DIY Perfect-A-Hood Moonlight Mod
- Thread starter DarkSoul
- Start date
Great job. Not bad for what appears to be some spare parts, a liter of coke, and a pack of smokes.
exactly..... except i didnt actually smoke the entire pack lol.
the LEDs I had, I purchased them for $9.99 Shipped for 50, from ebay, the wire was some IDE cable I had around, the relay was a leftover from a previous project, and the wire was cut from an old broken lamp.... which included a switch, so it allows me to shut the LEDs off seperatly.
DS,
Nice work here! I too am looking into installing a Moonlight set-up into my custom light hood, but I think you can save me some time and effort here!
Before reading into resitors and teaching myself the intracies of power conversions for LEDs, could you offer me a few suggestions into what would be required for the transistor/resitor(?) please?
I have a cutom hood (48"x8"x8") made out of Popular with a 96W compact florescent (36") and 2 16W compact flourescents at each end over my 90G.
I have plenty of room available, but I'm unsure as to what I would need for the LEDs and also too, how many would you suggest?
Thanks!!!
P.S.
Mine wont look anywhere near as neat!
Nice work here! I too am looking into installing a Moonlight set-up into my custom light hood, but I think you can save me some time and effort here!
Before reading into resitors and teaching myself the intracies of power conversions for LEDs, could you offer me a few suggestions into what would be required for the transistor/resitor(?) please?
I have a cutom hood (48"x8"x8") made out of Popular with a 96W compact florescent (36") and 2 16W compact flourescents at each end over my 90G.
I have plenty of room available, but I'm unsure as to what I would need for the LEDs and also too, how many would you suggest?
Thanks!!!
P.S.
Mine wont look anywhere near as neat!
well, mine was a little more complicated simply because I had to use one resistor per LED, and thats only because the LEDs i bought came with the resistors free(link in sig) but you can easily wire up LEDs in an array and use fewer resistors.
here is a link to a calculator that will give you a wiring diagram, in 3 different formats, and tell you what resistors you need for that array.... its pretty sweet.
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
the LED is reffered to as a diode, since it is one. voltage is typically 3.6V @ 20mA for blue LEDs, but the specs for the ones in my sig are listed on their page.
Here is a link to some resistor colour code charts.
http://www.diyguitarist.com/Images/ResistorColorCodes.jpg
http://www.pc-control.co.uk/resistor_code.htm
I used 5 LEDs in my 24" fixture, but they are shaded by the bulbs, and center brace. they were rather bright if left unblocked. Maybe not too bright, but Id rather be safe than sorry. Now that they are blocked by the bulbs, it provides what I believe to be the perfect amount of moonlight.
I would use 5 in your hood as well, spaced out evenly across the distance. Get a piece of plexiglass that you can put inside the hood, and drill the holes in it to mount the leds.
then I would suggest getting another piece, the same size and length, and giving it a good roughing up with some sand paper, and either placing it directly under your array, or even glue it to the pice holding the array with some clear glue, or a few spots of krazy glue.
A relay isnt needed, i simply did it so I wouldnt have to turn on/off multiple switches. if there was a timer built into my hood, or if I rewired the master plug to use some 14/3 wire, I could have set it up to have both circuits run off of one plug. you would need to get inside the timer though, and do some rewiring in there. If your interested in doing that I can tell you what you would need to do.
Purchasing a coralife aqualight digital timer has defeated the purpose of having a relay, and taken the hassle out of turning two things on/off.
and even that could be modified to fit inside of a hood with enough room ..... i like to take everything apart.
here is a link to a calculator that will give you a wiring diagram, in 3 different formats, and tell you what resistors you need for that array.... its pretty sweet.
http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
the LED is reffered to as a diode, since it is one. voltage is typically 3.6V @ 20mA for blue LEDs, but the specs for the ones in my sig are listed on their page.
Here is a link to some resistor colour code charts.
http://www.diyguitarist.com/Images/ResistorColorCodes.jpg
http://www.pc-control.co.uk/resistor_code.htm
I used 5 LEDs in my 24" fixture, but they are shaded by the bulbs, and center brace. they were rather bright if left unblocked. Maybe not too bright, but Id rather be safe than sorry. Now that they are blocked by the bulbs, it provides what I believe to be the perfect amount of moonlight.
I would use 5 in your hood as well, spaced out evenly across the distance. Get a piece of plexiglass that you can put inside the hood, and drill the holes in it to mount the leds.
then I would suggest getting another piece, the same size and length, and giving it a good roughing up with some sand paper, and either placing it directly under your array, or even glue it to the pice holding the array with some clear glue, or a few spots of krazy glue.
