(Another) DIY LED Build - Linear Design

[katchupoy]

paint is basicly an insulator to the heat. What will happen is the heat will not properly transfer from the alumnium star to the channeling. Instead it will build up on the star untill it gets hot enough to either start burning the paint or overheat the led causing a failure. Either way you will get some fumes and some foul oders.

T0 color the alumnium what they usualy do is anodize it with an elctro plating type operation. It is simular to to the way they used to plate car bumpers years ago onlyt instead of using chrome they use other chemicals. It is very inexpensive on a mass production bases but just doing individual pieces for someone does become costly with set up fees.

+1

 

[beginnersluckpg]

So a new thought

So a new thought

First thing I have decided is i am going to build a small fixture withe same color ratios for a frag tank and see what I think, if I like it I will proceed with a the 2 modules consisting of 48 LEDs each.

So for starters a 12 led build

I ordered from rapid led:
5 blue xpe
4 royal blue
2 neutral whites
1 cyan

That is my initial ratio and have ordered a spare of each led except red if I want to change the make up. Went with the p style dimmable ballast. Well see how it goes. I'll keep u posted thanks for all your help tea......much appreciated.

 

[beginnersluckpg]

Sorry troptrea

Sorry troptrea

First thing I have decided is i am going to build a small fixture withe same color ratios for a frag tank and see what I think, if I like it I will proceed with a the 2 modules consisting of 48 LEDs each.

So for starters a 12 led build

I ordered from rapid led:
5 blue xpe
4 royal blue
2 neutral whites
1 cyan

That is my initial ratio and have ordered a spare of each led except red if I want to change the make up. Went with the p style dimmable ballast. Well see how it goes. I'll keep u posted thanks for all your help troptrea......much appreciated.

Sorry bad spelling can't type

 

[TropTrea]

TropTrea and Katchupoy,

I could use some advice on lenses. I'm thinking I should change the lenses I'm using. I currently have 80 deg lenses on all led's.

If I move to the layout proposed by TropTrea below on a standard 90g tank, 36 led XTE Royal Blues and XPG mix of CW and NW. 12 leds on each 48" rail. Here are the key dimensions so you can help me with this decision.

• The LED's are 9" above the water.
• The LED's are 31" above the substrate.
• Left to right LED spacing is 3" center to center, except at the center brace which they are 4"
• Blues are either 3" apart or 6" if there is a white between (left to right)
• Whites are 9" apart (left to right)
• Spacing of rails front to back is glass - 4" to rail 1, rail 1 center to rail 2 center is 5", rail 2 center to rail 3 center is 5", rail 3 center to glass is 4"

My current thought is to go to 40 or 60 deg lenses on the blues and stay with 80 deg on the whites or possibly drop to 60 deg lenses.

Is there a benefit to go to 40 deg lenses on the blues in the front where the substrate is lower (no major rock formations) and to keep extra light off the front glass?

Any and all comments appreciated.

Dan

Basicly I see you have 31 inches from the LED's to the substrate and you have a 9" spread between any two white led on a given rail. So if you want to get a deceing cross coverage at the substrate you want your beam roughly 18" wide mininum. Any lens over 33 degrees would give this to you. However all your corals will not be on the substrate but some especialy those in the back of the tank will be higher up. if they are reaching to the top 1/3 of the tank that means they are 16" from the LED's where you still want the 18" wide beam. to get an 18" wide beam at 16" from the LED you will need at least 68 degree lenses.

I would suggest 40 degree lenses on the front row, 60 degree lenses on the 2nd row and 80 degree lenses on the back row.

 

[TropTrea]

First thing I have decided is i am going to build a small fixture withe same color ratios for a frag tank and see what I think, if I like it I will proceed with a the 2 modules consisting of 48 LEDs each.

So for starters a 12 led build

I ordered from rapid led:
5 blue xpe
4 royal blue
2 neutral whites
1 cyan

That is my initial ratio and have ordered a spare of each led except red if I want to change the make up. Went with the p style dimmable ballast. Well see how it goes. I'll keep u posted thanks for all your help tea......much appreciated.

I think you like the color. the basic effect is like 1 white per 3.8 Blues. But your using neutral whites, that do not have the added blue caste, that many people use. If it turns out to blue for you swapping out 1 blue for another neutral white will push the ratio closer to 1 to 2.5.

 

[wardda]

Basicly I see you have 31 inches from the LED's to the substrate and you have a 9" spread between any two white led on a given rail. So if you want to get a deceing cross coverage at the substrate you want your beam roughly 18" wide mininum. Any lens over 33 degrees would give this to you. However all your corals will not be on the substrate but some especialy those in the back of the tank will be higher up. if they are reaching to the top 1/3 of the tank that means they are 16" from the LED's where you still want the 18" wide beam. to get an 18" wide beam at 16" from the LED you will need at least 68 degree lenses.

I would suggest 40 degree lenses on the front row, 60 degree lenses on the 2nd row and 80 degree lenses on the back row.

TropTrea,

Thanks your advice has been priceless.

So if I add the 4th row, I will have 4 rows of 12 for a total of 48 LED's. With 40 deg lenses on row 1, 60 deg on row two, and 80 deg on rows three and four.

