My DIY Lunar lights

Turne dout fantastic. I was able to salvage the housing the original
Coralife Lunar lights used that had Luxeons in them, that went south,
so other than a new found brightness n the tanks, yu can not even tell
they were ever replaced. They look fine.

I also added Lunars lights to various other fresh and sal****er tanks
we have. I was quite busy with wiring them all up but the payoff was
well worth it. Using all the old wall warts were necessary, buying
some good LEDS, resistors and some odds and ends, I wound up equipping
a total of 15 tanks with lunar lights which contain anywhere from 1
LED to 8 LEDS....depending on setup of tank. Even the fresh water
stuff looks good.......What really made a few of the tanks (SW type)
look fantastic is the additon of UV LEDS....wow, the critters look
like one of those black velvet with florescent paint posters lit up
with a black light.....but the balance of the tank is mainly still
dark.......Used in conjunction with the blue LEDS really makes stuff
pop out at you, but the UV only look is pretty neat as well. I have em
switched independantly so I can change the mood lighting.......


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

Sounds cool!

BTW - how long these Coralife lunar lights before they crapped out ?
This sounds like a bad design on the part of Coralife - LEDs should
last almost forever if they are not overdriven with too much current.

As an aquarium service company I have at least 50% of the Coralife lights
fail within 2 yrs of purchase. My personal take on them is that not only do
they run too hot,
the ballasts are cheap to boot. I actually sourced, and stock high quality
replacement ballasts for the compact lamps - if anyone needs one for repair
email me.

Due to the high issue I have completly torn apart 4 of these fixtures and
retrofitted into existing canopies without all the housings, and noisy fans
etc. They work quite good Ive discovered when they run cool.

As far as lunar lights go I have created a monster - a 4ft waterproof
fixture with over 100 LED's really bright - they are the large 5mm and
spaced right next to each other the entire 4 ft section. I have one on my
400 Gl display tank thats 3 ft deep and the bottom is very bright - the only
problem with this is cost - I have about $85 my OEM cost into them. I put
one on Ebay for $75 to guage interest and so far no bids.
Im still looking for a way to make them cheaper, and will incorporate the UV
ones into the next prototype. I looking a some cheaper prefabricated strips
that have "wide angle LED's" and not so many per strip. I get a really nice
ripple effect on my back wall just from the LED.

Pomacanthus
www.advancedaquarium.com







"~Roy~" wrote in message
...
Turne dout fantastic. I was able to salvage the housing the original
Coralife Lunar lights used that had Luxeons in them, that went south,
so other than a new found brightness n the tanks, yu can not even tell
they were ever replaced. They look fine.

I also added Lunars lights to various other fresh and sal****er tanks
we have. I was quite busy with wiring them all up but the payoff was
well worth it. Using all the old wall warts were necessary, buying
some good LEDS, resistors and some odds and ends, I wound up equipping
a total of 15 tanks with lunar lights which contain anywhere from 1
LED to 8 LEDS....depending on setup of tank. Even the fresh water
stuff looks good.......What really made a few of the tanks (SW type)
look fantastic is the additon of UV LEDS....wow, the critters look
like one of those black velvet with florescent paint posters lit up
with a black light.....but the balance of the tank is mainly still
dark.......Used in conjunction with the blue LEDS really makes stuff
pop out at you, but the UV only look is pretty neat as well. I have em
switched independantly so I can change the mood lighting.......


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

I did an experiment with LED lighting in a reef tank which ended about
a month ago. I lit up a 6" diameter bubble tip anemone with 60
ultrabright white LEDs, 30 ultrabright blues,and 30 ultrabright UV LEDs
(20mA through each LED). The light was on for about ten hours a day
for about two months. At first I thought the anemone responded well to
the additional light, as he started opening up more and seemed
healthier overall. After two months had gone by, however, he started
to look sickly, and had several strange growths in his tenticles that
resembled sponges. I took the light off of him and the growths went
away after a couple of weeks and now he is as healthy looking as ever.
I think that the excessive UV was to blame.

