DIY Blue LED lighting?

[canie808]

Nice work.

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[Inglorious]

Is there a radio shack nearby, they'll have everything you need

I finally got the blue LEDs today! I got all the materials except the white LEDs. I think I'm going to start building them tomorrow just so I can see how the blue LEDs look like. I'm so excited! I'll post pics once I get everything setup. I hope I don't screw up.

Just to double check, the list of items I need aside from those I ordered are:
- Soldering iron (What's this for?)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062758
this kit will have a good enough iron and solder to do the job(in fact it got me through two years of training in electrical engineering.)
- Solder doesn't matter what type
what comes in the kit should be fine
- Wire, doesn't matter what gauge
bigger is always better-to an extent, without knowing the exact voltage and current draw of the LEDs it's hard to say what size would be the minimum required but I would guess at least 18ga
- Twist on wire cap?
The same size rating as the wire you end up using
- Wall outlet plug
once again it depends on the need of the lights to determine what size is needed
Does that sound right? I also bought two dimmers and drivers for the blue LEDs so I can keep them separate. I always have to take out the lights/hood when I do my weekly water change so I figured that would make my life easier.
Keeping the white and blue lights on separate timers will work out much better in the long run and will give you many more lighting options

 

[Kaiden]

Thanks, Inglorious!

The LED is 10w, I believe. Here's the items I will be using:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/110853978566?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330723103711?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400279010104?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

[trick1441]

Soldering iron is for heating up the solder and wire so you can make a good connection. YouTube how to solder if you've never done it before. The twist on wire caps are just those little caps that connect two wires. You put the two wires you want to connect parallel to each other with about a quarter of a inch of wire (copper part or whatever type of wire it is) stripped then you just put the cap over the two wires and twist. I think that should do it.
These are a couple of types of wire caps.
Let me know if you need any help.

 

[Dan86]

Thats some great info there trick.
I'm gonna give this a go, but only using the blue led's.
Already have the fluro setup and it was a pain in the a** to setup so I dont want to pull it out.
Will have the fluro on timer so its on during the day and setup another time so blue led's are on at night.
Will order stuff on ebay later this week and let you know how i go.

Cheers
Dan

 

[trick1441]

Yeah let us know how it turns out


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[Dan86]

Im getting impatient.....still waiting for stuff to get here.....china to australia always takes forever

 

[trick1441]

Yeah international shipping sucks I've had things take a week and some a month.


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[Slippery K]

I just made a moon light for one of my tanks, made it in half an hour for under 25 bucks. Works amazingly well too. It should be on the first page of the diy section if you need any more ideas on how to make one.

 

[Dan86]

Dam i feel like a complete idiot.....
After waiting almost 3 weeks for all the parts to arrive. I hook up the ac/dc led driver backwards. This was after i read everything and went over the diagram 5 times to make sure i had everything covered.
They make a nice bang, a heap of sparks and a bit of smoke when you put them in the wrong way around...

So, I will have to wait another 3 weeks for the new one to arrive and try again.