Motorized light hanger

[tam]

For the past 24 hours I've read through Andrew's (v1...rotate's) very inspirational tank build thread A Reef in the Sky (if you haven't read it, I highly recommend you check it out) and have seen many people ask about his motorized light hanger that his tank builder found for him in Hong Kong many times.

Obviously it's not as easy for those of us here in the U.S. to find items such as this since a lot of specialized manufacturing goes on in China and things like the motorized light hanger may have different purpose or use and can be more easily sourced locally in that part of the world.

The first thing that usually comes up in threads with this topic are winches and actuators and yes they can both be used to achieve the same effect but are not as easily installed and can be difficult to conceal aesthetically or require you having to crawl around in your attic to mount them. What we are really looking for is a tubular motor which has been mentioned in a few of the other threads on this topic.

Before I post the links, I would like to say that I am in no way affiliated with any of these companies and have started this thread to encourage more research into these products that are not specifically made for our hobby but can be adapted and prove useful to it. Hopefully this will act as a springboard into more research and we can find something reasonably priced to achieve our goals or until someone gets in touch with the manufacturer of Andrew's light hanger and begins importing them, but I digress...

I spent the last few hours chasing down products that are similar to Andrew's light hanger and these are the closest options I've found that look promising. I should note that I have not gotten in touch with any of these companies. I can't be expected to do all of the work, right?

televisionlifts.com

http://www.televisionlifts.com/lt320panellift.html

I do not know if it has the capability of wireless (remote) control but it's product is capable of handling 100, 200, and 300 lb loads.

niceforyou.com

I have also found this company (Nice) to offer a similar tubular motor product but it's motor does not have the spools for aircraft wire on it. The good thing though is that this company deals in home automation so their motor is capable of wireless (remote) control. Here's a link to their product catalog.

http://www.niceforyou.com/_LocalSite..._Catalogue.pdf

Nice's product depending on the specific model can handle 45-330 lbs loads.

rollertrol.com

Those of you using lighter fixtures may be able to make use of Rollertrol's blinds/screen motor but their motor is rated at lifting 4 lbs and again it lacks the guides for the aircraft cable and you must source the tube yourself. You can find it here.

http://rollertrol.com/

I honestly have no particular interest or use for this product nor do I see myself needing it any time in the near future. I just wanted to help those of you looking for a motorized light hanger find a solution and I must admit that I do like a challenge every so often.

I hope that those of you interested in this type of item contact these companies, report back to this thread, and continue the search until you find your holy grail.

Cheers,

tam

[BonsaiNut]

I would search hydroponic web sites. There are tons of motorized light rails / light movers out there for growers.

[tam]

I jumped onto a couple of hydroponics/horticulture websites after reading your post but I didn't find anything motorized to raise and lower the lights. The ones I found only move them from left to right on a light rail meaning the rail above your tank has to extend past your tank.

[BonsaiNut]

Sorry Tam, I misunderstood what you were looking for. I'll continue looking