# DIY LED lighting



## vjf000 (Jun 14, 2008)

I ordered these parts from "super bright led" company.
I do not have any connection with the company. I just thought I would
try my skills at putting together my own LED lighting system. They have
many options and you have to research on the sight what you need and
what works together but here is what I ordered for general info. I could
have order the warm white or natural white leds but I like the cool white
look (7800K?) better.
Hope this helps someone else:
1 | CPS-12VDC-xW: 12VDC CPS series Power Supply | $ 24.95 |
CPS-12VDC-50W: 50 Watt - 12VDC
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2 | CPS-C21: CPS-C21 CPS Adapter for LB1 & RLBN Light Bars| $ 2.99 |
CPS-C21: Adapter
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12 | RLBN-MC: RLBN-MC Mounting Clip | $ 0.25 |
RLBN-MC: Mounting Clip
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3 | C21-Ix: C21-Ix series Interconnectors for LB1 & RLBN Light Bars| $ 0.99 |
C21-I36: Interconnect-36 Inch Long
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4 | RLBN-x30X3SMD: RLBN-x30X3SMD series Narrow Rigid Light Bar w/3-Chip LEDs| $ 19.95 |
RLBN-CW30X3SMD: Cool White
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It seems much less expensive than ordering some pre-maid system.


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## goof901 (Jan 9, 2012)

plants will do best under 6500k lighting, not 7800k, but it really depends on what plants you plan on using.


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Will be interesting to see how it turns out and how much light is actually produced and what kind of plant growth you get.

I recently purchased several screw in LED Lights that I KNOW work very well, this was just to complete my transition to eventually having all LEDs. Just looking at the numbers, I know that a single bulb I purchased has more total LED chips than your whole setup, but perhaps yours are of a greater wattage or output.

Let us know how it comes out.


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

vjf000 said:


> I ordered these parts from "super bright led" company.
> I do not have any connection with the company. I just thought I would
> try my skills at putting together my own LED lighting system. They have
> many options and you have to research on the sight what you need and
> ...



It is, and they will grow plants; I've got bonsai and orchids under flexible LED strips (I mix about 3:1 cool white to warm just for esthetics), and they grow, flower and some of the bonsai even set fruit. I've also got lighting on several of my vivs done this way. It takes a bit of playing around with the various chip density (and output) strips, how many strips how far apart, and how high above the plants give you the best result. 

I'm currently using strips with 3 SMD 5050 LEDs every two inches, and mounting about 4 strips mounted 18" above the plants. It takes a bit of fiddling, but it gets the job done, and my lighting on the bonsai and orchids costs about $0.50 a month on my utility bill. 

After you've messed with this stuff a bit, and if you're not afraid to solder connectors, you may want to take a look at what's available on Ebay; lately I've just been buying 5 meter rolls of flex strip from vendors in HK; shipping takes 3 - 4 weeks, but 5 meter rolls run $25 - $30 depending on what you're getting.

That said, it's also totally correct that you won't get the density of lighting from this that you can get from some of the pre-built units; on a 36"H viv, I've got the Jungle Dawn screw-in units in a canopy in order to get good lighting all the way down to the substrate; I've also got about 6 strips of the flex lighting on top as well to add a bit more.

Depending on what you want to light, you might also get more bang for the buck with doing the "reef tank" DIY style with high wattage Cree emitters on a heatsink. This also gives you the ability to play with optics to focus light right where you want it. I've got several of these over aquariums, and am thinking about going this way for lighting a viv rack.

Here are a couple of not-very-good camera phone shots of some of the stuff under flex strips...

Phal and a brazilian raintree...



















Exo 18" cube










one of the residents...


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

FWIW, it looks like the 5 meter flexible LED strips have hit Amazon, many with prices comparable to eBay. You have to do a little bit of careful looking, as prices run anywhere from $12 - $130 for essentially the same pieces; I found some (both waterproof & non) in the $16 - $30 range that are available via Amazon Prime, which is a whole lot faster than waiting for eBay items to airmail from Hong Kong.

Assuming you're looking for the maximum light output, be sure that whatever you order specifies in the item description (not just the title) SMD 5050 leds (not the lower-output SMD 3528) and 300 LEDs per 5 meter roll, not 150...


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

My own experiences in the last month with the light strips is they don't have the intensity of more focused light. The 96 LED's in my strips do not match the intensity of my 3 15LED M4's. Now this could because they strips are 6500k and my M4's are 5000k. I just got some 5000k strips off ebay for $25, so I'll have a better opinion of this tonight.

Anyone try the 10W single chip LEDs yet? I'm trying to avoid any light that's gives off so much heat, it needs a heat sink, since it would heat the bottom of the tank of the next rack up.

