GU10 LED Build Thread (Chinese Ebay Lights)

[TinyGiant]

Cool setup, how large is that? You call it a frag display, not a frag tank...is it used solely for photographing?

 

I sent luckzdl a message asking about the 50/50's and getting them with 60 degree optics and when they would be able to ship.

 

the tank is for a frag farmers market i sell at in CT in march..

 

The tank is big enough to display about 150 frags at a time

 

 

the tank is 30x6.5x6.5 i think its about 5 gallons or so

[babboa]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes, the purples were gu10 bulbs. I had him make 2blue:1purp bulbs but his purple LEDs were very very dim plus the 2blues were over powering the purple through the optics inside the bulb. I did not notice any purple with 3 of these bulbs under 30degree optics in my tank. He went on and on about his purples being dim and expensive because they are better quality than other seller's purple LEDs. After a few emails he gave me a 4.5% refund. Also, his purple LEDs were only 395nm-405nm. Maybe 2purple 1red bulbs would be better or all purple. Not one purple.

Thanks for the perspective chino. I may take the plunge because as someone else already pointed out, purples always tend to look dimmer to the naked eye but still provide some serious PAR. I'm thinking about getting him to work up a 2purple/1 red bulb and/or a 1G/1CW/1RB or maybe just one 1g/1p/1r with optics off and making a sort of full spectrum cluster by including these with several RB/CW bulbs.

[--chris--]

Anyone have a suggestion for how far the bulb tip should be from water surface? Im using 60 degree optics, and i wanted to make the canopy before the bulbs get here. I was think 8" from bulb tip to surface. Too much?

[ChouDawg]

Depends on your layout and your tank dimensions. You can calculate the light dispersion using simple geometry by drawing a triangle and solving for the missing sides using Sine/Cosine/Tangent, mcarroll explained this I think a few pages back. With 60' optics you'd draw a line down from the center of your bulb to the water surface (this is your unknown) then left to the wall of your tank (known) then diagonally back up to the bulb. The angle from the bulb down to the water is 30' for 60' optics, 15' for 30' optics and so on. Using the equation:

 

Tangent(Angle Degrees/Radians) = Known Distance To Tank Side / Unknown Bulb To Water Height

 

Leading you to...

 

Unknown Bulb To Water Height = Known Distance To Tank Side / Tan(Angle Degrees/Radians).

 

This will give you a value in whatever units you measured the distance to the side in. Also keep in mind this would be for a bulb smack center in the tank which we know isn't true since each bulb has 3 LEDs on it and most people are running row/cube configurations but its a good starting point. For my 12" cube I calculated 60' optics to be about 10" from the water line.

[Chino]

Thanks for the perspective chino. I may take the plunge because as someone else already pointed out, purples always tend to look dimmer to the naked eye but still provide some serious PAR. I'm thinking about getting him to work up a 2purple/1 red bulb and/or a 1G/1CW/1RB or maybe just one 1g/1p/1r with optics off and making a sort of full spectrum cluster by including these with several RB/CW bulbs.

 

Not a prob. Im interested in these combos that you mentioned. I've been comtemplating on getting him to do a few 2r/1rb for the purple look that I've been aiming for but this leaves no room for green. Maybe I should be more focused on spectrum then "look". Decisions decisions. As indecisive as I am, I may never go through with this at all. I guess since it takes so long for him to ship it leaves me trying to perfect my order. The first two times I ordered it took 2-3 weeks to receive. This last time around with the purples/blues it only took 8 days. It would be nice if he had the 4X1w bulbs so we can get that 1 extra color in each bulb. I'll let you know what I decide. Right now Im in need of a few rb/cw bulbs so I'll be making another order for sure.

[Chino]

Purple/Ultra Violet/Hyper Violet/True Violet and all the other names for this type of LED are naturally going to "appear" dimmer to the naked eye because of the spectrum they emit. Blues and whites will always overpower purples because of this but the PAR the purples put out is still there. Also, depending on the source they should be driven between 500-700mA max...I think the GU10 drivers run at 700mA or something close to that so depending on what LEDs you got and their rating you may be over driving them.

 

 

Thank for clearing that up for me. I guess I'll keep the 2rb/1p bulbs over my tank to see how things go. Might as well since I paid for them. I shouldve went 2p/1rb or just all purple with 60 optics.

[--chris--]

Coming along...

 

Bulbs are not here yet though.

[bazr57]

hey guys, I was hoping you could help me out really quick. I just found this thread and want to build a light for my 5.5 nano. I have read through as many of the 72 pages as i could in the past 2 ish hours but I wanted to make sure i have the right idea before i order parts.

 

since its a 5.5 i should do 16/2 = 8 -1 so 7 bulbs I have a built in filter section so I was thinking 6 bulbs. so i would need 6 sockets. then i would just need 6 bulbs also, which is where i am getting confused now because of the amount of different bulbs i have read about through this thread. would i be able to grow sps if I got 6 of the 2 blue 1 white bulbs (most recent you guys have been talking about)

 

these ones:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-GU10-3Watt-1pc-White-2-Blue-Led-3x1W-Epistar-3W-Led-Bulb-Tank-/271159423293?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f225c713d

 

or would that not have enough white?

