Any LED geniuses out there?

[bobafet1]

Well, my questions may or may not be that complicated but here goes:

1. Is there a way to measure what current LED's are being run at?

2. What are the best Cree LED diodes today?

3. If you had to pick 3 LED colors for a fixture what would they be and why?


Basically, I'm not too savvy when it comes to LED's so I'm hoping ya'll can help me catch up real quick. More specifically, I'm running 6 AI SOL's over my 360gal tank and I'm not too crazy about the dead LED's and spectrum the fixtures put out. Lately, I've been considering buying some GHL Mitras however I can't convince myself to spend that amount of money. So, before I try throwing money at a problem I was thinking I should try hacking my AI SOL's. After all, the mother board does everything I need it to do. It's just the LED's that probably suck. Or maybe it all sucks, who knows but there's no reason why I can't just swap out the LED's with better ones, right? Maybe even a better fan, a little bit of anodizing, different optics...ok...ok...now I'm talking crazy... I know. Anyways, I realize that the latest fixtures have more bells and whistles but in reality I don't think I need all that stuff. I just want to pimp out my current fixtures so I don't break the bank. Plus, I like tinkering with things.

So, whatcha think?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well, my questions may or may not be that complicated but here goes:

First let me say I'm no led genius, others here will tell you that.:fun4:
But I do have my opinions and experiences and I worked with a couple of aquarium led companies for a short period of time after I retired.

1. Is there a way to measure what current LED's are being run at?
PAR meter. I think the SenEye is about the least expensive.

2. What are the best Cree LED diodes today?
What difference does that make. BTW, exactly what is better about a Cree led over an OSRAM or Episrar or a Bridgelux? They all make light. And IMHO, better binned leds are NOT necessarily better for an aquarium led fixture than poorly binned leds. Do I want 420nm and 460nm leds to all be exactly 440nm and 460nm? Or would I rather have a spread of my 5nm either way So I end up with my 420nm being in a range of 415nm to 425nm and my 460nm led being in the range of 455nm to 465nm. Personally, I'd much rather have the spead of spectrum.

The one exception is white leds. Whatever brand has a cool white with the highest CRI index.

3. If you had to pick 3 LED colors for a fixture what would they be and why?

Personally I'd go for 4 leds. But if I have to go with 3, I'd say 440nm or maybe 460nm first, 420nm second and a 10K or 12K white 3rd. The blues hit the most important photosynthesis and coral internal chemistry numbers and the cool white hits everything to some extent.





And I happen to like the cooler white look in my tank. It just looks cleaner and more 'crisp' if that makes any sense? And the blues make for some really special fluorescence if you like that (and I do). My tank looks like Pandora at night (from the movie Avatar). And if I had my choice, I'd do equal numbers of all three leds... maybe even 25% to 50% more of each blue. Example: 100 led fixture; I'd have 45 of the 440nm, 35 of the 420nm and 20 of the 10K white. It just doesn't take much white to wash out the blue for our eyes. Have you noticed everybody with 50:50 2 channel fixture run the blue channel at 2 or 3 times the level of the white? So why not have way more blue leds and run whem all at roughly the same level?

 

[mcgyvr]

A par meter won't tell you what current LEDs are being run at..
A current meter (a function on most if not all multimeters today) will though but it requires you to place the meter in series with the LED string (or get a clamp on which clamps around one of the conductors)

 

[Gorgok]

You could also put in a 1 ohm (or .1 ohm) resistor in series and measure the voltage across it for current. With 1 ohm its 1:1, 700mV = 700mA, with .1 its 1:10, so 70mV = 700mA.

That is what i did on my boards, permanent .1 ohm current sense resistor on each channel.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Oops, I didn't read 'current' as in electricity when I read the post. I read 'current' as in the leds I use currently. My bad.

I said I wasn't an led genius, now I've proved I have trouble reading too! :wavehand:

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Hey Ron---Just call it a "Senior Moment" like me.

 

[Hitch08]

Ron - you just cracked me up. Thanks for the laugh this morning. I needed it.

Regardless, that's great information.

 

[bobafet1]

Oops, I didn't read 'current' as in electricity when I read the post. I read 'current' as in the leds I use currently. My bad.

I said I wasn't an led genius, now I've proved I have trouble reading too! :wavehand:

LOL..it's all good. The info you shared was valuable either way. I always thought the white LED's were mainly responsible for growth/photosynthesis however pointed out that it's the blue spectrum that I want and that it doesn't take much white to wash out the blue. I appreciate it.

 

[bobafet1]

You could also put in a 1 ohm (or .1 ohm) resistor in series and measure the voltage across it for current. With 1 ohm its 1:1, 700mV = 700mA, with .1 its 1:10, so 70mV = 700mA.

That is what i did on my boards, permanent .1 ohm current sense resistor on each channel.

Thanks for the tip. I'll start looking into doing this right away.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hey Ron---Just call it a "Senior Moment" like me.

Right on!

I'm having a 450hp Miata built for me and I need to break in the new motor build before we do any dyno runs. I told the mechanic I'd drive it like a 68 year old man. Then I realized I am a 68 year old man and I auto-cross and do track days. So I told him I would drive it like my wife! :thumbsup:

 

[mcgyvr]

450hp miata for autocross? Must be some really open courses..

 

[Ron Reefman]

450hp miata for autocross? Must be some really open courses..

250hp under basic tune for street and most auto-x, 450+hp on 2nd tune for track days and dragstrip! Hoping for close to a 4.0 sec 0 to 60 time with Hoosier autocross slicks.

 

[bobafet1]

So I contacted AI to inquire about what current they run the LED's at and of course their reply was "we don't have that information however you can trade in your SOL's for Hydra 26HD's for $225".

Looks like I'll have to bust out the multi-meter