DIY moon light emitter

[parkwaydrive]

i recently made a moonlight emmiter for about 12 dollars AU. i have seen them retail for about 40. i will be posting pics of the emmiter asap as well as pics of the tank with them on :)

[parkwaydrive]

her is a circuit diagram. i used an old mobile phone charger as the supply.

[dcarmau]

what are the globes?

[bushie]

more info please.
how what where and photos.
am thinking about moonlights as well.

[parkwaydrive]

the globes are high intensity blue L.E.D's. they cost around $3:50 each. as u can see i used three globes.

[parkwaydrive]

with the lights on

[parkwaydrive]

circuit

[parkwaydrive]

it took me about 15 mins too make as you can tell but its a cheaper alternative and it looks awsome at night. feel free to post any questions :)

[fw05racer]

No resistors?

[parkwaydrive]

well i didnt need any as my supply only puts out a limited current of about 100 mA and a 3 volts. It all depends on the supply Voltage. Resistors may be needed to drop down the voltage and current

[DiscusMad]

your not going to seal it?

[parkwaydrive]

its just sits on top of the glass for now. i had that thought of sealing it up and putting it under the glass but i dont know what do you guys think???

[oscar]

I know i'd like to see a pic of the tank with it on...

[aquafrogstuff]

Can you take a photo of the LEDs on the tank so we can see the overall effect.

[parkwaydrive]

yer i'll try but im a pretty poor photographer.

[aquaholic]

Great idear the moonlight thing allows you to enjoy your fish after lights out.:)
You could possibly mount the bulbs inside yor main light with some silcone or double sided tape.

cheers andrew

[fish_r]

hope it's ok to post it here.
i made my night lighting for my 3 footer by mounting 2 x cold cathodes into an existing reflector and use similar to a phone charger for the 12vlt powersuppy, but the voltage can be increased or decreased to make the lights brighter or darker, very easy to do and gives a nice effect over the whole length of the tank. it's a bit hard to get a good photo but this gives u an idea what it looks like,

[oscar]

Eh...for us simple folk...

What is a Cold Cathode?

[fish_r]

heres a link
http://www.pccasegear.com/category5_1.htm
there simmilar to a fluoro, for computer/cars etc
they run off 12vlt and dont generate any heat

[bnii]

Here is a pic of my moon light set up I made.

[Bald_noggin]

I did this using 3 x 20mm Blue LED's.

The large size helped diffuse the light over a greater area so there wasn't any bright spots in the tank.

LEDS are good in the sense that if you were so dead serious about your fish, that you could actually create a moon light simulator to mimic the lunar cycle. I could see an advatage of this for reef fish and coral, but I don't know about freshwater

Having said that, the idea of using a Cold Cathode Fluroscent Light is a great idea but they can't be dimmed.

Make sure the ends of the CCFL tube and any connections are insulated and I also suggest mounting the CCFL inverter AWAY from water. The inverters output is 600-800 Volts and around 6.5mA. OUCH!

If you have any questions on building this (or other electronic devices) please feel free to ask me! :P

Cheers,
Col.

[fish_r]

Having said that, the idea of using a Cold Cathode Fluroscent Light is a great idea but they can't be dimmed.

actually as i mentioned, they can be dimmed, i use a 12vlt adaptor that has
3/4.5/6/7.5/9/12vlt settings, when u put it on a lower voltage they dim to what voltage it is running on....

[Bald_noggin]

Hi Fish_r,

O.K. You can dim them! :lol:

I just grabbed my adjustable adaptor (has same voltage as yours) and low and behold, you can dim it.

I think I made the assumption that the inverter circuit it trying to push a constant voltage out and hence a constant brightness.

I suppose the dimming happens because the oscillator is making do with what's available, where as if it had a feedback circuit, I'm sure that one might not be able to adjust the brightness without altering the feedback.

Cheers,
Col.

Now, what topping shall I use to eat my words?? :roll:

[fish_r]

I suppose the dimming happens because the oscillator is making do with what's available, where as if it had a feedback circuit, I'm sure that one might not be able to adjust the brightness without altering the feedback.
m8 to be honest i dont know that much about electrics, just know if i lower the voltage it dims the light :) mine were white cathodes and i sprayed them with a blue frosting spray to get the depth of blue i wanted :)

[Bald_noggin]

I you want blue ones (or red, green, white or even UV!) try Jaycar Electronics.

This link is for the 300 mm Blue CCFL. $9.95 just for the CCFL. Not a bad price.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SL2882&CATID=&keywords=CCFL&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

There is apparently one type of inverter for 100mm tubes and one for a 300mm tube, but I don't really think there is that much difference between them.

[fish_r]

thx for the link BN that is a good price :)
i do have blue ones, but there in my computer :)
also have UV ones...