Jae


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> My own experiences in the last month with the light strips is they don't have the intensity of more focused light. The 96 LED's in my strips do not match the intensity of my 3 15LED M4's. Now this could because they strips are 6500k and my M4's are 5000k. I just got some 5000k strips off ebay for $25, so I'll have a better opinion of this tonight.


I need to remember where I put my light meter; I just did a 300 LED fixture using the SMD 5050 strips for the bottom shelf of a rack that has 24 x 3w LEDs on heat sinks for the other two shelves. Just eyeballing it, it looks to have about the same light output of the other two (albeit at about twice the current draw). 



konton said:


> Anyone try the 10W single chip LEDs yet? I'm trying to avoid any light that's gives off so much heat, it needs a heat sink, since it would heat the bottom of the tank of the next rack up.


I haven't tried the 10w emitters yet, but I've got one of the above 24 x 3w fixtures mounted with 3" bolts to a piece of 1/2" plywood on the shelf above (this leaves about 1" of separation between the plywood and the top of the heat sink; no fans on the heat sink, but there is a ceiling fan on in the room) and I can't find any measurable heat transfer to the top of the plywood. This may vary depending on how much air circulation is in the room, of course. 










(more pics here)


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> I haven't tried the 10w emitters yet, but I've got one of the above 24 x 3w fixtures mounted with 3" bolts to a piece of 1/2" plywood on the shelf above (this leaves about 1" of separation between the plywood and the top of the heat sink; no fans on the heat sink, but there is a ceiling fan on in the room) and I can't find any measurable heat transfer to the top of the plywood. This may vary depending on how much air circulation is in the room, of course.


Good stuff. That's a heat sinks it's mounted to, right? Great stuff on your website. I'll have to read it over more carefully. I think the wood between my tanks is only about 1/2 with no heat sinks.

Okay, tonight I just learned all 5050 LED light strips are NOT created equal.










The top light is using my new 84 5050 LEDs @ 5500k. The bottom is 96 5050 LEDs @ 6500K. Both were bought off ebay, but it's obvious how much brighter the 5500K LEDs are.










All the bottom level is using 96 total 6500K LED's. The second level is 5500K, but they are 45 LEDs or 84 LEDs. I can see what a difference 84 LEDs make. The far right tall tank is using a 225 LED panel with 132 LEDs wrapped around the door (which is open at the moment, but they really do add some serious light to the bottom of the tank).

Kinda bummed though. Not sure what I'll do with the 6500K LEDs, but I really don't want to keep them.


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

OMG I absolutely hate this picture (jealous much?)
Seriously, do you have a thread for this build? I so hate it.


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## Totenkampf (Jun 25, 2012)

the visible light that we see and register as 'brightness' is in the green wavelengths and it actually rejected by the plants. you cant use that as a guide for how the plants use it, you will need a PAR meter for that. of course the top is more aesthetically pleasing for sure. the 5000k vs 6500k is a temperature rating that gives you some idea of the spectrum that may be emitted by that lamp. 5000k has more red peaks and 6500k has more blue but the latter is a good balalnce for me. 5000k has it uses though (its better for flowering or foliar growth, i dont recall which right now before coffee) and mixing the two together can have good results. i dont care for these LED strips at all, the smaller and inexpensive emitters tend to have poor quality control. they may say 6500k but could be anywhere from 6000k - 9000k in some cases. thats why newer model Cree are so much more expensive.


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> Good stuff. That's a heat sinks it's mounted to, right? Great stuff on your website. I'll have to read it over more carefully. I think the wood between my tanks is only about 1/2 with no heat sinks.


Yeah, they're just typical "reef style" builds with 3 watt emitters mounted on heat sinks. I really like their price/performance ratio (both to build and to run) but you have to you have to allow for the vertical space that the heat sink (and room for air to circulate around it) takes up -- that'd probably be tough to work into a build like you're doing. 



konton said:


> Okay, tonight I just learned all 5050 LED light strips are NOT created equal.
> 
> The top light is using my new 84 5050 LEDs @ 5500k. The bottom is 96 5050 LEDs @ 6500K. Both were bought off ebay, but it's obvious how much brighter the 5500K LEDs are.
> 
> ...


There's a lot of inconsistency in color temperature (actual and perceived) in lighting -- back when I was doing metal halides for reef lighting, one manufacturer's 14K (or even 12K in some cases) was often bluer looking than another manufacturer's 20K. You see a lot of that still even in premium LEDs, with one bin of a given part looking a lot different than another of the same part at the same "color". 

With the 5050s, all I've been doing is adding enough Cool White strips to get plant growth, and then mixing in Warm White strips until I get a look I like. This last one I built was 5 strips of CW and 4 of WW; the last reel of CW 5050s I used seemed warmer, and I ended up doing more 3:1 CW:WW with those. 