Just want to point out that UV radiation is the stuff that gives you
sunburn and is a big contributor to skin cancer in humans. Long term
exposure to higher than normal concentrations of UV could be pretty
bad. On the other hand, one or two UV leds per square foot probably
won't cause much harm (after all, these critters like to bask in full
power sunlight filtered only by a few feet of crystal clear water).

Blake.

adv_aqua (NOSPAM) wrote:
As an aquarium service company I have at least 50% of the Coralife lights
fail within 2 yrs of purchase. My personal take on them is that not only do
they run too hot,
the ballasts are cheap to boot. I actually sourced, and stock high quality
replacement ballasts for the compact lamps - if anyone needs one for repair
email me.

Due to the high issue I have completly torn apart 4 of these fixtures and
retrofitted into existing canopies without all the housings, and noisy fans
etc. They work quite good Ive discovered when they run cool.

As far as lunar lights go I have created a monster - a 4ft waterproof
fixture with over 100 LED's really bright - they are the large 5mm and
spaced right next to each other the entire 4 ft section. I have one on my
400 Gl display tank thats 3 ft deep and the bottom is very bright - the only
problem with this is cost - I have about $85 my OEM cost into them. I put
one on Ebay for $75 to guage interest and so far no bids.
Im still looking for a way to make them cheaper, and will incorporate the UV
ones into the next prototype. I looking a some cheaper prefabricated strips
that have "wide angle LED's" and not so many per strip. I get a really nice
ripple effect on my back wall just from the LED.

Pomacanthus
www.advancedaquarium.com

On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:18:29 -0600, "adv_aqua"
wrote:
As an aquarium service company I have at least 50% of the Coralife lights
fail within 2 yrs of purchase. My personal take on them is that not only do
they run too hot,
the ballasts are cheap to boot. I actually sourced, and stock high quality
replacement ballasts for the compact lamps - if anyone needs one for repair
email me.
Thats about like the infamous JBJ products. My friend who operates and
owns a marine fish shop used to sell JBJ lights. They are notorious
for sidestepping issues with lights. He had a bunch of lights that
continually get dimmer every day/week/month they are in operation.
Its noticeable for sure, and not just loss of proper light after a
period of operation which is to some degree normal for florescents.
Swapping bulbs out helped very little and it after swapping out
ballasts it was found the ballasts were the cause....JBJ refused to
replace the ballasts....so he has since clearance priced all his
instock JBJ stuff and no longer carries it. At least his experiience
and mine with Energy Savers Unlimited (Coralife) has been good, as
they are quick to send out replacement parts on warranty and even
parts after warranty periods. Coralife is not top line grade but its a
good decent product for 90% of the users and has good bang for the
buck.


Due to the high issue I have completly torn apart 4 of these fixtures and
retrofitted into existing canopies without all the housings, and noisy fans
etc. They work quite good Ive discovered when they run cool.


I made hoods out of aluminum bleacher set material. Its simiolar to
the extruded aluminum used by coralife to make their lights.....You
can even buy end caps for the extrusions to finish them off, and its
available in width of 4" to 10". Super easy to work with. I acquired a
bunch of good electronic ballasts from jewelery display cases, some of
which were rated for 96 watt quad bulbs. I fit these lamps into these
"bleacher material hood" along with decent quallity muffin fans..

As far as lunar lights go I have created a monster - a 4ft waterproof
fixture with over 100 LED's really bright - they are the large 5mm and
spaced right next to each other the entire 4 ft section. I have one on my
400 Gl display tank thats 3 ft deep and the bottom is very bright - the only
problem with this is cost - I have about $85 my OEM cost into them. I put
one on Ebay for $75 to guage interest and so far no bids.
Im still looking for a way to make them cheaper, and will incorporate the UV
ones into the next prototype. I looking a some cheaper prefabricated strips
that have "wide angle LED's" and not so many per strip. I get a really nice
ripple effect on my back wall just from the LED.


