flood light LED's

[Hoppy]

Originally Posted by m00se

I just wish these units weren't so darned ugly. Anyone feel like examining theirs and comment on what it would take to remove the guts and re-house these in an aesthetic fixture? Retro fit them into, say, a round deep shade like the 8" diameter ones I have?

The bigger advantage of doing that would be to cut down on the spillover light.

[m00se]

If I could find a single-LED type mogul base lightbulb in the 20w range I'd jump on it. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though. Apparently there isn't much of a market for them (yet). If anyone spots something like this, let me know.

[ReluctantHippy]

Originally Posted by m00se

If I could find a single-LED type mogul base lightbulb in the 20w range I'd jump on it. I don't seem to have any luck finding them though. Apparently there isn't much of a market for them (yet). If anyone spots something like this, let me know.

Have you looked at the PAR38 LED bulbs? They come with a standard base. They tend not to be single LEDs but keep in mind that neither are these floodlights, they are arrays of 1w diodes. Here's one Lowes carries in 18w - http://www.lowes.com/pd_338925-149-S...cagpspn=pla%22

And one specifically for aquariums at 21w - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...09&cagpspn=pla

[RogueGeek]

I've been reading the discussion here about the LED floods and thought I would toss in my $0.02.

I just setup a new 36Gal tank and the 17w T8 that came with the kit wasn't anywhere near sufficient. So I thought I would try some of the Ebay LED floods.

I got 3 of the 12V, 10W version that are spec'd at ~6000k.
I checked these on the amp meter. At 12V each 10W flood is pulling 0.55A
12v was a personal preference due to past experience with cheap non-UL rated Chinese power supplies.

I have pictures of my setup using both the 3 LED floods and the single 17W T8.

I took the LED pics first then took pics with the T8. With all other camera settings the same, I had to lower my shutter speed from 1/60(LED) to 1/25(T8) to get the same light in the cameras light meter.

My first impression is the LEDs are VERY bright and light my tank quite nicely. I don't have a PAR meter so I'm going strictly on visual observation and comparing to the 17W T8 bulb.

The only potential problem I see is the little DC-DC power supply in the back of the light gets rather warm with the cover on. Once I opened the back cover, it cooled down and is just barely warm.

I think I'm going to retro fit these into the hood that came with the tank. From what I can tell they should fit perfectly. I might add a miniature fan to help cool things off and extend the life.


-Brian

[ReluctantHippy]

I should probably toss in my endorsement as well. I have 10 of the 10w units and 6 50w arrays (diff but equally cheap driver and very similar array). The 6 50w arrays over my 100g are doing great as are the 10w arrays over each ~9g segment of the divided tank. The lower empty 30g in the picture has a single 10w over it and it's still pretty bright - plenty enough light for a fish only tank though I wouldn't personally try plants with that little light. I actually convinced my LFS to replace their old t12VHOs that were over their planted tanks to the 20w floods and they are loving them also - much brighter and they've considerably dropped the wattage they are running.

[m00se]

Originally Posted by ReluctantHippy

Have you looked at the PAR38 LED bulbs? They come with a standard base. They tend not to be single LEDs but keep in mind that neither are these floodlights, they are arrays of 1w diodes. Here's one Lowes carries in 18w - http://www.lowes.com/pd_338925-149-S...cagpspn=pla%22

And one specifically for aquariums at 21w - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...09&cagpspn=pla

Yes I have considered them, and I will be schooled for sure. I am curious though. Will those multi point lights composed of a dozen or so leds be able to get the shimmer effects of the single led? Also, I don't see them in the high wattage (20w+) that I am looking for. At least not at a price I'm willing to spend anyway. The Dr Fosters and Smith unit is more than I would like to spend on each. It wouldn't be make sense to me to change out the 3 cfls I'm using now at that price unless I saw a dramatic increase in aesthetics. Thanks for the URLS! I appreciate you taking the time.

[ReluctantHippy]

Originally Posted by m00se

Yes I have considered them, and I will be schooled for sure. I am curious though. Will those multi point lights composed of a dozen or so leds be able to get the shimmer effects of the single led? Also, I don't see them in the high wattage (20w+) that I am looking for. At least not at a price I'm willing to spend anyway. The Dr Fosters and Smith unit is more than I would like to spend on each. It wouldn't be make sense to me to change out the 3 cfls I'm using now at that price unless I saw a dramatic increase in aesthetics. Thanks for the URLS! I appreciate you taking the time.

