chinese led lights

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jfeva0049 said:
what do you think is a better option? sam sent me these as options.

Option ONE:
Dimming 1: 36 blue + 10 white + 2 UV;
Dimming 2: 20 white + 4 UV

Option Two:
Dimming 1: 24 blue
Dimming 2: 30 white + 12 blue + 6 UV


or is there something else that you might go with? thanks.
Click to expand...

If those were my only options I would go with option #2

However if could customize any way I wanted with those LED's I'd go

Circuit 1 dawn to Dusk
4 UV, 4 Whites, 16 Blues. (this would be predominantly blue with just enough white to break the windex look)

Circuit 2 Mid Day
2 UV's, 20 Blues, 26 Whites (this would increase the intensity for mid day and brighten thing up considerbly)
 
I have been looking at these lights and I would like someone to look at the links and let me know if I should customize these more or not. This will be my first LED fixture so I am not sure what ratios I should be getting.

First I was thinking of getting 5 of these ( 2 for my frag tank and 3 for my 150g display)
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/317...quarium-lights-with-30-blue-and-25-white.html

Then I was thinking I would get 2 of the 120w and 3 a4's for my display

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/317880/211575177-567419583/NOVA-A4-LED-aquarium-light-3pcs.html

Which is a better option and should I do a different ratio then the 1:1?
 
Travis1787 said:
Everyones unit in here has bridgelux and there happy with it
Click to expand...

a majority of the foreign manufacturers do use Bridgelux or other Chineese LED's. I would be skeptical when they do not list the manufacturer as there are some real poor ones there.

Cree is the highest rated for LED's. However Bridgelux and Philips Rebels fall a fairly close second. Then when you to some of the other LED manufacturers the quality starts varing all over the place. Some make a fantastic 10,00K LED but there blues are poor others are the other way around.

The reason Crees are used a lot is price. While a 60 LED Cree unit running at 150 Watts put out as much light as a 80 LED Bridglux running at 160 Watts the cost of the LED's themnselves is roughly 50% or more for the Cree LEDs.
 
AcroBluz said:
I have been looking at these lights and I would like someone to look at the links and let me know if I should customize these more or not. This will be my first LED fixture so I am not sure what ratios I should be getting.

First I was thinking of getting 5 of these ( 2 for my frag tank and 3 for my 150g display)
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/317...quarium-lights-with-30-blue-and-25-white.html

Then I was thinking I would get 2 of the 120w and 3 a4's for my display

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/317880/211575177-567419583/NOVA-A4-LED-aquarium-light-3pcs.html

Which is a better option and should I do a different ratio then the 1:1?
Click to expand...

Your fist link basicly sounds good however in reading the small print they claim they are using 10,00K to 20,000K Cree LED's. The highest Color temp of Cree LED's is 8,300K. I do like there neutral White LED's though when in a 3 blue to 1 white ratio.

The second link has me questioning what kind of LED's they are using. But they do have the option of being completly customizable.

My basic instinct would be to get fixtures for your frag tank then see hopw you like the color before getting the three for your display tank.

Since the second fixture list 12,000K Whites I would look at getting those in the fixture. for your whites rather than the 18,000K. For 48 LED's I would go with

4 380 nm
14 Royal Blues (aprox 455 nm)
14 Blues (aprox 470 nm)
16 12,000K Whites

Remember color selection is something very personal. My DIY's are roughly 7 Royal Blues 7 Blues and 4 Neutral 4,300K Whites. I have been told by different people it is too blue and by other it is is too white. As you go with a higher color temp of White you need more whites as they become bluer.
 
I just got my A4 unit yesterday, will post pics later if no one else has.

There *is* a heatsink, and the weight of the unit was surprisingly heavy. Heavy enough I have to change my hanging system from what I had for my Geissman 250 fixture.

My one complaint, the fans are on all the time when the dimmers are turned off. Not really a problem if using timers, but could be an issue for trying to use a controller. For anyone that has not yet ordered from Sam, ask him if they could put the fans on a separate power switch.
 
Thanks for the input. I will email them to clarify but I will probably order the 2 for my frag tank and see how they look as you suggest.
 