Chances are those bluer lights will still do okay growing plants (blue looks dimmer to our eyes, and to most cameras) -- you might try mixing in a couple of WW strips until you get it to where it looks right to you.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

JaredJ said:


> OMG I absolutely hate this picture (jealous much?)
> Seriously, do you have a thread for this build? I so hate it.


Ummm . . .Thanks. Yeah, it's a slow work in progress.
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/84070-starting-over-cube-wall-build.html

It was supposed to be 24 total 15.5 gallon cubes, but then I removed the sides for the big tank and shelving, and added verts to the top as 20 gallon cubes. 

Totenkampf. Blue is for the vegetative state. You get more plant growth with blue. I'm actually thinking of adding a blue strip with a dimmer, and use it bright during the day to add some extra blue, and at night to simulate moonlight. But yeah, finding good quality is a pain.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> Chances are those bluer lights will still do okay growing plants (blue looks dimmer to our eyes, and to most cameras) -- you might try mixing in a couple of WW strips until you get it to where it looks right to you.


I'm sure the more light the merrier as far as the plants are concerned. I'll leave it for a while and see what happens. Maybe those lights are just fine for the plants and I worry too much. Anyway, it's going to be another 2 weeks for the next batch of lights to come in.

I got my LEDs from here:
12V 5M 5050 SMD 300led White 3000K~7500K options LED Strip Light waterproof 16FT | eBay

Since it was the only place I could find that gave me a dropdown option to choose 5000k-5500k.


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## skanderson (Aug 25, 2011)

i agree that eyeing it is a really poor measure of how plants will grow in the light, but i also dont like the general appearance of the light in the bottom row of vivs. i just installed my diy led fixture over part of my viv, i will take par readings and try to post a thread on it in the next couple of days.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

skanderson said:


> i agree that eyeing it is a really poor measure of how plants will grow in the light


I prefer visually 5600K. Maybe that's not recommended day lighting for plants, but it is considered daylight balanced for photography. So maybe that's why our eyes like it better. I'm pretty damn happy with these new 5000k-5500k LEDs. 

I wish I had a lumens meter. I use a light meter instead since I have a ton of camera equipment around. I don't know how it compares blue light to natural white light, but I do see a significant difference in reading between 5500K and 6500K.

Jae


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Do you need a transformer with those strips and how many do you have across the tanks? How did you mount them?


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

those 5000k leds look nice. Im going to have to order me some. at the beginning of this thread I ordered the 6500k bc its all i knew they had. I wish I would of ordered the 5000k. I also ordered a half warm, half cool white strip. Maybe I can mix and match to get a good color. That 5000k looks a thousand times brighter.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

I'm trying different transformers to see what works best. I think I just bought a bad on off ebay. Oh well. But all my transformers seem to run hot regardless. I prefer transformers that are 7amp, but maybe I just need to buy a metal one.

4 strips 12 inches long. 21 LEDs in each strip. They have a sticky side.




JaredJ said:


> Do you need a transformer with those strips and how many do you have across the tanks? How did you mount them?


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> I'm trying different transformers to see what works best. I think I just bought a bad on off ebay. Oh well. But all my transformers seem to run hot regardless. I prefer transformers that are 7amp, but maybe I just need to buy a metal one.
> 
> 4 strips 12 inches long. 21 LEDs in each strip. They have a sticky side.


I've been buying 6 amp 12v supplies from Amazon; they're sold as "LCD Monitor power supplies" -- about $9 each and eligible for Amazon Prime. So far I haven't had any that seem to run overly hot, but maybe I've just been lucky.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> I've been buying 6 amp 12v supplies from Amazon; they're sold as "LCD Monitor power supplies" -- about $9 each and eligible for Amazon Prime. So far I haven't had any that seem to run overly hot, but maybe I've just been lucky.


I may tend to overload things with just too many items. Just I just saw 30AMP 360WATT power supply I'm considering for $27. 
Amazon.com: 12v Dc 30a 360w Regulated Switching Power Supply Silver: Electronics

Jae


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> I may tend to overload things with just too many items. Just I just saw 30AMP 360WATT power supply I'm considering for $27.
> Amazon.com: 12v Dc 30a 360w Regulated Switching Power Supply Silver: Electronics
> 
> Jae


No need to overload -- just use more  All of the 300 SMD 5050 reels I've seen are rated for 6 amps (.02 amps per LED). Since you want at least about 10% safety, I put a max of about 270 LEDs on a 6 amp supply. If I need to light more than that, I go to multiple supplies.


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Hmmm... the Lowes I work at has some rolls of these LED lights. I'll have to check out the info on the pack to see what kind of lights they are.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> No need to overload -- just use more  All of the 300 SMD 5050 reels I've seen are rated for 6 amps (.02 amps per LED). Since you want at least about 10% safety, I put a max of about 270 LEDs on a 6 amp supply. If I need to light more than that, I go to multiple supplies.


