Ebay GU10 Chinese LED Light Build

[tinygiant]

Okay I've had a bunch of people ask for a thread on the LED that i use for my tank


The build is really easy.. Get the bulbs and wire them parallel
(here is a link to a quick picture tutorial i did recently http://www.nhfragswap.com/forum/index.php?...msg2572#msg2572 )

General Cool white bulb specs :
GU10 3W White Energy Saving Bulb 3*1w LED 85-265V
Shell material: Aluminum, zinc metal alloy
Input voltage: 85-265V AC with reversed polarity protect
Output power: 3.0W
Beam angle: 30degrees
Reflector efficiency: 90%
Light source: 3 x 1W high power LED
LED input current: 900mA
Color Temperature: 6000-7000K
Body temperature: <60°C
LED working temperature: <65°C
Source life: > 50,000 hours




as for the bulbs.

here are the link to the ebay dealers i purchased them from

LED-HK (Great dealer .. done a few orders with them.)
http://myworld.ebay.com/led-hk/?_trksid=p4340.l2559


Right now LED-HK has two blue bulbs for 10.99 shipped! thats $4 less than i paid when ordering mine,

They also have the cool whites for 5.50 each shipped.


Here is a link for the whites (this auction will end eventually and the link wont work ..

http://cgi.ebay.com/1pc-GU10-3W-White-Ener...=item19c3f40880


Blues

http://cgi.ebay.com/2pcs-GU10-1x3W-Blue-LE...=item2562172203



Sockets: This dealer is in NY. sockets arrive very quickly. The link is for the search in the dealers items. so you will be able to find them from the right dealer with one click. $10.29 for 10 sockets
http://shop.ebay.com/yallstore/m.html?_nkw...1.c0.m270.l1313





If the links dont work usually i find them by searching the following.

For whites seach: 3w led gu10 cool
For Blues Search: 3w led gu10 blue

for sockets search :gu10 sockets



i would say don't pay over 7.50 per bulb if the dealers i mentioned are out of stock or not selling. You might be able to find a dealer with a best offer situation.. i scored a few for $4.50ea on my last order.


I will attach a picture of what the bulbs and sockets look like.

There are two different bulb arrangements.. Three 1w bulbs or One 3w bulb. either is fine. I have a mix of them. I do find that the One 3w bulb version seems to have a better spread on the light.

here are a couple quick wire diagrams. the cicles represent the sockets. the bulbs have reverse polarity protect on them. so you don't have to worry when you put the bulbs in the socket if they are in the right way.

Growth. The Proof is in the real life results. (i am not the only one with the same results using these lights)

I have some really encouraging pictures to show. Mind you these are 4$ ebay LED bulbs. not expensive cree bulbs. they shoot 1500-1900 par at the surface!


January 2011 digi (the nub on the right was non existent when first put in the tank)

here is a picture from March 20th 2011)

Mid May 2011

even more encouraging is the growth of my crocea clam. I brought this home Valentines day 2011

march 20th 2011 .. serious growth

I love tracking the growth on these. continually impressed.




par readings in a 5.5g


i had 5 bright white and 2 blues

3" from the bulb (above surface of water) 1900 par

just below surface 700 par

halfway 200 par

1" from sand 150 par

NOTE*
for those wanting to remove the optics for tiny shallow tanks use this to adhere the led chip to the heatsink:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009IQ1B...CDA9R20VS198CY5

 

[fppf]

What size is your tank?
How many bulbs total?
How far above the water are they? Is that for spread?

 

[tinygiant]

10" over water 22 in a line across the middle of the tank. with 5 added to spot light some shaded areas (since i have rock columns instead of a wall of rock)

its a super even nice spread

 

[fppf]

Interesting, for that price its worth playing around with.

 

[tinygiant]

dec will be 1.5 years with these bulbs (1 year on the current system) been nothing but a joy using them. Lost a couple bulbs in the year.. but at 5 bux each.. who cares

 

[Sinclair81]

Great looking build, but I need to make sure of what I am seeing. So you buy a bunch of 3w gu10 led bulbs, string them together on two wires (+,-) and plug it into a timer?

 

[tinygiant]

yep. you got it. wire them parallel.. they have reverse polarity protect on the bulbs so you cant mess it up saved me a ton of time vs dealing with crees/drivers/heatsinks/soldering/drilling/tapping.. etc.

i have a thread on nano-reef.com that is really long with tons of people who are using these http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267432


also doesnt matter what dealer you get them from on ebay. i've ordered from about 10 different dealers now and they are all pretty much the same bulbs

 

[Sinclair81]

So is there a limit on how many you can run on one string?

 

[tinygiant]

depends on the amp rating of the wire you use.. you should easily be able to get 15-20 on most extension cord wires

 

[marrstarr]

bump

 

[Garage1217]

I have tried several of the Chinese gu10's as well and several ended up exploding on me lol they put 100V caps in when they should have been at least 160v. Always got our attention when it sounded like a gunshot going off in the kitchen and the bulbs blew apart!

