Register for free GEM5 test lights

[SantaMonica]

Several people will get a free set of GEM5 lights: 2 white, 2 black, and the power supply.

If you would like to be one of the testers, post a picture of the refugium or scrubber that you would use the lights on. It would be great if you could follow up with updates.

6577 6578 6579

[isenhart]

I'll throw my hat in the ring for one. I just set up this scrubber in my quarantine tank. It has a piece of 2 1/2" underground pvc conduit. It's inside a piece of 3" pvc pipe to contain the bubbles, salt creep, any light and it makes the bubble sound a lot quieter. It currently has 3 red led's that are being powered by an old phone charger and covered in clear silicone. The screen was used previously, but before I glued in the led's I scratched the inside of the pipe. I'm betting that eventually the algae will attach to the pvc and I can remove the screen. If your light works on this, a diy scrubber setup could be made for ~$10 in pvc plus your light and an air pump.

64996500650165026503

I have a lot of this pvc laying around that I could make several and do head to head tests with. My saltwater water fall scrubber hasn't really taken off either. I wonder if your light would work better?

I'll give updates like my last two.

http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?3442-DIY-in-tank-waterfall-scrubber
http://algaescrubber.net/forums/showthread.php?3366-Undergravel-UAS

[SantaMonica]

Well it should fit in there... it's only 1" wide.

[isenhart]

If it didn't fit, I could up to 4 or 6" to accommodate.

[SantaMonica]

It's going to be very bright though for a tiny tube. So maybe a 6" diameter is better.

[mulmy]

I'd like to try one please, I'll put it in the rear middle compartment of my JBJ 25g nano. I do have the JBJ nano-glo but my Caulerpa isn't growing very well.
Thanks.

[SantaMonica]

Ok great.

That white light surely is not helping that much.

[getmealemon]

I would be very interested in trying one. My current tank has filtration in the thin rear chamber and so far i haven't found a satisfactory setup for my algae scrubber - your solution sounds like it would mean i could light from either side.

[SantaMonica]

Yes, from either side. Bottom too.

[C3hutson]

I'd love to try the lights and would be GLAD to post updates! Here's my waterfall scrubber (front reflector removed for picture): 6562

[SantaMonica]

Looks good.

[SantaMonica]

Ok the final test lights are being made now. I'll send a pm with a link to order the free ones.

[SantaMonica]

Email just sent out for the free order link. Still can have more testers.

[C3hutson]

Sent my order. Do you have any pictures of these lights?

[C3hutson]

Never mind, found th thread below this one!

[isenhart]

Order placed. Looking forward to testing it out. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

[SantaMonica]

Got 3 of the 4 testers in. Yes the old video link was removed because the lights will be using regular discreet LEDs and not the COBs in that video. So there will be all new pics and videos.

Also I know the order form gave a choice of black or white, but all testers will get both (2 black, 2 white) so as to decide which is better.

[markstrimaran]

Hi.
Will post more later.

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Your freshwater will be a nice test.

[SantaMonica]

Ok the first free set of GEM5 test lights are getting ready to go out to Isenhart, lights #21, 22, 23 and 24. Note in the first pic at the bottom that the suction cups can go on either side; same for screws, or the foam tape. This is so the lights can be mounted so that they shine through a sump wall, or so they shine away from a wall.

6574 6575 6576

Also the caps for unused power supply plugs need to be kept on, so that the used ones will operate.

[isenhart]

Do they have enough of a heat sink to run at 100% intensity in open air? Do they need a fan or something?

[SantaMonica]

No fan or heat sink needed. They are their own heat sink and can even operate nonstop in closed scrubber boxes.

[FullBoreReefer]

5gal bucket build. Fully contained, simple, cheap, and efficient. Started with two 10w led setups, I've stepped them up to two 20w fixtures as of a few days ago so that's why my pictures show the 10w lights still, I've also removed the LED strip lights in fear they weren't "fully" waterproof. For the drains, I use two 3/4" uniseals coupled to 3/4" ball valves, pretty much a mini duroso, then it's nice and quiet.

I'd love to try a set of your new lights, heck, maybe I'll buy an extra set if I need more!

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/image_zps8tpimhjg.jpeg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/image_zps8tpimhjg.jpeg.html)

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/image_zpsfddtu8vh.jpeg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/image_zpsfddtu8vh.jpeg.html)

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/image_zpsthrkdrf0.jpeg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/image_zpsthrkdrf0.jpeg.html)

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/image_zpsyeqdvs84.jpeg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/image_zpsyeqdvs84.jpeg.html)

Progress pics...

