diy led lighting

[g8torb8]

heres an idea i'm gonna try,
after xmas when stores are putting up sales to get rid of xmas inventory
i will get a bunch of thoes white and blue led lights
and pt them into a custom diy hood

what i mean is :
get a peice of reflective aluminum and drill a bunch of holes the size of the leds and install the leds in it and plug it in

since you can put a bunch of sets on the same cord i looks interesting to try it out
n e input on trying this ,holler back k?

 

[~sp0ok~]

[welcome]

well be looking for your pic soon

good luck

 

[Harry_Fish]

I thought about doing this for an experiment on a 10 or 20 gal
tank until I took a close look at the LEDs on the ones around
here. I found that they don't shine straight out like a regular LED.

Before you buy them take a close look at the LEDs in the
string to make sure they beam the light out right.

I may have to go looking again, the first ones I saw
(last year) were the right ones.

I was going to take 2 strings 1 white the
other blue and intermix them.

My thought was to drill a grid onto a skeet of plexiglass and
push the LEDs through then dab a little sealer of some sort
around the LEDs on the backside.

Finish it up with a hood/cover to make it look nice.

Good Luck

 

[theatrus]

You're going to need a boatload of LEDs to get respectable light output. Plus they're intentionally designed to have a very wide radiation pattern, something you don't necessarily want.

 

[Harry_Fish]

The first time I saw these (the right kind of LED) they had them
in a display that was so bright it mabe my eyes hurt to look at it.

 

[itstheantitang]

Hey, it doesn't hurt to try, even if supposedly it will not work...

 

[Harry_Fish]

Yes and if it is not pright enough for a reef it can always go over a fish only.

Noy I may have to go get a couple of sting myself.

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13840877#post13840877 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by itstheantitang
Hey, it doesn't hurt to try, even if supposedly it will not work...

It does not hurt to try, if nobody has better information beforehand. In this case, plenty of knowledgeable people can provide the OP with the answer before he wastes his money.

The fact is that this will be a 100% waste of time and money.

The LEDs in the Christmas lights are not the correct spectrum nor are they high output or high efficiency. The drivers are not efficient either. Even if they were the proper spectrum and beam angle, you would need to pack thousands of those LEDs side-by-side for even a Nano, 10s of thousands for a modest tank.

If you really want to learn electronics and DIY an LED setup, then you need to be looking at high output units from Cree Or Soeul and constant current source drivers. Even to that end, coming up with an efficient and relialbe design that does not cost hundreds or thousands of dollars is rather tough.

 

[MrRyanT]

I would absolutely agree with Bean unless your intention is only for moonlight simulation. I have used this type of lighting in the past for that purpose and it works rather well.

 

[Chibils]

I also agree with Bean. I've found that 99.9% of the time he's right. I haven't ever seen him be wrong, but I'm sure it happened once.