Removing the acrylic cover from PC lights?

[~reefchik~]

How dumb would that be?  I'm now running the tank open on one side.  The lights, on their legs sit about 6-8 inches off the surface of the water.
Does anyone else do this?  Or is there an excellent reason besides splashing water to keep that thing on there?

[atreis]

Do you have waterproof endcaps?  If not, I wouldn't recommend it with the lights that close to the water.  It'll work for a while, but eventually the salt spray will cause damage to the fixture.

FYI - replacing the endcaps is a pretty easy DIY project.

[Todd W.]

I keep my cover on my PC lights in case there is spontaneous breakage.  The cover will catch the debris.

[HUNGER]

I keep my cover on my PC lights in case there is spontaneous breakage.  The cover will catch the debris.

thats a great piont

[~reefchik~]

Ok.  I guess the acrylic will stay.  Thanks.

[HUNGER]

thats what were are here for

[Joel]

Inevitably, your plastic / acrylic protective cover is going to get dirty and foggy looking. Similar to glass, the salt creep will have a negative affect on it. You really do need to keep it in place though to protect your light fixture from damage. I have seen small fires happen inside of light fixtures from salt creep build up around the socket. Plus the salt will damage your reflector too.

Couple things you can do. Regular cleaning of the plastic / acrylic lens will go a long way. If / when the lens starts to get cloudy looking, I use a  plastic polish from meguiars

http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-plastic-headlight-kit.html

This will clean up most minor surface imperfections and cloudiness.

Another option is just a new, thin piece of acrylic, it's pretty cheap to buy, might be cheaper than the plastic polish

[~reefchik~]

Thanks Joel.  Now that I have this beast of a water-mover in there (new Koralia 4) there's no way I can risk taking the acrylic off. 

We have a slight problem in that the acrylic slides out on the end 3 inches from the wall so it's a PITB to get it off, but DH can do it for me if I remember to ask.  I get a lot of dust up in there (bird dust mostly, I guess).