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/70400F6A-D45B-4E95-A185-700F750D7C4F_zps2fxbov5k.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/70400F6A-D45B-4E95-A185-700F750D7C4F_zps2fxbov5k.jpg.html)

Same as above but using a white light to show algae color...

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/416BAA47-CB26-4461-8AB4-6503ABA18D97_zpsaepk9fjm.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/416BAA47-CB26-4461-8AB4-6503ABA18D97_zpsaepk9fjm.jpg.html)

[SantaMonica]

Welcome. Just sent you the free order link.

[markstrimaran]

The mirror reflector is the dark square above the cat.
The thin long sump compartment holds the scrubber. The drilled hole is the water in.

[markstrimaran]

We're is the link?

[SantaMonica]

Was emailed.

Yep looks like a great place to put GEM5 lights.

[SantaMonica]

By the way some of the lights may have marks or differences on them, and this is part of the testing.

[SantaMonica]

Number 25, 26, 27, 28 going out today to Mulmy.

[C3hutson]

Anxiously awaiting. Have you determined a range of mounting distance from the screen?

[SantaMonica]

As near as 2 inches above water, or 0 inches underwater.

[Pny]

I could evaluate them under European conditions in my reef cube... ;-)

[SantaMonica]

Ok you are on the list :)

[SantaMonica]

#29, 31, 32, 33 going out to Getmealemon.

[SantaMonica]

As a reminder, these are first-moldings, so they are a little rough looking. Operationally they work fine.

[isenhart]

6590

This arrived today. I have one light hanging in my garage to see how hot it gets. More to follow when I get a chance to test them.

[SantaMonica]

My guess is 50C or less.

[FullBoreReefer]

Lights look good, I can't wait!

[isenhart]

I plugged in the GEM5 lights and took a few temperature readings. All testing was done in my garage with a ~80 degree outside temperature and no fan's or additional heat sink.

The single light hanging in open air peaked at 130F.

6596

The other three lights were laying face down on my bench that is made from fiberglass covered plywood. Those peaked at 167F.

6595

All 4 lights hanging together peaked out at 200F.

6594

Most manufactures recommend keeping the temperature below 135F for maximum led life. 200 didn't cause any failures of the led's or housings, but I'm sure running that hot is shorting the life span. I personally wouldn't run them in open air without an additional heat sink or active (fan) cooling. Though I don't know why you would buy fully waterproof lights and not put them in water where they cool just fine.

[SantaMonica]

Thanks for your measurements. The sizing was figured on how most people would mount it, if in air, so that the temperature would be ok. Nobody would bunch them together vertically, facing flat against each other, so that was not a concern.

As for laying them flat on a surface with no air circulation, this might only occur on a clear cover laid over a sump. A person doing this with 3 or 4 of these lights would probably spread them out a bit across the top of the sump, thus reducing the temperature of the middle one. Most probably of course, and the reason for getting GEM5 lights like you said, they would put 1 or 2 of them in the water or on the side of the sump, thus bring the temperature of all of them down.

[isenhart]

I agree hanging all 4 together face to face is not a practical application. I just plugged them in and walked away for a while. When I came back they were too hot to touch so I was curious of the temperature.

[SantaMonica]

#34, 35, 36, 37 going to C3hutson today

[C3hutson]

Gottem. Great looking product so far.

Do you want PAR numbers? If so, at what distances would you like?

[SantaMonica]

No not really, I have them already. Just go ahead and use them.

[C3hutson]

Do you recommend reducing lighting hours when coming from CFL? I think I'm already seeing yellow lines directly under the LEDs after the first night.

[SantaMonica]

All depends on the placement. If you can back the light up another inch, it might help.

[C3hutson]

I'll give that a shot!

[C3hutson]

Originally had them mounted directly on the acrylic shield but started seeing yellowing after the first night of the lights on as seen in this picture:

http://i.imgur.com/qfk2vW2.jpg

Then I mounted them about an inch further out from the screen (excuse the temporary ghetto splash shield and led mounts :) )

http://i.imgur.com/kzj9Z7R.jpg

And here is day 2 and 3 since moving the LEDs out a bit:

2
http://i.imgur.com/t7854it.jpg

3
http://i.imgur.com/eLEaIQR.jpg?1

[SantaMonica]

Nice use of eggcrate.

I now have the suction cups, which will make this kind of mounting easy.

