplies to the side of that white cabinet, between it and tank.
Hidden a bit, but good airflow. I would not put them inside the cabinet, especially
if you have a sump in there.

3) Run that new long DC cable up inside the wall.
It does not look to be an exterior insulated wall, so fishing the wires through
should not be too hard.
It is low voltage 24V DC, so I think that should be ok for codes. But you may want to double check.
 
Jess,

Actually I did ask on the 9th, and have yet to hear back one way or another. I'll send out a reminder email again. Think you can ask around? I'd need the middle section to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15', and I'd need 2 :) I can get a more exact measurement tonight if necessary.
 
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