calvinci Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 hi, I am going to DIY moonlight with 4 blue LED. Plan to connect LED in series, so total volt would be 4 x 3.3v = 13.2v, then get an 12v DC adaptor to power it up, might connect a dimmer as well.. For this purpose, I need to use 470nm LED, is all blue LED 470nm? If not, how would I tell if it's 470nm? Link to comment
LEDSUPPLY Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 First of all, are you using Luxeons or 3-10mm LEDs. Second if you just hook up your LED's to a power supply like that might as well say good-bye to the how ever much money you spent on the LEDs. So, if you are looking to use LEDs you will need to buy a driver, a current regulator, or you can purchase a resister. Yes the Blue Luxeons have a 470nm typical wavelength, and no not all blue LEDs have a 470 nm wavelength. Most providers of quality LEDs will have a specification sheet that goes with them that will give the wavelength. Link to comment
MattGecko Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 Like LEDSUPPLY said..... Theres a lot more involved than just wiring them together. This link will help.......... http://www.kaotica.com/frag/diy/moonlight/ I bought a bunch the LED's in the link, If any wants to buy a few I'll sell them for $2ea. Otherwise you will have to buy $30 worth (minimum order). Matt Link to comment
LEDSUPPLY Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 It really all depends on how you hook the LEDs up. You do have to worry about the forward voltage drop of each LED no matter how you run them. You should always have a bit of extra voltage just to be safe because even thought the specifications of an LED say 3.6V they vary just a tiny bit. If you wanted to run say 2 blue 5mm LEDs with a forward voltage drop of 3.6V in series, you add up the total voltage, subtract that from your supply voltage, and divide that number by the current you want to supply to the LEDs. Lots of words, lets look at an example. We have 2 Blue LEDs with a 3.6V forward voltage drop for a total of 7.2V Power Source 9V 9V - 7.2V = 1.8V 1.8V / 30mA = 60 Ohms Hope this clears some things up. LED Supply www.ledsupply.com for all of your LED needs Link to comment
Spineless Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Unless this DYI lights are your thing, you can spend $12.00 at Hellolights.com for a turnkey coralife 1watt light.. Its what I have. And I have no complaints at all. Link to comment
stakx2002 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 If you guys want 470 nm leds I get them from www.aquamoonlight.com they sell for about .35 cents each and you get 50 for 17.50 A good way to make Moonlights with a 12v power supply and more than 3 leds is 3 leds in series then parallel them with as many other sets of leds you want. Also you only need one resistor if you use groups of the same amount. When putting leds in series think of them as one led. 3 leds in series look like 1 9volt led drawing 20 ma to your power supply. A good site for figuring your resistor is http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html Don't forget to check out www.aquamoonlight.com Link to comment
stakx2002 Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Ya definately check out www.aquamoonlight.com don't get ripped at these other places $1.75 per LED!!!!! Link to comment
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