I like the ripple effect as well......that LEDS and M/H gives....
Pomacanthus
www.advancedaquarium.com







"~Roy~" wrote in message
. ..
Turne dout fantastic. I was able to salvage the housing the original
Coralife Lunar lights used that had Luxeons in them, that went south,
so other than a new found brightness n the tanks, yu can not even tell
they were ever replaced. They look fine.

I also added Lunars lights to various other fresh and sal****er tanks
we have. I was quite busy with wiring them all up but the payoff was
well worth it. Using all the old wall warts were necessary, buying
some good LEDS, resistors and some odds and ends, I wound up equipping
a total of 15 tanks with lunar lights which contain anywhere from 1
LED to 8 LEDS....depending on setup of tank. Even the fresh water
stuff looks good.......What really made a few of the tanks (SW type)
look fantastic is the additon of UV LEDS....wow, the critters look
like one of those black velvet with florescent paint posters lit up
with a black light.....but the balance of the tank is mainly still
dark.......Used in conjunction with the blue LEDS really makes stuff
pop out at you, but the UV only look is pretty neat as well. I have em
switched independantly so I can change the mood lighting.......


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

I asked Coralife about this, and was told that the LEDs
are suposed to last 10,000 hours under normal dc current,
but because of alternating current,and power surges, they
only last 3 to 5 years, and sometimes shorter.

They are also changing the instructions on the lights, in
that instead of sugesting the legs as an option, they will
state that the lights need to be used with the legs
instead of being placed on a glass top, and the lights
will come with the legs to attach to the light. And it
will state, not to put the lighs inside a canopy unless it
has a lot of ventelation.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



~Roy~ wrote on 2/22/2006 10:18 AM:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:18:29 -0600, "adv_aqua"
wrote:

As an aquarium service company I have at least 50% of the Coralife lights
fail within 2 yrs of purchase. My personal take on them is that not only do
they run too hot,
the ballasts are cheap to boot. I actually sourced, and stock high quality
replacement ballasts for the compact lamps - if anyone needs one for repair
email me.

Thats about like the infamous JBJ products. My friend who operates and
owns a marine fish shop used to sell JBJ lights. They are notorious
for sidestepping issues with lights. He had a bunch of lights that
continually get dimmer every day/week/month they are in operation.
Its noticeable for sure, and not just loss of proper light after a
period of operation which is to some degree normal for florescents.
Swapping bulbs out helped very little and it after swapping out
ballasts it was found the ballasts were the cause....JBJ refused to
replace the ballasts....so he has since clearance priced all his
instock JBJ stuff and no longer carries it. At least his experiience
and mine with Energy Savers Unlimited (Coralife) has been good, as
they are quick to send out replacement parts on warranty and even
parts after warranty periods. Coralife is not top line grade but its a
good decent product for 90% of the users and has good bang for the
buck.



Due to the high issue I have completly torn apart 4 of these fixtures and
retrofitted into existing canopies without all the housings, and noisy fans
etc. They work quite good Ive discovered when they run cool.



I made hoods out of aluminum bleacher set material. Its simiolar to
the extruded aluminum used by coralife to make their lights.....You
can even buy end caps for the extrusions to finish them off, and its
available in width of 4" to 10". Super easy to work with. I acquired a
bunch of good electronic ballasts from jewelery display cases, some of
which were rated for 96 watt quad bulbs. I fit these lamps into these
"bleacher material hood" along with decent quallity muffin fans..


As far as lunar lights go I have created a monster - a 4ft waterproof
fixture with over 100 LED's really bright - they are the large 5mm and
spaced right next to each other the entire 4 ft section. I have one on my
400 Gl display tank thats 3 ft deep and the bottom is very bright - the only
problem with this is cost - I have about $85 my OEM cost into them. I put
one on Ebay for $75 to guage interest and so far no bids.
Im still looking for a way to make them cheaper, and will incorporate the UV
ones into the next prototype. I looking a some cheaper prefabricated strips
that have "wide angle LED's" and not so many per strip. I get a really nice
ripple effect on my back wall just from the LED.



