russell

ok, i finally got rid of that hideous light over my 1.5 gallon, so i decided to make a new hideous light for it desk lamps just seem too easy i guess

so, i purchased 18 white 5mm led's, some 100ohm resistors and a sodering iron. i have never soldered in my life, but to my suprise, it wasn't that bad.

here is the parts list, though i urge nobody to copy this design until it proves to grow plants well, it was very costly to make and is high risk for failure and/or not growing plants

i started with 18 of these probably overrated white 5mm led's:

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...?number=G16402

then i got a pack of 100 ohm resistors:

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G433R

i used this for my power, since these led's are only 20ma each, i was able to get this cheap ac/dc converter:

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G9596

i also purchased a soldering iron, some solder, and some plexyglass and some alligator clips.

i screwed 2 alligator clips to the side of my workbench so that they were sticking out above the top of the bench. i put them on snug but loose enough that i could adjust their width to accomidate different lengths of wire.

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

the above link is free to use, but honestly i would have paid for it. it is just about all you need to know. you find what led's you want to use, you then put their specs into the calculator, and then it tells you how to arrange them and also how large of a power source you need. i used 100 ohm resistors, but resistors vary with the number of leds you use and the power source.

since i had never soldered or even worked with resistors or led's before, it took me about 2.5 hours to make this array. someone with experience could do it much faster i would imagine.

i purchased a 5mm drill bit and cut holes in a 6"x6" piece of plexyglass. i then wired up the leds testing each strand as i went.

i will certainly help anyone who asks, but for now i won't get into soldering techniques or any more design.

so, here are the pics! it's not that great, but then again, it works like i planned and since it was my first attempt, i am very proud of it.







an image for scale, it's about the size of a pen length and width:



i didn't take the time to measure out the holes plus i couldn't find my measuring tape, so i just eyeballed it, it's close at least:



illuminating my bookshelf from about 1.5 feet away:



illuminating some super glue from about 1 foot above:



so, that's it. i will definately give a followup on this one. as for the electrical tape, i just used it temporarily to hold the led's in. i will secure them, then i am installing a 3" fan above them. i will then mount it to a rod of some sort that attaches to the back of the aquarium.

my only concern right now is securing the led's and waterproofing. i am thinking of epoxy but i don't know if the led's will melt it. any help would be appreciated.

thanks,
russell

Zapins

Hmm nice work with the fixture. Might be interesting to see how bright the fixture is with some sort of light meter...

russell

i have no idea where to get or borrow one of those. let me put it like this, brightness won't be a problem. it's a 1.5 gallon tank plant growth will be the problem.

it's hard to see in the picture, but the light isn't very disperced, it's very concentrated.

another thing is, the power supply im using could potentually run 75 of these led's. im running 18, so if it's not bright enough i can go 2 times to 4 times the amound of led's.

orca77

Can't wait to see how it works...

Adragontattoo

You dont need a fan, and dont worry about LEDs melting they do not get hot enough to do more then MAYBE get warm to the touch.

I play with LEDs all the time (I literally have about 1k assorted LEDs floating around my workarea). To secure them to the Plexi, I would suggest either Hot glue, or even plain silicon Caulk. Make sure whatever you use is fully cured before using it over the tank (obviously) but since it wont be submerged and shouldnt get wet, there should be no issues.

FYI, LEDS IIRC dont actually put out the appropriate wavelengths to be used as grow lights unless you mix the colors etc. YMMV.

PM me or reply on here with any other questions you need answered re: LEDS, I probably can answer them OR have a link that can.

intermediate_noob

I would be interested in reading where you found this information. I know that companies such as this one: http://www.solarisled.com/ provide lighting for Reef systems and wonder why this would not work for plant growth?

Adragontattoo

http://ledgrowlights.blogspot.com/20...ight-tool.html
http://www.plasmaled.com/led_grow_light.htm
http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2007/...for-primetime/
and a whole discussion on it.
http://forums.bghydro.com/showthread.php?p=708

russell

i dont have time to read the links yet, but thanks for the reply. i was told to mix colors but it didn't make much sense at the time, so i figured if nothing else i would get my feet wet with this project.

of course i could use luxion stars they seem to be rated at 6500k. but at 9 bucks each they are rediculously expensive, plus i still don't fully understand how many of them you can put on their power supplies.

russell

Volenti

You could replace your entire array with 1 luxeon star and get similar if not better light output, what value do you put on your time?

dekstr

Wow excellent post!

I was on the goldmine website ALL DAY today thinking of how to make blue LED lights to simulate moon lighting on my tank. I'm looking to do exactly what you did! So thanks a lot for being the guinea pig!

I already have the acrylic top.

Thanks,
Dexter