Cheap LED Group Buy! ($1.39/each)

[JMcAz7]

just saw your wall wart post. Does satis sell them?

I'm not seeing them. They're pretty cheap though. All an expensive driver is really is a current regulator strapped to a power supply. Any 12VDC power supply greater than 2.5A (or 2500mA) will work. There are a bunch on eBay for ~$20.

As for 1W VS. 3W, I'd stick with 3w. Then your drivers are redundant, and I'm ordering some 3w UVs myself so it'll be.cheaper. Either would probably work fine for a smaller tank.

 

[scarin]

JM how many UVs you adding to your build?

 

[jcac27]

Hey,
While researching this whole LED thing I somehow came across this current thread. Lucky me. Only problem, Im in NY. If I threw in, would you send my stuff to me? Obviously at my cost. Seems like theres alot of money to be saved. Like I said, Im just in the planning stages. Ive got a 90g with a few sps. I was thinking 5 rows of 12 on 5 dimmable meanwell drivers?

James

 

[JMcAz7]

JM how many UVs you adding to your build?

2 to my 24G, and probably 6-8 to my 90G. I've never used them before, so it's just to experiment with mainly.

 

[chocodile]

I want to try 2-3 or the 3w purple UVs over my 10 g on one driver and no dimming. Satis has some but they dont fit my needs. Seems ebay may be the way to go. Would any of these drivers be better than the other?

1. http://cgi.ebay.com/GU10-E27-9W-Pow...785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a10f52181

2. http://cgi.ebay.com/AC85V-265V-3X3W...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4aac3b3cd1

or

3. http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-Driver-Powe...993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255d550959


Here's my plan for my 10 gallon:

6 Royal Blues (buying 8 RB just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
6 White (buying 8 Whites just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
2 blue moonlight kit from rapidled
2-3 UV purple with cheap ebay driver

All put on C Channel from JM

Are the lights overkill for a 10 gallon? I figured if they are dimmable I can adjust.

 

[JMcAz7]

I want to try 2-3 or the 3w purple UVs over my 10 g on one driver and no dimming. Satis has some but they dont fit my needs. Seems ebay may be the way to go. Would any of these drivers be better than the other?

1. http://cgi.ebay.com/GU10-E27-9W-Pow...785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a10f52181

2. http://cgi.ebay.com/AC85V-265V-3X3W...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4aac3b3cd1

or

3. http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-Driver-Powe...993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255d550959


Here's my plan for my 10 gallon:

6 Royal Blues (buying 8 RB just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
6 White (buying 8 Whites just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
2 blue moonlight kit from rapidled
2-3 UV purple with cheap ebay driver

All put on C Channel from JM

Are the lights overkill for a 10 gallon? I figured if they are dimmable I can adjust.

Sounds like a solid plan. I'll look at those drivers later (I'm at work).

 

[JMcAz7]

I want to try 2-3 or the 3w purple UVs over my 10 g on one driver and no dimming. Satis has some but they dont fit my needs. Seems ebay may be the way to go. Would any of these drivers be better than the other?

1. http://cgi.ebay.com/GU10-E27-9W-Pow...785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a10f52181

2. http://cgi.ebay.com/AC85V-265V-3X3W...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4aac3b3cd1

or

3. http://cgi.ebay.com/LED-Driver-Powe...993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255d550959


Here's my plan for my 10 gallon:

6 Royal Blues (buying 8 RB just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
6 White (buying 8 Whites just in case) on dimmable Inventronics driver.
2 blue moonlight kit from rapidled
2-3 UV purple with cheap ebay driver

All put on C Channel from JM

Are the lights overkill for a 10 gallon? I figured if they are dimmable I can adjust.

Hey chocodile, how aren't the ones from Satis meeting you needs? They all look to be about the same amount of power, and they look to actually fit those UV LEDS better than the drivers you are showing me. All of them (Satis and the eBay ones) underdrive them by ~100mA, but that's not a big deal on a tank that small. Just curious.

 

[chocodile]

By all of my questions you've probably figured I don't know much about LEDs/electricity. But I am trying to learn and it seems alot of the posts skip some of the basic info. I have spent a lot of time trying to learn by reading online posts.

I want to use 1 driver to drive all 2 or 3 of the UV purples. If I bought the driver that does 1 3W LED then I would have to buy 10 of them for $10 and then get 2-3 wall warts to run them and thus adding more to the cost. I'm trying to come in cheaper than a UV stunner.

If it drove 3 3w LEDs then I had to buy 10 at $2.25 ea ($22.50 total). The $9 driver has to have a minimum of 5 LEDs on it. 5 UV LEDs I think are too many and they are a little costly.

