GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)

[SRGaudio]

How many of the ebay bulbs (1w) would I need over a 20 long? 5? 8?

 

If you want only softies, sure. I have 7 over my 10g frag tank. I would probably do 12-16 over a 20l

[MeepNand]

Dang. I was hoping to get by on 10 as I have a limited budget.

Back to DIY.

[SRGaudio]

Dang. I was hoping to get by on 10 as I have a limited budget.

Back to DIY.

 

Umm that will cost about $60 total... cheaper than ANY other DIY that will sustain corals.

Edited January 13, 2012 by SRGaudio

[TinyGiant]

yeah you can always start with a few and just buy enough sockets.. then as time goes on buy a new bulb here nd there.. thats what i did with my 55g. I would recommend 14on a 20L for it to be super bright and look even color wise. you'll be able to keep anything you want under that.

Edited January 13, 2012 by TinyGiant

[boxboy]

Nice I may start a 20l also, my 46 gal is going to get 20 gu10, or more if possable.. i already started to order bulbs

[SRGaudio]

I'm getting ready to move my 20l over to a 40b. I didnt like the dimensions as much as i though i would. 20l gonna be my new sump

Edited January 13, 2012 by SRGaudio

[TinyGiant]

nice. Just do two rows. I just built a hood for a 30B which is the same but shallower .. the buyer only had enough to start with 14 bulbs.. and he wanted them spread out .. so it was sorta unballanced looking.. so i def think going with the straight rows makes for a better blend.

[SRGaudio]

hey tiny, how much are you getting the sockets for nowadays? Cheapest i have been able to get em down to is $0.63 per socket, and that is bought in quantities of 10

 

 

I'm not complaining by any means, just curious.

Edited January 13, 2012 by SRGaudio

[TinyGiant]

i always buy my sockets from this seller http://www.ebay.com/itm/120715419790

 

they are in NY and ship really fast. And they now carry cool white GU10.

 

Last time i ordered i needed 12 bulbs. They only list in the groups of 10 so I asked if i could get a price for 12. They said they only sell them in groups of 10. So i mentioned that i've probably ordered over 150 of these sockets and asked if they could just give me two for free .. they did

 

can't beat the speed. Even it it might be a little more than other sellers who cares. they are nice and ship quick

[MeepNand]

So, will 10 support LPS and softies?

On a slightly related note, will duncans eat hermits or snails or starfish or cucumbers?

Edited January 13, 2012 by asid61

[SRGaudio]

So, will 10 support LPS and softies?

On a slightly related note, will duncans eat hermits or snails or starfish or cucumbers?

 

I would say so. and no duncans wont harm anything you dont want em to

[MeepNand]

Thanks; I have an extremely limited budget I.E. <$50

[SRGaudio]

Thanks; I have an extremely limited budget I.E. <$50

 

This x6

This x 5

This x 7

 

Total cost: $58.46

 

So, skip lunch one day, to cough up 8 more bux and have the best budget fixture you can find.

 

Though If it were me, i would buy a few extra sockets for future expansion, cuz they're cheap. And I just tend to add one or two bulbs every time i buy anything from ebay(which is all the time) until i get enough to build my next fixture

Edited January 13, 2012 by SRGaudio

[MeepNand]

Eh, I am 13. I have little income, plus I am leaving this school next year for high school and need everything to be low upkeep. Will 5 of the socket x2s, 5 white and 5 blue work? Or will 6 of each work better. I will only keep softies if it saves me a few bucks.

On a side note, do you know of any 700ma drivers that can support 6 3w leds?

Edited January 13, 2012 by asid61

[gjones]

Thanks for the input guys!

[Trogdor447]

Eh, I am 13. I have little income, plus I am leaving this school next year for high school and need everything to be low upkeep. Will 5 of the socket x2s, 5 white and 5 blue work? Or will 6 of each work better. I will only keep softies if it saves me a few bucks.

On a side note, do you know of any 700ma drivers that can support 6 3w leds?

 

 

on a side note - if you can only afford 50 dollars for the overall build.. where are you going to get your sps from? those will cost money as well.. Not to knock ya i respect it at 13, i mowed the hell out of lawns to have my toys.

[MeepNand]

Well, I make money slowly and I will not get sps (I tried to keep them and wasted $55 total), and my LFS sells corals at $20 or frags of leather/mushrooms for $10. I make $20 each week and that gives me enough money to buy a new coral/livestock each week.

The <$50 is just for lighting. I need to save as much money as possible, and that is my budget.

[TinyGiant]

you could start with putting lighting across the tank. and then just keep the corals on the side of the tank with the light.. then as you can order more lights. then you will be able to keep them all the way across the tank.

 

once you get some corals that grow you might talk the store into buying frags from you.. or trading. Thats how i built up my livestock.. i have over 70 varieties in my tank.. and i think i've only paid for maybe 5 or 6 of them

[MeepNand]

Thanks. I can get by with a few bulbs on the side of the tank with corals. One side will have a bucket of sand in it for sand crabs anyway.

[Jacob042426]

What should I do with these on a picotope? 3 blues and two whites?

[mcarroll]

TinyGiant:

 

As the foremost GU10 p1mp on the board, have you gotten a killAwatt to see what the actual power use on you 3w lights is?

 

I've looked around and only seen tests on different wattage lights.

 

Thanks again for pioneering this effort, BTW. Lotsa reefers saving money thx to you!

 

-Matt

[TinyGiant]

I dont have a kwm.. i should grab one though. would be interesting to see the results

[mcarroll]

I dont have a kwm.. i should grab one though. would be interesting to see the results

 

Totally - they're cheap and you'll be surprised how many things you'll be measuring (and maybe replacing if you're an efficiency nut at all...hahah).

 

They make several different models, but here's the basic model that I and most people have.

 

Strangely, I've never seen one for sale locally - only online. YMMV.

 

Those "9w" gu10's that they run at 6w got me to thinking about this. I bet those little housings can't radiate more than 6w or so of heat so they run big LEDs at less amps. Wondering if they actually run the 3w units you run at 3w. Also wondering if running the LEDs under their rated max watts - whether they're 3w or 1w - may do anything to extend/shorten their life.

 

-Matt

 

P.S. I noticed the other day that LED-HK's eBay store is totally cleaned out.

[mcarroll]

Another thought/question:

 

Specific optics don't seem to get a lot of emphasis. Wondering...with your standard seeming to be keeping the lights 10" above the water line, 30deg optics would give you about a 5.25" light column in the water. 60deg optics would give you closer to 11." column.

 

It seems that the bigger spread would allow for a lot better mixing of colors, but might also end up spilling more light over the edges of the tank as well.

 

Also makes me wonder about reflectance off the water surface and if there's any appreciable differrence in reflectance between blue and white or between optics.

 

Anything you've noticed in this regard? Are you running all 30deg optics now, or....?

 

 

Thanks again!

-Matt

Edited January 14, 2012 by mcarroll

[iball1804]

What should I do with these on a picotope? 3 blues and two whites?

That'll be fine. Maybe a little too much.