210 Upgrade Build with LED Build

[nuclearheli]

My bet is that he is referring to the HLG series which in that case they do go 100%+ when the dimming circuit is open. What I'm not sure of is whether being wired up to a Apex/VDM that has lost power or something is considered an "open" circuit or not. Since the HLG's can also be dimmed with resistance with 10k being approx 10% and 100k being 100% I'm not sure how that would all work out.

The TR and Invertronics can also be dimmed with resistors. I cannot comment on an "open" circuit because I never ran the driver without a dimmer. But I have run the driver without any power to the apex and it still works fine. There must be little to no resistance in the circuit when connected to the apex.

 

[hingedthinker]

Excellent work on your thread, DIY tutorials, and the light! I spent countless hours over the past 3 days reading your thread and researching all the links / pics, et cetera that you provided. Very impressive work. Cheers.

 

[nuclearheli]

Thanks to the latest thread from sharky71 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1689416&highlight=bird+netting and ludnix's tip on bird netting, may others as well. I finally got going and built myself tops for the tank. Already lost two fish to jumping and have a really expensive wrasse I don't want to loose. The DIY build was easy and cheap. All parts from Lowes.

Screen Door Framing 3 pieces 7'
Three packages of corner's 4/package
1 Package of spline material
1 Package Bird Netting (14' x 14')

Tools:
Dremel
Spline Tool
Razor Knife

Total cost for the project: $27.34
Time to build: 2 hours. Once you get the hang of the netting it goes faster at the end.

Result:

I left about 1/2" opening on back for cables and wires.

My guess is you can't use the bird netting if you have MH lights and they are close enough to the tank. This stuff is very fine and nice because it doesn't attenuate the light, but I would expect it to melt under the heat of MH lighting. Very nice that it lets the tank breath as well.

 

[shaginwagon13]

I'm tagging along. This LED build was simply amazing.

 

[nuclearheli]

Latest Video of my tank's progress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZzBiwjz4PI

 

[Chris2223]

WOW!! I am speechless, really. I am saving this in my favorites so I can always find this thread. I can only hope that my 125g will be this nice in the future (moving too much for work to set it up yet) Very impressive :thumbsup:

 

[VeL]

Could share what solder iron running at what temp you've used when doing the pleds. I have a 680F degrees solder iron and I am afraid that temp may damage the pleds. Although i saw a test on youtube that the massively used 40w solder irons run at 750F.

 

[nuclearheli]

Could share what solder iron running at what temp you've used when doing the pleds. I have a 680F degrees solder iron and I am afraid that temp may damage the pleds. Although i saw a test on youtube that the massively used 40w solder irons run at 750F.

I use a fixed temperature 40W soldering iron station. With the pointed tip the temperature is 700 degrees but I don't use a pointed tip for these projects. I use a screwdriver tip, 1/8" diameter. I find it's easier to get good solder joints with a quick touch of the iron. The temperature varies with the tip. The 1/8" pencil tip that I use is 600 degrees.

I recommend bending out the tabs of the PLED flat. With a good small pliers that is pretty simple. Then tin the tips of the PLED with a good bead of solder. Then just touch the tip of the wire to the solder with your pencil point iron and it makes a solid instant bond.

I find the pointed tips take too long to get up to temperature to melt the solder and that adds additional heat stress to the part.

 

[Captain]

He y Nuke
Great looking tank. Getting ready to Led my 8' 240g. I love tangs also. Also have a 60 size Bell 222 R/C like in your avatar. Along with 5 other Hirobos. I'm in the same boat as I don't want to mess with 6- 10 drivers. Thought about using 2 bars maybe 3 same number leds. With these ballasts what do you think min led spacing could be? Was thinking 60 leds per bar. 2 bars. Also, what size wire did you use?. Thanks

 

[nuclearheli]

He y Nuke
Great looking tank. Getting ready to Led my 8' 240g. I love tangs also. Also have a 60 size Bell 222 R/C like in your avatar. Along with 5 other Hirobos. I'm in the same boat as I don't want to mess with 6- 10 drivers. Thought about using 2 bars maybe 3 same number leds. With these ballasts what do you think min led spacing could be? Was thinking 60 leds per bar. 2 bars. Also, what size wire did you use?. Thanks

Hey Captian, thanks, it's coming along very nicely. Yeah, I have some beauties, I love tangs also.

I actually have a competition Hirobo 90, along with two other hirobo 90's, a Trexx 700 and 600. The 600 is FBL. One electric left, my little 450 all blinged out. End of an era however, all my birds and equipment is going up for sale next month. I'm done. Have several very expensive hobbies that I just cannot devote enough time to. I'm doing reef tank, shooting skeet, trap and pistol's and flying. I decided I am having more fun shooting things out of the sky instead of trying to keep things in the sky. I'm into RC Helios with equipment and radios to the tune of almost 40k. Time to get out while everything is in one piece.

