Moonlight

[DannyBoy17]

How much do these cost? And whats exactly does the LED look like?

--Dan

 

[steelhealr]

Konrad...EXCELLENT!!!!!!! Way to go. Looks GREAT!!!! KUDOS. Was fun putting together, right? Makes a great night light now LOLOL. SH

 

[steelhealr]

Replying to Danny....the cost is near nothing compared to what you'd pay at a store. I had to buy a soldering iron, but, estimated costs were:

1) 8 4000MCD Blue LED's $4.00
2) 8 56 ohm 1/4 resistors $2.00
3) 5V D/C converter Free (how many of us have these laying around from old cell phone chargers or toy chargers
4) wire ...pennies

The only other expense if you don't have one is a soldering iron and you can get a very easy and basic one at Radio Shack for about $7.

The appeal of the tank at night...priceless. SH

 

[DannyBoy17]

I would love to, but I would have no idea how to put it all together

--Dan

 

[konrad05]

Replying to Danny....the cost is near nothing compared to what you'd pay at a store. I had to buy a soldering iron, but, estimated costs were:

1) 8 4000MCD Blue LED's $4.00
2) 8 56 ohm 1/4 resistors $2.00
3) 5V D/C converter Free (how many of us have these laying around from old cell phone chargers or toy chargers
4) wire ...pennies

The only other expense if you don't have one is a soldering iron and you can get a very easy and basic one at Radio Shack for about $7.

The appeal of the tank at night...priceless. SH

My words exactly, priceless!! I think I like looking at my tank at night now more than at day! LOL

You can do it professionally like SH did, or you can do it the cheap quick way which is what I took. All you do is buy the lights (an LED attached to the end of a 1M long wire), then expose about 1 cm of each positive and negative wire. Do this to each. Then it's as simple as twisting all the positives to the positive wire of the 12V DC converter, and all the ground or - wires to the ground wire of the DC, electrical tape them together and presto! If it doesn't work, just flip the wires
And then I used thumb tacks to hold the wires in the back of my wooden canopy

Thanks again SH for the cash saving idea!!

 

[steelhealr]

Konrad..you're making me having a good day here. Thanks..love to help people here if I can. To DannyBoy...I filled out an email to someone else with directions if you want me to copy and paste it to you. Frank

 

[eegs102]

Hi All,

Been watching this thread with interest. The tanks look excellent.... I just wondered if anyone could suggest a supplier for blue LED's in the UK. What sort of viewing angle have people managed to find LED's at? I've found some 4600mcd but they have only got a 15 degree viewing angle. Is that ok?

Also, if you've a forumula for calculating the series resistor to each LED that'd be very helpful.

Any help appreciated.

Iain

 

[konrad05]

Hi All,

Been watching this thread with interest. The tanks look excellent.... I just wondered if anyone could suggest a supplier for blue LED's in the UK. What sort of viewing angle have people managed to find LED's at? I've found some 4600mcd but they have only got a 15 degree viewing angle. Is that ok?

Also, if you've a forumula for calculating the series resistor to each LED that'd be very helpful.

Any help appreciated.

Iain

the LED's that we bought at walmart already come with the resistors attached behind the bulb, so no soldering is required, just twist and cap the wires then plug it in!

 

[steelhealr]

Hi Iain....you can use either 56 ohm or 120 ohm 1/4 watt resistors if you use a 5 volt dc input and can't find LEDs with the resistor attached. I'm not sure about the angle question...the LEDs shine a beam straight down into the tank which looks like a beautiful ray of light. Lucky for you...I found a UK supplier for you on Ebay:

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WD1V

Let me know if I can be of further help. Frank

 

[CTS]

looks like I found a new project!!!!!