DIY LED Using 10 Watt Arrays

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by chewie

I would love to do a build like yours or Grizzs using leds from Modular Led but just cannot justify the cost a.t.m . I am trying to go cheap and thought going 12v would simplify things. My tank is only 18" deep so was hoping to get away with it...well maybe I should stop being cheap and use proven led's from Modular.

If you wish to pursue the 12 V simple approach, you might want to look into the MR16 bulb form factor. They are designed to run off 12 VDC, even 12 VAC in some cases. Driver built into LED bulb, plug & play, sort of. Price is coming down on these bulbs & I understand there's a company about to launch more efficient/powerful MR16 LED bulbs. Initial customer base will be commercial, but shouldn't be long until they target the domestic consumer.

It's slowly getting to the point where it's more difficult to realize significant savings in a DIY LED build as long as you're not looking for all the bells & whistles such as an EcoTech Radion.

Below are some MR16 bulb pics. This bulb has four 1 watt LEDs in it & pretty good optics. You can even unscrew the bezel & remove the optics if you wish. This would expose the individual LEDs & provide more spread, but also expose them to water spray. They are very bright. Before embarking on the 10 watt LED chip build, I was seriously considering this option. I may still use some of them as supplemental lighting or to spotlight a particular coral/area of the tank. Of course if you have primarily low light corals etc. in your tank, those car lights might be enough, but I wouldn't count on it. For a FOWLR they'd probably be ok.