# Home Made LED Strip Light...



## Quizcat

I got this idea from You Tube, but in the You Tube Video, the inventor used only one strip of SMD5050 strip lighting, designed solely for optics and not applicable for nourishing plants in the aquarium. I wanted to try making one of these strip lights that would be applicable to a planted tank.

The You Tube project used a piece of plastic house guttering with end caps, and the light strip was stuck to the inside of the guttering. Most LED strip lights come in 16.5 foot lengths, and they have double stick tape already afixed to the bottom of the strip. However, while this may have been what was used in the You Tube video, the double stick tape isn't sufficient to reliably permanently afix the strips to the inside of the guttering. I used hot glue to afix the strips to my guttering. I also used metal guttering and end caps because the complete assembly of my strip light fixture generates some heat, all be it quite moderate. In the case of my fixture, the housing can be touched without any discomfort, and is really only luke warm at the most. I suspect that a plastic housing would be perfectly fine, but I wanted to error on the side of caution, and chose to use metal guttering. I wanted to make a light fixture that would work with plants that have low to medium lighting requirements, java fern, java moss, pennywort, ludwigia repens, dwarf hair grass, etc...

I used a series of 8 strips of 10mm SMD5050 RGB/Warm White + Cool White LEDs inside the gutter housing. The entire strip was rated by the supplier at 72 Watts total. There are 300 LEDS total in a 16.5 foot length of strip lighting, and I used all but about 8" of the complete 16.5 foot strip in my fixture, about 12 LEDs less than was in the complete 16.5 foot strip.

Each of the 8 strips in my fixture contains 18 RGB+Warm White LEDs, and 18 Cool White 6500K LEDs, a total of 144 Red/Green/Blue + Warm White 3000K Leds, and 144 Cool White 6500K LEDs. The individual LED output is rated at .24 Watts per LED (72 watts in the complete strip), so theoretically my fixture will produce .24 watts per LED x 288 LEDs = 69.12 Watts. An entire 16.5 foot strip produces around 2000 Lumens. So, with my light strip having (12) LEDs less than what is in a 16.5 foot strip, my light fixture is producing a total of around 1920 Lumens at full intensity, not including any natural losses that occur.

Of course, there are losses, both in wattage and lumens, delivered to the tank. I realize that the proper way to measure acceptable levels of light are to measure PAR/PUR values of light that are actually being delivered to the top of the substrate in the tank. I don't have a meter to measure PAR/PUR, so I had to rely upon the manufacturer's specifications in order to get close to the historically accepted method of measuring the proper amount of lighting in watts per gallon delivered to a planted tank. My fixture is intended to be used in a 20 gallon planted tank. So, theoretically, my strip light is delivering around 3.5 watts per gallon, which is adequate for a planted tank, for plants that require low to medium levels of light.

With regard to the color temperature of light being delivered to my tank, the Cool White LEDs in the strip are rated at 6500K, and there are (144) LEDs, delivering approximately 34.5 watts (minus whatever natural losses occur). There are (144) RGBW lights in the fixture, and at full intensity, the colored LEDs deliver less wattage than the Cool White LEDs. But, when they are on simulataneously, the produce significant amounts of wattage to a 20 gallon tank.

The color temperature of the RGB LEDs is as follows, according to the strip light manufacturer:

Red = 620-630nm
Blue = 460-475nm
Green = 515-530nm

I've been leaving the RED LEDs on at full intensity, along with the Cool White LEDs, to supplement the Cool White (6500K) LEDs in order to deliver the best combination of light to the tank. The Cool White (6500K) LEDs deliver slightly less than what is optimum for the plants with respect to the "RED" range of color temperature. Using the RED LEDs at full intensity should help to supplement what might be lacking with respect to the RED color temperature levels that the plants desire.








Light Fixture on top of the tank...I spray painted the inside of the gutter with white spray paint, to act as a better reflector. I epoxied the ends to the gutter, and also caulked the joints between the gutter ends and the gutter itself. I dremeled a hole in the end of one of the gutter ends so I could bring the wire out from the light strips to the IR receiver, then caulked the hole where the wire comes through the metal housing in order to protect the wire passing through the gutter end cap from abrasion.








Cool White (6500K) LED/RED LEDs On at Full Intensity








Cool White (6500K) LED/Blue LEDs on at Full Intensity








Cool Whhite (6500K) LED/Green LEDs on at Full Intensity








Warm White (3000K)/Cool White (6500K) Cool White LEDs on at Full Intensity

All of my technical conclusions as to the proper amount of light being delivered to the tank by this fixture are theoretical, as I am a novice, and just began to research this issue of plant lighting in the relatively recent past. If anyone can validate, or refute, my conclusions, then I welcome the critique, as I would rather know a more valid way in which to judge the quality of light being delivered to the tank than not, and to understand the technicalities more accurately.


