DIY GU10 LED Build

[cdance]

Just wanted to start off my thanking TinyGiant for doing all of the research and sharing his experience in using these LED bulbs. Check out his thread here

 

This build is for a 24 gallon JBJ NanoCube. I had been running it for about 8 months using the stock PC lighting and was very displeased with it's performance. My coral wasn't growing, had horrible color, and I hated the inability to create a dawn/dusk effect.

 

Here's the tank pre-LED

 

So after reading TinyGiant's entire GU10 LED build thread I decided to take the plunge.

 

I ordered 13 of these GU10 bulbs from ebay seller led-hk. I was really pleased with his customer service and prompt shipping (It only took about 2 weeks from Hong Kong)

GU10 3W White Energy Saving Bulb

Colors: Cool White

Shell material: Aluminum, zinc metal alloy

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

Output power: 3.0W

Beam angle: 30degrees

Reflector efficiency: 90%

Light source: 3 x 1W high power LED

LED input current: 900mA

Color Temperature: 6000-7000K

Body temperature: <60°C

LED working temperature: <65°C

 

I ordered 6 cool white and 7 blue bulbs with 60 degree lenses. I was worried about getting a spotlighting effect with the 30 degree optics.

 

Also ordered sockets

and quick splice connectors

 

Went to home depot and got supplies to build the canopy for the lights and started to build.

(gluing)

(brackets)

 

Painted to match the stand

 

Now onto wiring the sockets and mounting them into the canopy. For a detailed how-to, check out TinyGiant’s post, the link is at the top of the post.

 

(photo stolen from TinyGiant)

 

silicone over the wire to waterproof

 

arranged in the canopy

 

 

So I didn’t end up using the quick splice connectors. I tried using them and wasn’t able to get good contact between the wires so I went with TinyGiant’s method.

 

I ordered some replacement legs for a CurrentUSA SunPod and heavily modified them to work on my canopy.

 

Ready to go!

 

Cool white only

Blue only

 

Moon light

I took the lens off the bulb for the moon light for a wider spread through the tank.

 

Final product

With a couple of custom cut pieces of acrylic from Tap Plastic

 

No coral yet so the results are to be determined. I love the way it looks and the dawn/dusk effect is amazing.

 

I'll continue updating once I start stocking.

[mini_matt]

Looking great! cant wait for my gu10 bulbs to come through from ledhk!

 

The new canopy looks really nice and the light is such a huge improvement i'm sure you will be happy once you get some corals in there! that blue is amazing!

[C.I._Reefer]

looks good, now go get some corals!

[jec11718]

How about a moonlight pic, a final tally of your costs, how are you getting a dusk/dawn effect???..... and a big ole slap on the back! for a job well done!

[eddiecorrea]

Pretty nice build. I am also thinking of a way to build a canopy to do a GU10 build. But my goal is sleek and most likely metal.

 

How deep is your canopy? Looks like it is pretty deep. How hot does it get inside it? Are you going to need a fan to keep the bulbs cool?

 

I feel like if you cut some of the canopy down it would keep it cooler. Only make the canopy deep enough so it goes about 1 inch past the end of the bulb when they are mounted. Maybe even a half inch.

 

Either way good build.