I like the ripple effect as well......that LEDS and M/H gives....

Pomacanthus
www.advancedaquarium.com







"~Roy~" wrote in message
...
Turne dout fantastic. I was able to salvage the housing the original
Coralife Lunar lights used that had Luxeons in them, that went south,
so other than a new found brightness n the tanks, yu can not even tell
they were ever replaced. They look fine.

I also added Lunars lights to various other fresh and sal****er tanks
we have. I was quite busy with wiring them all up but the payoff was
well worth it. Using all the old wall warts were necessary, buying
some good LEDS, resistors and some odds and ends, I wound up equipping
a total of 15 tanks with lunar lights which contain anywhere from 1
LED to 8 LEDS....depending on setup of tank. Even the fresh water
stuff looks good.......What really made a few of the tanks (SW type)
look fantastic is the additon of UV LEDS....wow, the critters look
like one of those black velvet with florescent paint posters lit up
with a black light.....but the balance of the tank is mainly still
dark.......Used in conjunction with the blue LEDS really makes stuff
pop out at you, but the UV only look is pretty neat as well. I have em
switched independantly so I can change the mood lighting.......


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

On Sat, 25 Feb 2006 01:37:38 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:
I asked Coralife about this, and was told that the LEDs
are suposed to last 10,000 hours under normal dc current,
but because of alternating current,and power surges, they
only last 3 to 5 years, and sometimes shorter.

I can wholeheartely buy that statement..however 2 to 3 months is just
not acceptable by any means.Plain and simple Coral life threw together
a cheap way of making lunar lights that they suggest a hefty retail
price on that is short quite a few things. I am relatively just a
newbie with LEDS and the likes, but three forums I ama in with some
electronic gurus as well as what others have posted about them here in
this forum, and they need a lot more than what they contain to be
considered a decent setup with any expectation of any longevity..

They are also changing the instructions on the lights, in
that instead of sugesting the legs as an option, they will
state that the lights need to be used with the legs
instead of being placed on a glass top, and the lights
will come with the legs to attach to the light. And it
will state, not to put the lighs inside a canopy unless it
has a lot of ventelation.


Its a heck of a note the legs them make for their aqua lights are so
spindley and weak. Just a bump and they snap like a pretzel stick, and
they also g et high bucks for them. YOu would think for what they get
for their lights that are in extruded aluminum housings they could
easily include those piece of trash legs as well, heck its like they
cut them off the plastic clothes haangers in Wally World....
I sure hope they have a decent redesign no the legs, as those that
they have now are junk. I konw of folks that have done just as you
stated about mounting a light already in a housing up inside a hood.
They are not designed for that. Fine buy a compleye light and strip it
and use it like a retro kit, but its still going to amount to a cheap
A$$ed ballast and the same for their cooling fans....JUNK....Heck even
expensive brands of cooling fans with high life expectancy and quiet
are cheap to buy so coralife does not have any excuse for assemling
their lights out of such cheap junk. I can see where they get a bad
rap for stuff that does not last. The ideas are great, the designs for
the most part are super, but the quality of materials they use leaves
a lot to be desired.. It makes you wonder why you can buy a complete
light assembly say a 20" quad 96 watt, for under $90 complete with a
so called $40 or 50 dollar bulb, but a retro kit with just the innerds
consisting of ballast sockets some wires and switches and a reflector
etc will run you over a $120. Certainly a difference in a quality
retro kit than what is used concealed from the customer ina fancy
housing.

