GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)

[spoinkster]

I ordered a fair amount of these things (now just a matter of getting to the post office while they are open to pick some of them up) I would really like to see some pics of what everyone is doing with them. I am going to attempt to retro a BC29 hood with them (if possible) and maybe a cross flow fan? At either rate, once I figure it out, count on pics being uploaded.

 

Big props to TinyGiant for starting this bandwagon!

[Philip271]

Dear all,

 

I have a tank which is 100cm x 70cm x 50cm (50cm is the height of the tank, about 47cm of water).

How many bulbs would you recommend, and where can I buy them?

thanks in advance!

 

Vinz, rule of thumb... one of these bulbs covers about a 4"x4" square (10cmx10cm). so if you want to cover every part of your tank, you'll need about 30. BUT! if there are areas where you won't have coral and just sand, you can use fewer.

 

A lot of people worry about the "spot light/Laser beam" effect... but these are in fact mini-spot lights. use a little creativity and they will do the job. Go on youtube and look for some amazing Japanese tanks lit with LED spot lights. It'll blow you away how good spot lighting can make corals look.

 

Phil.

[RedStang]

I ordered a fair amount of these things (now just a matter of getting to the post office while they are open to pick some of them up) I would really like to see some pics of what everyone is doing with them. I am going to attempt to retro a BC29 hood with them (if possible) and maybe a cross flow fan? At either rate, once I figure it out, count on pics being uploaded.

 

Big props to TinyGiant for starting this bandwagon!

 

Please update as you progress! I also have a BC29 and am thinking of retrofitting into the hood.

[Lucas in alaska]

Tiny,

 

Can you tell us your experience about not using optics. Does it really cut down on light? How is the quality of light without optics?

 

Thanks

[Philip271]

this should be common sense... with optics, the light is focused/stronger. w/out lens, the light is spread over a much larger area with much less intensity.

[vinz369]

Vinz, rule of thumb... one of these bulbs covers about a 4"x4" square (10cmx10cm). so if you want to cover every part of your tank, you'll need about 30. BUT! if there are areas where you won't have coral and just sand, you can use fewer.

 

A lot of people worry about the "spot light/Laser beam" effect... but these are in fact mini-spot lights. use a little creativity and they will do the job. Go on youtube and look for some amazing Japanese tanks lit with LED spot lights. It'll blow you away how good spot lighting can make corals look.

 

Phil.

 

Phil, thank you for your reply. However if they do cover 10x10cm and my tank is 100x70cm, I guess I would need something close to 70 units instead as 30 as you said, no? Also, I saw some of those spot light are 3x3w, some others 3x1w, and even some different ones. Which one do you talk about, and where did you buy them please? (link?)

[Philip271]

doh, yeah, my math was way off. I did write down 10x7... how I got 30 instead of 70... couldn't tell ya lol. most people use either the 3x1w or 4x1w bulbs here, myself included.

 

we buy them on ebay. search for "gu10 3w blue" "gu10 3w cool" "gu10 4w blue" etc.

 

4w blue bulb from LED-HK

 

70 for your tank would be over kill and too many. maybe figure out only the space your corals take up then figure out how many bulbs you need. 30 maybe all you need.

[vinz369]

Ok, thank you, I'll look at it.

Last question, when you say it covers 10x10cm, what's the distance you choose between the bulb and the water?

[michelleshusband]

Ok, thank you, I'll look at it.

Last question, when you say it covers 10x10cm, what's the distance you choose between the bulb and the water?

 

hey, i recommend you buy 2 bulbs (blue and white) with some sockets. this will cost you about 12 to 15 dollars if you find decent sellers on ebay. the wait will suck (about 2 weeks but sometimes faster). test it out yourself and make the full purchase of 30 to 70 bulbs. if you dont like the initial bulbs you purchased, you can easily sell them here to who ever needs extra. I'd recommend buying 4x1w because that seems like the trend and would be easiler to sell.

 

FYI, i've found some sellers selling dimmables and customizable bulbs (2 white and 2 blue in one bulb, dimmable). forgot the seller you should ask Neya cause shes a pro at finding hot deals. they go for little more.

 

forget what other people say, you should be the judge of the quality of anything.

 

i've tested 2 bulbs and bought more because i loved these bulbs. they are easy to install and modify and cheap. growth is actually happening in my tank for the first time. its probably the product of new efficient lights and vast knowledge i obtained from this wonderful site full of helpful people just wanting to help you not torture these little sea creatures you are going to buy from LFS or online.

 

Only thing i would really appreciate is par reading on these bulbs.

damn 1 in the morning and i'm blabbing too much. Good nite people. happy reefing.