A relay isnt needed, i simply did it so I wouldnt have to turn on/off multiple switches. if there was a timer built into my hood, or if I rewired the master plug to use some 14/3 wire, I could have set it up to have both circuits run off of one plug. you would need to get inside the timer though, and do some rewiring in there. If your interested in doing that I can tell you what you would need to do.
Purchasing a coralife aqualight digital timer has defeated the purpose of having a relay, and taken the hassle out of turning two things on/off.
and even that could be modified to fit inside of a hood with enough room
..... i like to take everything apart.
Awesome! Thanks DS...Still reading
I'll keep you posted how things work out.
One more question: How do I rectify the conversion from AC to DC power (running this off of a standard 120V outlet)?
Thanks again Bro.
I'll keep you posted how things work out.
One more question: How do I rectify the conversion from AC to DC power (running this off of a standard 120V outlet)?
Thanks again Bro.
Last edited:
if you notice, what I did with mine was simply take apart a regular wall adapter, and stuff it inside the fixture. taking it apart was a real pain, but some come apart easier. Since they are usually just a coil, and a small circuit board you can usually throw them against the wall, or drop them on the floor without causing damage to the internal components.
Even if the circuit board breaks off of the coil, most times there is enough wire left to solder it back on.
Alternatively there are quite a few plans available to make a transformer on your own if you have a good electronics source to get the proper coil, PCB and the few components it takes to make one. Using a bridge rectifier will eliminate the need for a coil(I think) and save space.... Ill have to look into that again.
The plans are usually fairly simple, a bridge rectifier, a few diodes, and a resistor or two will get you from 120VAC to 12VDC.
using a 3.6V adapter will eliminate the need for resistors on the LEDs/array.
You can also make the LEDs brighter or dimmer based on how much current you push through them. Ive read before that a small increase in current will increase the output drastically, but ive yet to try it myself.
There is also a calculator available somewhere that will tell you how much current you need to overdrive your LEDs.... this does shorten the lifespan, and you need the voltage/performence curve provided by the LED manufacturer in order to determine the maximum current you can push through them before they simply blow.
30mA is usually the max, but your LEDs may not last long..... it will be hella bright though.
Even if the circuit board breaks off of the coil, most times there is enough wire left to solder it back on.
Alternatively there are quite a few plans available to make a transformer on your own if you have a good electronics source to get the proper coil, PCB and the few components it takes to make one. Using a bridge rectifier will eliminate the need for a coil(I think) and save space.... Ill have to look into that again.
The plans are usually fairly simple, a bridge rectifier, a few diodes, and a resistor or two will get you from 120VAC to 12VDC.
using a 3.6V adapter will eliminate the need for resistors on the LEDs/array.
You can also make the LEDs brighter or dimmer based on how much current you push through them. Ive read before that a small increase in current will increase the output drastically, but ive yet to try it myself.
There is also a calculator available somewhere that will tell you how much current you need to overdrive your LEDs.... this does shorten the lifespan, and you need the voltage/performence curve provided by the LED manufacturer in order to determine the maximum current you can push through them before they simply blow.
30mA is usually the max, but your LEDs may not last long..... it will be hella bright though.
Nice job! Do you have pics of it set up on top of the tank? I want to see the fruits of your labor.
Could you still use a timer or would it just make both the main lights and leds shut off? Any links on how to make your own digital timers?
Could you still use a timer or would it just make both the main lights and leds shut off? Any links on how to make your own digital timers?
I dont have links, but there are many plans for digital timers out there.
the only reason this has 2 plugs is because I DIDNT build a timer into the hood. I would need to bypass the timer for the LEDs. so yes you can still use a timer, the main light plugs into the timer, the LED cord plugs into another untimed outlet.
sorry no pics of it, because I ended up cutting slots in the lid, and using my 36" fixture off my 50g hood. it fits perfectly on the existing lid because its perfecto, but spans the entire length of the tank. a couple of notches were all that was needed to allow the other 3" of fixture to shine light through
the only reason this has 2 plugs is because I DIDNT build a timer into the hood. I would need to bypass the timer for the LEDs. so yes you can still use a timer, the main light plugs into the timer, the LED cord plugs into another untimed outlet.
sorry no pics of it, because I ended up cutting slots in the lid, and using my 36" fixture off my 50g hood. it fits perfectly on the existing lid because its perfecto, but spans the entire length of the tank. a couple of notches were all that was needed to allow the other 3" of fixture to shine light through
