LED moonlighting from autolumination

[afgoody]

I may be the only one that got confused with the rantings of a couple albeit passionate yet misguiding members of this otherwise great resource (reefcentral). In case I'm not, I'd like to sum up the materials and steps required to get moonlighting working in my 75G...as an example.

Materials

• 2 blue three LED moonlights from www.autolumination.com (they are 470 nm...almost exactly the wavelenght of natural moon light)
• 12V AC-DC Power Supply/Adapter available at Wal-Mart, radio shack, etc (min of 300mA max output depending on number of LEDs and how you want to wire them)
• Resistors?...I don't know...hoping someone can answer this in one simple reply...not looking for a debate here
• Wire (~22 gauge)
• Wingnuts or Solder (heat shrinks if using solder)

Steps

• Anyone?...the challenge is to walk us non EE yet intelligent people step by step through the wiring, selection of resistors, etc... Schematics are nice, pictures even better.

I know this project is not difficult...even to do/wire it right. So, who can teach us all and be the hero? Oh, and chillax...we're all here to have fun.

-Adam

 

[Da_Ru]

The led comes with a resistor already. if you look at the leads you will see part of is is covered with hear shrink that is where the resistor is at. I bought a 12v ac dc converter and just snip the end of and wired it up. if it doesnt light then you have the polarity reversed which wont hurt it short term. HTH

 

[afgoody]

All blacks together and all whites together then?...IOW In Parallel? No separate resistor needed?

 

[Da_Ru]

No resistors needed. Yeah parallel

 

[BeanAnimal]

please note that "no resistors needed" is if you use the recomended supply voltage. As stated above, the package comes with preinstalled resistors. If you use a higher voltage.. you will need to add resistance. If the supply voltage is lower, the lights will be dimmer or not even light.

Bean

 

[afgoody]

Excellent, got it in and I see the resistors...just gotta get some smaller heat shrink and I'll be in business. I'll post pics when I'm done. Thank you!

 

[afgoody]

Pictures of Moonlight Wiring

Pictures of Moonlight Wiring

Hello,
I thought some people might benefit from some pictures of what it takes to get these great and inexpensive moonlights wired. I'm very happy with them! Thanks to all who have posted previously about them!

Wires soldered together in parallel

Heat shrink around the wires

Larger heat shrink around both sets of wires and LEDs illuminated!

Entire setup all wired up including the 12V/500mA AC/DC transformer from Radio Shack.

Moonlights mounted under the canopy cover

Moonlights in action!

 

[8BALL_99]

Those lights are great aren't they. I got mine a couple of months ago I love them. Looks like you did a good job. This is how I mounted mine.

 

[GoBlue76]

just got mine today. they took about 5 minutes to wire and install and wow do they look great! I've been trying to do moonlights for a while now but didn't want to solder anything or pay some outrageous price for a cheap DIY project. These things are the perfect balance. 10 bucks for the two lights and 15 for an AC adapter if you don't already have one laying around. How can you go wrong?

 

[Tachyon]

how much was the ac/dc converter at radio shack? I'm running out of 12V adapters =p, just installed dual blower pc fans and an auto-topoff...wow, these are really cheap, Do you think 2 blue 3led lights is enough for a 75g(48") or would you have gone with more? I'm planning on buying some

 

[bulldogfish]

Tachyon

I got my 12V adapter from Wal-Mart and it was $6. And yes 2 would be enough for a 75. I have 2 over mine right now and I love it.

 

[afgoody]

Yeah, 2 is plenty. The AC/DC converter from radio shack was $15.99 plus tax.

 

[Phoneguy982]

Here is how I mounted mine. I like the look at night. I am cycling my tank right now and I'd like to know if it makes anything glow.....Like corals or fish.

Mounted at 45 degrees on each end. I don't really have a dead spot in the middle either.

 

[Tachyon]

yeah i was planning on mounting them at an angle, I like that you can just stick them right on. I went ahead and bought two, can't wait

 

[New_Noob]

how long do you keep them on for? all night or just a few hours after nightfall?

 

[afgoody]

I keep mine on all night.

 

[bassman57]

this looks really neat. I will probably do it for my 160. I have one question how many do you think you would need for a 6-foot long tank?? and will one adapter work for multiple lights, like 5 lights??

 

[Ramble On Rose]

this looks really neat. I will probably do it for my 160. I have one question how many do you think you would need for a 6-foot long tank?? and will one adapter work for multiple lights, like 5 lights??

for a six footer i would get 3 (and maybe 4). depending on the AC adapter, you should be able to power them all off the same one. they only use like 150mA or something around there (the exact number is on the website) so check the output of the power adapter and make sure it is more. my adapter could power about 6 of them i think... i bought 4 for my 55(i am planning an upgrade in the next year or so and they are so cheap i figured i could save on shipping and just order a couple extra), but I am only using two right now and they work great.

 

[afgoody]

As long as you wire them in parallel I think you'll be just fine with at least a 300mA adapter since 17mA x 5 lights equals 85mA. Somebody back me up here...I'm trying to recall from my two EE college classes five years ago.
-Adam

 

[bassman57]

I will probably go with 4 for now, but what do you mean by wiring them in parralell???