[Philip271]

just looked at a few of the bulbs i have... holding the bulb 24" (60cm) above my table:

 

3x1w 30 degrees optics covered ~4x4" (10x10cm)

3x1w 60 degrees optics covered ~10x10" (25x25cm)

4x1w 30 degrees optics covered an area on the table about 6x6" (15x15cm).

 

the light spot from the led with 30 degrees lens are brighter... but the light from the 3x1w 60 degrees bulb still look pretty bright!

 

so it looks like you can probably get away fewer than 30 LEDs for your tank if you get 4x1w bulbs with 60 degrees optics.

 

edit: noticed these numbers are different than what i show in the photos posted later... I was only really looking at the "hot spots" here and I had a floor lamp on in the room at the time.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Philip271

[Lucas in alaska]

Philip271,

 

That is very useful info. Thank you.

 

I'm thinking for my 40B I will go with the 20 4x1 and 60 degree optics. 10 whites and 10 blues with either 2 rows of 10 or 3 rows 7, 6, 7. I'll have to map it out.

[vinz369]

thanks phil for your tests and I think I'll have to do as michelleshusband said, buy some bulbs and test it over my nano first.

 

From your tests phil I would say a 4W 60° optics would be very nice, and this with a mix 2white/2blue would be perfect!!

[Philip271]

happy to help. but yeah, the best way to know what you'll need is to order a couple bulbs. depending on the seller, the bulbs might be slightly different. biggest pain is the 2-3 week wait. yuck.

 

i have an order for some 60 degrees lens coming from LED-HK next week or so. will see how well they change the spread on the 4x1w bulbs.

 

in terms of the blue to white ratio, i currently run equal number of blue and white bulbs. the mix is a very nice crisp white light. but if I could, I'd go with 3 blues to 2 cool whites to get better colors from the corals.

 

I would not use a bulb with mixed blue and whites built in together. you won't have the ability to turn the blues or whites on/off independently and you won't see the awesome neon colors of your corals under blue light only.

[Neya]

I would not use a bulb with mixed blue and whites built in together. you won't have the ability to turn the blues or whites on/off independently and you won't see the awesome neon colors of your corals under blue light only.

 

I use 2b 1w mixed bulbs. Although not for everyone, I have no

Plans on individually timing, or dimming with dimmables.

The amount of "neon pop" in everything is insane, and the tank is much bluer then my 3 blue+ 1 12k t5 but without being overly(not windexed or washed out) so. Since I chose a neutral white for the whites reds, oranges, and pinks pop awesome too. I noticed last night when I placed my green lighter next to the tank it glowed as if under a black light.

 

I'm beyond happy with the color. Although for some it may be too blue.

[vinz369]

Neya, it is very interesting. Could you put a link towards the ebay seller you bought your mixed bulbs from?

I am in contact with some of them, but if you're already happy with one, that could save me some time...

 

would you also have a link toward some pictures of your tank under those LEDs?

[Giga]

are the blue light royal blue or just blue?

[vinz369]

Those lights are said to be dimmable. but does someone know how to make the dimmable part programmable so I can start my light at 12am for instance and make it go from 0 to 100% in one hour?

 

I saw a lot of dimmer on ebay but they need someone input to move a potentiometer, and I don't know how to make it automatic.

[MGDMIRAGE]

are the blue light royal blue or just blue?

 

Never saw one of the Royal Blue lights in person but the blue on these lights just makes the corals explode with color.

[Neya]

are the blue light royal blue or just blue?

 

I've heard that Chinese blues are closer to Cree RB then B. Again this is only what I've heard and I have not personally compared them side by side.

[Philip271]

alrighty, the 60 degrees lens from LED-HK came today along with some 5x1w bulbs w/ 60 degree lens I asked them to make me:

 

compared with the 4x1w on the right, the 5x1w bulb has a larger heat sink:

 

 

Here are the lens side by side. 60 degree on the left, 30 degree from the 4x1w on right:

 

Inside of a 5x1w cool white bulb:

 

Some beam shots. all bulbs are placed 22" above the cutting mat. grid on mat are 1 inch squares. camera at the same height with same settings for all shots below. all bulbs are cool whites. no other lights on in the room.

 

Let's start with good old 3x1w 30degrees:

 

now 4x1w 30degrees:

 

4x1w with 60degree lens:

 

and lastly the 5x1w 60degree lens:

 

The 60 degree lens were $1 each. the 5x1w 60 degree bulbs were $8 each. same price for blues and cool whites. prices included shipping.

 

Phil.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Philip271

[Lucas in alaska]

Phil.

 

WOW!!!

