Couple of questions about lighting..

Rachel.Cody

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 2, 2014
1,215
20
38
Ohio
So I got an idea today being I need some more light for my planted tank. I bought two 12" LED dual row light bars for my truck that I no longer use. They are BRIGHT. But with them being waterproof and having mounts i was thinking about making a light for my planted 75g tank. Im not sure if itll work or not because I know very little about household wiring. They have a positive and negative like most automotive wiring. I want to be able to put a dimmer on them if i can. But them being 12v is there any way for them to work in a standard household outlet? Idk what most household are, 110? If there is anyone that knows anything about this help would be great. Thank you.
 

Racersk

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2010
1,141
33
81
Covington
You will need a 'driver' for the LED's. This is just the industry term for a AC->DC power supply. There are tons of these available, but what YOU need to do is this...

Find out what the amp draw of your automotive LEDS are. Guessing 5-7amps.

Then go to any electronics store and ask to look through the 12V power supplies.- find one with a 12VDC output and has enough amperage to push the lights.

X2 things to note...

1-these are automotive lights-ie car on and charging = 14VDC so the lights might not look as bright as compared to when on the car with the engine on.

2-they usually have a beam pattern that doesn't blind oncomers- you may have to suspend your lights off the tank for proper coverage


Side note- these get hot, they are designed to be used on a moving vehicle. So again suspend them somehow off your tanks glass lids- or it will crack (worst case) or evaporate water as it touches the glass causing it to frost over- both suck.




Now you know what's up- check out my HID lighting on my saltwater nano tank- uses an H4 HID bulb/ballast from a car kit, and a old scrapped computer power supply!

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Rachel.Cody

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 2, 2014
1,215
20
38
Ohio
I have a couple spare hid kits laying around too. The leds are flood pattern so, offroad use only. Sound like a lot of trouble to me lol. Maybe i wont be doing it lol.
 
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