halcyonism
New member
Rapid LED strictly states that the PAR bulbs are not dimmable and should not be used in a dimmable fixture. I believe Ecoxotic makes a dimmable PAR bulb, but I am not sure if it is on the market as of yet.
Par 38 LED spotlights
- Thread starter goodtimes
- Start date
Rapid LED strictly states that the PAR bulbs are not dimmable and should not be used in a dimmable fixture. I believe Ecoxotic makes a dimmable PAR bulb, but I am not sure if it is on the market as of yet.
halcyonism
New member
Take a look through this thread; many of us are using track lighting suspended from the ceiling or light racks.
Charley Diesing
New member
My tank is standard 40 gallon breeder. 36 inches long, 18 inches deep, 16 inches high. I will have a large amount of LR in the middle coming out of the water so I was thinking I could go with the Par 38 LED spotlights, my question is, can I get away with just two?
halcyonism
New member
You may be able to get away with only two bulbs, but it all depends on the light requirements of what you plan to keep in the tank. If I were you I would start with two bulbs but make sure to plan ahead with whatever fixture you decide to use so that you may easily add more bulbs if needed. This is why a lot of us use track lighting so that you may add / remove and angle bulbs as needed in order to get the coverage you desire. One of the benefits of the PAR bulbs is the ability to spotlight areas of the tank you want to highlight.
btb72
New member
So what are your thoughts about that bulb then? I'm going to put it over a 12 g nano and wasn't sure how it would work.
Charley Diesing
New member
well I have two sockets from my chicken coop heat lamps, can I use those? And sounds good. start with two add more as needed I guess?
halcyonism
New member
If they are clamp on fixtures I would avoid them due to the weight of the bulbs; they are quite a bit heavier then a typical PAR 38 lamp you would find in the store. Also, make sure there is no shroud around the bulb so that it may dissipate heat correctly as they tend to get fairly warm.
Charley Diesing
New member
I was going to hang them I wasnt going to clip them on, I was gonna get rid of the clip.
Anemonebuff
New member
Rapid LEDs are not dimmable.
Anemonebuff
New member
A few things.
First, they do not update or correct their website info. The site states that these bulbs are 6x15000K and 6xblue at the top, but under info it say 16000K white.
http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=702
Second, they do not state what LEDs are used in the bulb.
Third, I bought some LED panels about a year ago to retrofit my tank. The panels were cheaply made with no name LEDs that were used. They were also no knowledgeable about their product or reef keeping IMO. They were promptly returned.
Khazmodain
Member
Well I found an interesting way to mount them... assuming you don't mind it looking a little hillbillyish. These are two utility lamps with the shades removed zip tied onto a dog grooming arm.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...01csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&CAWELAID=525398023
Now we'll see how long it takes for my fiance to find out her grooming arm is missing.
Here's what it looks like on the nanocube:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...01csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&CAWELAID=525398023
Now we'll see how long it takes for my fiance to find out her grooming arm is missing.
Here's what it looks like on the nanocube:
Attachments
Anemonebuff
New member
Try to get some steel(stainless if possible) hose clamps to replace the zip ties. They do degrade over time. The heat from the fixture will also help stretch them and fail.
SaltSolutions1
Active member
Here's how I mounted my PAR38 bulb
Here's how I mounted my PAR38 bulb
I have the 7 LED 20K 80 degree optic bulb.
I wanted to utilize the T5 fixture I have along with the bulb and here's how I did it. Please offer comments and suggestions.
I took a standard clamp-on reflector found at Home Depot or Lowe's with the light socket. I bought two of them to compensate for the weight of the PAR38 bulb.
I removed the refector on one and screwed my new PAR38 bulb in.
I zip tied a block of wood to the bracket I have holding up the T5 fixture so that I could clamp on the PAR38 with more stability.
The I took apart the second clamp on socket with reflector. I removed everything but the clamp and clamped it to my refugium light to give the
PAR38 a completely stable mount. It's rock solid.
FTS with only the blue actnics on along with the PAR38 bulb.
Here's how I mounted my PAR38 bulb
I have the 7 LED 20K 80 degree optic bulb.
I wanted to utilize the T5 fixture I have along with the bulb and here's how I did it. Please offer comments and suggestions.
I took a standard clamp-on reflector found at Home Depot or Lowe's with the light socket. I bought two of them to compensate for the weight of the PAR38 bulb.
I removed the refector on one and screwed my new PAR38 bulb in.
I zip tied a block of wood to the bracket I have holding up the T5 fixture so that I could clamp on the PAR38 with more stability.
The I took apart the second clamp on socket with reflector. I removed everything but the clamp and clamped it to my refugium light to give the
PAR38 a completely stable mount. It's rock solid.
FTS with only the blue actnics on along with the PAR38 bulb.
Anemonebuff
New member
I do not trust those clips, as the wing nuts tend to loosen from the slightest vibrations. I would find another way to mount the bulb.
SaltSolutions1
Active member
What if I made the connections solid by putting a hose clamp around all the joints to keep it secure? A 2" hose clamp would easily fit around the main joint where the wing nuts are. I could take the wing nuts off and replace it with a hose clamp around the whole joint.
This would simply be to make it even more stable. Adding the second clamp to the fixture took away any extra weight of the bulb. It is very secure. And if it ever starts to give a little or bow in time, it will rest right on top of my T5 fixture until I get back to the office to see it. There's no way for the bulb to ever get into the water even if the joints fail and the bulb falls. It will just rest on the T5 fixture until I get there to correct it.
This would simply be to make it even more stable. Adding the second clamp to the fixture took away any extra weight of the bulb. It is very secure. And if it ever starts to give a little or bow in time, it will rest right on top of my T5 fixture until I get back to the office to see it. There's no way for the bulb to ever get into the water even if the joints fail and the bulb falls. It will just rest on the T5 fixture until I get there to correct it.
Anemonebuff
New member
The hose clamps would be better. I would suggest finding a cheap wall mount or track lighting and you could house both bulbs and get rid of the other two fixtures.
SaltSolutions1
Active member
Well, this tank is in my office at work, so I can't mount track lighting and the ceiling of the office has no beams to hang anything from so this is pretty much my only option right now. I saw some cool fixtures at Lowe's and Home Depot that come out of the wall a little bit and if I hang the fixtures upside down on the wall it would work but the cheapest one I found was $40 or
$50. And I'm not spending any more money on the tank other than absolute necessities. The hose clamps I have already. It's an easy fix. And I am gonna mess with it some more on Monday when I get back to the office. I might be able to just use the one PAR38 bulb for the fuge as well. It's 80 degree optics and if I remember correctly, when I left the office yesterday it was casting some light over my fuge in addition to the tank bottom. We'll see. Point taken.....I need to secure the brackets and the clamps I'm using to make sure there is no room for failure. I'm on it.
Thank you for your help and suggestions.
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