It took me about three and a half hours to assemble and install blue LEDs into my existing light hood on my 26 gallon tank. I'm very pleased with the results! This does not count the time it took to shop for parts.
I created a series type circuit (not parallel) of four blue LEDs, attached to an old AC/DC power adapter that I no longer needed. I present these results as information only - NOT a detailed "how to" guide. If you try this and burn down your house (not likely), don't knock on my door!!
I also do not take credit for the method. A link to the very well done DIY guide that I used is here:
DIY Moonlight LEDs
I printed that guide out and read it several times to make sure I understood the math behind the electronics BEFORE attempting anything.
Project Cost (US Dollars):
5mm blue LEDs, diffused lens:......$2.00 (for 10)
5mm plastic LED brackets:..........$0.80 (for 10)
220 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors:........$0.40 (for 10)
560 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors:........$0.40 (for 10)
Pack of heat shrink................$5.99
Soldering Iron.....................$8.79
Solder.............................$3.49
Speaker wire, 24 gauge.............$4.99
Helping hands tool................$15.99
TOTAL:............................$40.85
However, if you already have the tools, your cost could be MUCH lower:
TOTAL without tools = $12.58 (LEDs, brackets, resistors, wire)
This also assumes you have an old AC/DC power adapter sitting around that you could use.
Project Picture Journal:
THE POWER ADAPTER: I used an old rechargeable flashlight AC/DC adapter: 12V, 300mA. My first challenge was to figure out which wire was positive, and which negative, on the barrel type connector. I ended up just cutting the connector off the end, and then used a multimeter to verify polarity. However, the polarity is also indicated on the adapter itself:
Just out of curiosity I snipped into the barrel itself to trace the wires:
And then I labeled the wires:
THE PARTS: A bit bigger photo here so you can see the labels:
Detail of the LED and bracket layout:
The LED sleave has two holes cut for the positive/negative LED leads.
THE TOOLS: The helping hands were practically indispensible for the wire soldering - very glad I had it.
Scissors, wire stripper, needlenose pliers, wire snips - I used them all!!
THE BEFORE SHOT: The light hood prior to cracking it open. This is an Aqueon brand hood with bulb specs: 18", 8000K , 15 watt, type T8. I marked where the LED lights ended up:
THE HOOD DISASSEMBLY & BRACKET INSTALL:
After removing the light bulb, there were four screws revealed that allowed the white light fixture to separate from the black hood:
The wires were long enough to allow the white fixture to sit next to the hood (red dots still showing where lights will go):
I then drilled the four holes for the bracket bolts:
And screwed in the bolts:
Then I attached the nuts on the underside to hold them in place.
Finally, I drilled a hole just big enough to feed the power adapter cord into the hood:
Make sure you feed the adapter cord into the hood BEFORE you start soldering the connections!
THE SOLDERING OF THE LED CIRCUIT: This took the bulk of my time, as I did not have much experience with soldering wiring. The basic layout of the circuit was as follows:
DC adapter positive lead => resistor 1 => resistor 2 => positive lead of LED 1 => negative lead of LED 1 => + LED 2 => neg LED 2 => + LED 3 => neg LED 3 => + LED 4 => neg LED 4 => DC adapter negative lead
The DIY link I gave provides a much better diagram for this circuit type.
The two main mistakes I made during the process were:
1. I would forget to slip the heat shrink onto the wires before soldering the connections, or I would forget to slip the bracket sleave onto the LED leads.
2. I would fail to cut a long enough wire length, and would not realize it until soldering one side of the connection.
These mistakes caused me to waste two LEDs, and I had to do a couple extra wire splices.
Below were the first two soldering connections I made to hook up the resistors to the adapter positive lead. My sincere apologies to you soldering experts out there - the connection on the right was pretty good, but the one in the middle was a mess!! (and was the worst one I made)
The shot below shows the first LED, prior to being soldered. The wire on the left is the lead from the resistors, and the connection is to the longer (positive) lead of the LED. Note the bracket sleave (right next to the blue bulb) installed prior to solder, and the same with the black heat shrink on the wire to the left:
The first completed LED: (ignore the white bracket nut - I was just seeing how wide the completed connection was)
Here is a shot of the heat shrinked resistors, the first LED, and the first connection to LED #2:
And the completed circuit of four lights, which actually lit up on my first try!! You can see my "mistakes" with the heat shrink patches near my hand.
FINAL ASSEMBLY:
The only remaining work was then to insert the LEDs into the brackets, and then carefully pack the wires into the white fixture space, and reattach the fixture to the black hood:
And a closeup of the two power cords going into the hood:
THE MONEY SHOTS: I have five glofish, and I didn't realize how these LEDs would make them glow so brightly. I could not get the glofish in the shots because they were moving too fast. You can see them as red and yellow blurs below:
The below shot is with the tank lid up, showing the LEDs reflected in the water:
I hope this journal is helpful to anyone else looking to have a little fun with their tank lighting. In case you are curious, I did not wire a switch into this circuit. I instead put a timer on the adapter so that the lights will come on for a few hours in the late evening after the main light goes off, and an hour just before dawn.