I have had a run in with coral life in regards to one super skimmer
model #65. I have 5 super skimmers, three #65, 1 #125 and 1
#220....All work like a champ except for one #65. It arrived with a
dead pump. They sent me a pump within 10 days, fine, new pump did not
work either.......wait another 10 days for another pump.(they only
send the motor, no front piece of impeller or shaft) finally it works.
Skimmer is impossible to stop leaking at adjustment knob....no matter
how its adjusted. except for the off postion which is accomplished by
pulling the plug. Call up ESU, they send replacement body of new
design valve....Super, stip old skimmer down put the parts on new
skimmer body turrn it on and it leaks worse than my original one did,
but this time its leaking where the inlet tube enters the body and it
sprays water out all over....Call em back, and they send
another......only thing is its the old style and it lieaks like the
first did, callem back and ask can yu send the new style........They
say, huh, you mean they sent an old style body......I reply yep, and
they say well get a new one out immediately. They do, but what do I
get but another old style body that leaks........Repeat this for
another 3 times, yes three times and I keep getting told it will be
new style that won;'t leak and I keep getting old styles. How cxan
they know what their left hand is doing when their right hand is in
the dark just the same. I bet they spent $150 on shipping costs of
items to fix screwups on a skimmer I paid 85 bucks for.......and that
does not include the costs of the three motors, oh and 2 collection
cups as two of them leaked, and all those skimmer bodies....

I presently still have one model #65 skimmer that leaks at the red
adjustment knob, and am tired of having to hang around the house to
wait for Fed Ex to deliver. I have more things to take care of
thanwait for more junk to arrive.

However I do have a solution in sight and I have come up with a mod
for those simmers, even the ones that do not leak (the new style) that
will eliminate the bubble diffuser box, and produce much finer
bubbles than they already do, and also make the water column with
bubbles linger longer for more pickup. I also figured out a way to
modify those leaky valves as well to make em totally leak proof even
if its run wide open......Tomorrow I plan on modding one of the new
old bodies they sent and try the valve mod out. I already did the mod
on my original skimmers as far as the bubble diffuser goes and it
works.

Coraloife with me is loosing ground and soon its not going to be part
of anything I buy unless they clean up their act and do what they
should be doing, as they are about a step up from JEBO in the quality
of their products.


Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



~Roy~ wrote on 2/22/2006 10:18 AM:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:18:29 -0600, "adv_aqua"
wrote:

As an aquarium service company I have at least 50% of the Coralife lights
fail within 2 yrs of purchase. My personal take on them is that not only do
they run too hot,
the ballasts are cheap to boot. I actually sourced, and stock high quality
replacement ballasts for the compact lamps - if anyone needs one for repair
email me.

Thats about like the infamous JBJ products. My friend who operates and
owns a marine fish shop used to sell JBJ lights. They are notorious
for sidestepping issues with lights. He had a bunch of lights that
continually get dimmer every day/week/month they are in operation.
Its noticeable for sure, and not just loss of proper light after a
period of operation which is to some degree normal for florescents.
Swapping bulbs out helped very little and it after swapping out
ballasts it was found the ballasts were the cause....JBJ refused to
replace the ballasts....so he has since clearance priced all his
instock JBJ stuff and no longer carries it. At least his experiience
and mine with Energy Savers Unlimited (Coralife) has been good, as
they are quick to send out replacement parts on warranty and even
parts after warranty periods. Coralife is not top line grade but its a
good decent product for 90% of the users and has good bang for the
buck.



Due to the high issue I have completly torn apart 4 of these fixtures and
retrofitted into existing canopies without all the housings, and noisy fans
etc. They work quite good Ive discovered when they run cool.



I made hoods out of aluminum bleacher set material. Its simiolar to
the extruded aluminum used by coralife to make their lights.....You
can even buy end caps for the extrusions to finish them off, and its
available in width of 4" to 10". Super easy to work with. I acquired a
bunch of good electronic ballasts from jewelery display cases, some of
which were rated for 96 watt quad bulbs. I fit these lamps into these
"bleacher material hood" along with decent quallity muffin fans..