 

and if i am getting them for a 5.5 i should stick with the 30* optics correct? so just that stock bulb?

 

after that i would just need sockets, which I think these ones would work (below)

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Hot-sale-GU10-Socket-base-led-bulb-halogen-Lamp-light-holder-Wire-Connector-/251229026217?

pt=US_Lighting_Parts_and_Accessories&hash=item3a7e6ab7a9

 

Once have both of those in from china i would just need to wire them together and make something for them to hang in and have them about a foot above my tank correct?

 

 

 

I'm really sorry if this message doesn't make sense its about 2:30am

 

 

Thank you so much!

[--chris--]

i believe the blue leds have considerably more par than the neutral white bulbs did. im using all 2:1 bulbs like a few others are for the color and par.

[Hank's Tank]

My first post on nano-reef, but I just had to say thank you to everyone on this thread. I recently set up my new tank, and after freaking out about the cost of lighting, I came across this thread. For about $100 I built an 11 bulb (2rb/1w, 60 degree optics) fixture for my 30gal tall, and I freaking love it. Eventually I'd love to have a second bank and also try to go full spec., but as a start, it's the tops. Thanks everyone for your recommendations! I'll continue to follow along and hope that some of you figure out some good bulb combinations with red and purple bulbs. Thanks again!

[--chris--]

My first post on nano-reef, but I just had to say thank you to everyone on this thread. I recently set up my new tank, and after freaking out about the cost of lighting, I came across this thread. For about $100 I built an 11 bulb (2rb/1w, 60 degree optics) fixture for my 30gal tall, and I freaking love it. Eventually I'd love to have a second bank and also try to go full spec., but as a start, it's the tops. Thanks everyone for your recommendations! I'll continue to follow along and hope that some of you figure out some good bulb combinations with red and purple bulbs. Thanks again!

 

Very cool man, its nice to hear someone benefited from this thread.

 

Pics?

[TinyGiant]

a local paper did a video interview and an article the other day on me and the club that i started a couple years back ..

 

check it out

 

the video is on the right above the pictures. most of the video shot is of my tank and things in it. Some parts are actually from the camera mans tank

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=51294b2b0210fdc085eba195da0a018e&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nano-reef.com%2Ftopic%2F322254-news-paper-did-an-article-on-the-reef-club-i-run%2F&v=1&libid=1362584155742&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nashuatelegraph.com%2Fliving%2Fsundaymagazine%2F995571-469%2Fif-youre-growing-coral-in-a-saltwater.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nano-reef.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsearch%26do%3Duser_activity%26mid%3D52381&title=News%20Paper%20did%20an%20article%20on%20the%20Reef%20Club%20I%20run!%20-%20General%20Discussion%20-%20Nano-Reef.com%20Forums&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nashuatel...-saltwater.html&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13625841585652

[--chris--]

a local paper did a video interview and an article the other day on me and the club that i started a couple years back ..

 

check it out

 

the video is on the right above the pictures. most of the video shot is of my tank and things in it. Some parts are actually from the camera mans tank

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=51294b2b0210fdc085eba195da0a018e&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nano-reef.com%2Ftopic%2F322254-news-paper-did-an-article-on-the-reef-club-i-run%2F&v=1&libid=1362584155742&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nashuatelegraph.com%2Fliving%2Fsundaymagazine%2F995571-469%2Fif-youre-growing-coral-in-a-saltwater.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nano-reef.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsearch%26do%3Duser_activity%26mid%3D52381&title=News%20Paper%20did%20an%20article%20on%20the%20Reef%20Club%20I%20run!%20-%20General%20Discussion%20-%20Nano-Reef.com%20Forums&txt=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nashuatel...-saltwater.html&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13625841585652

 

That IS AWESOME! Well written to i must add.

[TinyGiant]

yeah it helps that the camera man is part of our club and the writer is a wicked science geek.. its nice when an article is actually written well.. last time we were in the paper they misquoted me on a few things.. stupid stuff like saying my mother currently owns a pet store.. when i told them my mother managed a store when i was a child.. which is what got me into reefing.. lol

 

but i agree this was well written.. the video made me feel like i was doing a national geographic episode

[--chris--]

yeah it helps that the camera man is part of our club and the writer is a wicked science geek.. its nice when an article is actually written well.. last time we were in the paper they misquoted me on a few things.. stupid stuff like saying my mother currently owns a pet store.. when i told them my mother managed a store when i was a child.. which is what got me into reefing.. lol

 

but i agree this was well written.. the video made me feel like i was doing a national geographic episode

 

lol.

 

I didnt watch the video yet (work).

 

Anyone else order some GU10's from Lucky and notice its taking a bit longer to get them now? Im going on 16 days sincethey shipped. Last time it took about 10 days.

