DIY Moonlight

[LoneStar]

I took apart my old moonlight setup and condensed them into this small box at work the other day. Very easy and cheap project for anyone to do. I am planning on making 3 more of these for my 75g project. You can buy the LED's and resistors on ebay.

lot of 10 LED's (http://cgi.ebay.com/10-DIY-Moonlight-LED-kits-Make-the-same-moon-light-save_W0QQitemZ7723460435QQihZ018QQcategoryZ46314QQ rdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)

lot of 20 LED's (http://cgi.ebay.com/20-DIY-Moonlight-LED-moon-lihg-in-1-kit-FREE-shipping_W0QQitemZ7726860994QQihZ018QQcategoryZ463 14QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/LoneStarSA/75g%20Build/moonlight1.jpg

With all the LED's in a tight pattern like this, it gives a nice circular pattern when aimed downward from the canopy.

[seamonkey2]

very nice

Jose

[SA-DSM]

Not sure what I missed from the link. But .99 for 10 or 12.99 for 20???????????????? :o

nevermind I figured it out.

[LoneStar]

The guy makes his money on shipping. The shipping for the .99 package is around $7. The shipping for the 12.99 package is free. So buy wisely ;)

[SA-DSM]

Yeah I realized that after I posted the message. With all the stuff that he sells in the auction what more do you need if you have bought from him before. I have never done anything like this before but I am really thinking about trying.

[LoneStar]

Well you need a 12v power supply. He has one in another for sale one of his auctions. 20 LED's w/ resistors, and 12v power supply. Its $15 with $10.50 for shipping. I think thats a little high for shipping. You can find a 12v power supply at Altex or possibly Radio Shack alot cheaper. Other than that you will need a soldering iron, wire, heat shrink, and a heat gun. That will get the electrical part done. Then its up to you on how/where you would like to mount the LED's. Before I had them mounted in some pvc but opted for the aluminum project boxes this time around.

20 LED's w/ 12v powersupply (http://cgi.ebay.com/20-DIY-LED-Moonlight-kit-Power-Supply-moon-lihgt-48_W0QQitemZ7740759172QQihZ018QQcategoryZ46314QQrd Z1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem)

[SA-DSM]

I will need to go to altex or the shack to check out how much a 12v power supply will be. I went to check what it said what I will need it seems the only thing that I have a question about is "hook up wire"? What type of wire will I need? Gauge? I do not want to start a fire. I know it will be near all the water but I would rather my fish not start smoking at such a young age.

[ratboy]

The diagram should give you specs on what output voltage your power supply should give you (ex 9v DC 100 mA) look around your house for old stuff you dont use that has power supplies - old cordless phones, answering machines, computer speakers, etc... The only ones I saw at radio shack were their 1 fits all with different little plugs and it was ~ 15$.
I made moonlights for my tank using cold cathode tubes and they lookewd great..
http://www.crazypc.com/products/8240B.html

[LoneStar]

the only thing that I have a question about is "hook up wire"? What type of wire will I need? Gauge?


I used 18 (Edit, I looked at the wire) gauge to run power into the box and for linking up each LED I used some old 24 gauge wire I had laying around. These things hardly draw any power and do not get hot. Prior to putting them into the box pictured above, I had them running 24/7 for over a year. Once I moved them into the smaller box I have had it plugged in since Monday with no heat or electrical issues.

[Hotrod32487]

Is wire wire? I have some old speaker wire laying around...can i use that? And does anyone have a link to a 12v power supply? I dont think i know exactly what to look for

[caferacermike]

Is wire wire? I have some old speaker wire laying around...can i use that? And does anyone have a link to a 12v power supply? I dont think i know exactly what to look for

Yes and no. Wire is wire. However the insulation is different. Typical electrical wiring has a much stronger insulator than speaker wire. Also speaker wire comes in many sizes. Is this 20g or 12g? There are some differences as many speaker wires have on copper and one aluminum wire. The main difference is that speaker wire is made of several strands. When I did a huge Rockford system in one of my cars my Rockford 8 gauge speaker wire had jillions of micro strands in it. Why? Ok don't quote me exact as I could have this backwards but as I recall, DC rides on the outside of the strand and DC is carried inside the strand. So having thousands of strands creates a lot of surface area for DC to travel on. Get it? So using heavily stranded wire could actually choke AC power and cause it to melt the wire like a fuse.

Would it work? Probably. But for $2 is it worth finding out? It would be safer to use it as your transformer to LED linkage than from the wall socket to the transformer.

[LoneStar]

Is wire wire? I have some old speaker wire laying around...can i use that? And does anyone have a link to a 12v power supply? I dont think i know exactly what to look for


I wouldn't use speaker wire. Use some 18 gauge stranded wire. Don't use solid strand. To hard to bend/move and could break. Plus its not necessary for this application. I used some old alarm grade wire. You can get some at Altex or possibly Home Depot or Lowes. The power adapter is from Altex. Not sure how much it was because it was 1.5 years ago since I bought one last. But I do know it was cheap.

The whole setup. The wire isn't coiled so it looks like a mess :roll I used the whole length of the power adapter and then just added wire to it by soldering on the 18 gauge orange wire. The wire I added is actually larger than the original on the adapter. To connect the LED box to the adapter, I just used Anderson brand connectors. I can't really say where I got those :innocent
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/LoneStarSA/75g%20Build/moonlight2.jpg

What is printed on the wire jacket.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/LoneStarSA/75g%20Build/moonlight3.jpg

The adapter I used.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/LoneStarSA/75g%20Build/moonlight4.jpg

I would highly recommend going to Altex to get everything. They have the wire, adapter, and heat shrink. They even have solder if you need some too. Altex seems to be the cheapest place in town for heat shrink. Don't ever buy any at Radio Shack. They really stick it to you on their price. ;)