I've been tagging along on this thread for awhile now. Just ordered 3, dimable 55 LED 1:1 unit. Will post before and after pictures when they arrive. I actually had bought a unit that looked identical to this from my LFS. Very long story....they only had one so he ordered a second one for me. Took over a month and then they got the wrong light in and gave me a run around with the price (alot more) and would have to wait at least 30 more days for the replacement. I ended up returning them and ordering them myself. I really liked the one light I had purchased from the LFS, only played with them for a little bit but I was impressed. One of the LFS units was $250, on "sale" and I got 3 of the same lights for $480ish.

A ballast on my T5 went out a few weeks ago, so I have only been running one t5 light bulb for my softies and low light corals. How do I go about acclimating them to the new lights? I was assuming I should dial them down to the lowest setting, start with the white lights on an hour or so a day and bump them up an hour a week. How long do you wait to bump up the intensity? Is it okay to run the blues on low for several hours a day? I don't want to fry the corals I have!
 
SaltyJim said:
I just got my A4 unit yesterday, will post pics later if no one else has.

There *is* a heatsink, and the weight of the unit was surprisingly heavy. Heavy enough I have to change my hanging system from what I had for my Geissman 250 fixture.

My one complaint, the fans are on all the time when the dimmers are turned off. Not really a problem if using timers, but could be an issue for trying to use a controller. For anyone that has not yet ordered from Sam, ask him if they could put the fans on a separate power switch.
Click to expand...

Let us know what you think and do a review if you can. I'm waiting some reviews before ordering my 3 A8s.
 
Are you going w the A8? What size tank and why those over the "normal" fixtures and how much are the A8. One salesperson recommended the A8 for my tank but never gave me a price.
Corey
 
My A4 also showed up today, it's sitting in a box at home while I am at work.

Sadly my Apex has not shipped yet so I have no idea if I can hook up the VDC or not. Regardless I'm going to crack it open and see what I can figure out about the drivers. Hopefully they are Meanwell or something else semi-standard!
 
With a picture of the fixture opened exposing the drivers and all that good stuff we should be able to figure out if they would be compatible with the Apex or not.

I can post a picture of the VDC port on my Apex when I get home if that will help you figure it out.
 
biecacka said:
Are you going w the A8? What size tank and why those over the "normal" fixtures and how much are the A8. One salesperson recommended the A8 for my tank but never gave me a price.
Corey
Click to expand...

That's what I'm planning on. 3 A8s for my 180g. just want to hear the review and someone figures it out with apex before the purchase.
 
I have the VDC cable on order, I know it just ends at bare leads so no issue there. Just need to see if the potentiometer is easily bypassed and if the driver is a standard 0-10VDC...

Won't get pics for at least 4 or 5 hours though. I'll be sure to post when I do.
 
I got my A4 today too as well.

Its a solid, heavy, well built fixture. I have to really be careful hanging this from a shelving bracket as it is easily 10lbs. Might take a day or two to figure it out.

I kinda want to run it before I crack it open. Unit didn't come with any instructions, so we'd have to figure out the internals and disassembly on our own.
 
I've pulled mine apart and taken a look at the internals. I've taken pictures but I have to get the kids to bed before I can upload them.

My thoughts:

Heavy, solid case, well assembled, decent cable management. Heatsink is huge, basically the size of the whole unit. Quick disconnects all over the place.

The drivers have no label except for the voltage. No model/part number on top or bottom. Just a black mystery box. It has a 4-pin quick disconnect to the potentiometer which I assume are two for the on/off, two for the dimmer circuit. I'm no electrical guy someone else will have to take a meter to it and sort that out.

The other thing is the cable to the pot is *very* short. Like maybe three inches. Not alot of play for splicing and rewiring but it should be doable.
 
AcroBluz said:
Looking forward to seeing the pics. If I can get these to be controlled by my apex that would be sweet
Click to expand...

Same here.

The two issues to that goal: Getting the wires sorted out and the short length of wire. If someone wants to crack their driver open they can probably tell us more, but that's not going to be me :)

I've already voided my warranty more than enough, thanks :crazy1:
 
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