[najluni15]

I ordered on 2/26 and it says expected delivery is 3/7. Do you know if they are usually delivered when it says? I remember last time I ordered they came quickly. I live in California so maybe they come faster. Idk

[najluni15]

Also in eBay it just says "china post" with a tracking number and estimated delivery march 7. Is that usually accurate? I have not received any other updates. Just china post

 

Actually I did a search on google for a tracking system and found it and my package will be at my house tomorrow. It's currently at the local post office. Just in time for me to complete my frag system build

[--chris--]

Well my wife called (i hear ratting noise in the background). She asks "whats in this box from china?" I said light bulbs, her: "oh, wow...ive been really shaking this up trying to figure out if you got me a surprise and what it is".

 

:/

 

 

At any rate, my bulbs are here!

[najluni15]

Haha. They seem to pack them well. At least when I ordered in the past.

[--chris--]

Bulbs look real nice.

 

Edit: the pic was supposed to be included in this post....ill post it later when I'm in front of a computer.

[mcarroll]

I wouldn't sweat the shipping times too much....depends totally on the timing of the slow-boats leaving for the 'States. I've heard they only depart once every two weeks or something....then it takes another week or three to get here. If you have bad luck on the timing, that's 5-6 weeks for a shipment. Shouldn't be very typical, BTW...but it can happen.

 

Just keep an eye on eBay's "buyer's protection" dates...heavy quotes there....the seller and Ebay both conned me into waiting past the dates on a problem order "to see what happens". After waiting exactly as long as they asked me to they wouldn't even open a case cuz the date was past. Fool me once...

 

On a related note I have been wondering if everyone but me knew that if you don't have a PayPal account and something happens to your order you're stuck (perhaps more accurately, s*r*w*d) dealing direct with the seller through eBay's message system? this is basically no recourse at all since they (ebay, paypal, seller, et al.) are apparently under no obligation to fulfill their order even when having been paid. ("Please wait" "Please find a local expert" these are things the seller replied with...LOL)

 

Even after jumping through hoops to find a way to get a phone number to call Ebay (they purposefully make it hard to reach them) was no help outside of wasting an astronomical amount of my time on the phone to do little more than try to sell me on a PayPal account (which I don't trust....now with very good reason).

 

Ultimately they (PayPal) told me to dispute the charge to my bank. Sad, sad policy...tells me they are too big to care and too deep into bed with China....customers are just fodder for the unscrupulous sellers. (Looks nice on their bottom line either way.) They should have at least offered to refund the fee they took from the bad sale. Bordering on a racket if you ask me.

 

Will have to ask ac-rc if they can sell through another medium......(shoot, they have a website of their own..just no LED's on it.)

 

Anyone else have other non-Ebay buying outlets they could recommend based on better customer service practices? (I know of many outlets....just looking for one who can take care of their customers when the predigested food product hits the air moving apparatus.)

 

-Matt

 

P.S. Just to be clear, the scheisty seller was not ac-rc or anyone I've seen mentioned on this thread. Ebay and PayPal are the main ****bags here.

[--chris--]

P.S. Just to be clear, the scheisty seller was not ac-rc or anyone I've seen mentioned on this thread. Ebay and PayPal are the main ****bags here.

 

Well duh! lol, sorry to be blunt i do feel your pain. I used to have a 4,000+ annual transaction business on ebay selling Chinese aquarium goods, but i gave up shortly after the 5th set of seller restrictions/reforms. When i was no longer able to leave negative feedback for ANY buyer even if they never paid for an item and left me negative feedback (and ebay wouldn't remove it)...i quit it. Plus they get almost 27% after fees. Not worth the hassle to make 20% profit. I was a dream seller on there. I didnt require goods to be shipped back if they were defective, i refunded money without an argument, i replaced goods at discounted S&H rates....

 

ive had a few people message me on there asking if i was going to list any items some time soon or asking if i had some specific things. I give them a one sentence summation of the above, and tell them sorry.

 

Anyways, back on topic...my GU10 setup over a 20 Long frag tank with 8" of "filtration" section. So 10 bulbs of the 2:1 RB:NW and 1 bulb of the WW for the fuge,

 

[Hank's Tank]

Very cool man, its nice to hear someone benefited from this thread.

 

Pics?

As always, not as good as in person, but here are a couple... Also, this was right after they were introduced to the tank; so, they weren't fully adjusted yet. I'll try to get one of the fixture lights soon.

[--chris--]

As always, not as good as in person, but here are a couple... Also, this was right after they were introduced to the tank; so, they weren't fully adjusted yet. I'll try to get one of the fixture lights soon.

 

Knowing what these look like in person makes it easier to understand the subtle differences in color in photos. Your pics are very close, id say better than mine above.

[TinyGiant]

I just finished modifying a hood for a biocube 14g today.

 

 

A person in the club i run had a hood for a 30B that i made for them least year. He got married and moved to an apartment that wouldnt allow larger tanks.. So he picked up a 14g BC and wanted to have the bulbs retrofitted to that hood.

 

 

So i had to bend and glue some acrylic to the hood to have it stand off enough so that the bulbs were safe from the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then i took all the optics off and JB welded the LED chips to the heatsinks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then i wired it up re installed the old Moon lights and finished it up. sits on the BC14 perfect and looks pretty sweet.

 

 

super bright with 12 gu12 without optics.

 

 

He's going to repaint the whole hood in flat black or possibly wrap the sizes in matte black vinyl..

 

i just had to mod the hood and do the wiring.