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GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)


TinyGiant

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"Thank you very much for your time.

The Cree chip is USA chip factory . The Epistar chip is China Taiwan chip factory.

In fact, in china the best chip is Epistar . Because many Cree chip is fake.

We are led factory , we buy Epistar chip and produce the Epistar led bulbs."

 

response from seller of the new bulbs i've been ordering

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Tiny,

 

I have looking/following this thread since you started it and have been thinking of making a switch since my par30s are not performing too well on my 37H. What kind of penetration do you think these will have. The tank is about 25" deep. In your estimation, will these lights create any significant PAR levels at the bottom of the tank?

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I have a very large fast growing chalice at the very bottom of my 55g

 

and my clam is only about 10" from the bottom

 

a standard 55g is 22" tall I think the standard 37g is the same size height

 

So i wouldn't see a problem.

 

i would start out with a single row and add as you see fit.

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#1 Can I use the GU10 bulbs WITHOUT the sockets?

#2 How many blue and whites for 46gal bow tank? so 36"x12"24?

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

 

i think there was a member who posted in this thread who actually dismantled the bulbs and just screwed the shrouds to a piece of wood and wired all the internals to the power wire.. rather than dealing with sockets.

 

i'll see if i can find the post... but using the bulbs as is you will need a socket.

 

i would say for a 46 start with 18 bulbs across (9w 9b) and maybe add later if you want a more blue color.. or if you want a little more light. i find that a single right row across the middle works well. you get a nice blend of color.

 

 

i have 30 over my 55.. so you do have a close water volume and could do 30 also. if you have the funds to grab 30 do it. my tank is nice and bright and the colors are awesome

 

 

here is the link to the post with using the bulbs dismantled

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=3639459

Edited by TinyGiant
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#1 Can I use the GU10 bulbs WITHOUT the sockets?

#2 How many blue and whites for 46gal bow tank? so 36"x12"24?

 

Thanks in advance

 

1. Yes, i think so, but why would you want to? would make positioning, holding, and aiming much more difficult

 

2. I would recommend 30 ad a mix of 50/50 b/cw, but i am beginning to experiment with different spectrums of blue and white, so that may change.

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I have a very large fast growing chalice at the very bottom of my 55g

 

and my clam is only about 10" from the bottom

 

a standard 55g is 22" tall I think the standard 37g is the same size height

 

So i wouldn't see a problem.

 

i would start out with a single row and add as you see fit.

 

Thanks, but not sure if it is way I want to go. Would like to get a Sebae or Haddon and they both would need to be on the bottom of the tank. Not sure if the lights would give them the proper lighting. Have you gotten any type of PAR readings from these lights?

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1. Yes, i think so, but why would you want to? would make positioning, holding, and aiming much more difficult

 

2. I would recommend 30 ad a mix of 50/50 b/cw, but i am beginning to experiment with different spectrums of blue and white, so that may change.

 

 

remove the ends and place the rest on sheet metal, build a pro looking hood. well try to anyways lol

 

i think there was a member who posted in this thread who actually dismantled the bulbs and just screwed the shrouds to a piece of wood and wired all the internals to the power wire.. rather than dealing with sockets.

 

i'll see if i can find the post... but using the bulbs as is you will need a socket.

 

i would say for a 46 start with 18 bulbs across (9w 9b) and maybe add later if you want a more blue color.. or if you want a little more light. i find that a single right row across the middle works well. you get a nice blend of color.

 

 

i have 30 over my 55.. so you do have a close water volume and could do 30 also. if you have the funds to grab 30 do it. my tank is nice and bright and the colors are awesome

 

 

here is the link to the post with using the bulbs dismantled

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=3639459

 

 

thank you, very helful

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E27 3Watt Royal Blue Epistar from the same seller as the GU10, but this has the us/cad sockets.

has anyone tryed this? or is there a good reason not to use this one..

 

Specifications:

Colors: Blue ( 460nm )

Material: Aluminum, zinc metal alloy

Input voltage: 85-265V AC with reversed polarity protect

Output power: 3.0W (60-100 Lumen )

Beam angle: 30 degrees

Reflector efficiency: 90%

Light source: 3pcs 1W Epistar LED

LED input current: 700mA

Body temperature: <60°C

LED working temperature: <65°C

Life Time : > 50,000 hours

E27 3X1W LED Bulb Size : Diameter: 50mm * High: 62mm

Safety assurance: CE & RoHS Low heat

 

same as GU10 3w far as I can tell.

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I have a couple of the e27 ones.. They work fine.. Par readings are on the first or second post in the thread... I have two bta at full color and doing great.. Any nem should be fine

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The bridgelux Led's run super cool - even at 100% they don't put near the heat off that the Creeds do

 

That's like saying a thousand pounds of bricks is heavier than a thousand pounds of feathers.

 

The amount of heat thrown off by an LED is based on the wattage used. A 3.6 volt Cree is going to throw off as much heat as a 3.6 volt Bridgelux, Satistronics, or Epistar based LED. However, Cree XP-G's and XT-Es are down to 3.2 volts while most of the competitors are 3.6-3.7 volts at the same current. A good chunk of the difference ends up as heat, and the 3.2 volts Cree's run cooler, not hotter. Even Bridgelux Corp doesn't get into efficiency fights with Cree because they know they'd get slaughtered because Cree is significantly far ahead in that dept.

