# At it again but...diy led lights!



## Wizard (9 Jul 2015)

Sorry iv been at it again  bought some led strip lights from the bay of E and got creative... their 60watt output so not bad  













Their super bright but dimable going to secure them to the hood just waiting for the silicone to dry


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## Andy D (9 Jul 2015)

I look forward to seeing them in place.


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## ian_m (9 Jul 2015)

Let us know how you get on. I was never able to get the strips to stay stuck long term. Water always worked its way in and they came unstuck. Used silicone and contact adhesive. Water also got in on the joints, despite silicone, and corroded the strips internal pcb causing blocks of 4 leds to stop working.

In the end changed to T5 tubes which in the end gave much more lumens and pointed those lumens in the tank rather than the huge spread of the led strips.

Anyway nice job.


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## Wizard (9 Jul 2015)

Ahh interesting.... iv used silicone used for building tanks by my local aquatics shop / tank builders to stick them to the backplate then silicone the ends ... but now u said that, il use some of the epoxy at work and give it a good seal coat  should make it water tight . just got a set of those acrylic drainage lid things as I didn't have the condensation glass on top of the tank so hopefully they should keep the moisture down a bit too

When I got the tank it had 2 led lights think their 35 watts each but their the bright white , hoping the led strip will add to the spectrum as well as provide some colour , the tanks going freshwater tropical , with a few low light plants (hopefully) its about 400ltr but I don't fancy the price tag to get the high lighting lvls , hopefully for the plants I'm thinking 130 watts should be more than enough


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## ian_m (9 Jul 2015)

Mine were above the water in the hood so exposed to moisture and splashes.


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## Wizard (9 Jul 2015)

Also just counted the led chips ...5050 give 14 lumens per chip and there are 540 chips in that setup ....giving a grand total of 7560 lumens.....haven't a clue what that means in real terms but sounds good to me lol

Also for £30 u can't grumble ....I'm sure if you wanted you could add another 10 mtr to the setup which "theoretically" would provide 22680 lumens and only cost an extra £20-30


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## zozo (10 Jul 2015)

I also started out with smd 5050 they are pretty strong but have a little trouble penetrating the water colum to the bottom. just not enough for 40 cm hight and my plant choice. 

Exchanged them with the hard alloy pcb strip with the smd 8520 dual chip LED - 72 LED 18 watt p/meter - 60 lum p/led they are available in 0,5 meter or 1 meter strip. You'll find them from different manufacturers with diffent lum specs in a range from 15 lum to 60 lum p/led. The korea dual chips are the brightest at the moment 60 lum p/led. I took the Cool White color range 7000/12000k and must say they still have pretty much red spectrum in them slightly violet blue led color. Invironmental color is good.

I bought a batch of 5 strips 0.5 meter p/strip in alluminium shell with clear transparent cover and mountable side caps for €18.
http://nl.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-...20-LED-Hard/32373288003.html?isOrigTitle=true

Using them now above the tank a combination with 2 x 0.5 meter pcb strips smd 7020 - 20 watt p/meter - 40 lum p/led cool white 10000k and 2 of above
and 1 smd 5050 rgb 7 watt in the middle for the ambient light in the evening and morning.

I'm pretty impressed, have some Rotala Mexicana Goyas as carpet, they begin to grow denser now and form a red hue now, also the new rotala indica shoots are more compact now. And not runing them all on 100%.. The smd 5050 came a bit short for that. 

Whit those new 8520 version you could say they have actualy 144 leds, because it's a dual chip led as 2 smaller leds combined in 1 lens.


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## Wizard (10 Jul 2015)

ooooo ahhhh they look pretty lol


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## Wizard (11 Jul 2015)

Got the decoration in , just needs planting


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## Mortis (13 Jul 2015)

How did you do the bends ? I bought one of these but didnt use it cos I thought Id need to cut and solder each bend. Can you post a closeup photo of the the parts where the strip curves please ? Thanks


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## Wizard (13 Jul 2015)

I cut and solder mine lol , had some spare 1mm wire knocking about so used that to connect it together


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## Wizard (13 Jul 2015)

Took about an hour to cut and solder ....think if I was to do it again I'd get some 4 wire ..wire...(if that makes sense?) Saves messing about trying to get each piece just the right size ...and soldering isnt as bad as u think just read a bit of info , like heating the wire with the gun then adding solder to the wire .....simple thing like that helps


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## dino21 (1 Dec 2020)

zozo said:


> I also started out with smd 5050 they are pretty strong but have a little trouble penetrating the water colum to the bottom. just not enough for 40 cm hight and my plant choice.
> 
> Exchanged them with the hard alloy pcb strip with the smd 8520 dual chip LED - 72 LED 18 watt p/meter - 60 lum p/led they are available in 0,5 meter or 1 meter strip. You'll find them from different manufacturers with diffent lum specs in a range from 15 lum to 60 lum p/led. The korea dual chips are the brightest at the moment 60 lum p/led. I took the Cool White color range 7000/12000k and must say they still have pretty much red spectrum in them slightly violet blue led color. Invironmental color is good.
> 
> ...


Hi @zozo,

Know its an old thread but yours is the only one mentioning the 8520 smd leds, and know you are still very active in the forum

Have been using  one strip on a large heatsink over our 40cm cube with decent results for more than a year.

Was looking to get some more as from earlier use of led strips on a marine tank, know that they can loose their intensity over time, though often so slowly you do not realize its happening.

Lookng for some more seems theses 8520 strips can only be purchased from the Far East, though not sure what the delivery is like these days, our last China order forsome  other goods took 8 weeks !

Do  you still use the 8520s or have you found anything comparible or better  and available in the uk /eu ?

thanks.


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## zozo (1 Dec 2020)

dino21 said:


> Do you still use the 8520s or have you found anything comparible or better and available in the uk /eu ?



Personally, I'm no longer using them, but a friend of mine still is using my DIY light fixture today. I updated it with new 8520 dual-chip strips over 2 years ago before I donated it and till today I do not hear any complaints.

Since I haven't used them for over 2 years now I also have no idea about current availability in UK/EU...

In my last DIY build project also already almost 2 years ago, I used COB LED units... These are also still working quite well.
But LED development goes so stunningly fast and from personal experience, I can not say what's the best today. 2 years is a long time...


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