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## Quizcat

*More Photos...*








All LEDs Turned Off








Close Up of LED Strips Hot Glued in Place. Each section of the individual strips can be cut at a particular spot so that the strips can be soldered together in order to be positioned side by side. There are a total of 6 LEDs between the points where the strip can be cut, so that they can be repositioned and soldered. I cut the strips at 24" lengths, and soldered them at the cut points using wire extensions that permitted me to orient the strips side by side. I stuck the strips in place using the double stick tape at first, then applied hot glue between the strips to hold the strips in place permanently. The Hot Glue seems to be working very well. I've tested the ability of the hot glue to remain adhered to the bottom of the gutter, and it seems to be holding well after about two to three weeks of testing. Using the double strip tape on the bottoms of the strips alone will come loose very quickly, and the light strips will fall down out of their positions. So, hot glue, or some other method, perhaps epoxy or something, are mandatory in order to hold the strips in place long term.








RGBW Controller 
You can individually control the intensity of all the colors, the Warm White 3000K, and the 6500K Cool White LEDs.








IR Receiver for the Controller plugged into the light strip fixture on one end, and into the power supply on the other.
Power Supply (12Vdc-6Amp)

The greatest difficulty in making this fixture was soldering the strips so that I could position them side by side. The solder pads are very small, and it's very easy to accidentally short between the pads with solder if you're not careful.


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## TropTrea

I have seen similar set ups and will say they are great display lights for there cost. These are not state of the art LED's but 2nd generation LED's with a considerable different level of efficiency compared to the newest Cree or Philips LEDs. 

Where the trade of is cost verses the long run. This system described uses 72 of Watts for small 20 gallon tank. With the newest technology in LED lighting this would be beyond extreme for lighting. just converting to lumen s you could have 13,000 Lumen of light. But in reality with the older design your probably much closer to 4,000 Lumens. 

What this does mean is considering your running at 1/3 the efficiency of the newer designs you have to use 3 times the energy to get the same light levels you can get today. So instead of running 72 Watts you can go to 24 Watts of lighting. However you can even take it a step further and with a well tuned selection of LED's be able to run as little as 12 Watts of LED's and get good results in the moderate lighting range. 

While electric power rates vary the difference of operation a 24 Watt and 72 Watt light fixture in my area comes to about $35.00 per year. With the newest technology that is just under the building cost of the unit which I'd estimate as around $45.00 for a 20 gallon tank. Not much difference you say but if your like me running multiple tanks then it starts making a big difference to the electrical bill.


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## Quizcat

I have a Current Brand-Orbit Marine LED light on my 29 gallon square tank, and I think it puts out only 18 watts. But, it also delivers 8000K to 12000K of what they term "Dual Daylight," combined with 445nm and 460nm blue light. It is a high efficiency light fixture, and it has more control functions on the remote/receiver than my home made strip light, not many, but the Current Brand light is more fun to play with, having all the additional on-demand weather conditions (ie: storms, cloud cover, lightning, moonlight, several memory functions, timers, etc...). The cost for the Current Brand light is around $130. But, it is a marine LED light fixture, and I think it's probably overkill for the standard planted tank. It's really more appropriate for a salt water tank with corals, live rock, marine fish, etc...But, it seems to be doing a nice job on my 29 gallon tropical planted tank, all be it kind of expensive to purchase up-front compared to my home made strip light.

Yep, the home made strip light probably cost me around $45.00 to complete. I'm sure that the cost of operating it is probably higher than a high efficiency commercially produced LED light fixture, or were I to use the CREE RGB high efficiency LEDs we discussed previously. As you know from our previous discussions, I'm interested in eventually building a fixture using the CREE RGB Warm White/Cool White emitters. My intention is to use the same gutter housing, but to incorporate a heat sink using a piece of aluminum channel, as you suggested. One of my limitations is that I want to be able to set the fixture on top of the tank in much the same manner as I've done with the strip light fixture because I don't have the room to suspend the light over the tank, nor the permission from the wife :hail: to suspend a light fixture over the top of the tank. So, the gutter idea works very well with the tank tops I currently have, provided I can keep the heat down. The CREE LED light should get closer to being much more energy efficient.

What I do like about the strip light is it's simplicity. The reduced footprint of the controller, the initial low cost of producing the light itself, getting the visual effects in the tank, while also delivering adequate light to the plants. But, there are trade-offs, and one of them is reduced efficiency, resulting in a higher operating cost. I have three tanks right now, so operating cost isn't so much of an issue for me. But, I can certainly understand that those who have numerous tanks need to seriously consider the operating cost for their lighting designs.



TropTrea said:


> I have seen similar set ups and will say they are great display lights for there cost. These are not state of the art LED's but 2nd generation LED's with a considerable different level of efficiency compared to the newest Cree or Philips LEDs.
> 
> Where the trade of is cost verses the long run. This system described uses 72 of Watts for small 20 gallon tank. With the newest technology in LED lighting this would be beyond extreme for lighting. just converting to lumen s you could have 13,000 Lumen of light. But in reality with the older design your probably much closer to 4,000 Lumens.
> 
> What this does mean is considering your running at 1/3 the efficiency of the newer designs you have to use 3 times the energy to get the same light levels you can get today. So instead of running 72 Watts you can go to 24 Watts of lighting. However you can even take it a step further and with a well tuned selection of LED's be able to run as little as 12 Watts of LED's and get good results in the moderate lighting range.
> 
> While electric power rates vary the difference of operation a 24 Watt and 72 Watt light fixture in my area comes to about $35.00 per year. With the newest technology that is just under the building cost of the unit which I'd estimate as around $45.00 for a 20 gallon tank. Not much difference you say but if your like me running multiple tanks then it starts making a big difference to the electrical bill.


