MiReef Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi Guys, It looks like I got an early Christmas. I was planning to do a GU10 LED hood for my small frag/grow-out tank and I got all the parts. Hoping to finish before Christmas. I got 5 blue (3x1W) LEDs 5 cool white (3x1W) LEDs and 10 GU10 holders. These LEDs are 110V. There are pros and cons when you compare this with a regular high power LEDs (Cree, Bridgelux, rebel etc). Pros: Cheap can run on AC 110V easy to swap out if need arise Cons: Non-dimmable, but can run on timers Risk with electricity optics built in (modification may cost more and defeat the whole idea of doing it cheap) Photo 1: white and blue LEDs and GU10 holders Photo 2: Wood for the hood is all routed out from 1x4 pine Photo 3: This is how the hood going to look like when assembled. roughly 6"x14" Link to comment
MiReef Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Progress I already have the hood running but here how I did it step by step. Photo 1: Top plate painted black Photo 2: All the GU10 holders laid out Photo 3: Wired half-way (I soldered them and use shrink tubes. This way it is cleaner and less trouble with short-circuits Link to comment
MiReef Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Progress 2 Here all the parts assembled with the box Photo 1: Box part assembled and painted Photo 2: All wired and there are 2 strings for white and blue Photo 3: Box attached Photo 4: another view of the box Photo 5: All LEDs are installed Link to comment
MiReef Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 Progress 3 Last few pictures: I was impatient so you can see some paint run-offs that need to be sanded down in the future. May be for the next one I'll use ABS or acrylic for the box so that I don't need to worry about painting. One regret: It looks like white is over-powering and need to swap-out two whites with blue. But for the moment I am happy with the outcome. After about two weeks I'll have 7blue+3white but for the moment it is 5blue+5white. Link to comment
Davjo Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Hi. Happy New Year! Looks good. Considering something similar myself soon. What size tank do you have? How far above tank is the unit? How much space between your bulbs? Cheers Dave Link to comment
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