$100 DIY Cree LED XR-E - Actinic Supplement 48" Light Strip

cool led diy....

 

the company is based out off hong kong.. so shipping would be slow.. the blue cree isnt the XR-E royal blue I used with this DIY I believe. www.rapidled.com has cheap fast 2-3 shipping for $5, and mike is a good service rep. IMHO

 

Thanks, after drooling over your reefbrite thread last week, I knew I needed to go cree led route for my actinics.. I just needed a little cash and some elbow grease to get er' done. 8)

 

A few people have requested for the cree cutout template I was using. here you go.

http://www.colley.org/images/CREE XR-E 2 wide 2 inch 4-40 screw spacing template - middle.pdf

 

Yeah it takes for ever to get your stuff according to every thread I've read while researching my DIY fixture.

 

I will be ordering some LEDs ASAP. Looks great...and easy too!

 

Good Job! Those pics are awesome. I am so doing this Thank you!

 

Thanks alot! if you buy a kit from rapidled.com make sure you get all blue leds and not half and half. check item description before ordering.

have fun! let us know how it turns out for ya..

 

Great DIY Night Rida :clapping:..I was thinking about swapping out my actinic pc`s for t5`s ,but now seeing your build I may just go this route..HMMMMMMMMMM will think have to think about it..as I dont really have the time to build and im not so good with soldering gun lol....

 

if you have a 4-6hrs you can do it.. To make it easy without doing any drilling.. just thermal glue the leds to place, and for soldering you'll want a soldering pen that has a fine point not a bulky gun since the work area is so small.

the leds come pre-soldered on the little +/- pads. if you get a kit, the wire leds are already have solder on them as well.. so it's just about getting both solder points hot enough where they turn into liquid and mashing/holding the connections together until it cools.

I'd do a little test pull/tug on the wires, if it stays its good. if it moves or pulls apart you need to resolder it again..

there's videos on youtube.com on how to solder cree leds.. just do a search..

and thanks! 8)