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## tdew2

*Re: More Photos...*



Quizcat said:


> View attachment 34154
> 
> All LEDs Turned Off
> 
> Each section of the individual strips can be cut at a particular spot so that the strips can be soldered together in order to be positioned side by side. There are a total of 6 LEDs between the points where the strip can be cut, so that they can be repositioned and soldered. ... using wire extensions that permitted me to orient the strips side by side. ...
> 
> The greatest difficulty in making this fixture was soldering the strips so that I could position them side by side. The solder pads are very small, and it's very easy to accidentally short between the pads with solder if you're not careful.


PLEASE tell us more about the soldering - and show pics if you can. I bought the RGBWW strips and when I saw the tiny solder pads, my heart sunk. I am handy, but have NO experience with solder. I looked into the solder-less clips, but half of the reviewers on Amazon give them the lowest possible rating.

I am considering simply lining the gutter with aluminum foil then looping the strip around the inside perimeter several times, without cutting. You obviously know this isn't ideal because of all the work you did to cut and solder. I'd also be curious how to make the connections waterproof... with heat shrink perhaps?

BTW, I've been looking for this info for a couple weeks now... glad you posted. You should consider posting a Youtube vid as well, generically showing how to solder RGBWW "5 pin" LED lights. I bet you'll get a lot of interest.


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## Quizcat

*Re: More Photos...*

Soldering of the strips was the most difficult part of the process. "BRAIN SURGERY" is NO exaggeration!!! :third:

Give me a little time, and I'll try to post some photos that will assist you in your endeavors with respect to how to solder to the pads.

I have a lot of experience soldering, and this was very, very tedious. Just the soldering took a number of hours to complete. I did gain the experience I needed to really be efficient at doing it by practicing first on a light strip I made for my grandson that consisted of 4 strips. It was really very difficult, and it literally took me about 8 hours to complete the soldering and orientation of the strips. But, I found that the second attempt, building my own fixture of 8 strips, went much quicker. It is doable if you take your time, and don't get in a hurry.

You have to make sure that you have a high quality soldering iron. I set mine to 600 degrees, and mine has very small tips available in order not to get too much solder on the pads, just enough to leave a small bead of solder on each of the 5 pads. Then, you tin the ends of five insulated wires that you're going to solder to each of the 5 pads so that when you solder the wires in place on each respective pad, that the wire and the solder on the pad become one very quickly, with no overlap of solder to the next pad.

Solder five small insulated wires, 24-26 gauge, stranded wire, about 2.5" long, to each of the small pads on the strip, so that you can bend the 5 wires that are soldered on the 5 pads on one end of a strip, around to the next strip, and solder to that strip...so that the wires act as an extention of the first strip by color code. This will enable you to position the next strip along side the other. Then, solder the other ends of the wires to the end of the next strip...and so on, and so on, and so on, until you have 8 strips that can be oriented close to one another inside the gutter's bottom.

I did use heat shrink to electrically insulate the soldered pads on each strip from the metal gutter, which also provides some degree of water proofing. If you want to further water proof the connections, I would recommend using liquid tape before you heat shrink the ends. Liquid Tape is available at almost any hardware store. Just paint it on, and it dries in place, just like tape on a roll only liquid tape is a cleaner way of doing it in a confined space. In my case, my fixture doesn't get wet at all, and I did not go to the extent of using liquid tape on the connections. But, it's probably not a bad idea.

Also, pay very close attention to how you have the strips oriented in relation to one another. It's very easy to misorient the strips, and to solder the wrong ends of one strip to the other. You also have to verify how the plugs are connected to the strips with respect to color code so that the LED colors all light consistently. I had to pay special attention to how I was soldering strips together so that all the respective colors came on red:red, blue:blue, green:green, white:white. If you get the strips disoriented to one another, the color of one 24" strip might come on "red" while the color on another strip in the string will be some other color.



tdew2 said:


> PLEASE tell us more about the soldering - and show pics if you can. I bought the RGBWW strips and when I saw the tiny solder pads, my heart sunk. I am handy, but have NO experience with solder. I looked into the solder-less clips, but half of the reviewers on Amazon give them the lowest possible rating.
> 
> I am considering simply lining the gutter with aluminum foil then looping the strip around the inside perimeter several times, without cutting. You obviously know this isn't ideal because of all the work you did to cut and solder. I'd also be curious how to make the connections waterproof... with heat shrink perhaps?
> 
> BTW, I've been looking for this info for a couple weeks now... glad you posted. You should consider posting a Youtube vid as well, generically showing how to solder RGBWW "5 pin" LED lights. I bet you'll get a lot of interest.


