Ebay GU10 Chinese LED Light Build

[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.

 

[fppf]

Well, as the OP said, proof is in the pudding.
Growing a clam and SPS requires the most light. He is showing that is possible and looks pretty good.

If it looks good and the coral is happy, that is proof enough for me.

This board is so full of na sayers. I remember why I just stopped posting here. Now DIY LED is so dangerous (according to some members) there is no way you should DIY it unless you use a battery. Guess everyone was lucky with the 5000 plus volts that MH needs to start.

Everyone can do what they want. But my rough off the cuff guess. To get what you can with these bulbs in DIY from scratch your talking at least $300. The CREE LED's are $3-4 each, let alone the material for heat sink, and a driver, that's another $50 to $100.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Indeed, everyone CAN do what they want. I'm not trying to stop anyone from doing what they want. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

Since you've evaluated that a $150 fixture built from these LEDs is equivalent to a scratch built fixture that cost $300, I'd like to know what criteria you're making that comparison based on.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Both types of projects come with pros and cons and may appeal to builders of different skill sets, budgets or expectations.

Sometimes "pros" and "cons" are not blatantly obvious without experience or insight.

We are using (20) led "bulbs" in a recently remodeled kitchen and have had NOTHING BUT problems with lamp failure. We have tried PAR, A19 and indoor FLOOD types (between $35 $60 each) from both Sylvania and Utilitech (Lowes) and have had a VERY HIGH failure rate across the board. Like CFL bulbs, the drivers in these things are likely as bare bones as can be. So roughly ~$1,000 of bulbs and a nearly a dozen trips to the store, digging out receipts, etc and in a realistic sense, maybe another $200 in bulbs every few years (based on the fact that there is no way we can keep returning bulbs). There is no way this is "green" or cost effective, it is insanity.

The OP has indicated that he has had to replace a "few" bulbs at $5 each in a year. I don't see this requirement changing anytime soon, as demand for lower prices is going to push down quality further. Just something to consider when weighing the options.

 

[Daemonfly]

I noticed they also have these in a 12v AC (and most likely work on DC) MR16 socket. The built-in circuitry would be a lot simpler with not having to drop from 120v, and possibly less failure rate. Sadly, most are 30deg, but one vendor is selling supposedly 60deg ones.

Most of the sockets don't grab onto the bulb to hold it on though, but I did see one seller with sockets that had metal tabs that grabbed onto the indentations on the side of the bulb. I think I'd prefer this as I could see the bulbs eventually working their way out of the plain sockets.

Just another option to consider.

 

[saf1]

150 bucks for a 55 gallon? You could do that.

18 - 30 bucks per mean well driver - dimmable or not is the difference
$3.50 to $4.60 per led GREE XP-E's (difference is with or without optic)
Wire - cheap
Heat sink varies - or go to hardware store and get uchannel

Rest is how much your time is worth. 55 gallon setup isn't much surface area really when you think about it. If you use a dimmer driver then you add 20 bucks for your trip to the local electronics store and pick up the dimmer parts.

36 bucks gets you two non-dimmer drivers. That leaves you with over 114 dollars for everything else. Not bad and I didn't even hit up google or ebay to price for lower cost. They key to managing cost is to plan and have some patience. First driver I bought was 35 bucks - same driver now runs 18. First Cree's I purchased ran 7 bucks - now they are down to 3 and some change.

It isn't bad really in the long run. But honestly it isn't for everyone and it does require more work and effort. Mistakes can cost you - which I've had to buy several more LED's after a shot fried a few. Some I didn't test before I used and the vendor wouldn't take them back

As with all DIY - your mileage may vary

 

[Hotpuppy]

I was going to use stunner strips.... and just put expensive EcoXotics in..... Great thread.

I ordered a pair of a blue pair of GU10's and connectors for $13 to test it. That included shipping.... crazy cheap. If they work I'll order some more and use them as "moon" lights for my tank.....instead of the stunners.

Has anyone played with the Par30 version? I'm thinking of using them as refugium lights. two of them should be plenty.

