Rfbeauchamp
New member
Take Beach Natives advice. You MUST purchase the power supply listed in the first post of this thread.
My Moonlight Setup (lots of pics)
- Thread starter AVReefer
- Start date
katchupoy
New member
be careful
be careful
As i said before... most of these lights are 12volts... so you will need a power adaptor or power converter.
Grab one that has the variable output... from 12volts down to 3volts.... this might and i said "MIGHT" dim it.
Walmart, Target, Kmart or Radio Shack has them...
The wire coming from the lights usually is color coded... red for the positive and black for the negative...
If its not color coded... usually the positive has a white line on its side... and the negative don't have one... so be very carfull, if your not sure, dont do it...
Katchupoy
be careful
As i said before... most of these lights are 12volts... so you will need a power adaptor or power converter.
Grab one that has the variable output... from 12volts down to 3volts.... this might and i said "MIGHT" dim it.
Walmart, Target, Kmart or Radio Shack has them...
The wire coming from the lights usually is color coded... red for the positive and black for the negative...
If its not color coded... usually the positive has a white line on its side... and the negative don't have one... so be very carfull, if your not sure, dont do it...
Katchupoy
henkelsfamily
In Memoriam
How do you think these will work at putting some blue light into the EYE 65K bulbs.
henkelsfamily
In Memoriam
bump
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
just got my 4" cold cathods today. they are wired to be used in a computer so i will have to figure out how to wire them up for an ac outlet...anyone??
i am VERY VERY busy w/ my summer grad class so it will be a while before they are up and running. very nice little guys though
Lunchbucket
i am VERY VERY busy w/ my summer grad class so it will be a while before they are up and running. very nice little guys though
Lunchbucket
katchupoy
New member
Anyone know what the spectrum output is of these cold cathode lights? 430nm? 470nm? How do they compare to NO or VHO tubes on a 'technology level'?
Jdg,
Not sure about the nm units but they are bit higher... they are not as deep as actinics.... more on like a "blue moon bulb" by interpet.
just got my 4" cold cathods today. they are wired to be used in a computer so i will have to figure out how to wire them up for an ac outlet...anyone??
Lunchbucket,
you will have 4 wires... the red,yellow,white and black. Just use the Red and Black... Red=positive and Black=Negative. You can buy ordinary power converter/adaptor from RadioShack. Idea is to convert 110volts AC to 12 volts DC... They also have the variable volt adaptor... from 3volts to 12volts. In this way you might be able to dim them (haven't tested them). Usually you will have two wires coming out from this wall type adaptors. One is striped with white and the other doen't have them... The one with stripe is the positive.
You can connect these wires to the red and black wires of the cathode bulbs.
Good luck
Katchupoy
Jdg,
Not sure about the nm units but they are bit higher... they are not as deep as actinics.... more on like a "blue moon bulb" by interpet.
just got my 4" cold cathods today. they are wired to be used in a computer so i will have to figure out how to wire them up for an ac outlet...anyone??
Lunchbucket,
you will have 4 wires... the red,yellow,white and black. Just use the Red and Black... Red=positive and Black=Negative. You can buy ordinary power converter/adaptor from RadioShack. Idea is to convert 110volts AC to 12 volts DC... They also have the variable volt adaptor... from 3volts to 12volts. In this way you might be able to dim them (haven't tested them). Usually you will have two wires coming out from this wall type adaptors. One is striped with white and the other doen't have them... The one with stripe is the positive.
You can connect these wires to the red and black wires of the cathode bulbs.
Good luck
Katchupoy
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
thanks man. i figured it was super easy 
i have used those variable voltage inverters before for my 3" computer fan
Lunchbucket
i have used those variable voltage inverters before for my 3" computer fan
Lunchbucket
Just a note on these lights.
The tube itself runs at a considerable voltage 180 -1000v as such these kits are supplied with a DC inverter that takes a DC feed and then steps it up to 180-1000v ac. Hence the 12v requirement etc.
Now at this voltage there is likely to be little current but you may want to ensure that there is no possibility of any salt build up around the tube or cables from the inverter.
And, in general, they need to be fed a low DC voltage for the inverter.
have fun.
The tube itself runs at a considerable voltage 180 -1000v as such these kits are supplied with a DC inverter that takes a DC feed and then steps it up to 180-1000v ac. Hence the 12v requirement etc.