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## Quizcat

By the way, regarding the LEDs below that I got in from China, the Cool White LEDs, do you have any idea of the cost of operating them? I know you mentioned before that they are 1990's vintage, and after you mentioned the cost of operation issue, I began wondering if they might also be kind of expensive to operate compared to something of more current manufacture. Are they also in the same efficiency range as the LED strip lights? The LEDs below only cost me around $3.00 including shipping. So, they're cheap enough that I could chalk them off to experience rather than building a fixture that's going to turn out to be expensive to operate. I might be better off using the CREE or Phillips LEDs in RGB, and Cool White, rather than building a fixture using these antiquated LEDs from the 90's.











TropTrea said:


> I have seen similar set ups and will say they are great display lights for there cost. These are not state of the art LED's but 2nd generation LED's with a considerable different level of efficiency compared to the newest Cree or Philips LEDs.
> 
> Where the trade of is cost verses the long run. This system described uses 72 of Watts for small 20 gallon tank. With the newest technology in LED lighting this would be beyond extreme for lighting. just converting to lumen s you could have 13,000 Lumen of light. But in reality with the older design your probably much closer to 4,000 Lumens.
> 
> What this does mean is considering your running at 1/3 the efficiency of the newer designs you have to use 3 times the energy to get the same light levels you can get today. So instead of running 72 Watts you can go to 24 Watts of lighting. However you can even take it a step further and with a well tuned selection of LED's be able to run as little as 12 Watts of LED's and get good results in the moderate lighting range.
> 
> While electric power rates vary the difference of operation a 24 Watt and 72 Watt light fixture in my area comes to about $35.00 per year. With the newest technology that is just under the building cost of the unit which I'd estimate as around $45.00 for a 20 gallon tank. Not much difference you say but if your like me running multiple tanks then it starts making a big difference to the electrical bill.


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## Quizcat

*Re: More Photos...*

I had a piece of light strip that I had to solder to what was left over from the strip I used on my granson's LED light. Here are some tips with photos:

First, I used 28 gauge wire that I had. The wire was from a cable that I scavengered from an old computer. I saved some of the cables inside the computer for projects just like this one. The particular piece of cable had color coded 28 gauge wires inside, making it easier to keep the color coding straight.









The Soldering Iron I have is a professional level soldering iron, a HAKKO. I used the .8mm x 14.5mm tip, and .032 diameter 60/40 solder. I solder most projects at 600 degrees F. A conventional (Radio Shack) soldering iron will make the project more difficult because you need to have the heat necessary to instantaneously liquify the solder at the pad, but not burn the tracings. I'm not even sure that standard soldering irons at Radio Shack have small tips available such as what I used, but a small tip is very necessary to keep the solder from running between the pads, and to isolate the heat to the copper pad, and not on the flexible white PCB next to the pads.





















The first thing you need to do is stabilize the strip itself. I used duct tape to keep the strip from moving during the soldering process. I have an old table that I use to do projects like this, but you may need to have a piece of plywood or something under your project, so as not to damage the surface when you position and solder.











tdew2 said:


> PLEASE tell us more about the soldering - and show pics if you can.


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## Quizcat

Once the strip is stablized, I recommend putting a very minute blob of solder at each of the copper pads first. Here is a shot of the way I orient the soldering iron to place a blob of solder onto the copper pad. You place the soldering iron in the edge of the pad, and flow the solder from the end of the roll of solder directly into where the soldering iron tip meets the pad. The solder will flow directly onto the pad, and remain in a small round blob on the pad once you remove the soldering iron tip from the pad.















Then, I recommend stripping and tinning the ends of each of the 2.5" long wires. Since you say you are a novice at soldering, tinning is placing very small amounts of solder on the very ends of the wires so there is a very small amount of solder, so that when you touch the soldering iron to the end of the wire on top of the pad, the solder that is coating the wire will flow immediately into to the pad as it heats up.









Then, you solder the tinned end of the wire to the color coordinated tinned pad by placing the tinned end of the wire over the top of the blob on the pad. Make sure that once you've tinned the ends of the wires, that you trim them to a very short length, so that they fit symetrically onto the same length as the pad, and that the ends of the wires are not too long. The other important thing is to stablize the each single wire so that the wire doesn't move off of the pad as you're soldering it. I completely isolated both the wire being soldered, and the strip with duct tape. I did this with each successive wire independently, moving from one color to the next.









I also used the blunt end of an exacto craft knife to hold the wire in place, using it to push the tip of the wire into position on ocassion when it was off center. Then, once positioned, I bring the soldering iron directly down on top of the wire, liquifying the solder in the wire, flowing it into the pad. I used just the amount of solder that was already on the copper pad, and tinned to the end of the wire. Adding additional solder during the soldering process will only cause it to overflow, and possibly cause a short between pads. If you need more solder at the pad, you'll need to use it very sparingly. I did have ocassion to use more solder, but I was very reluctant to do it because of the potential for solder shorting out the pads next to where I was working.









If you do find that solder migrates to an adjoining pad, you can use the exacto knife to cut a slot between the pads, which will sever the connection between the pads. Just be careful that you cut perfectly between the pads so as not to cut or damage the trace that connects the totality of the strip from one LED to the next, etc...Also, once you cut between the pads, you can resolder the pad, and most of the time the solder will flow back into position on the pad.