From my experience all LEDs create the shimmer effect with individual higher wattage diodes increasing the effect; which means the Dr Fosters unit should create much more shimmer than the flood lights as they are running 3-5w diodes versus the 1w diodes the arrays use. We need to keep in mind that a 50w LED flood lamp is not a 50w LED diode, it's an array of 50 1w diodes. My LFS runs AI Sols, AI Vegas, Ecotechs, Kessils, MH, and floods and the AIs and Ecotechs definitely seem to glimmer more than the MH, Kessils (also an array but higher wattage diodes than floods), and flood lamps. I haven't personally tested a PAR38 bulb but I would assume the nicer ones function more like the AI/Ecotech than the floods due to similar lenses and diode powers.

[Sethjohnson30]

Originally Posted by m00se

Oh...oh my... YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!

srsbz, thanks for sharing that place!

Cheers

They only have 6000k and I have 2 of the 10w over my 10g.....no bueno

[Sethjohnson30]

I have a 20w 6000k over my riparium. I used it to replace my dual t5 fixture plant growth is a little slower but I wanted that. The shimmer is awesome its similar to an indoor swimming pool.

I am waiting on a couple 20w 7000k I'm going to run over my 72g along with my t8 shoplight I will post pics when that's all set up

[discgo]

I was bored after getting home from work tonight so I decided to grenade my 10w LED for everyone here to see. My goal was to see how hard it would be to just use the components from this light in different applications. After taking it apart and putting back together again I am sure this will be a valuable piece of equipment in my upcoming tank build. Enjoy!

First thing I did was remove the mounting bracket. It was only finger tight when I received it so this was real easy.


Next I opened up the box with the driver in it. There are only two wires going to the driver and no wire grounding to the case. The wire connections are wire nutted together and then hot glued.


The driver, notice how it say 9w max output at 300ma.


Next I removed the nut from the power wire bulkhead. There was a nice silicone plug in there keeping it all sealed up nicely.


Then I started removing the screws that attached the driver's box to the light heat sink.


Since I planned on separating the the two components for a lower profile I then cut the wires going from the driver to the LED. Be sure to leave enough wire on each side to work with if you plan on doing the same.


Next I removed the glass from the front.


This glass is thick! I measured it at 1/8". There is no way a small light like this can penetrate this amount of glass without a huge drop in efficiency. I will be going out to the store tomorrow and trying to find a picture frame with a similar size glass but thinner. If you don't care about reassembling it as waterproof as it came or plan on using it above a glass top then you can just run it without the original glass (a lot of leds are run without protection from water, please correct me if this is out of line).


When I tried to remove the reflector I stripped the screw out. Since I don't really care I just cut it out with some snips. There were only two of the four screws in my unit holding the reflector in place.


With the reflector removed you can see the led panel.


I pulled the red and black wires I snipped earlier into the unit.


I then added an extra length of wire between the led and the driver. Any wire should do the trick but try and match it closely to what the manufacturer used. Here you can see how I attached it inside the led housing. Hot glue to hold the wire in place wouldn't hurt.


The reflector goes back into place (optional)


I reassembled the driver box next with my cord going straight into the box and the new light wires coming in from the top. I could have bypassed using the metal box again but I prefer to keep my chinese electronics somewhat contained in case of sparks. If you were to use some silicone you could cover all the excess holes and make the system waterproof again.


A picture of everything put back together but not sealed up and waterproof.


A profile shot to show how slim this makes the unit.


I can definitely tell it is brighter without using any light detecting equipment other than my eyes. The glass used in the unit is way to thick. I am running it without the glass and no protection between the led and the water right now. I am doing this to see if it causes any problems but I don't foresee any. Please let me know what you think of the write-up.

[m00se]

Excellent info! Thanks for that. It looks a lot smaller with your hand as a reference than I thought originally. It looks like I could probably fit it into my 8" diameter deep dome lamps. Can you paste the item # from ebay that you bought it from for me?

Thanks again. Really!

[shift]

i think mine led flood was 35$ at HD. I have one pointed at the side of 4 tanks for now until i finished the led lights

[discgo]

Originally Posted by m00se

Excellent info! Thanks for that. It looks a lot smaller with your hand as a reference than I thought originally. It looks like I could probably fit it into my 8" diameter deep dome lamps. Can you paste the item # from ebay that you bought it from for me?

Thanks again. Really!

I just searched "10w led flood light". Make sure it is 120v and daylight spectrum. I don't like posting item #s as that is close to a recommendation and you should always check feedback before buying.

I don't think it would be that hard to remove the chip-set and remount it into an 8" dome. You could probably just mount the heatsink to the top of your reflector with minimal dremel work. Just cut off whatever keeps it from fitting and ditch the reflector it came with.

[m00se]

My thought exactly! Item #??

[discgo]

Originally Posted by m00se

My thought exactly! Item #??

sorry, check my edit.