I created a series type circuit (not parallel) of four blue LEDs, attached to an old AC/DC power adapter that I no longer needed. I present these results as information only - NOT a detailed "how to" guide. If you try this and burn down your house (not likely), don't knock on my door!!
I also do not take credit for the method. A link to the very well done DIY guide that I used is here:
DIY Moonlight LEDs
I printed that guide out and read it several times to make sure I understood the math behind the electronics BEFORE attempting anything.
Project Cost (US Dollars):
5mm blue LEDs, diffused lens:......$2.00 (for 10)
5mm plastic LED brackets:..........$0.80 (for 10)
220 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors:........$0.40 (for 10)
560 Ohm 1/4 watt resistors:........$0.40 (for 10)
Pack of heat shrink................$5.99
Soldering Iron.....................$8.79
Solder.............................$3.49
Speaker wire, 24 gauge.............$4.99
Helping hands tool................$15.99
TOTAL:............................$40.85
However, if you already have the tools, your cost could be MUCH lower:
TOTAL without tools = $12.58 (LEDs, brackets, resistors, wire)
This also assumes you have an old AC/DC power adapter sitting around that you could use.
Project Picture Journal:
THE POWER ADAPTER: I used an old rechargeable flashlight AC/DC adapter: 12V, 300mA. My first challenge was to figure out which wire was positive, and which negative, on the barrel type connector. I ended up just cutting the connector off the end, and then used a multimeter to verify polarity. However, the polarity is also indicated on the adapter itself:
Just out of curiosity I snipped into the barrel itself to trace the wires:
And then I labeled the wires:
THE PARTS: A bit bigger photo here so you can see the labels:
Detail of the LED and bracket layout:
The LED sleave has two holes cut for the positive/negative LED leads.
THE TOOLS: The helping hands were practically indispensible for the wire soldering - very glad I had it.
Scissors, wire stripper, needlenose pliers, wire snips - I used them all!!
THE BEFORE SHOT: The light hood prior to cracking it open. This is an Aqueon brand hood with bulb specs: 18", 8000K , 15 watt, type T8. I marked where the LED lights ended up:
THE HOOD DISASSEMBLY & BRACKET INSTALL:
After removing the light bulb, there were four screws revealed that allowed the white light fixture to separate from the black hood:
The wires were long enough to allow the white fixture to sit next to the hood (red dots still showing where lights will go):
I then drilled the four holes for the bracket bolts:
And screwed in the bolts:
Then I attached the nuts on the underside to hold them in place.
Finally, I drilled a hole just big enough to feed the power adapter cord into the hood:
Make sure you feed the adapter cord into the hood BEFORE you start soldering the connections!
THE SOLDERING OF THE LED CIRCUIT: This took the bulk of my time, as I did not have much experience with soldering wiring. The basic layout of the circuit was as follows:
DC adapter positive lead => resistor 1 => resistor 2 => positive lead of LED 1 => negative lead of LED 1 => + LED 2 => neg LED 2 => + LED 3 => neg LED 3 => + LED 4 => neg LED 4 => DC adapter negative lead
The DIY link I gave provides a much better diagram for this circuit type.
The two main mistakes I made during the process were:
1. I would forget to slip the heat shrink onto the wires before soldering the connections, or I would forget to slip the bracket sleave onto the LED leads.
2. I would fail to cut a long enough wire length, and would not realize it until soldering one side of the connection.
These mistakes caused me to waste two LEDs, and I had to do a couple extra wire splices.
Below were the first two soldering connections I made to hook up the resistors to the adapter positive lead. My sincere apologies to you soldering experts out there - the connection on the right was pretty good, but the one in the middle was a mess!! (and was the worst one I made)
The shot below shows the first LED, prior to being soldered. The wire on the left is the lead from the resistors, and the connection is to the longer (positive) lead of the LED. Note the bracket sleave (right next to the blue bulb) installed prior to solder, and the same with the black heat shrink on the wire to the left:
The first completed LED: (ignore the white bracket nut - I was just seeing how wide the completed connection was)
Here is a shot of the heat shrinked resistors, the first LED, and the first connection to LED #2:
And the completed circuit of four lights, which actually lit up on my first try!! You can see my "mistakes" with the heat shrink patches near my hand.
FINAL ASSEMBLY:
The only remaining work was then to insert the LEDs into the brackets, and then carefully pack the wires into the white fixture space, and reattach the fixture to the black hood:
And a closeup of the two power cords going into the hood:
THE MONEY SHOTS: I have five glofish, and I didn't realize how these LEDs would make them glow so brightly. I could not get the glofish in the shots because they were moving too fast. You can see them as red and yellow blurs below:
The below shot is with the tank lid up, showing the LEDs reflected in the water:
I hope this journal is helpful to anyone else looking to have a little fun with their tank lighting. In case you are curious, I did not wire a switch into this circuit. I instead put a timer on the adapter so that the lights will come on for a few hours in the late evening after the main light goes off, and an hour just before dawn.
Thanks