 

Thanks for the update and taking the time to post your findings.

 

Figuring the per bulb price it is cheaper to get the 5x1 bulbs if your going with the 60 degree lenses.

[vinz369]

Very interesting comparison Phill. I see two things I was not really expecting.

If we compare the two first pictures (in 30° optics) it looks like the 3x1w is brighter than the 4x1w and that its footprint is also larger. I would be expecting the contrary since the 4x1w is supposed to me more powerfull.

 

If we compare the third and fourth pics, the 4x1w looks brighter but this time I guess it is due to a narrower footprint with respect to the 5x1w. However the 5x1w doesn't look so bright, but it is going in the same direction of what I saw looking at the specs on ebay. The seller usually indicates a lower efficiency (lm/w) for the 5x1w than for a 3x1w for instance. Maybe, the heatsink, even if it is bigger, is not big enough to dissipate the supplement of heat and the efficiency of the led decrease? Did you try to touch both bulbs to see if one is hotter than the other?

 

It is also interesting to see that with wider optics, the light looks whiter than with the 30° optics.

 

Do you see what I mean? did you make the same conclusions based on your pics?

[afboundguy]

Well I ordered 16 total for my 25 gallon cube with a 18"x20" footprint and finally got them after about a 4+ week wait I orderd from LED-HK and his communication was pretty good... My only gripe is I asked for 3x1W bulbs but got 1x3W bulbs... Not the end of the world but kind of annoying but I wasn't going to wait another possible 2 months to ship them back and wait for the new ones as I needed to get my downsizing swap done sooner rather than later...

 

I do have a few negatives so far in the first month of having them. First is that that the coloring of my corals aren't quite there yet. I'm hopefull they just need more time to adjust as they were under T5's (2 ATI blue + and 2 ATI aquablues) before and this is probably a lot more light. The SPS are a little browned out and some of my acans have lost their vibrant colors.

 

The bulbs are currently about 12" from the water surface and I'm slowely acclimating the corals to the lights. I started out with a 3 hour photoperiod the first week and now 2-3 weeks later I'm at about 5 or 6 hours... Plan is to end around the 11-12 hour photoperiod...

 

Second is the coloring... It's not quite as blue as my old setup of T5's. I went with a 8/8 mix of cool white and blue and the tank has a small tinge of purple to it; it's not horrible just not exactly what I want. It's good enough for now though. In the future I might get a few more blues to exchange for some of the cool whites...

 

Last thing I would like to touch on is the patern I used with them... I have four rows of 4 like this

(back)

B W B W

W B W B

B W B W

W B W B

 

I have two powerheads in the back of the tank on a wavemaker and something that bugs me a little is that the left powerhead is under a blue LED and the right one is under a white LED so it just looks weird to me (what can I say I like symmetry )

 

So any thoughts on doing the following?

B B B B

W W W W

B B B B

W W W W

This is more to how my T5's were set up... I'm probably at least going to try it to see how it looks... My only main hesitation is that the SPS that are mainly in the middle of the tank wouldn't get much blue light... FWIW I have the 30 degree optics...

 

When I get a chance in the next few days I'll snap some pictures of the setup but I basically took two extention cords, cut the wire down the middle and used those plastic splicer connectors and then used white duct tape to make it look not as ghetto fabulous I then screwed the GU10 sockets into the canopy with a few washers to make them level...

Edited July 30, 2011 by afboundguy

[Philip271]

Vinz, the output of the 5x1w is pretty much what I expected. I find the spread of the light with the 60 degree lens is pretty even. it is brighter than the 4x1w... but the difference isn't huge of course since it's just adding one more led.

 

The difference between the 3x1w and the 4x1w is pretty obvious... i don't see how you think the 3x1w is brighter with larger footprint... *shrug*

 

Afb, surprised to hear it took 4weeks and that they sent you the wrong config bulb. The 4 orders I've placed with them all arrived in 12-14 days.

 

You'll get better colors with more blues obviously. 3blue:2whites is a good ratio. if you want more color, go 2blue:1white. Do you have the blues and whites on separate circuits? I can't imagine your acans not look more vibrant under just the blues. hmm...

 

Phil.

[vinz369]

The difference between the 3x1w and the 4x1w is pretty obvious... i don't see how you think the 3x1w is brighter with larger footprint... *shrug*

looking at your pics, it looks like the 3x1w has got a larger footprint. Look at the first pic you posted, for the 3x1w we can clearly read number 1 and 2 on your cutting grid while for the second pic, it is completely in the shadow. Also the center of the grid is brighter.

That is what makes me say that the 3x1w looks brighter, but maybe it is only that you inverted the two pics?