DIY cheap LED moonlights!

[oldsaltman]

I thought I would share my cheap moonlight with you. I put some in about 6 months ago and they work great. I just changed my lighting to all T5s so I bought another set and installed them. I got mine at AutoZone. They are 12v so you need an adapter for them. They look really nice in the tank! They are inclosed in a plastic housing and have selfsticking glue on the back of them.:smokin:

American Products Company L.E.D. Domed Running Lights: Blue; Manual-On; 8-Piece Part Number: 360426B $14.95

 

[oldsaltman]

I finally got a photo of them this morning. It was getting daylight but my main tank lights were still off.

 

[hllywd]

The ones I use are similar... there are a lot of LEDs available for auto and computer mod applications.

 

[Cuby2k]

Cool idea. What did you use for the transformer to 12 volts?

 

[oldsaltman]

I don't remember what the transformer was from. I have several from different things. I keep them all. Old cellphones, cordless phones, rechargable lights, even old radios etc.

 

[cotter4601]

I just made a blue moonlight with 8 LEDs with required resistors. I got them from www.onzium.com I think. I used a 12v power adapter I had laying around, cut the end off and wired it up. Looks pretty darn good to me.

 

[oldsaltman]

Yea, I just wanted to get away from the resistors. These just wire stright to 12v source.

 

[smcdonn]

autolumination.com/fixtures.htm

Scroll down and they have cheap power supplys

 

[einsteins]

I used a set of LED attachments that go on your windshield wipers.
they are water tight ( I like that about them) and just required that I wire a 12volt transformer to them.
I got mine at O'Reily's auto parts.

 

[oldsaltman]

Yea, mine were watertight also. Isn't it great what you can find if yoy know where to look!:smokin:

 

[hllywd]

I didn't like the way mine had a "spot light" effect so I put a dallop of clear silicone over them. It made the light more diffuse and also added some water protection since the ones I got were not water tight.

Tim

 

[oldsaltman]

hallywd, I think my first ones were like yours. These are in clear sealed domes and have a little more of a flood light effect.

 

[flycasterjosh]

Can one of you fellas speak in dummy talk and tell me exactly what to do with the power? What is a power adapter? Can I get it a Radio Shack?

Thanks for humoring me.

-Josh

 

[oldsaltman]

Yes sorry, Radio Shack does have 12v adapters. The lights don't care if they are wired (+) or (-). Just cut the end off the 12v adapter and wire it stright to the lights.:smokin:

 

[cotter4601]

Example, say you have a light made with 2 LED lights that operate at 20mA. This would be a total of 40mA then, so look on any 12v DC adapter that will support at least which all of them should. I took one I had laying around I used to with some computer hardware. It supported 500mA and I have 8 LEDs at 20mA. Most likely the wires are going to be black, but one of them should have some type of marking on it to differentiate it from the other one. Mine had a white strip on it. I cut the end of and stripped the wires. If you have a ATX PC power supply that will work also, just a little more cumbersome. Hope this works for ya. I had to wire on resistors for my lights. This isn't always necessary.

 

[Pbrown3701]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8011876#post8011876 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SA057
Yes sorry, Radio Shack does have 12v adapters. The lights don't care if they are wired (+) or (-). Just cut the end off the 12v adapter and wire it stright to the lights.:smokin:

They're diodes - they do care if they are wired ±. They shouldn't turn on if wired backwards.

 

[kentrob11]

Cool- Gonna do this one....

 

[WarrenG]

Instead of putting silicone on the LED lens to difuse the light output, just use some 180-220 grit sandpaper on the lense. If you sand the lens from its original dome shape to a flat shape that will probably spread the light even more.

 

[CoolUsername]

Or you could try this:

Lowes sells a night light with a blue LED (Has Red and White in the same package) They are $5 each and just plug in to 120V AC. No adapter needed. Just get some old extension cords and plug them in. I have three on top of my tank.

I haven't been able to find them on the internet but both HD and Lowes carries them (not on their sites). The LED's are made by Amertec. The weirdest thing is they aren't shown on that web site either. Amertec Makes most of the nightlights that sell at lowes and HD I believe. Anyways here are several pics incase you want to go this route.

Here is one the way they come. The other one I just hit the clear plastic light disperser with a hammer and it cracks down the seam and you can take it off. I have done this with 3 without any problems. I just put it on cement. Let the white part hang off the edge, and whack it.

Here is how I hooked one up. The other two are the same. Actually one. The other one is down for now. It dropped in the tank. That is another story...

Here's with the lights out.

Three light it up nicely my tank is 43" long and 18" wide. I have them all in a row

 

[Cuby2k]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8016139#post8016139 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CoolUsername
Or you could try this:


Here is how I hooked one up. The other two are the same. Actually one. The other one is down for now. It dropped in the tank. That is another story...

Hey have I got a thread for you . . .

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...61&perpage=25&highlight=Screwups&pagenumber=2