If you want to try an insane gu10, take a look at this post. They can be found at home depot and with a slight mod, the coloration is stunning and output per unit is around 3x the output of the units you have above. Also, a single bulb color wise when modified is all you would need. No mixing of blue or white. I have been wanting to setup a smaller tank with 4 of them over it. Looks like a wild 20K when modded. Pics just cannot do it justice. Worth the $20 try. Also they have a 3 year warranty to note.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2083117

 

[PCFisher66]

This sounds like fun, how do you mount the base? And when you say 15-20 on an extension cord, is that a regular cord...no need for a driver??

Thanks

 

[Meshmez]

It looks like what that dealer carries now is a 4 bulb version... do you have any experience with these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-GU10-85...562?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c9b79702

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

This sounds like fun, how do you mount the base? And when you say 15-20 on an extension cord, is that a regular cord...no need for a driver??

Thanks

There is essentially a driver built in to the base of each unit. You supply them with 120v AC from the wall.

Which raises a concern that I don't really feel is addressed in this thread - make a typical wiring mistake in a typical DIY build and you might ruin a few LEDs or give yourself a painful shock. Make a mistake or use poor technique wiring these things and you could kill yourself or burn your house down. It's one thing to have low voltage DC in DIY'd wiring above a tank, it's another story to be playing with 120v AC. Please be careful!

 

[skunkmere]

i love this. MH are pretty high voltage, i see what you mean though.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

MH are pretty high voltage

Indeed, but there are some differences. Many of the MH components we use are intended for use on a fish tank, or at least in harsh environments. Also, you're typically only wiring two or three MH lamps over a fish tank, instead of tens or hundreds of LEDs.

I do appreciate the ingenuity here, but I wince at the potential for disaster and the extremely poor cost/performance ratio. Building an AC driver into the base of a lamp for only one or two or 4 LEDs is about the least efficient topology, besides the fact that the LEDs themselves in these units are almost certainly low-end. To each his own though!

 

[Meshmez]

Which raises a concern that I don't really feel is addressed in this thread - make a typical wiring mistake in a typical DIY build and you might ruin a few LEDs or give yourself a painful shock. Make a mistake or use poor technique wiring these things and you could kill yourself or burn your house down. It's one thing to have low voltage DC in DIY'd wiring above a tank, it's another story to be playing with 120v AC. Please be careful!

But assuming you wire it correctly, I dont see any higher danger than putting a heater or powerhead in your tank... In fact that is actually probably worse because you know the wire is in the water, here you dont have anything in the water. (yes i realize there is a big difference between a manufactured powerhead, and a DIY light fixture.) But if the wiring is done correctly, and safely, the only real danger is the quality of the lighting not being up to par (pun intended... :spin2 with the CREE LED's. Am i missing something else?

I think i may give this a shot... for around $150 or less I feel I cant really go wrong, plus i have some house lighting fixtures that i could use the bulbs on if i decide it isnt going to work for my aquarium...

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

But assuming you wire it correctly, I dont see any higher danger than putting a heater or powerhead in your tank... In fact that is actually probably worse because you know the wire is in the water, here you dont have anything in the water. (yes i realize there is a big difference between a manufactured powerhead, and a DIY light fixture.) But if the wiring is done correctly, and safely, the only real danger is the quality of the lighting not being up to par (pun intended... :spin2 with the CREE LED's. Am i missing something else?

Absolutely, if you wire it correctly and correctly shield the fixture from splashes and moisture, it'll be acceptably safe. The same goes for any DIY electronics project. IMHO the real difference comes in to play as far as the seriousness of danger if you "mess it up." And no offense at all intended towards the OP, but advising people to burn insulation off wiring, twist it together, and cover it with tape is not exactly "correct" practice for wiring, especially in a harsh environment. The increased severity of the danger involved, combined with the questionable practices being described, is what motivated me to post the warning.

I think i may give this a shot... for around $150 or less I feel I cant really go wrong, plus i have some house lighting fixtures that i could use the bulbs on if i decide it isnt going to work for my aquarium...

Keep in mind that you can also build a "typical" DIY fixture for $150. You will probably find that it is much higher performance and easier to tailor to your exact needs (because YOU are choosing LED, optic, and driver components instead of accepting what's in the package). The only thing I can see about these prepackaged deals that makes them attractive is that they may be perceived as "simpler" by people without a lot of DIY electronics experience.

 

[fppf]

Keep in mind that you can also build a "typical" DIY fixture for $150. You will probably find that it is much higher performance and easier to tailor to your exact needs (because YOU are choosing LED, optic, and driver components instead of accepting what's in the package). The only thing I can see about these prepackaged deals that makes them attractive is that they may be perceived as "simpler" by people without a lot of DIY electronics experience.

Show me a DIY build that you can do for a 55 gallon tank and put SPS under for $150. And make sure you include EVERYTHING you need. LED's, heat sink, wire, thermal grease/glue, LED drivers.... I find that VERY hard to believe you can make one cheaper then buying a few of these bulbs. Granted you will more then likely get better results, but not for that price.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

fppf, that was basically my point. It's meaningless to say "I can build something for $X" unless you qualify it by saying "I can build something that will meet criteria A, B, and C for $X."

Again, it's one thing for a given build method to be cheap. It's another thing for it to be effective. Cheap is no good if it's not effective.