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So I decided to take the plunge and install some leds into my biocube hood. I know there a lot of retrofit options out there but I was looking to save some money and I have heard great things about the Reef Breeders fixtures.
This isnt a very detailed guide as I decided to make it half way through the project. In all its pretty easy to do and only takes about 4 hours.
Step 1 Gut the fixture. Sorry no photos for this step. Its easy just remove the screws holding the two halves together and separate them. Inside you will find more screws holding the light assembly down. Remove those and gently pull the light assembly out. Now unplug the light, fans and dimmers from the drivers. I removed the drivers from their plastic cases to save on room and to help with cooling.
Step 2 Cut the fixture down. This part is a little scary! The width on the fixture is perfect but it is a little too long. I had to remove about an inch from the long sides of the fixture with a band saw. There are metal traces made onto the led side of the plate you can see them under the white paint. DO NOT CUT INTO THESE!!!!!! This fixture has about a 1 1/4 inch of extra aluminum on each end. Tape off the leds with masking tape before cutting to protect them from the metal dust. Ignore the edge guard I had around the led I ended up taking it back off.
Step 3 Gut your biocube. Take out the reflector, ballasts, leds, and transformers. I also removed all the plastic standoffs. Just score the bottom of the standoff with a razor blade and snap them off with a pair of pliers. This pic shows the trimmed out hood and the Reef breeders led drivers.
Step 4 Wiring. I used the stock Biocube switches and cords to power the drivers. Just used female connectors to connect the 120v input from the drivers to the switches. I also used the stock Biocube fans and connected them to the fan controller on the driver. Both the biocube and the reefbreeder fans run at .1 amps if your using aftermarket fans make sure they have the same power draw.
Step 5 Mounting the drivers. I used double sided 3m tape but anything non-conductive should work.
Step 6 Creating a mount for the led. I used some scrap aluminum but you could really use anything that's about 1 1/4 tall. Jb weld those to the hood and let it dry
Step 7 Put it all back together. As you can see in the pic the drivers and led are mounted. You may also notice a stock biocube transformer and led driver in there as well. I decided to re implement the bio cubes stock led's for night lights. " Not shown in the pic The dimmers can be installed by drilling 2 holes into the hood like they do on the steves led's build. Tuck all the wires in nicley and zip tie them together."
Finished
Sorry this isn't a very detailed how too. As I said didn't think about making a tutorial until I was almost done with it. This is more of a proof it can be done thread :)
This isnt a very detailed guide as I decided to make it half way through the project. In all its pretty easy to do and only takes about 4 hours.
Step 1 Gut the fixture. Sorry no photos for this step. Its easy just remove the screws holding the two halves together and separate them. Inside you will find more screws holding the light assembly down. Remove those and gently pull the light assembly out. Now unplug the light, fans and dimmers from the drivers. I removed the drivers from their plastic cases to save on room and to help with cooling.
Step 2 Cut the fixture down. This part is a little scary! The width on the fixture is perfect but it is a little too long. I had to remove about an inch from the long sides of the fixture with a band saw. There are metal traces made onto the led side of the plate you can see them under the white paint. DO NOT CUT INTO THESE!!!!!! This fixture has about a 1 1/4 inch of extra aluminum on each end. Tape off the leds with masking tape before cutting to protect them from the metal dust. Ignore the edge guard I had around the led I ended up taking it back off.
Step 3 Gut your biocube. Take out the reflector, ballasts, leds, and transformers. I also removed all the plastic standoffs. Just score the bottom of the standoff with a razor blade and snap them off with a pair of pliers. This pic shows the trimmed out hood and the Reef breeders led drivers.
Step 4 Wiring. I used the stock Biocube switches and cords to power the drivers. Just used female connectors to connect the 120v input from the drivers to the switches. I also used the stock Biocube fans and connected them to the fan controller on the driver. Both the biocube and the reefbreeder fans run at .1 amps if your using aftermarket fans make sure they have the same power draw.
Step 5 Mounting the drivers. I used double sided 3m tape but anything non-conductive should work.
Step 6 Creating a mount for the led. I used some scrap aluminum but you could really use anything that's about 1 1/4 tall. Jb weld those to the hood and let it dry
Step 7 Put it all back together. As you can see in the pic the drivers and led are mounted. You may also notice a stock biocube transformer and led driver in there as well. I decided to re implement the bio cubes stock led's for night lights. " Not shown in the pic The dimmers can be installed by drilling 2 holes into the hood like they do on the steves led's build. Tuck all the wires in nicley and zip tie them together."
Finished
Sorry this isn't a very detailed how too. As I said didn't think about making a tutorial until I was almost done with it. This is more of a proof it can be done thread :)