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## Quizcat

Make sure you clean the tip of the soldering iron often, and not on a moist sponge, but on cleaning mesh, such as the one in the photo below. A wet sponge will usually corrode the ends of your tip, and degrade it's ability to conduct heat the more you use it. I replaced a tip after I completed one strip light because the tip was wearing out, and it's ability to conduct heat was making the soldering process much more difficult because the tip wouldn't melt the solder quickly, as it should.









I usually start with the RED wire, in the middle, and work my way out, color after color, out to each outside edge of the strip with the last wires, white and black.








Above is a good photo of how to hold the soldering iron next to the copper pad, then touch the solder to the pad flowing solder onto the pad area. Notice how the soldering iron tip is actually right next to the copper pad, touching the copper pad just enough to heat it up, but the tip is not really on top of the pad, it's just touching the edge of the pad. Once the soldering iron is in place, you just touch the end of the solder to the pad, and it will flow right where it belongs.























I tape the strips and wires down with duct tape, and solder the wires individually, using the blunt end of an exacto to make fine adjustments with respect to the location of the wire in relation to the pad. I remove the duct tape often, repositioning things with each and every wire being soldered, making sure everything is perfectly oriented before soldering. The second to last photo above is just an example of my very last wire, where I have the entire assembly taped down before taping the last wire down, and soldering it in place.


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## Quizcat

Don't forget to position your heat shrink on each section of strip light before beginning the process. Although, my heat shrink was large enough in diameter to clear the end of the strip plug on one end, and I didn't have to do this. I used 18mm wide heat shrink, but you might be able to get by with something slightly smaller. I like the idea of the liquid tape even more, but I used heat shrink on my project.









Another thing I recommend, is to check continuity between the pads after everything is soldered to make sure there aren't any shorts between the pads.









Here are two strips joined with the wires to each respective color, and heat shrink in place...I hooked them up to the controller/power supply, and as you can see, they work perfectly.























I hope that helps!


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## TropTrea

Quizcat said:


> By the way, regarding the LEDs below that I got in from China, the Cool White LEDs, do you have any idea of the cost of operating them? I know you mentioned before that they are 1990's vintage, and after you mentioned the cost of operation issue, I began wondering if they might also be kind of expensive to operate compared to something of more current manufacture. Are they also in the same efficiency range as the LED strip lights? The LEDs below only cost me around $3.00 including shipping. So, they're cheap enough that I could chalk them off to experience rather than building a fixture that's going to turn out to be expensive to operate. I might be better off using the CREE or Phillips LEDs in RGB, and Cool White, rather than building a fixture using these antiquated LEDs from the 90's.
> 
> View attachment 34186


These were an old series that Cree and Philips used to have made for them in China. They were not bad for there time as they produced about 60 Lumens per watt when run in there peak efficiency range which was around 1/4 watt per emitter. But when you cranked them up to a full watt for per emitter the efficiency dropped to around around 40 lumens per watt. The reason it drops off so drastically is the closeness of the emitters to each other which each generate heat and the cooler they are the more efficient they are.


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## tdew2

Quizcat said:


> I hope that helps!


Quizcat - First of all, thank you for your extremely detailed response. I have to say, seeing all of the detail has definitely confirmed my thought that I should not to attempt to cut and solder - you are one skilled fella! I found your thread via a google search so I'm sure it's going to be very helpful for many others to come as well.

So I'm now resigned to not cutting the strips, and on to plan B. I'll either wrap the strip around the inside edge of a gutter... or design something with 3/4" angled aluminum... or aluminum eave drip flashing which I just discovered tonight. Will share once I get that far.... so many projects, so little time.

Thank you again!!!


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## Quizcat

Well, it is definitely doable, but you have to have the right soldering equipment to get down into small areas like the pads. Most guys that only solder ocassionally only have the standard soldering guns, and they're just not adequate for intricate work.

The small connectors that are advertised on Ebay will not work. I actually ordered them, and after receiving them, I determined that they are actually for a 12mm strip, even though they are advertised as being for a 10mm strip. I received a refund from the vendor after sending them photos of the discrepency, and I didn't even have to return them to China. They saw that the discrpency was real, and that because of the size difference, the metal tabs inside the connectors won't even line up with the pads to make connection because the connector is for a 12mm strip (see below). So, you see, I had no choice but to solder them if I wasn't going to disappoint my grandson.









In my case, I had promised my grandson a gift in return for straight "A's" in grade school for the last semester, which he did. My grandson really wanted an LED light, but they were pretty expensive. So, the task fell to me to make it work, since I didn't want to purchase an expensive light fixture. My grandson had played with my Current Marine LED Light, the fancy one that mimics weather conditions, etc..., and he loved it very much. The closest I could come to producing something similar without spending the money was the LED strip light. I showed my grandson the LED light strips on Ebay, and he agreed that he would rather have me take a stab at it, since the alternative gift for straight "A's" was going to be LEGOs, which he loves, but he was really fascinated with the LED light strip. I didn't know if I could do it. The one I made for my grandson took me hours upon hours, because I didn't have any experience working with the strip lighting. But, the experience from that one set me up to produce my own version several weeks later. And, it went much more smoothly having gained that prior experience from my grandson's light. My grandson really loves his light, and I like mine, so the project has been a relatively decent success, except for the the tediousness of it, and it being so time consuming to complete.