I currently have 38 leds on hand (36 in use):
24 Royal Blue XTE's
2 Green XPE
6 Cool white XPG
6 Neutral White XPG

What would you recommend I purchase to get to 48? And how would you arrange them? I'm ok making some minor substitutions if needed but I don't want to spend a huge amount replacing the majority of what I have.

Thanks again!

 

[TropTrea]

TropTrea,

Thanks your advice has been priceless.

So if I add the 4th row, I will have 4 rows of 12 for a total of 48 LED's. With 40 deg lenses on row 1, 60 deg on row two, and 80 deg on rows three and four.

I currently have 38 leds on hand (36 in use):
24 Royal Blue XTE's
2 Green XPE
6 Cool white XPG
6 Neutral White XPG

What would you recommend I purchase to get to 48? And how would you arrange them? I'm ok making some minor substitutions if needed but I don't want to spend a huge amount replacing the majority of what I have.

Thanks again!

I personly do not like cool white, or green

On 48 LED's I would go with

8 Neutral Whites
4 Cyan (Philips)
18 Blues
18 Royal Blues

But remember there is a lot of personal color choice in this. Some like it whiter others like it bluer.

If your looking to mininize your new LED's I'd go with 12 Blues and 2 Neutral Whites. Then when you see the color from these you can decide what you want to do afrter running.

24 Royal Blues
12 Blues
12 8 Neutral Whites

If you want it Whiter simply replace some of the Royals with Cool Whites
If you want to get it less pink replace some Royal Blues with your greens
If you want it Bluer cut back on 2 Neutral Whites and replace them with more Blues.

 

[jeremyblu]

Need some new pics of your tank Katchupoy!!

 

[katchupoy]

Need some new pics of your tank Katchupoy!!

Last February, I had a major tank crash. My kalk reactor malfunctioned, 5 days after i re-introduced it to my tank. Lost a lot of LPS, a colony of hammer and a colony of candy cane. So to people who are thinking about using Kalkwasser. Please be very careful and double or triple check everything. Murphy's law.

Here is the tank after the crash. 16 months of 36 x Cree LEDs.

Link to my website.

 

[TropTrea]

Last February, I had a major tank crash. My kalk reactor malfunctioned, 5 days after i re-introduced it to my tank. Lost a lot of LPS, a colony of hammer and a colony of candy cane. So to people who are thinking about using Kalkwasser. Please be very careful and double or triple check everything. Murphy's law.

Here is the tank after the crash. 16 months of 36 x Cree LEDs.

Link to my website.

I actualy do use kalkwasser. However I do not use an automatic dosing system. I simly add 0ne gallon of the solution to my system every night. Through time and expermentation I find this amout in slightly less than what I use on a normal bases. I do check Alk and Calcium monthly now and will usualy have to do a slight additional dosing at that time.

But this is a light tread so we should get back to lighting here.

 

[katchupoy]

Question, I posted a picture but i dont see it now... am i the only one?

 

[katchupoy]

Thats weird. On my firefox it does not show, but on my chrome it shows...

 

[SWF]

Hi Ceasar, Dennis,

One more question from end... what would be the ideal size of the Aluminium channel.. in terms of thickness and width..

Thank you,
SWF

 

[TropTrea]

Hi Ceasar, Dennis,

One more question from end... what would be the ideal size of the Aluminium channel.. in terms of thickness and width..

Thank you,
SWF

I prefer using 2" X 1" channels. This gives 8" of surface are for each 1" of leght. Cooling is important and with 3" of space between LED's you have 24 square inches of cooling which is good for 3 Watt LED's without fans. If you go to 4" spacing you have 32 square inches of cooling and do not have to worry about running the LED's at 1150ma which can be as high as 4 Watts without cooling fans.

But remember you need at least 1/2" space between rails for air flow otherwide you loose some of the cooling effect.

If you use narrower Channeling it is not a problem as long as you spread the LED's further apart or use a bunch of cooling fans.

With 2" channeling you can actualy creat a gid of LED's 2.5" X 3" and on a 120 gallon tank give you a total of 112 LED's which would be way over kill without using any noisey fans.

 

[katchupoy]

SWF
At least 1 inch wider. If you want your leds close together, closer then 2.5 inches then go wider. You need as much material in there to serve as heatsink.. Or if not wider then taller like a You channel instead of C channel. That's the idea.

 

[SWF]

Thank you Dennis and Ceasar.

What do you think of a " H " channel.. the horizontal section of the channel is 1 inch and the vertical legs 2 inch... will this be a reasonable choice.

 

[TheFishMan65]

If you mounted on the 2 inch section. I think the 1 inch would have the legs blocking the LED (unless you are using lenses).

 

[katchupoy]

i prefer the 2 inch side... you will trap heat air inside that H if you install it on the 1 inch side.. Use the two inch side... wider material to attach to....

 

[SWF]

Am planning to use it something like this. Will this be okay ? Also, how thick should be the aluminum channel.

 

[katchupoy]

Yes that is correct. Thickness not sure. The thickest that you can afford i guess