Led Moon Lighting

[joe1]

quality been looking for these for ages so i just bought sum cheers for the link B)

lol did you read any of these posts before you bought them? everyone just said they are garbage and you went and bought them....

YES i did read wot everyone else had to say but i already know sumone who has them and i like them so i bought them that ok

 

[SJ2K]

lol as for diy lights, I've made three sets, all still working. i bought one set of cold cathode, and they are not. i know where i would rather get mine from now on.

How'd you make yours then?

 

[raptorrex]

lol as for diy lights, I've made three sets, all still working. i bought one set of cold cathode, and they are not. i know where i would rather get mine from now on.

How'd you make yours then?

the first set was made from those go faster blue lights, so beloved of the boy racer. bought from a car boot, for a couple of quid: i passed it on to a friend, on the purchase of the cold cathode system i have mentioned
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;hl=moonlights

second lot came from a light shop, a set of duff Christmas led's. eventually wired in a similar way to the first one. again passed on when i got, or started the setup i have now. these were free, but took some work because they needed rewired to work, as they had a flash/fad box.

the set i use now, started life as one of those "mood lights". again i purchased a light from a local shop, as the light casing itself was cracked, i think it was £1.99. there was little to do here, as it was a working self contained unit. needing modification only to seal the damp out and lay the light out flat, the light had been round. i am as yet still unhappy with the light spread, so it's still a work in progress. but when i am happy with the spread and am sure it will not short, i will post how and what i did.

 

[KraKen]

Bodgearama !!!!! This ebayer has been to B&Q and bought a string of Christmas tree lights... cut them into strips of five, and rips off gullible fish folk !
I doubt the whole lot would cost a fiver.... and it would still look pants IMHO

This is because most LEDs have a built in concentrating lense, thats what the rounded tip is for. To unfocus them just file down the tip to a flat face.

 

[raptorrex]

Bodgearama !!!!! This ebayer has been to B&Q and bought a string of Christmas tree lights... cut them into strips of five, and rips off gullible fish folk !
I doubt the whole lot would cost a fiver.... and it would still look pants IMHO

This is because most LEDs have a built in concentrating lense, thats what the rounded tip is for. To unfocus them just file down the tip to a flat face.

lol looks like you quoted the wrong post there . if the reply was meant for me, thank you i had not thought of that. however it is the shape and size of the reflector i have made that is the problem, possibly too, the distence between the led's needs increasing.

@Bodgearama. he may well have bought Christmas lights and just chopped them up, wheres the rip off? thats all most makers do, buy some cheap lights and sell them on for a profit. providing they work, i see no problem. he simply found a market, sourced his supply, and offered them for sale.

 

[SJ2K]

Well all of this may have been in vane anyways, after checking out my lid I quikly realised it'd be a tad tricky to hook these up anyways. Atleast not without making some wedges to alter the angle first.

 

[KraKen]

Oops...

Do you think I could make a moon light by dissecting one of those shakeable flashlights?

 

[raptorrex]

Oops...

Do you think I could make a moon light by dissecting one of those shakeable flashlights?

i've been looking at that too, lol i hate spending money! if i get your meaning.
i bought two wind up, waterproof led torches for £3.99. each has three 5mm daylight blue leds, they run on a 3.4v lithium ion batt. you can string them out, or retain the led housing, which is water proof, and place them in the tank for interesting effects. if you string them out, the six bulbs will light a 5 foot tank, but you will need to add a blue filter, or covering. its just a case of connecting them up to a 3.5v transformer. this can be done in series or parallel. in a parallel circuit you will need to use a transformer that is a multiple of the number of units used so for two heads,(three bulbs each) a 7v transformer is needed to run them. in series, you can add as many as you like on 3.5v, but you will need to ensure that the transformer can give you the amps you need to run all the bulbs.

as a first try, simply connect all the neg wires to the neg end of the transformer cable and all the positive to the positive. plug in the transformer and you are off.

as a bonus i now have two wind up chargers, by putting a jack female on each, i can now charge any mobile phone, even with no electricity for miles. they go in the glove box of cars of vans! told you i didnt like spending money!!!!

 

[Scotty001]

I also have set up a moonlighting kit on my aquarium, Ive built the kit myself using a multi voltage (converted) plug, lets me set the moonlight brightness to how i want it, between 1.3, 3, 6.5, 9 & 12v, i have used 2x12" cold cathode lighting units connected to an inverter (came with the cold cathode kit that cot £5 from ebay), i have sealed the ends of the cathode lights using clear aquarium sealant that i had laying around to make them water and damp proof.

on my lighting hood i have a clear perspex cover, i have used Velcro with sticky backing to hold the cold cathode in place on the perspex (this allows me to remove change and replace either cathode easily if needed. the perspex was built into the hood and is suspended just below 2x12 T8 lights which are on for 9hrs a day, they haven't melted burnt or damaged the cold cathode, there is no unsightly looking wiring running around every where just 1 power cable coming out the back of the hood.

i will attempt to get some pics if anyone is interested on how it looks and instructions on how to build it, PM me or mail me if you wish. all you really need is a soldering iron, PVC heat shrink, cold cathode kit and a multi volt plug or fixed 12v, everything but the cold cathodes i had laying around so cost me £5 to make and is quite effective.

if u need to buy the other bits it still isn't that expensive, and most of it u can use again, clear sealant s always a good spare to keep, Velcro has so many uses, most of us have a spare 12v charger plug that we cant find what it was meant for charging and sits in the draw / cupboard collecting dust.

Scott