 

Unlike Bridgelux, Cree doesn't OEM the fab part of their chip making, so there aren't loads of web-sites selling knock-off Crees because the Chinese can't steal the manufacturing process. Bridgelux however is more liberal about this, so you can buy single 1-3watt Bridgelux LED's for cheap because Bridgelux Corp only cares about large premium arrays.

 

The lights in use here are almost certainly powered by Epistar, or even Epistar knockoffs, or at best really old Cree's because somebody has to make a profit. Looking through some of the specs for Epistar LED on their site (rather than the specs mentioned in this thread which are obviously incorrect given royals are not rated in lumens) shows at best they are 40-50% as efficient as current Crees. The real value is not needing a heat-sink nor having to mess around with soldering at the expense of needing significantly more lights.

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any light can still be rated in lumens.. it does have a brightness no matter what..

 

but well said.

 

Where is the 40-50% efficiency deficiency if the voltage is only .5v different?

 

 

I've had great growth and color off these bulbs, and coming from being a long time MH user even if these are 40% less efficient than a cree build would be.. it was cheaper and uses next to nothing in electricity. Compared to tanks I kept in the past. I once had a 90g with 660w VHO and 2x175mh .. My parents said the electric bill went down almost 200 a month when i moved out.. between my tank, gaming computer running 24/7 at 500w and my projector .. lol

 

now that I own a house and am paying the bills... something had to be done so that i could still enjoy the hobby :)

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LxWxH?

 

if so

i would do 10ish with the optics off (thermal epoxy the chips to the shrouds )

 

 

That is correct on the dimensions. Would you do them in a straight line or do maybe 3 pods of 3 bulbs?

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if you take the optics off the bulbs it wont really matter. the spread will be fine either way.

 

if you leave the optics on i would say straight line. and mount about 10" off the tank.

 

and so the spread is perfect get 15bulbs (if you are leaving optics on)

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Has anyone done a 2 blue to 1 white ratio? My Boostleds are 4RB 1CW and I like that look. Also do you have instructions somewhere on how to remove the optics and use the thermal paste?

 

Thanks for your help!

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Has anyone done a 2 blue to 1 white ratio? My Boostleds are 4RB 1CW and I like that look. Also do you have instructions somewhere on how to remove the optics and use the thermal paste?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

its super easy.

 

there are three tiny screws that hold the face of the shield on. unscrew them and the optics fall right out.

 

 

The led chips are held down by the pressure created by screwing down the face/shield. So the chips just have thermal past under them.

 

Grab some tweezers and pull the chip up. wipe the paste up with a few qtips then just put a dab of the epoxy down and then put the chip back down. I would them reinstall the optics/face to keep pressure on it while it sets.

 

once its done just remove the optics and you will be good to go :)

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Added a quick wiring tutorial to the first post

 

I started wiring them a little different. Makes it so you dont need to use any wire.. just wire them piggyback to create a parallel circuit. Way easier.

 

Anywho here is how i attach the wires. Most of the fixture pictured here was shrink wrapped but i ran out when i was doing the pics

 

divide the end into two sides

wire5.jpg

 

then put the wire you are attaching to in the middle of the split and twist the two ends so it secures the wire between the other wire

wire4.jpg

 

then wrap the tail around the wire

wire2.jpg

 

Then tape or skrink or sometimes i will actually silicone over the connections to make them water proof

wire1.jpg

Edited by TinyGiant
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New build on my 33L I finished the lighting construction today.

 

 

Still needs paint.. but its done otherwise. I have a cut piece of pvc holding up the other end while the glue sets further. There is a little bit of a bend to the pipe because the bulbs are heavier than i thought they would be.. So I might continue it to the other side and go up and over.. or I might just run a wire from the end to the ceiling for extra support. But overall I am stoked to finally have this done.

 

I have a total of 20 3w gu10s over the tank now. 10 white and 10 blue. I love the color probably close to 12-14k not too blue and not too white.

 

 

33l1.jpg

 

33l2.jpg

 

The wires run through the PVC and down into the stand to a power strip. Super streamline.

 

33lbuild1.jpg

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Looks good tiny! Here is mine, not as sexy as yours tho, but this is my first try... I have about 20 more bulbs and sockets on the way for my next one.

 

So, i have been meaning to get this posted for a while, but the vendor i ordered from accidentally shorted me bulbs, so I finally got it set up today.

 

Here is the fixture:

 

2012-01-09%2012.35.07.jpg

 

As you can see, I retrofitted an old 18" t8 fixture, just completely gutted it and mounted the sockets in the housing. It worked out great, because the bulbs happen to be the exact same height as the fixture itself.

 

 

on:

2012-01-09%2012.35.58.jpg

 

Blues only, not that you can really see anything:

 

2012-01-09%2012.36.14.jpg

 

Mounted:

 

2012-01-09%2023.44.04.jpg

 

2012-01-09%2023.49.34.jpg

 

And I cant yet attest to growth, but I am certainly seeing some color improvement:

 

2012-01-09%2023.57.06.jpg

 

2012-01-09%2023.57.13.jpg

 

 

2012-01-09%2023.58.24.jpg

 

2012-01-09%2023.59.32.jpg

 

Same zoas pink under t5:

 

2012-01-09%2023.59.43.jpg

 

these are cell phone pics, but i hope you can see the color difference

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