TMC MODULAR RAIL SYSTEM

[sp1187]

Greetings,

I have 2 AquaBeam 2000 30 Watt Reef White NP's and will be purchasing the crosslink bar, end caps, suspension kit & 1090mm rails.
I would make a suggestion to the design. 
The suspension kits should be mounted to the crosslink bar, not the 1090 rail. That would allow the lights to be adjusted fore/aft as well as
side to side. It would also eliminate any location issues with the mounting to the ceiling.

regards,

Mike

[Carl]

Thanks for the suggestion, and I will try and pass it along to TMC

I do know that TMC updated the cross link bar last year



www.americanaquariumproducts.com/LEDTMCMounting.html

Carl

[devonjohnsgard]

I must not be understanding.

The lights can be slide right to lift and front to back... What are you liking them to do?

If they need the cross link bar to use the suspension, that would be one more part that would be required, when some set-up don't need it.

I also don't understand what location issues with the ceiling there could be with the current configuration.

[sp1187]

Feb 26, 2018 13:35:18 GMT -5 devonjohnsgard said:

I must not be understanding.

The lights can be slide right to lift and front to back... What are you liking them to do?

If they need the cross link bar to use the suspension, that would be one more part that would be required, when some set-up don't need it.

I also don't understand what location issues with the ceiling there could be with the current configuration.

The lights slide into the track (item 4 in the pic). Adjustable right to left in the track. How do you adjust them fore/aft? Don't think you can. As it is now, the crosslink bar just ties it all together.
The lights are fixed fore/aft by where ever the cables attach in the ceiling. The crosslink bar needs to be fixed and then you adjust the lights/track fore/aft to that.
And I would think the cables need to screw into the overhead beams, not the ceiling drywall. What if the beams aren't where you need them to be to get the lights centered fore/aft over your tank?
Solution 1: Add an aluminum angle bracket that tracks in the crosslink bar and the cable attaches to that. 
Solution 2: Add a hole thru, top to bottom, at both ends of the crosslink bar to attach the cable to.
Again, if I'm missing something here, let me know.

[devonjohnsgard]

I understand what your saying now.

I think this would only be a problem if you need a certain height, as you should be able to find the beams and raise or low the cables to make it position over the tank.

Other solutions maybe
The whole system be mounted sideways to be able to move them front to back and make a couple systems.
Place a 2x4 or 2x2 into the beams and mount from it.

Maybe something from this video could be applied to make this work for suspension. This guy put his lighting on rollers.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-MgCYUg7u8&t=321s

[sp1187]

 

I attached the wire clamp to a 1" wide piece of aluminum angle ( 4 places ) , which is adjustable fore/aft in the crosslink bar, as are the rails now.




I then made a short loop from the supplied cable, covered with a piece of airline hose, and connected to the plastic chain with a carabiner. the chain goes to a hook, which is jam nutted to an aluminum plate, which is attached to the unistrut. ( garage door track ).  I can now attach two lights to one rail, add another set of lights, , to the other bar, adjust each bar fore/aft on the crosslink bar seperately and adjust the whole assembly fore/aft in the unistrut. I can also easily adjust the height of the lights. not positive, but I believe the wire clamps provided were one way, so once you pulled the wire thru the clamp you couldn't adjust it back out. so the height wasn't adjustable? 

[devonjohnsgard]

Jun 6, 2018 20:48:00 GMT -5 sp1187 said:

View Attachment 

I attached the wire clamp to a 1" wide piece of aluminum angle ( 4 places ) , which is adjustable fore/aft in the crosslink bar, as are the rails now.


View Attachment

I then made a short loop from the supplied cable, covered with a piece of airline hose, and connected to the plastic chain with a carabiner. the chain goes to a hook, which is jam nutted to an aluminum plate, which is attached to the unistrut. ( garage door track ).  I can now attach two lights to one rail, add another set of lights, , to the other bar, adjust each bar fore/aft on the crosslink bar seperately and adjust the whole assembly fore/aft in the unistrut. I can also easily adjust the height of the lights. not positive, but I believe the wire clamps provided were one way, so once you pulled the wire thru the clamp you couldn't adjust it back out. so the height wasn't adjustable? 

Great thinking on this project.

You should be able to lower it back down after raising it up. You have to compress the clamp, then feed the wire through.