[SantaMonica]

Actually you can take par readings if you want. 2" distance is a good spot.

[C3hutson]

Getting roughly 250-275 par at the screen with this placement.

[SantaMonica]

So 4 of them lined up near each other might reach 1000.

[C3hutson]

Probably, what kind of par are you looking for with an algae scrubber? I never measured the PAR coming from the 100watt CFL I was using before this.

I cleaned my screen yesterday so I should have some good growth progression photos showing up using just the LED. My previous ones were started with the CFL and swapped to LED midway between cleaning cycle.

[SantaMonica]

No number. Higher nutrients need stronger light.

[SantaMonica]

#41, 42, 43 and 44 going out to markstrimaran

[markstrimaran]

I can't. Wait.

[SantaMonica]

#37, 38, 45 and 46 going out today to fullborereefer. Also now includes 8 suction cups, and instructions.

[markstrimaran]

Should I start a new thread for my scrubber, or post on this one. Is MFK website ok?

[SantaMonica]

Here and mfk are good.

[markstrimaran]

The suction cup, thumb screw thread length. Fits, a little loose on 2 of the 8, if the bolt threads were a 1/8" shorter. They would tighten up on the thinner LED frame moldings. A slightly thicker, LED, molded frame part. Will fix it also.
Spent 5 minutes to install new lights in my sump. I LIKE the plugs for easy routing.

[isenhart]

Curiosity question, why did you choose to go with a 48v power supply instead of a 12v?

[SantaMonica]

Did you tighten the screws? They should be able to tighten down as much as needed. The last video here shows it:

Videos:

GEM5 lights everywhere:
https://youtu.be/-jWxVHqb71Y

GEM5 lights used for algae/cheato reactors:
https://youtu.be/nqmxgx4vPwA

GEM5 power supply handles Four (4) lights:
https://youtu.be/hcb11Cm0e7k

GEM5 power cord for 240 and 120 volts:
https://youtu.be/P2skBB9PwMw

GEM5 suction cups:
https://youtu.be/miewM3A0EEM

[SantaMonica]

Because the lights are in series.

[isenhart]

Right, but if they were 12 volt in parallel you wouldn't need the caps to make them work if you run less than 4.

[SantaMonica]

LEDs can't work like that. They vary too much and one of them ends up taking all the power.

[C3hutson]

Here's five days of growth. First time growing from a cleaned screen with the LEDs. I think I need to cut down the hours a little bit. Appears to be growing best well outside of the focus of the LEDs. This is 18 LED photoperiod.

http://i.imgur.com/PR5HH7j.jpg

[SantaMonica]

Yes or back the lights away more.

Last of the test lights done: #47, 48, 52, 53 going out Monday to Pny.

[SantaMonica]

Non-USA lights went by our slow first class mail, so they might take a while.

[FullBoreReefer]

Got my lights about 3-4days ago. I found time the other night to remove my old "eBay" lights and install these. Installation was a breeze, suction cup to the side of my bucket, plugged the light into the power supply, and then into my apex. When I tested them, the first I noticed was the spectrum. My old light had some blues with the Reds so it gave it a pink'ish purple look, these are definitely red!

Here are some pics...

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/Mobile%20Uploads/20160621_172312_zpsypwhtwmr.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160621_172312_zpsypwhtwmr.jpg.html)


http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/Mobile%20Uploads/20160621_172412_zpsqfp1uvj2.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160621_172412_zpsqfp1uvj2.jpg.html)




I'll report back after I give it a few weeks.

[C3hutson]

they are really really red. Really bright. If I look at my scrubber at night it takes a second for me to regain vision when I look away, and that's just the light reflecting off the screen.

[FullBoreReefer]

they are really really red. Really bright. If I look at my scrubber at night it takes a second for me to regain vision when I look away, and that's just the light reflecting off the screen.

I agree, wear sunglasses HAHA

[SantaMonica]

Yea that's the difference between 5 real watts each light, and less real watts. And that's why a special material was need to mold it, because of the high power.

[markstrimaran]

6616
Latest 4 days of LED growth, on a screen started with a CFL6617 prior growth from Cfl

[SantaMonica]

Looks like in both cases the light needs spreading out more.

[markstrimaran]

6616
Latest 4 days of LED growth, on a screen started with a CFL6617 prior growth from Cfl
Single sided freshwater, 49sqin, with all 4 gem lights, on the same side. Running 18 hrs a day in two 9hr on with 3 off. I will be reconfiguring it the first week of July, as I will have a week off work.