Yep. Then I'm in real trouble. My 60 gallon has 357 LEDS. Lower Level has 576. And the Second Level has 309. So I need at least 25 amps. And I have . . . not that much. Now I really want that 30 amp system. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 

Jae


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> Yep. Then I'm in real trouble. My 60 gallon has 357 LEDS. Lower Level has 576. And the Second Level has 309. So I need at least 25 amps. And I have . . . not that much. Now I really want that 30 amp system. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
> 
> Jae


That's likely why your power adapters are running hot... Also remember that if you're going to draw 25 amps off of a household outlet, that outlet needs to be on a circuit that's rated for at least that much (or more) -- otherwise the next thing that gets hot is the wiring in your walls and ceiling, etc. -- not a good thing.


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> That's likely why your power adapters are running hot... Also remember that if you're going to draw 25 amps off of a household outlet, that outlet needs to be on a circuit that's rated for at least that much (or more) -- otherwise the next thing that gets hot is the wiring in your walls and ceiling, etc. -- not a good thing.


I'll have to play around with the rooms. This room only has a 15amp fuse on it. But I think the hallways is on a separate fuse. 

I picked LEDs due to my height constrictions and the small amount of heat produced, but as we're crunching the numbers, seems like CFLS are easier on amperage. If I have 1900 LEDs (456W), I'm going to need 38 AMPS to run it all, right? But if I have 20 total 26W CFLs (520W) , I'll only need 6.51 AMPS. But the heat will be bad, and I'll need to keep more distance between the light and tank. 

Augh.

Jae.


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> I'll have to play around with the rooms. This room only has a 15amp fuse on it. But I think the hallways is on a separate fuse.
> 
> I picked LEDs due to my height constrictions and the small amount of heat produced, but as we're crunching the numbers, seems like CFLS are easier on amperage. If I have 1900 LEDs (456W), I'm going to need 38 AMPS to run it all, right? But if I have 20 total 26W CFLs (520W) , I'll only need 6.51 AMPS. But the heat will be bad, and I'll need to keep more distance between the light and tank.
> 
> ...


Sorry, I posted that last one before the morning coffee had set in  Amp * Volts = Watts, of course, so:

1900 SMD 5050s = 38 amps -- rounding up for safety, let's say 42 amps (of 12v).

42 amps * 12 v = 504 watts 

504 watts / 120v = 4.2 amps of 120v 

So these are a bit more efficient than your CFLs, anyway, and you should be safe on them on a 15 amp circuit...


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## konton (Nov 17, 2010)

nonliteral said:


> Sorry, I posted that last one before the morning coffee had set in  Amp * Volts = Watts, of course, so:
> 
> 1900 SMD 5050s = 38 amps -- rounding up for safety, let's say 42 amps (of 12v).
> 
> ...


Oh. Okay. I didn't calculate that voltage change after the transformer. I need more caffeine (It's actually been proven to help memory ya know)! Thanks! Heart attack averted! Seriously. But it does look like I need to get about 7 total 12v transformers. Plastic ones only appear good up to 6amps:

Jae


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## nonliteral (Mar 26, 2012)

konton said:


> Oh. Okay. I didn't calculate that voltage change after the transformer. I need more caffeine (It's actually been proven to help memory ya know)! Thanks! Heart attack averted! Seriously. But it does look like I need to get about 7 total 12v transformers. Plastic ones only appear good up to 6amps:


The up-side of that is that it's not all of your eggs in one basket -- if one fails, then you've only lost 1/7th of your lighting. But I suspect if you bring the loads down on them, they'll be quite a bit more reliable for you -- the only ones I've ever burnt up have been ones that I overloaded accidentally. 

But you're right that these aren't all that terribly efficient as far as LEDs go; they appear to be roughly about half as efficient as builds using the 3 watt LEDs are (and thus they put out about twice as much heat, as well). Their main advantage (other than their plug-and-play nature) is that you can put them in places where you can't easily fit a heat sink, or don't want to look at one.


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## mordoria (Jan 28, 2011)

Im kinda confused. I dont understand the formula to figure out how many amps i need. Example. If i use 30 5050 LEDs (that use .02 amps each) how do i calculate how much amps are needed in the transformer, at 12v?


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## bobrez (Sep 10, 2011)

mordoria said:


> Im kinda confused. I dont understand the formula to figure out how many amps i need. Example. If i use 30 5050 LEDs (that use .02 amps each) how do i calculate how much amps are needed in the transformer, at 12v?


Easy 30 x .02 + 20%
That is if these are resistored pre made sticks, that will prevent from over driving them


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