Now at this voltage there is likely to be little current but you may want to ensure that there is no possibility of any salt build up around the tube or cables from the inverter.
And, in general, they need to be fed a low DC voltage for the inverter.
have fun.
Baalz
New member
Am I the only one that finds a 10 dollar blue rope light from Walmart or Home depot doing this same thing with no inverter neccessary?
I have a blue rope light installed inside my hood and the effect it gives off as a moon light is awesome.
Im surprised the Rope light queen "Dwayne" hasn't chimed in.
ummm i mean king
I have a blue rope light installed inside my hood and the effect it gives off as a moon light is awesome.
Im surprised the Rope light queen "Dwayne" hasn't chimed in.
ummm i mean king
tang_man_montreal
New member
Baalz...
Do you have any pics of your tank lit up by the rope light so that we can compare results?
Do you have any pics of your tank lit up by the rope light so that we can compare results?
Dwayne
Protector of Diver Dan
Baalz said:Am I the only one that finds a 10 dollar blue rope light from Walmart or Home depot doing this same thing with no inverter neccessary?
I have a blue rope light installed inside my hood and the effect it gives off as a moon light is awesome.
Im surprised the Rope light queen "Dwayne" hasn't chimed in.
ummm i mean king
I agree. $10, dimmable, flexible, waterproof, and comes in red or blue. Use the red for night viewing.
I even get shimmer lines on the sandbed.
Too easy and cheap not to do it.
Baalz - I'll ignore the queen comment for now.
Dwayne
npaden
New member
I really don't understand the facination with these high $ LED moonlights either.
I have a DIY setup with 2 - 25W GE blue party bulbs over my 415 that do an AWESOME job. For the price these people are paying for the light that isn't dimable or programable, I bought Bill Espisto's Elightmaster that dims my incandsent bulbs based on the actual phase of the moon, turns them on and off based on the true moon rise and set of whatever reef I want to mimic, and also controls my lights with sunrise/set features and has a wavemaker module that will run your pumps to match the tides.
Puzzling.
Nathan
I have a DIY setup with 2 - 25W GE blue party bulbs over my 415 that do an AWESOME job. For the price these people are paying for the light that isn't dimable or programable, I bought Bill Espisto's Elightmaster that dims my incandsent bulbs based on the actual phase of the moon, turns them on and off based on the true moon rise and set of whatever reef I want to mimic, and also controls my lights with sunrise/set features and has a wavemaker module that will run your pumps to match the tides.
Puzzling.
Nathan
JB NY
Active member
I don't know if I would consider it high priced. You can find the CCL light kits for about $13, sometimes with a second light included. A DC transformer only costs $14 at radio shack. So it's not that big of an investment. They fact that they are not dimmable is a pain. But no one knew this when the post went out, so someone has to try it.
I think it's just something else to try, no one has them yet so it sort of fun to play with. It's not a lot of money. Someone has to muck around and take a chance with new ideas. This is one that can be fun and not hurt your wallet if it doesn't work out to your liking.
BTW I ordered a dimmable 12VDC 50 watt transformer for $13.95 I'll hook that up and see if it works. The lights are dimmable, you just need a power supply that can do it.
I think it's just something else to try, no one has them yet so it sort of fun to play with. It's not a lot of money. Someone has to muck around and take a chance with new ideas. This is one that can be fun and not hurt your wallet if it doesn't work out to your liking.
BTW I ordered a dimmable 12VDC 50 watt transformer for $13.95 I'll hook that up and see if it works. The lights are dimmable, you just need a power supply that can do it.
npaden
New member
Heh,
I got linked to this thread and didn't bother reading through it before posting. I thought it was a thread on the $70 non-dimmable LED moonlihgts.
I may have to try Dwayne's ropelights one of these days. The key for me is that whatever needs to be dimmable with the elightmaster program. It uses an x-10 lamp module to dim with and from my understanding there needs to be a hard circuit to make this work. (like an incandescent bulb)
Nathan
I got linked to this thread and didn't bother reading through it before posting. I thought it was a thread on the $70 non-dimmable LED moonlihgts.
I may have to try Dwayne's ropelights one of these days. The key for me is that whatever needs to be dimmable with the elightmaster program. It uses an x-10 lamp module to dim with and from my understanding there needs to be a hard circuit to make this work. (like an incandescent bulb)
Nathan