I would guess you can go a minimum of 1" with the LED's, might be a little close if your using the G11. You can reduce the G11 opening to 3/4" and the star should fit fine. As far as the drivers are concerned I don't think it would make any difference. I am getting really good heat transfer to the bar and my fans hardly ever come on. Do yourself a favor, use the kapton tape to insulate the bar stock from the LED's. It works really nicely.

The wire I used was Stranded Single-Conductor Wire UL 1015, 20 AWG, 600 VAC.

Can't wait to see your build, keep me posted.

 

[mike_dani]

what were the prices of the pled's?

I got my PLEDs (576-PLED6S) from Mouser, they were .70 each with a price break as follows:

1 = .70
10= .58
100= .52

I will stop there as the next price break is at 1000 and if your doing that many that will be a whole new build thread..

 

[mike_dani]

Ahh ok thanks. That is where the confusion came from. In my mind since the VDM outlets are created by the VDM module they arn't really "virtual"

With the way that you have it setup, does the VDM come on before the physical driver outlet? I thought that if the driver receives no power on its dim channels, it will go full blast. Would you need to bring the dimmer on first before powering up the driver to avoid this?

Here is a link from Reef LED Lights.com who have done some APEX programming, just not to the level Nuke has done.....

LINK

PDF from Neptunes

 

[extremeshannon]

Good afternoon Nuclearheli,
I am rounding all the parts and about to me a go of it. I am going to make a lighting system just like your V2. I have a question. How think is the G11 you are using? I read 1/4 inch but on your price sheet the cost looks like 1/8 inch think.

Thanks for all your work

 

[nuclearheli]

Good afternoon Nuclearheli,
I am rounding all the parts and about to me a go of it. I am going to make a lighting system just like your V2. I have a question. How think is the G11 you are using? I read 1/4 inch but on your price sheet the cost looks like 1/8 inch think.

Thanks for all your work

I am not sure where you saw 1/4 but that is a mistake. The G11 is 1/8".

 

[extremeshannon]

Thank you for the reply and clearing that up. I made my order to McMaster-Carr and was re-reading the whole thread. I saw 1/4 on Post 4.

Thanks for all your dedication to sharing this project with us.

 

[extremeshannon]

Nuclearheli,
I have a few more questions as I move forward on building my light bars. If you posted the answers to these question sorry I been reading and seaching thread
What size hole did you drill in the G11 for the LED?
On ver2 looks like you did not put lights at the very end of the G11?


Thanks for inspiring and helping me.

 

[nuclearheli]

Nuclearheli,
I have a few more questions as I move forward on building my light bars. If you posted the answers to these question sorry I been reading and seaching thread
What size hole did you drill in the G11 for the LED?
On ver2 looks like you did not put lights at the very end of the G11?


Thanks for inspiring and helping me.

No problem extreme... The hole size for the LED is 1". That left enough room all around the star for wire.

Your right, on the Version 2 build I dropped the end lights on the bar. They are completely ineffective and not necessary. Also since I put the safe touch connectors on the back side of the bar and the wires this time ran along the top I didn't want the wires or the connectors to be in the way of the end connectors for the T-Slot bar.

Word of caution, make sure the kapton tape is completely smooth on the surface with ripples. When you screw the G11 down to the T-Slot be sure it is tight and there is no space between the tape and the G11. If you pot the LED's and there are ripples under the G11 the epoxy will end up running between the tape and G11 and leak out the sides. It's not a problem, just make sure the G11 is tight against the T-Slot everywhere.

Sorry, one more thing, use some light instant glue to attach your lenses to the LED's before potting. This way you will be sure to have a tight fit on the lenses and they won't move while the epoxy is drying. You don't want any epoxy running under the lenses.

 

[Snootch]

I have a quick question too.
I've been browsing McMaster-Carr online catalog and can't find the clear heatshrink that you used on the PLED6S. Would you happen to have the part #?

Awesome build nuclearheli :thumbsup:,

Regards
KC

 

[psusocr]

nuclearheli,

On your return lines i notice you and I have them run the same way with the loc-line being exposed to air when it is coming over the top of your overflow. Did you ever have tiny microbubbles from this? i found that air was being sucked in throught he loc-line resulting in never ending bubbles.

 

[nuclearheli]

I have a quick question too.
I've been browsing McMaster-Carr online catalog and can't find the clear heatshrink that you used on the PLED6S. Would you happen to have the part #?

Awesome build nuclearheli :thumbsup:,

Regards
KC

Thanks Snootch; The part number you want is:

7132K615 Chemical-Resistant PVC Heat-Shrink Tubing, 3/16" ID Before, 3/32" ID After, 25' Length, Clear, Each of 25

Post some pictures on my forum if you can some time. Love to see your build.