The promise for this semester's straight "A's" is a music driven LED light strip, one that can be hung in my grandson's room. You can purchase the controllers with built in sensors that detect music, and you can set the controller to react to various aspects of the music as it's playing. He wants to put it in his room. I actually have about 8 feet of strip left over from my grandson's aquarium light, and part of what I was doing yesterday when I made the tutorial, was soldering the plug end onto one end of the strip. What I did yesterday took about an hour, just to solder the wiring together on the one end, just one strip. So, you can see that were you to solder up to 8 strips, like I did for my aquarium light, the time invested becomes pretty substantial. But, I am very pleased with my light, and now looking forward to seeing if my aquarium plants are pleased with it, which will probably take me a few weeks to determine.

Yes, definitely post your "eave drop" idea. I would like to see it, and perhaps it will turn out to be a much easier way to fabricate an LED light than going to the lengths that I went to.

Good Luck and Best Wishes in your endeavor!



tdew2 said:


> Quizcat - First of all, thank you for your extremely detailed response. I have to say, seeing all of the detail has definitely confirmed my thought that I should not to attempt to cut and solder - you are one skilled fella! I found your thread via a google search so I'm sure it's going to be very helpful for many others to come as well.
> 
> So I'm now resigned to not cutting the strips, and on to plan B. I'll either wrap the strip around the inside edge of a gutter... or design something with 3/4" angled aluminum... or aluminum eave drip flashing which I just discovered tonight. Will share once I get that far.... so many projects, so little time.
> 
> Thank you again!!!


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## TropTrea

I will agree that DIY LED's are an investment of time. I know the first one I built about 10 years ago took me close to 20 hours and if you value your time even at near minimum wage of $10.00 per hour that would add $200 to the cost. Most of us value our time at much more than that however it is a hobby so valuing your time is questionable.

The last few light fixtures I built took only about 4 hours to complete. Interestedly they were much more complex than the first one I built. Through trial and error I found what parts are worth the investment and which are not. I also found short cuts in the way I do things that saves time. Every system I built was was better than the prior system.

The biggest key was using quality parts. This is especially true with the selection of LED's. Sure you might pay $4.00 for a LED but when it puts out three times the amount of light as another cheaper LED does and lasts 5 times as long it is worth the investment.


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## tdew2

Quizcat said:


> The small connectors that are advertised on Ebay will not work. I actually ordered them, and after receiving them, I determined that they are actually for a 12mm strip, even though they are advertised as being for a 10mm strip.


I posted a question several days ago on one of the connector product pages at Amazon, and the vendor pointed out to me that I needed the 10mm connector, not the 12mm. After being directed to the correct product, I was still a bit hesitant, due to the weak reviews. Perhaps some of the neg reviews are due to user error though. In any case, here is the link to (per the vendor) the 10mm connectors:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ML2IVUG/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3SY4WN81ZEM06

Now that I think about it... for $10 I'm just going to order them and see if they at least line up. If they do, i'll make one cut toward the end of the strip and test one before cutting up the entire strip.


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## Quizcat

Yeah, I tried those too...They are sitting in my stash now, collecting dust, along with a couple of the other connector styles that are advertised on both Ebay and Amazon.com Those particular connectors didn't stay closed for me. They pop loose, and simply didn't work. I hope you have more success with them than I did. Maybe they can be hot glue closed or something. But, I found that the strips slipped out very easily. I didn't try hot gluing them as I held them closed...that might work for you.

That's why I finally decided that if I were going to make this work, that I would have to solder the connections, and even then, until I did it, I really didn't know if the soldered connections would hold tight in place. Fortunately, they do. Once soldered, they are rock solid.



tdew2 said:


> I posted a question several days ago on one of the connector product pages at Amazon, and the vendor pointed out to me that I needed the 10mm connector, not the 12mm. After being directed to the correct product, I was still a bit hesitant, due to the weak reviews. Perhaps some of the neg reviews are due to user error though. In any case, here is the link to (per the vendor) the 10mm connectors:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ML2IVUG/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3SY4WN81ZEM06
> 
> Now that I think about it... for $10 I'm just going to order them and see if they at least line up. If they do, i'll make one cut toward the end of the strip and test one before cutting up the entire strip.


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## Quizcat

Well, I suppose there's some value in the challenge, the learning process, and the sense of accomplishment if it all works, etc...Because, were I to be compensated for the time spent, the cost of the LED Strip Light far exceeds the cost of buying a commercially produced product. I suspect that the quality of the LEDs used in most of the commercially produced LED aquarium lights also exceeds the LED quality of the LEDs that are used in the strip lights. So, there is probably some trade off there.

