Hanging Lights

[neogenix]

Hey Guys,

I've got a pendant light fixture I'd like to hang from the roof, and I've no cooking clue on where to start and what I need, so any ideas for me? It's got 4 hooks, and weighs in about maybe 30 pounds.

[Europhyllia]

have you tried looking up if the manufacturer has a hanging kit for this?
30 pounds sounds really heavy! wow.

[neogenix]

The 30 pounds was just a guess, and I'm not sure off hand who the manufacturer is. I bought it second hand from TXMike :)

[rickrutland]

Are you thinking about using chains or cables? Did it come with any?
If it's pretty heavy you'll probably need to find studs(or ceiling joists) to attach to. There are also special dry wall hangers.
You can check at Home Depot or Lowes. I'll bet they can help you.

[neogenix]

Are you thinking about using chains or cables? Did it come with any?
If it's pretty heavy you'll probably need to find studs(or ceiling joists) to attach to. There are also special dry wall hangers.
You can check at Home Depot or Lowes. I'll bet they can help you.

Cables, and it didn't come with any. I've spent some time tonight at Home Depot, and the guy gave mea ton of ideas on how exactly to hang it, and while talking to him I came up with a ton of ideas. I'd love some input on these thou... Here's what I have in mind, all with steel cable and not chain :

1) Wall mount 90 degree hanging. There're L shape'd wall mounts that are used to hang shelves, etc... And some of them are far out enough to hang the light on with a triangular cable system (each side of the light fixture has a pair of connections, and then each connection can have a cable to the same point on the L, giving it a triangular shape)

To have this fall over the studs, or joists, I can mount the L on a nicely routed piece of wood which would be long enough to cover 2 or more joists. I can also extend the L using either wood, or metal to have the light further from the wall.

2) Roof Mount with single hoops. This would be a set of larger hoops and then a triangular shape (as mentioned above) into a single pair of joists.

3) 4 Roof Mount hoops (slight angle because joists are further apart than the connections on the light fixture. This would probably be the hardest to get going as it'll require some interesting measuring to work out exactly where to put each one based on the Joists.... Assuming they're straight.

Right now I'm thinking 1 will be the easiest, and probably the most sturdy and easy to move around without it ripping holes in the roof :) Comments?

[StevenSeas]

+1 for #1

[ErikH]

Or you can use conduit to make a floor based hangar :)

[Europhyllia]

I have a fixture that's suspended by very thin steel cables from the ceiling. The hardware is almost invisible.
I was worried about the weight even with drywall anchors so we painted a board the same color as the ceiling and screwed that board into the studs. Then we attached the mounting hardware to the board (could have skipped the board if the studs had matched up with where the fixture was to hang)
I think it turned out really nice but mine is just a 60" T5 fixture -definitely not 30#!
I's nice to not have anything clutzy in the way. I can easily raise the fixture or swing it out of the way. No bars or hangers. Just two super thin steel cables coming down from the ceiling that attach to the fixture in a way that still makes it easily adjustable up or down.

[neogenix]

Or you can use conduit to make a floor based hangar :)

Suggestions on materials ? :)

[ramsey]

I would look into two options. First, check out some heavy duty dry wall anchors. I'm not talking about the crappy plastic ones, I'm talking heavy duty toggle bolts or something of that nature. Home Depot will have them. See if you can find what kind of load they can handle and how may you'd need. I Googled it for you:

http://www.ehow.com/video_4418786_use-90_pound-drywall-anchors.html

The other option is to buy or build stand mounted hanging arms. Similar to the conduit idea. Here's an example:

http://tinyurl.com/yj7pn3p


I think this option would be nicer but may be harder to find or build. How long is your fixture? The one I linked to may be just what you need!

If you decide to DYI with conduit, you can get the materials at Home Depot or Lowes. You may need a special tool to bend the conduit. Good luck ye olde Blouberger!

[neogenix]

So, I'm torn... Hanging may be a bit more effort than I want to put in right now :| I'll post pics when/if i get it up and done. Although, while tempting, I may want to just pull the lights I currently have and replace them with some brand new clip-ons.

[ramsey]

Don't be lazy. Hang the lights. What brand is it? I'd look into the tank mounted arms. I think thats pretty nifty looking. You could also get a canopy and put some retros in it. This would most likely be cheaper than buying new clip on fixtures.

[neogenix]

It'd be tank mounted arms, right now I was looking at a rather cheap fixture (329) from Aquatraders.

http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-Metal-Halide-System-with-T5-HO-p/54231.htm

OR

http://shop.aquatraders.com/Odyssea-48in-Metal-Halide-with-Power-Compact-p/54205.htm

Which, while a bit longer than my tank needs, can be used on the future tanks I purchase. My current ballasts have a bit of rust on them, and the fixture is a bit bigger than I want. Also, 48 will cover my future tanks ;)