[markstrimaran]

What is the dry pellet to cube, ratio?
3 grams dry pellet, flake. Reconstituted to 10 grams. Wet volume is .85 Table spoon, or about 12 cc of paste.

[SantaMonica]

1 frozen cube = 10 pinches of flake food = 10 square inches (60 sq cm) of nori = 0.1 dry ounce (2.8 grams) of pellet food

Note that these are not calorie equivalents. They are observed functional equivalents.

[markstrimaran]

66216620 suction cup threads, I fixed it by adding 1/16" 316 stainless fender washer. It appears the light 42 was molded a little thin with the clear resin on the light side.

[SantaMonica]

You should be able to push the clear screw into the cup while turning it; should not need washers. All of the ones I tried I can tighten as much as needed.

[FullBoreReefer]

Although I have had my new lights on for awhile now, I technically had growth in spots from my old lights. So today I pulled it out to do a good scrapping and clean up the bottom of the bucket. Now from here on out I'll know for sure the new growth rates and density of these new lights and not a mixture of new and old.

After the cleaning...


http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/20160701_212510_zpss5tnbhls.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/20160701_212510_zpss5tnbhls.jpg.html)



http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/20160701_212539_zpsumvrvf8f.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/20160701_212539_zpsumvrvf8f.jpg.html)



http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/20160701_212552_zpsulvyzppv.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/20160701_212552_zpsulvyzppv.jpg.html)



http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p576/Dane_Brillhart/20160701_212604_zps6zecksjs.jpg (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Dane_Brillhart/media/20160701_212604_zps6zecksjs.jpg.html)

[SantaMonica]

Good to see the cups holding strong.

[SantaMonica]

Anyone who did not get 4 suction cups, and needs them, I can send them now.

[isenhart]

I think my set only had 2 suction cups originally.

[SantaMonica]

Pm your address and I'll send them

[Pny]

I've got my lights... Works great with European 230V/50Hz. :-)

[C3hutson]

had to take a couple weeks off from algae scrubbing due to a tank move. I moved into my 150 from my 75. Also had to build a new scrubber to fit better. Basically took my old screen and cut it in half horizontally to make it twice as wide and half as long. I wanted to have half the drop as before to reduce noise and my pump that I am using was too strong for such a narrow screen. I kept the screen in water and lit during this time to preserve the algae that it had.

For now, I just sort of have the gem 5 lights dangled into the sump and pointed at each screen from each side about 6" away. Any closer than 5 inches and I was seeing yellow anyways. Already seeing decent growth.

http://i.imgur.com/bROswexl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/92xNYVjl.jpg

[SantaMonica]

Has anyone not received their lights?

[FullBoreReefer]

I have had a few leds burn out. I will upload pics if necessary.

[SantaMonica]

Yes do, including the wire, and shape of the case lengthwise. Also what were the operating conditions?

[markstrimaran]

Hi.
I got the 48 volt transformer soaking wet. I have an 48 volt x 4 amp transformer. In my bone yard. Will the high amperage rating cause any problems. Thanks

[SantaMonica]

Not sure exactly what you mean, but any transformer that gets wet needs to dry out completely before trying to plug it in again.

On the bottom of it is a tab that you can push in and slide the little cover off. It does not open much, but there is a little space for air to get in and out. So leave that open and blow out with air and shake it until no more water comes out, then bake at 150F for several hours.

Best best is to let is set for a full week.

Then try it and see what happens.

[markstrimaran]

It was plugged in for 24 hour before I noticed that the scrubber lights, were not turning on, with the timer.
I put it in the oven, on 150. I was wondering if a transformer rated at 4 amps 48 volts 196 watt Will operate the lights. The OEM transformer is 48volts .48 amps. 20 watt.

[SantaMonica]

Well you can try it, it does not seem too far off, although it's not constant current.

[markstrimaran]

The scrubber lights are back up. With the aid of a new transformer.
Just really unlucky with some water drips, from my top tank. It has a poly floss filter tray on top. That caused a random drip. After I replaced a filter in haste.

[markstrimaran]

The scrubber lights are burned out. Running 24x7 for the last year. I check the voltage regulator and the transformer was pushing 50 volts.
Also I had one led go out, (noticed in a random picture) a while ago. Let me know if you would like them back for R and D.

[SantaMonica]

Yes send an email and I'll send a shipping label. Sounds like experimental model serial number 0001 met it's match.

[markstrimaran]

markgrabill@hotmail.com