As far as lunar lights go I have created a monster - a 4ft waterproof
fixture with over 100 LED's really bright - they are the large 5mm and
spaced right next to each other the entire 4 ft section. I have one on my
400 Gl display tank thats 3 ft deep and the bottom is very bright - the only
problem with this is cost - I have about $85 my OEM cost into them. I put
one on Ebay for $75 to guage interest and so far no bids.
Im still looking for a way to make them cheaper, and will incorporate the UV
ones into the next prototype. I looking a some cheaper prefabricated strips
that have "wide angle LED's" and not so many per strip. I get a really nice
ripple effect on my back wall just from the LED.



I like the ripple effect as well......that LEDS and M/H gives....

Pomacanthus
www.advancedaquarium.com







"~Roy~" wrote in message
.net...
Turne dout fantastic. I was able to salvage the housing the original
Coralife Lunar lights used that had Luxeons in them, that went south,
so other than a new found brightness n the tanks, yu can not even tell
they were ever replaced. They look fine.

I also added Lunars lights to various other fresh and sal****er tanks
we have. I was quite busy with wiring them all up but the payoff was
well worth it. Using all the old wall warts were necessary, buying
some good LEDS, resistors and some odds and ends, I wound up equipping
a total of 15 tanks with lunar lights which contain anywhere from 1
LED to 8 LEDS....depending on setup of tank. Even the fresh water
stuff looks good.......What really made a few of the tanks (SW type)
look fantastic is the additon of UV LEDS....wow, the critters look
like one of those black velvet with florescent paint posters lit up
with a black light.....but the balance of the tank is mainly still
dark.......Used in conjunction with the blue LEDS really makes stuff
pop out at you, but the UV only look is pretty neat as well. I have em
switched independantly so I can change the mood lighting.......


--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....




--
\\\|///
( @ @ )
-----------oOOo(_)oOOo---------------


oooO
---------( )----Oooo----------------
\ ( ( )
\_) ) /
(_/
The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message ...
I asked Coralife about this, and was told that the LEDs
are suposed to last 10,000 hours under normal dc current,
but because of alternating current,and power surges, they
only last 3 to 5 years, and sometimes shorter.

This is a BS, and a big one!
What do they mean "normal DC current" and why their
lamps are not powered with "normal DC current" but
instead are powered with unfiltered, unregulated AC ??
The answer is: because the customer will pay at the end.
If their power supply does not provide safe current for
the LED device than this is clearly a design problem...

And there is a math problem: 10 hours a day, 365 days
a year = 3650 hours a year. 10,000/3650 = 2.7 years.
If you run your moon lights 24 hours a day, than you will get
8760 hours a year, so 10000 hours is little more than 1 year.
So how come they last 1 year with "normal DC current"
and "only" 3-5 years with this surges problem ?? :-))

They are also changing the instructions on the lights, in
that instead of sugesting the legs as an option, they will
state that the lights need to be used with the legs
instead of being placed on a glass top, and the lights
will come with the legs to attach to the light. And it
will state, not to put the lighs inside a canopy unless it
has a lot of ventelation.

Temperature, unfortunatelly, has a detrimental effects
on the life expectancy of LED devices and the maxsimum
allowed current for LED, lets say 20-30mA is only for 25'C.
In the event the ambient temperature is - lets say 80'C, like
inside hot canopy can be, than max current drops to 8-10mA
and above this LED will have dramatically shortened life.

So keep your LEDs cool and do not drive them with AC current! :-)

Pszemol wrote on 2/24/2006 10:56 PM
And there is a math problem: 10 hours a day, 365 days
a year = 3650 hours a year. 10,000/3650 = 2.7 years.
If you run your moon lights 24 hours a day, than you will get
8760 hours a year, so 10000 hours is little more than 1 year.
So how come they last 1 year with "normal DC current"
and "only" 3-5 years with this surges problem ?? :-))


I started to do the math, and then was lazy, and didn't.
Yea that's not verry long of a life. :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets