Any reason why I should buy this LED kit for my NC 24?

[bsagecko]

After talking a little bit to Mr. Harvard and doing two full days of research on the in question leds the remaining concern is still there:

The reliability of the driver-

the leds themselves while not CREE status will usually be good enough in less demanding tanks ie ones not 30" deep trying to grow high quality sps at the bottom....
Second thing is they are cheap enough that you only really need them to last 2~3 years....
the PAR ratings seem to be good enough to keep almost anything happy but you wont get like 500 PAR or anything but most SPS do well at around 250 PAR so there is no point of having 500 PAR....

For the price no one beats them ( a similiar CREE setup would be double if not more)....
So just bare in mind you might be buying leds again in 2~3 years but also keep in mind LED technology right now is like computers in 2~3 years the technology will have advanced so much more that there is no point in buying top of the line unless you absolutely need the higher par ratings which most ppl (not trying to have a massive high-end sps pro-system)

The only thing I cant comment on is the long-term reliability on the drivers....

but even if you add the cost of a new driver set (ie 2x brandname drivers) later on down the road you will still be saving money...at least of the 12~24x setups I was looking at.

Hope this helps.

 

[on_ice]

I've been doing my fair share of research too including finding positive info on other sites and speaking with Ray, who works/maybe owns aquastyle. I think I may buy the kit without a heatsink, or perhaps with the two small heatsinks.

 

[bsagecko]

You can get a heatsink tapped and drilled already from Rapidled places like that for probably $20~50 depending on the size you need....

 

[rysher]

can you take out one of these bridgelux led and put it int he cree instead?
they are both 3 watts.

 

[jrmac45]

Do you think the aquastyle would be enough over a mixed solana ? What color combination did you go with white to blues

 

[MrHarvard]

Im running 14 blues and 10 whites...aquastyle has great customer service as well. If you email them they will send u any color combo u want for the same price. They also sent me 8 extra lights as well. I was concerned about the life of the drivers as well but for that price if they last a year and then you have to replace with better ones you still save money...

 

[MrHarvard]

Oh and if you want a bigger heatsink then what they have in the combos ask them they can get different sizes as well. I also asked they will do group buy discounts as well.

 

[MADtanks]

BLAAAHH wrong thread lol need to close some windows.

im order 144 LED's(bridgelux) and replacing all my Cree LED's so we shal see how much of a difference i get in color.

 

[on_ice]

Im running 14 blues and 10 whites...aquastyle has great customer service as well. If you email them they will send u any color combo u want for the same price. They also sent me 8 extra lights as well. I was concerned about the life of the drivers as well but for that price if they last a year and then you have to replace with better ones you still save money...

Do you have 12 on each driver still then? As in 12 Blues on one and 10 whites and 2 blues on the other? If you were to do it again would you get more blues or more whites?

 

[MrHarvard]

Yes i have 12 blues on 1 and 10 whites on the other...i really like the mix i have. The whites are super bright so i would even consider more blue and less white....i would prolly get a few reds as well if i had a chance to do it again....

 

[on_ice]

Cool! I just put in my order. I originally was going to go with 16 B 8 W but the guy suggested it may be really blue so I chickened out and went with 15B 9W. Can't wait to get them thanks for the tip!

 

[rysher]

those who are waiting to place an order hold on for another 3-4 weeks.
they will have a controller to simulate sunrise and sunset in 3-4 weeks.
it would be ncie to use it for gradual intensity of the lights rather than an auto on t 80%, might send my fish scampering for cover. lol.

 

[jprince]

The question I have is this: If the drivers that come with the Aquastyle kit are dimmable, can you use this to control the drivers? http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-159/DDC-dsh-01-PWM-Controller/Detail

 

[Budda]

If you use that controller you the diver that ends with a P not D for the Meanwell.

 

[jprince]

If you use that controller you the diver that ends with a P not D for the Meanwell.

Yup, I understand that, but what I was asking is can you use the DDC-01 PWM controller with the dimmable drivers that come with the Aquastyle kits?

 

[MADtanks]

Jprince, I dont think many people know what those drivers are.... in regards to if it will or will not work, i cant promise that it will or wont. I have the same drivers and they are just like the P so in theory they should work!! Should!! but cant say will since the manual says only meant for the Meanwell.

I use the RadipLED pot kit(acrylic housing) to dim the LED's and i really dont like that the LED's dont dim until the very end of the turning cycle so not sure these if the drivers are the problem or maybe I screwed up somewhere lol. I will try the Pots that came with the driver tonight and see if maybe its the configuration im using to dim the lights.

Hope that helps

 

[jprince]

Jprince, I dont think many people know what those drivers are.... in regards to if it will or will not work, i cant promise that it will or wont. I have the same drivers and they are just like the P so in theory they should work!! Should!! but cant say will since the manual says only meant for the Meanwell.

I use the RadipLED pot kit(acrylic housing) to dim the LED's and i really dont like that the LED's dont dim until the very end of the turning cycle so not sure these if the drivers are the problem or maybe I screwed up somewhere lol. I will try the Pots that came with the driver tonight and see if maybe its the configuration im using to dim the lights.

Hope that helps

That's typical with the 0-10VDC pot dial from what I understand. Is the reverse true when dialing up that there is no change until well into the upper range? I am going to play it safe and go with Rapidled and the daylight controller. That will get me the dawn-daylight-dusk cycle I am looking for. Besides, Mike from Rapidled has been outstanding in the customer service part. I was just drooling at the thought of getting 90 Bridgelux for less than the price of 48 Cree!!

 

[MADtanks]

Yea I hear ya, I bought a 48 xpg xre setup from him like a year ago deff worth itfast shipping too! I was missing a few optics ad he was kind enough to send extra!