But, if you have the spare time, and you don't want to part with the cash required of a commercially produced LED aquarium light, the LED strip light is pretty economical in comparison to the commercially produced units, and even quite a bit cheaper than if you were to purchase the CREE LEDs and assemble them into an aquarium light fixture when you factor in the cost of the controllers needed to produce the same adjustability as I have in the strip light, and that same color adjustability is available already in most commercially produced units. Not to mention the individual cost of the number of CREE RGBW LEDs you would need, etc...The CREE LEDs "E" series seem to be running around $9.00 each on amazon.com. I suppose they can be purchased cheaper through an electronics distributor, perhaps via Ebay, but that's the rough average I've been seeing. The cost of the strip lighting package with controller is $29.95 complete, plus your power supply, which is around $12.00 (ie: $42.00 total).

The final verdict will be determined based on whether the lumens generated by the strip light, are in fact, sufficient to nourish the plants, and whether the 50,000 hours of LED life is as advertised. And, more importantly, assuming that the lumens being generated are sufficient for plants, that the consistency of the intensity of the lumens remains consistent over the supposed 50,000 hours of LED life. If the consistency of the lumes degrades quickly in proportion to the claimed life span of the LEDs, then this will have been an exercise in futility. The visual effects of the strip light are really excellent, but I'm still not sure about whether the advertised specs on the strip light will ultimately prove to be valid with respect to nourishing a planted tank. I am basing everything on their specification claims, the "K" ratings represented for the cool white LEDs (6500K), and the "nm ratings for especially the red and the blue LEDs, as well as the wattage ratings. I am only guessing at the lumens that might be generated, which they do not publicize in the specs of the strip light. I suppose time will tell.



TropTrea said:


> I will agree that DIY LED's are an investment of time. I know the first one I built about 10 years ago took me close to 20 hours and if you value your time even at near minimum wage of $10.00 per hour that would add $200 to the cost. Most of us value our time at much more than that however it is a hobby so valuing your time is questionable.
> 
> The last few light fixtures I built took only about 4 hours to complete. Interestedly they were much more complex than the first one I built. Through trial and error I found what parts are worth the investment and which are not. I also found short cuts in the way I do things that saves time. Every system I built was was better than the prior system.
> 
> The biggest key was using quality parts. This is especially true with the selection of LED's. Sure you might pay $4.00 for a LED but when it puts out three times the amount of light as another cheaper LED does and lasts 5 times as long it is worth the investment.


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## TropTrea

The one thing to consider is how rapidly changing the LED industry is. I can buy components that are the newest and the best within a month of them being released. However in the comercial industry the parts are made available to them at the same time they are to the general public. However it takes time for them to get the build and test the new designes then to get them approved by the various agencies like UL. As a result of this they end up selling units that are between 1 and 2 years old technology compared to what is available to the DIY builder. 

The rate that technology is changing in the LED industry is fantastic. Only two years ago it was hard to find anything that exceeded 100 Lumen per Watt. Today it is almost a standard to be approaching 200 lumen per watt. 

If you look at many commercial fixtures today they are barely putting out the same levels of light that can be obtained from florescent lights on a per watt bases. Yet in my tanks now going to a watt per gallon would push them into the high to extreme lighting range. 

The strip lights that were used in this thread are not bad when there used for what they were designed for. They can also work for aquarium lighting, however when it comes to planted aquariums they are on the border line of being acceptable especialy when it come to larger tanks.


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## Quizcat

Yes, that is a very good point. Electronics in general change so rapidly that no matter what you buy today, it will have been replaced by an upgrade in no more than about 6 months at the most. 


TropTrea said:


> The one thing to consider is how rapidly changing the LED industry is...


Yes, I think that the footprint of some tanks that are much over about 20 gallons might be difficult to deliver sufficient light to nourish plants from one of the LED light strips. I have a 28 gallon square tank, and it is pretty deep. I am not sure how the LED Light Strip would work on that one. The deeper the tanks get, the more difficult it is to produce the PAR/PUR values you would need for light to efficiently penetrate the water and reach the top of the substrate with one of the LED strip lights.

But, you've given me an idea...Someday I should see what the kind of performance I can get on the 28 gallon tank, where I presently have the Current Marine brand commerically produced LED light right now, just to see what kinds of lighting effects I can produce with the LED strip light on that tank. I just have some Anubias and some Java Fern attached to a couple of pieces of drift wood in that tank, so the lighting requirements aren't really that demanding with respect to the plants. I wouldn't want to permanently replace the Current brand light with a strip light, but seeing how the strip light would work on the 28 gallon tank might be an interesting experiment. I have six Glowfish in the 28 gallon tank, and the Current brand light illuminates them really well when the blue LEDs are on full intensity, they are quite beautiful, (2) pinks, (1) yellow, (1) neon green, (1) blue, and (1) orange. I doubt that the strip light would illuminate them as well as the Current brand light can when the blue LEDs are activated, but it would be fun to compare that aspect of whether the blue LEDs in the strip light would "light-up" the Glowfish up well as the Current brand light does, all be it being just one aspect of the strip light's performance.


TropTrea said:


> ...when it comes to planted aquariums they are on the border line of being acceptable especialy when it come to larger tanks.


