Mounting LED's in MH Pendant

Stephen73ta · 05/20/2009, 06:54 PM

I am currently setting up a custom light bar with two 150w MH pendants and I was wondering if anyone has mounted moonlight LED's inside of the pendant? Possibly glued or fastened to the reflector.

Would heat be an issue? I'd like to do this I am just concerned about melting any wiring or burning up the LED.

My Pendant

The LED's would be a DIY style job.

Paco · 05/20/2009, 06:59 PM

Tagging along. Was planning to do the same -- mounting Neptune Moonlights inside a Lumenbright pendant.

Stephen73ta · 05/21/2009, 03:26 AM

i also thought of drilling the reflector and using LED brackets to mounth them to the reflector and run the wires out the back..

do you know if LEDs are sensitive to temp?

Stephen73ta · 05/21/2009, 03:31 PM

i've tried searching google to find the the maximum temperature exposure that LED's can with stand and had no luck..

Garage1217 · 05/21/2009, 04:24 PM

Leds are seriously sensitive to overheating. Mounted directly in a pendant, they will fail. I have this issue all of the time with my customers sticking led bulbs into headlight housings in cars. No matter the led style, they eventually are damaged from the intense heat. And a 150-250+w pendant would be crazy hot. I will have to thermoscan the outside of mine to see how hot they are. But just from an accidental touch were my hand sizzled, it is safe to say an led would not survive haha!

jmjohnson · 05/21/2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Garage1217
Leds are seriously sensitive to overheating. Mounted directly in a pendant, they will fail. I have this issue all of the time with my customers sticking led bulbs into headlight housings in cars. No matter the led style, they eventually are damaged from the intense heat.

+1. meltdown city. I really dont care what you put into a halide fixture, those bulbs get so hot that pretty much anything reef related would easily melt.

grigsy · 05/26/2009, 09:11 PM

Inside the fixture would be sure failure. LED lights do not like heat. Your better bet would be to mount them on the outside of the fixture.

I bought two Hamilton Cayman Sun 250 watt HQI pendants. (Really good reflectors by the way). They have LED lights which are on the outside - probably for protection from heat.

This will show you what I mean:
http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/sh...cat=Reflectors

AcroporAddict · 05/27/2009, 03:41 PM

I wouldn't mount them on the inside. Most LED moonlites have cheapo thin wiring. Would never stand up to the heat. I have three 400 watt halides in LB Mini pendants, and what I did was mount the moonlites on a small piece of plexiglass, then epoxy magnets on the bottom of the plexiglass, then just stick them on the bottom side of the pendant. Works very well.

The moonlites are R2 Solutions Moonlite Extreme. I have two per pendant (each side) Each one has 5 blue LEDs.

05/20/2009, 06:54 PM	#1
Stephen73ta Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 178	Mounting LED's in MH Pendant I am currently setting up a custom light bar with two 150w MH pendants and I was wondering if anyone has mounted moonlight LED's inside of the pendant? Possibly glued or fastened to the reflector. Would heat be an issue? I'd like to do this I am just concerned about melting any wiring or burning up the LED. My Pendant The LED's would be a DIY style job.

05/20/2009, 06:59 PM	#2
Paco Move Don Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 1,210	Tagging along. Was planning to do the same -- mounting Neptune Moonlights inside a Lumenbright pendant. __________________ Fish are nitrate factories. Remove them and watch your nitrates come down. Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef

05/21/2009, 03:26 AM	#3
Stephen73ta Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 178	i also thought of drilling the reflector and using LED brackets to mounth them to the reflector and run the wires out the back.. do you know if LEDs are sensitive to temp? __________________ 29 Gallon 20x13x15" Acrylic/Rimless, Coast2Coast overflow, Mag 5 return pump Current Tank Info: 40g Rimless Starfire Cube, external C2C Bean Animal Overflow

05/21/2009, 03:31 PM	#4
Stephen73ta Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 178	i've tried searching google to find the the maximum temperature exposure that LED's can with stand and had no luck.. __________________ 29 Gallon 20x13x15" Acrylic/Rimless, Coast2Coast overflow, Mag 5 return pump Current Tank Info: 40g Rimless Starfire Cube, external C2C Bean Animal Overflow

05/21/2009, 04:24 PM	#5
Garage1217 GET OFF MY LAWN Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Globally Posts: 5,863	Leds are seriously sensitive to overheating. Mounted directly in a pendant, they will fail. I have this issue all of the time with my customers sticking led bulbs into headlight housings in cars. No matter the led style, they eventually are damaged from the intense heat. And a 150-250+w pendant would be crazy hot. I will have to thermoscan the outside of mine to see how hot they are. But just from an accidental touch were my hand sizzled, it is safe to say an led would not survive haha! __________________ No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness ~ Aristotle If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? ~ Albert Einstein I'm just as bent as ever. Hellishly so ~ Captain Jack Sparrow Current Tank Info: Systems and goodies by Lee-Mar / Coralvue / Neptune Systems / Jager / Spectrapure / Cree / Meanwell + more! Last edited by Garage1217; 05/21/2009 at 05:18 PM.

05/26/2009, 09:11 PM	#7
grigsy Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 2,307	Inside the fixture would be sure failure. LED lights do not like heat. Your better bet would be to mount them on the outside of the fixture. I bought two Hamilton Cayman Sun 250 watt HQI pendants. (Really good reflectors by the way). They have LED lights which are on the outside - probably for protection from heat. This will show you what I mean: http://www.hamiltontechnology.com/sh...cat=Reflectors

05/27/2009, 03:41 PM	#8
AcroporAddict There is no substitute. Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Southeast Posts: 2,269	I wouldn't mount them on the inside. Most LED moonlites have cheapo thin wiring. Would never stand up to the heat. I have three 400 watt halides in LB Mini pendants, and what I did was mount the moonlites on a small piece of plexiglass, then epoxy magnets on the bottom of the plexiglass, then just stick them on the bottom side of the pendant. Works very well. The moonlites are R2 Solutions Moonlite Extreme. I have two per pendant (each side) Each one has 5 blue LEDs.