Blue Led Strip

[Ryefish]

Hey
I ordered two 30cm strips of blue LEDs off Ebay to put on my tank (it says they are waterproof) for some cheap moonlighting.
The LEDs arrived this morning. The wires coming off are a silver and a copper coloured wire. Can i just wire this up to normal plugs? (im in the UK) or do i need to buy a special plug for it? I can wire up a normal plug for anything else but im not sure about this one.

I have a BiOrb and was thinking about putting the lights around the rim of the tank, just under where the normal light sits. Do you think this would work or do you think the light would just get lost?

 

[scobie140]

When mine came from ebay they had a varieable volt plug (3 to 12v) which reduced the current down to 300mA and it lookes like it don't matter which is positive or neutral on it. So i'd guess you cant wire them to a normal plug as the amps and voltage would be too high. eletrics arn't my strong poin though so may be wrong

 

[Ryefish]

that just confused me lol

 

[Ryefish]

my brother said to attach it to a battery, which sort of works lol

 

[Mikaila31]

Normal outlets are AC. LEDs need DC current, like batteries. Can you link the auction you bought them off of? Most LED's can be run off a phone charger or similar device. However you need to make sure the LEDs can handle the output. If it is too low they will be very dim, to high and you will fry them.

 

[Ryefish]

These are the same kind but obviously red
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Red-15-LED-SMD-Waterproof-Grill-Strip-Light-Bulb-30cm-/260590389459?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cac65c8d3

The wire length is definately not 50cm, you are lucky if it is 40cm. Doesnt reach anywhere near my plug sockets

ETA: if anyone knows of any better and still rather cheap lights they could recommend then feel free lol

 

[Mikaila31]

well at least they are wire for 12volt use. Look around your house for AC/DC converter plugs. DC plugs are the ones with the large block type plug in. Phone chargers are a example, but most are normally bigger. They are used for lots of things and have lots of different outputs. Look for larger ones and read what is written on the plug. It should say its input/ output. You want a plug that has an output of 9 to 12 volts DC. You can go lower, but they will be dim. Don't go any higher than 12 or you will fry them. To attach the LED's to these chargers, most will have a plug that looks like this. You take the two wires from your LED strip. One goes in the hole of the plug the other one gets wrapped around the outside of the plug. If you hook them up and it doesn't work flip the wires around as they only work one way. If you can't find a plug any home improvement store will carry a AC/DC converter often Universal that allows you to adjust the voltage from 3v to 12v. They look like this. You should have something similar around your house, but it will have a fixed output voltage.

 

[Ryefish]

thanks for the info
Ill let you know if i mess it up haha

 

[the biffster]

Hey
I ordered two 30cm strips of blue LEDs off Ebay to put on my tank (it says they are waterproof) for some cheap moonlighting.
The LEDs arrived this morning. The wires coming off are a silver and a copper coloured wire. Can i just wire this up to normal plugs? (im in the UK) or do i need to buy a special plug for it? I can wire up a normal plug for anything else but im not sure about this one.

I have a BiOrb and was thinking about putting the lights around the rim of the tank, just under where the normal light sits. Do you think this would work or do you think the light would just get lost?

i have just bought a set of ebay as well but mine came with a 12v adapter so i dont think it would
be a smart thing to do unless they have an adapter the ones i got are about 30mc long and are all
sealed so no moisture can get in but to be on the safe side i am going to wrap with heat shrinkable
tape the thing is how do you fasten them in place


PS i got blue ones you cant look straight at them there that bight

 

[Mikaila31]

I can not say anything about where you are placing your light, except electricity and water don't mix. That said I also wire my own LED, individually for my tanks. However I place mine always in the existing hood, normally just hot glued or siliconed to the reflextor. I run all my tanks on GFCI protected outlets, for when something does go wrong. When you do a lot of DIY something eventually will go wrong.

 

[OldMan47]

The ad that you linked to says they are a 12 volt system. It will take a 12V power supply to,make them work as designed. As others have already said, that means using a transformer type power supply and may mean getting a DC version of the power supply to work them properly. My own LED strips came attached to a sower supply so I didn't need to worry about getting things to match up properly.

 

[guppy77]

something like this i think you need

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Universal-Mains-AC-DC-Adaptor-3v-4-5v-6v-7-5v-9v-12v-/330429774160?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_PowerAdaptors_SM&hash=item4cef263950

 

[Ryefish]

I temp hooked them up to a battery tonight

a pic with an 8second exposure