DIY LED Lighting Using Flashlights?

[gabew]

I've been wondering with the boom of really expensive LED lighting systems, would it be possible to build one yourself with little LED flashlights like THESE (http://cgi.ebay.com/9-LED-Superbright-Flashlight-Torch-Lamp-Light-Hiking-/110541746493?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item19bccd313d)? Considering they are only a dollar each it would probably be super cheap. Would it be possible to all wire them up to not be battery powered? I'm not sure how bright they are compared to the lights you use for tanks so I'm not sure how many you would have to use.

So would it be possible. And if it is really that easy I might try it on my tank. Or am I insane and are these fixtures that expensive for a reason.

[kcress]

It would be kinda funky.
Since you're doing a cold-water it may actually be adequate.

Drop 5 bucks on them and see what you think, how many you would need, and how you'd mount them. If they don't look good hand them out to the family.

[NanoReefWanabe]

those are only 5mm led's in those lights...unless you your lighting a coffee mug there is no sense trying...

if you could find the HP cree or luxeon powered flashlights for dirt cheap then it might be worth attempting.

then again after buying 20 flashlights to try it you likely would have been better off just buying a couple PAR38 LED fixtures.

[gabew]

The thing is that these are so cheap that you could easily buy several dozen even a few hundred of these for the price of your average LED fixture. And since I am doing a coldwater tank it wouldn't need to be super bright either. My main problem would be connecting them to a power chord. I am no electrician but would it be possible to string them all together like a Christmas tree lights or would they have to be wired separately, and what kind of ballast and whatnot would you need.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

People are going to continue to think I'm a nutcase for jumping on the efficiency soapbox, but efficiency matters regardless of your budget or the intensity you need!

Consider this example. Imagine we had a "good" LED that cost $10, produced 100 units of light, and used one watt. Imagine we have a "cheap" LED that cost 10 cents, produced 10 units of light, and used half a watt.

Imagine you needed 1000 units of light. You could get that for an upfront cost of $100 by buying 10 of the "good" LEDs. Or, you could get it with an upfront cost of $10 by buying 100 of the "cheap" LEDs. Seems like a total no-brainer to use the cheap LEDs, right?

Until you get your first power bill. The good LED rig would have used 10 watts. The cheap LED rig will use 50 watts! Five times as much! This is not an inflated difference but rather a realistic approximation of the efficiencies of cheap common LEDs (which are actually very poor sources of light from an efficiency standpoint) vs good HP LEDs.

In other words, sure - you could probably build a rig out of 100 of those flashlights, but you could probably build a comparable rig with three or four good HP LEDs. Longterm operating costs will absolutely be in favor of the HP LEDs, and upfront costs might be as well.

Of course don't let this stop you from experimenting. A light rig built out of flashlights would be kinda cool. It would emulate the "spotlight" approach common in Japan right now, on a different scale. :D

As far as wiring, you'd have to know what's built in to the flashlight before you decided how to power it (I am assuming you'd ditch the batteries). There's probably something in those flashlights besides the LED itself - a resistor or something else...

[Dwerbs]

Sorry to burst your bubble but it won't work, unless you are just using it for LIGHT but not growing anything. Many do not seem to understand that not all emitters equal, even with the Cree-XR-E emitters sold commonly for other applications (these are an excellent emitter in terms of lumen per watt output) are only as good as their correct wavelength output (Kelvin Temperature/Nanometers). I have used and tested many "cheap" emitters or even otherwise good emitters that do not produce the important light energy needed to support aquarium life.
For instance, exclusive Cree Emitter bins used by Tropic Marine Center AquaRay/AquaBeam should not be confused with Cree emitters sold for other lighting applications, as these do not produce the correct Kelvin/Nanometers of Light required for delicate marine reef and freshwater inhabitants and plants. Just one example is the actinic emitter bin used by TMC produces a rather exact 465nm - 485nm (which as per our PAR section of this article is the primary UVA wavelength for optimum PAR) vs. the often more broad and lower (420nm) of many other lights.
Think about why a CFL 10,000K daylight is so much different and more expensive than a common household CFL sold in hardware stores, or the many decorative LED aquarium lights or even those for home or flashlight use; try using one of these to grow your delicate coral or plants (the answer is they will not). Sadly there are still people who ask why pay for a Cree emitter in a high end aquarium light such as the Aqua Ray or similar, when he could by these for much less money for other application. This shows the unfortunate lack of understanding of what is important in aquarium lighting, whether LED or other lights . This is the reason most earlier LED aquarium lights were not adequate for supporting life properly until recently.

[gabew]

Ok scratch the idea of flashlights, but I still want to push the idea of a "good" cheap DIY LED fixture. Any suggestions for things like this. And when I say "cheap" I mean preferably under $100 or a max of $150. On my build thread (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18081100&posted=1#post18081100) someone told me he was using 4 10euro "LED spotlights" to power his coldwater tank any suggestions on these.

[firechild]

To simply illuminate your aquarium, you could pick up some Cree XR-E emitters from dealextreme and run up to 20-24 emitters at 700mA on one of these drivers (http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/370614781-waterproof-led-constant-current-driver-AC90-250V-input-output-700mA-60W-P-N-YL-85700L-wholesalers.html). You should get the emitters and driver for under $100 and then use some aluminium U-channel to mount them on. You could easily do this for under $150 and the power consumption should be no more than about 50-55W for a well illuminated aquarium.

[katchupoy]

or something like this? (http://www.3reef.com/forums/i-made/100-diy-cree-led-xr-e-actinic-supplement-48-light-strip-92290.html)