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## TropTrea

Quizcat said:


> But, you've given me an idea...Someday I should see what the kind of performance I can get on the 28 gallon tank, where I presently have the Current Marine brand commerically produced LED light right now, just to see what kinds of lighting effects I can produce with the LED strip light on that tank. I just have some Anubias and some Java Fern attached to a couple of pieces of drift wood in that tank, so the lighting requirements aren't really that demanding with respect to the plants. I wouldn't want to permanently replace the Current brand light with a strip light, but seeing how the strip light would work on the 28 gallon tank might be an interesting experiment. I have six Glowfish in the 28 gallon tank, and the Current brand light illuminates them really well when the blue LEDs are on full intensity, they are quite beautiful, (2) pinks, (1) yellow, (1) neon green, (1) blue, and (1) orange. I doubt that the strip light would illuminate them as well as the Current brand light can when the blue LEDs are activated, but it would be fun to compare that aspect of whether the blue LEDs in the strip light would "light-up" the Glowfish up well as the Current brand light does, all be it being just one aspect of the strip light's performance.


I'm not found of the unnatural glow fish especially after hearing about they introduced coral genes into there genetics.

But from working on Coral tanks you can make the florescent glow even more dramatic than with the Current lighting fixture. If you use the specialty 410/420 nm near UV LED's only about 10% of there light emitted is visible to the naked human eye yet the florescent pigment in the glow fish will absorb nearly 60% of of the light and radiate it in colors visible to the human eye. So in reality you could create a near black tank with the glow fish appearing extremely bright.


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## Quizcat

I thought they genetically engineered them from DNA extracted from the jelly fish...same difference I guess.


TropTrea said:


> ...they introduced coral genes into there genetics.
> 
> I kind of agree with you with respect to not liking the idea that they are genetically engineered, but I do find them attractive under the right lighting. But, I can see what you mean, in that there is kind of an unnaturalness to them, like they're radio-active or something.
> 
> On the other hand, they're about as close to being able to get the vivid similarieis of color that you find in salt water fish as you're going to get without the intricacies of maintaining a salt water tank.
> 
> Any recommendations on specifically what to look for in a brand name, model number, etc...that would produce 410/420nm? I might consider incorporating a few 410/420nm LEDs into the next light fixture, the one where I'm intending to use the CREE RGBW LEDs.
> 
> 
> TropTrea said:
> 
> 
> 
> If you use the specialty 410/420 nm near UV LED's...
Click to expand...


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## TropTrea

The LED's you would be looking for are made by SemiLED's and they are sold as EV-40A. However to get just the 410-420 nm you would also need to specify the bin number as ULD or UMD to thet into the 410 to 420 nm range. 

As far as the glow fish are concerned yes they do use jelly fish as well as coral genes to create these man made species. The difference between the two are the colors they glow. But the reason I'm against the glow fish is that with over a million options for aquarium fish found in nature why should man create a new species? 

As far as colorful fish there are some freshwater fish that will rival the salt water fish. A majority of color in all fish is reflective rather than florescent. The big thing is in a salt water tank we concentrate the lighting in the blue spectrum which makes some of the colors of corals and the fish pop more than in a fresh water tank. If we used the same lighting on fresh water tanks however we have issues with plant growth and algae would grow uncontrollably.


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## sotiris

First of all i habe to say that i fpund this theme very useful and all the knowledge from your dialogue also helped me a lot. I need to know something else. I'm planning to buy a 5630 led strip to use it to grow the emersed plants faster and to make a DIY light for my 20 litter aquarium! As regards the emersed plants do you think that is best to buy a full red 5630 led strip or the white? Is there any difference between the red and the white light, for the plants growth!!?


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## TropTrea

sotiris said:


> First of all i habe to say that i fpund this theme very useful and all the knowledge from your dialogue also helped me a lot. I need to know something else. I'm planning to buy a 5630 led strip to use it to grow the emersed plants faster and to make a DIY light for my 20 litter aquarium! As regards the emersed plants do you think that is best to buy a full red 5630 led strip or the white? Is there any difference between the red and the white light, for the plants growth!!?


Bland need both red and blue light. The Red Strip will provide more than enough RED light but will give you nothing in the blue end of the spectrum. Hense the plants will suffer. As far as using the White strip it would lack on the red end but give you enough red to keep the plants alive at a higher amount of total light..

You 20 Liter tank is small with about 5 gallons of water. Since it is an immersed tank I take it is is shallow with a high light requirement. The lights will also probably by above the tank a considerable distance. My approach to this would be to run 5 LED's at roughly 2 Watts on each. I would use a proven combination of 2 Neutral White LED's and 2 Cool White LED's with the addition of a photo Red 650nm LED for a slight boast in the red spectrum. Using CREE star mounted LED's the total for the LED's will be under $20.00 with a small driver like the APC 12-700 for well under $10.00.


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## tdew2

Alright, here is what I ended up doing - turned out great - and saved a ton of time by not having to cut and solder the lights  Thank you again QuizCat!


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## TropTrea

So give us your final numbers when you can.
Total Cost to build it.
How many Watts are they using?
If possible what is the PAR at the substrate with water in the tank?
How many gallons are in the tank?


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