Is there one on satis that would let me drive 2-3 3w LEDs that wouldn't cost $20 +? How are you going to run the 2 UV purples on your nano? Are you going to run them with your blues or seperate with their own driver?

 

[JMcAz7]

By all of my questions you've probably figured I don't know much about LEDs/electricity. But I am trying to learn and it seems alot of the posts skip some of the basic info. I have spent a lot of time trying to learn by reading online posts.

I want to use 1 driver to drive all 2 or 3 of the UV purples. If I bought the driver that does 1 3W LED then I would have to buy 10 of them for $10 and then get 2-3 wall warts to run them and thus adding more to the cost. I'm trying to come in cheaper than a UV stunner.

If it drove 3 3w LEDs then I had to buy 10 at $2.25 ea ($22.50 total). The $9 driver has to have a minimum of 5 LEDs on it. 5 UV LEDs I think are too many and they are a little costly.

Is there one on satis that would let me drive 2-3 3w LEDs that wouldn't cost $20 +? How are you going to run the 2 UV purples on your nano? Are you going to run them with your blues or seperate with their own driver?

I understand your pain learning as you go. I had to learn the same way, and there's a lot of misleading information out there.

So, the simple answer is: it may be cheaper to buy one off eBay in your case. For 3 LEDs, you need about a 10W power supply. It's probably gonna be simpler to buy 1 off ebay instead of 10 from Satis.

I'm planning on running them off the same driver as my blues for my 24G, and I'm looking into the DIY driver route for my 90G (because I like stuff like that.

 

[JMcAz7]

Here's a good thread about wiring LEDS using series/parallel arrangements.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1973462&highlight=led+parallel

Does anyone want me to explain the basics of voltage/current/power? It seems like that might be where some of the confusion is coming from, and it may be easier to start at the beginning.

 

[scarin]

I figure I will simply wait for a detailed part list from you JM and then I will simply copy it. :thumbsup: As I will be letting all this collect dust until August anyway I will let you experiment and figure it all out and then I will just copy what you did. That works right? :dance:

 

[chocodile]

I thought about putting the UVs on with my blues but I thought it would look cool to have them seperate. I may go with driver #3 on ebay. So the leds will be driven at 600mA instead of the 750mA they are rated at. Do all the other specs look doable with the 2-3 uv leds?

Let us know what the final prices are after everyone orders so I can pay you.

 

[tadeo47]

should i order My drivers from satisled if I want the dimable drivers?

 

[chocodile]

I just went with the inventronics driver that reefledlights and nanotuners sells. They were both out of stock so I ordered from another site I found. Let me know if you want the link. They drive 6-15 700mA LEDs. reefledlights even has a video on their site on how to solder up a potentiometer for dimming. Also these drivers don't need a wall wart and don't need to have any internal adjustments like the meanwells do.

 

[JMcAz7]

should i order My drivers from satisled if I want the dimable drivers?

No. The Satis LED drivers aren't dimmable. Meanwells or Infotronics drivers aren't too much more expensive and you can find those pretty easily stateside for ~$30.

 

[JMcAz7]

i just went with the inventronics driver that reefledlights and nanotuners sells. They were both out of stock so i ordered from another site i found. Let me know if you want the link. They drive 6-15 700ma leds. Reefledlights even has a video on their site on how to solder up a potentiometer for dimming. Also these drivers don't need a wall wart and don't need to have any internal adjustments like the meanwells do.

+1

 

[JMcAz7]

I'm sending out PMs to people who have committed to the GB already. Shipping is going to be ~$10/person for 3-5 days DHL express. Check you inboxes.

This runs till Sunday before I close it out, but let me know as soon as you can please. Thanks!.

 

[JMcAz7]

I figure I will simply wait for a detailed part list from you JM and then I will simply copy it. :thumbsup: As I will be letting all this collect dust until August anyway I will let you experiment and figure it all out and then I will just copy what you did. That works right? :dance:

Hey, I'll tell you exactly what I'm getting for my 90G. It's going to be collecting dust on me as well as I'm not allowed to set it up until I own the house I'm living in. :-(

Total Order
White LED 60
RB LED 40 (Overkill, but I'm not sure how much blue I want)
Red LED 10
UV 4
Optics 120
Driver 0
1"x1" 27' (See my 90G layout above)
1"x1/2" 0

That's what I'm ordering for my project. Never used the UVs or the reds before, so I'm going to play around with them.

 

[Tschupe]

I want in on this too.
I've got a 29 biocube. How many LEDs do you recommend? And which drivers ?

 

[chocodile]

On RC alot of people do 1:1 or 2:1 blue:white with 24 LEDs. Put them on 2 drivers that are dimmable.