acrylic and mh

[Anonymous]

How messed up will acrylic under MH get. Warping? Discoloration?

 

[Anonymous]

Both. Severity depends on the distance to the bulb.

It's not a good combination. That's one of the main reasons I have a glass tank.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Both. Severity depends on the distance to the bulb.

It's not a good combination. That's one of the main reasons I have a glass tank.

Louey

I may have to switch my orchidarium lid to polycarb or glass (expensive). i made the lid out of a free piece of acrylic 1/4". It's about 8" from the bulb, but there is a blower that constantly cools the acrylic and ventilates the canopy. The acrylic is barely warm to touch.

 

[Anonymous]

How big of a piece of glass will you need? It might not be too expensive, especially if you could find someone with an old fish tank that leaks.

 

[Anonymous]

How messed up will acrylic under MH get. Warping? Discoloration?

How about yellowed, bubbling, crazed and cracked?


Glass is not expensive. You can get some cheap one from home depot and they can cut it to any size your want. Acrylic is more expensive in myst cases, unless you go with super thin ones.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Dupa Pat and Louey.

Dupa, can they cut 2" squares out of the corners?

 

[Anonymous]

Not the people from home depot. You need to get help from glazier shop, who specialize in glass. They can cut the corner out for you with a ceramic saw or whatever tool they use. Depends on how handy you are, you maybe able to do the following:

1, if it is fine, consider three pieces so that no corner cuts are needed.
2, do it yourself if the glass is not to big (just in case you mess up). Check out the stained glass website and see how they do curved and angled cuts.
3, sand blast the corner out.

 

[Anonymous]

The acrylic is barely warm to touch.

You wake up in the morning and step barefoot into the bathroom.. which is colder the tile floor or the bath mat? Answer: They're both the same temperature, one is pulling heat energy from your feet faster though making it feel colder. A piece of wood at 200 degrees or a piece of metal at 200 degrees, guess which will feel hotter? Just because a piece of acrylic doesn't feel warm doesn't mean lots of energy isn't going into it.

 

[Anonymous]

The acrylic is barely warm to touch.

You wake up in the morning and step barefoot into the bathroom.. which is colder the tile floor or the bath mat? Answer: They're both the same temperature, one is pulling heat energy from your feet faster though making it feel colder. A piece of wood at 200 degrees or a piece of metal at 200 degrees, guess which will feel hotter? Just because a piece of acrylic doesn't feel warm doesn't mean lots of energy isn't going into it.

Yeah, I borrowed a thermocouple from the lab, and the acrylic is 99.2 F. So, when it starts to get ugly, I'll get glass instead.

Thanks dupa for the help.