 

[daninfamous]

Could you just get a standard wall dimmer like for a bathroom to dim these? Im no electrician but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've used wall switches in jerry rigged stage lighting before.

The only thing im not familiar with is the internal driver what would happen.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Could you just get a standard wall dimmer like for a bathroom to dim these? Im no electrician but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've used wall switches in jerry rigged stage lighting before.

The only thing im not familiar with is the internal driver what would happen.

No, this would not work. The dimmer you are talking about just adds resistance inline. The driver in the unit would respond by simply turning off (or malfunctioning) once the voltage had dropped too low.

 

[Hotpuppy]

Could you just get a standard wall dimmer like for a bathroom to dim these? Im no electrician but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I've used wall switches in jerry rigged stage lighting before.

The only thing im not familiar with is the internal driver what would happen.

LED's use a PWM type voltage controller to very very rapidly turn on and off the electricity to lower the voltage from 90-240 VAC to 36VDC (or whatever the LED's require). There are other ways to step the voltage down, but a PWM is the most efficient method that accepts the widest range of input voltages... hence why laptops, computers use them.

Essentially the chip cycles the on/off rapidly and measures the output voltage... and adjusts accordingly. As such this type of power supply is called a switching power supply. It's a good way to inexpensively generate a stable output current. Some chips are noisier than others, but that's irrelevant for our purposes.

what's relevant is that the chip to do this is cheap, and that's why they can make the bulb and sell it on Ebay with free shipping for $5.

In order to "dim" the circuitry would need to be calibrated to a specific voltage (110-130vac) and then it would measure the pre-power supply voltage and calculate the percentage of "dim".... and accordingly power down the LED voltage... so if you see 80v in you would reduce the voltage from 20 to 16v in a 20v LED system (about 40%).

That chip is probably more expensive which is why we are seeing stratification in the market....
CREE dimmable is "premium"
CREE non-dimmable is "next best"
everything else (100 LED type bulbs as opposed to 4 chip "bulb")

that's my 2 cents on it and the cash value of this information is 1/ 1-trillionth of a fraction of a Canadian penny (which is worth less than an American penny on days ending in Y preceded by days ending in Y).

 

[BeanAnimal]

No, this would not work. The dimmer you are talking about just adds resistance inline. The driver in the unit would respond by simply turning off (or malfunctioning) once the voltage had dropped too low.

Actually, most of the LED retrofit "bulbs" we have tried are dimmable with a standard wall dimmer... I have no idea what the driver topology is in the 120V GU10 lamps is but most of the the PAR, A19, FLOOD, Etc packages are starting to advertise "dimmable".

 

[havnmonkey]

For those of us familiar with the current flashlight mod tech (i.e. candlepower forum junkies:uzi you know that when it comes to LEDs quality drivers are the basis of all builds (except direct drive!).

And all of us that have ever ordered thru dealextreme (straight from the orient) know how cheap a driver can be manufactured.

I would estimate a quality driver for these LED replacement bulbs would run $5-10 wholesale... And I would also estimate that these are NOT using quality drivers yet. So as a result you might save money, but have to replace bulbs every few months. You also may not be getting the "advertised" power savings either. I'm not a hater on these bulbs, it's just that I've taken apart enough LED flashlights to not expect anything amazing from thrifty builds.

 

[tinygiant]

i didnt realize i forgot to subscribe to this thread. lol

if you want to be safe with running 120v over the tank use a gfi plug end from an old hair dryer. That way if it gets wet or something I will pop.. much like if you dropped the hair dryer in the sink. I've started doing that with the ones i build for friends. I get the old hair dryers at the salvation army and goodwill for 2-3 bux each

 

[Sinclair81]

tiny, I love this concept, I am going to try it. Do you have any new pics of how your tank looks? What about PAR readings with these lights?

 

[tinygiant]

New Pictures!! The tank 11 months old..(last month)

I posted the par readings on the first couple posts in this thread

 

[Sinclair81]

Tiny, Any updates? Would love to see progress pictures? Had any bulbs burn out?

 

[tinygiant]

i usually post my updates here. This is where i started this journey

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267432


i love these bulbs.. built a 33L frag system with the same bulbs in the basement