# LED or no LEDs?



## Dutchy88 (Jan 11, 2013)

I'm thinking of putting some LEDs in the new enclosure I'm building for an ackie but just wondering wat ppls thoughts are on them its a 1700x600x600 so ill probs need some extra light do they chew much power? Are they pretty hardy or fall apart under the heat and humidity of the enclosure? Are they worth it?


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## Joshpython (Jan 11, 2013)

Go for it. They use barely no power, five off heaps of light. You can buy strip lights off eBay for a few bucks that are sealed so they are pretty well water proof. Most need to be connected to a power pack though.


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## Dutchy88 (Jan 11, 2013)

Wats the story with a power pack


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## lgrattan80 (Jan 11, 2013)

LED's work well, and I use a few that come on automatically with the rest of the deck at night.

Just be wary of the quality, as even some of the sealed 'waterproof' ones still fog up with humidity.



Dutchy88 said:


> Wats the story with a power pack



Generally LED's are a low voltage, so the power pack it just to convert the standard 240v from the wall, into something like 12v for the LED's. Exactly the same as the power pack for your laptop (only hopefully smaller).


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## Dutchy88 (Jan 11, 2013)

Aw yeh cool where do u get the power packs from


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## Marzzy (Jan 11, 2013)

Dicksmith,Jaycar you might have one suitable around the house even...


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## baker (Jan 11, 2013)

I use LEDs in my spotted black snakes enclosure and they are great. Give off a very good amount of light and use next to no power. I did not bother with a power pack and have just wired it to a 12 volt battery with a switch to turn in on and off. Main advantage for this is that when using the battery only time you pay to run the light is when you have to charge the battery, and with how little they use you may only have to charge the battery once a year. The greatest thing especially with venomous snakes is that if you are working at night and you have a power outage you will still have this light running to see what the animals doing. 
Cheers Cameron


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## Marzzy (Jan 11, 2013)

baker said:


> I use LEDs in my spotted black snakes enclosure and they are great. Give off a very good amount of light and use next to no power. I did not bother with a power pack and have just wired it to a 12 volt battery with a switch to turn in on and off. Main advantage for this is that when using the battery only time you pay to run the light is when you have to charge the battery, and with how little they use you may only have to charge the battery once a year. The greatest thing especially with venomous snakes is that if you are working at night and you have a power outage you will still have this light running to see what the animals doing.
> Cheers Cameron



What kind of 12v battery a big car battery ? Where do you keep this ?


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## lgrattan80 (Jan 11, 2013)

Marzzy said:


> What kind of 12v battery a big car battery ? Where do you keep this ?


In my case, it's a deep cycle car battery, but it's under the house running fans during the day, and all the lights at night (solar setup) I also use a couple small (6 amp) 12v UPS batteries for the mobile/temporary setups.

Unless you're getting serious, a small power supply (or power pack) is easy enough, and pretty cheap. You may even have some old ones for toys or chargers lying around the house, otherwise jaycar, dicksmiths, and probably even target etc sell them.

If though you're looking to have some fun, then the other option is cheap solar garden lights or those types you put in garages etc. Put the solar panel on a nearby window, and extend the led(s) to your tank.


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## baker (Jan 11, 2013)

Marzzy said:


> What kind of 12v battery a big car battery ? Where do you keep this ?


I am currently using a sealed AGM battery that I got from my dad that is just sitting under the tanks stand. 
Cheers Cameron


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## Baturb (Jan 11, 2013)

I just bought some wire led neon light in red, 1 metre long, runs off 2 AA batteries, coming from china so I won't be able to comment on it until I get it, cheap enough at $5 even if it doesn't work


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## Marzzy (Jan 11, 2013)

baker said:


> I am currently using a sealed AGM battery that I got from my dad that is just sitting under the tanks stand.
> Cheers Cameron



Awk all I was imagining was a car battery just placed in a lounge room lol with wires running from it.


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## Monitor Madness (Jan 12, 2013)

Dutchy88 said:


> Aw yeh cool where do u get the power packs from


i just bought a LED strip from eBay for my womas tank and I could buy the right size power supply off them as well so it was easy to setup. I'm really happy with it and surprised how much light they give off.


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## ronhalling (Jan 12, 2013)

the 12 volt power pack from xmas lights works just fine and will run up to 500 LED lights without even getting warm, i am even using 1 for the pc fans on my new enclosure for air flow on the cool end, and because it is not AC power you can wire it up yourself without a problem.

Ron


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## bigjoediver (Jan 12, 2013)

Most of the ones on eBay come with a plug pack power supply similar in size to a phone charger. Ikea also sell them and they come ready to plug in to your 240v power point. Like the idea of being hooked up to a battery in the case of Vens though in case of power failure after reading of a couple of close calls on here.


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