LED lights build thread

you don't need a chip depends on the circuit and if you want to have things like dimmers and only light certain ones

 

for the low power/high brightness LED's i am just running simple series parallel circuits with LEDs, and resistors. Each set of leds that will be fitted into halogen lamps will be powered by 12vdc power supplies. Nothing really all that fancy.

The high powered LEDs will have a current limiting circuits cause LEDs are sensitive to changes in voltages. It will also be seperated into three channels...one for red, one for blue and one for green. Each channel will consist of a voltage regulator, a small NPN transistor along with some resistors and caps.... Then i plan to use linear-taper potentiometers fpr the controls. (you could use a trim pot just as well but i like faders... makes me feel like the boss dj )
Finally, everything will be run off of an old lap top power supply that i have had sitting in my closet.

As for the halogens...here is an update: I got a lot of soldering done and will have one finished lamp by the end of the night (assuming that i didnt cross any wrong wires while soldering and have to spend hours trouble shooting.) I have more photos that i will throw up on here once i finish this one up...
Stay tuned!

 

well i got the one fully complete!! I think i jinxed myself cause i did exactly as i predicted and crossed two wrong wires and spent a good amount of time trouble shooting...It really isnt that difficult of a circuit to follow but once you get blinded a few times from the blaring light from the LEDs it makes it very hard to see those tiny solder point haha! Anyway my photobucket account is being slow for some reason so i only got this one pic but ill update tomorrow....

Here is the circuit almost fully functional.

So pretty in pink!!

 

Very interesting. im following where this is going.

 

So i got the first lamp done but i had a few problems and had to remove the screw in base again to resolder the leads to the inside of the base cause i had a loose connection. Anyway ill just go in order of the steps i did.

I left off in the last post with the circuit fully built so now its time to fit it into the light bulbs housing. So i traced the outer rim of the light bulb onto a piece of paper. Then i took out my circle stencils to find the right size circle that would fit inside the light in order to recess the led to utilize the reflector. Here you can see the board is now cut to fit and ready to go in the housing.


now that it is cut to fit i fed the wire through the light bulb housing and glued the out rim of the board to the inside of the lamp. Then i used the extra wire that came out the back to tape it around the housing for ectra support while the glue was drying.
Here you can see the board fit into the bulb and the giant mess i made in my kitchen.



ill update later once i get the screw in base back on.

 

leds

i have 4 color changing led tubes . They turn 7 dif. colors. and the control box lets you control the colors . a color changing tank would look really neat. would this have a bad effect on my corals.

 

I have a 29 gallon i want to build an LED system for, but don't have a freakin clue on how to get started.

 

You probably wouldnt want to have the spectrum constantly shifting...it would be ok for effect lighting for viewing the tank but not as your primary light source.

well these LEDs wouldnt really be good for a reef system but great for a fuge and/or a planted tank. The next build will be more suited for a reef tank. Getting started is always the hardest part hahah! if you have a basic knowledge of electronics than I'd say take a trip to radio shack or something and pick up a mixed pack of 1/4W resistors, some high intensity white LED's, a bread board and a 12 Vdc power adaptor. Then just start playing with it.... There are a few online calculators to help you with wiring and diagrams and they will figure out resistor values for you. The only issue with this is they limit you to using LED's that are all rated for the same forward voltage and forward current. So you will have to get crafty to use different LED's on the same power source.

 

You got all that at radio shack? wow. Does it show the light spectrum? Can you get a 10kk led then look for something to fill the void with acentic?

 

I've really been fascinated with LED technology, i think its the future of lighting but I really don't have any knowledge in making electronics..i can build computers..been doing that for 10 years now. Im gona study some wiring diagrams online and see if i can make something work.