Chinese LED Lights

[Ron Reefman]

Ron what layout did you go with?

Meaning what colors and how many of each color

Travis, this is the layout I used on my IT2040. The 100% on color is more 10K than I expected. Very 10K in fact. It's only over a 75g anemone tank so I can run with the whites turned down and should be OK. I may add some more blues in the future. But for now I have lots of lights to install. As for quality, the fixture itself is very clean and feels very solid.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Ron I'm looking at the it2080. I'm wanting a 14k look with full spectrum. What layout would work best? Also what are your over all thoughts on this fixture?

I can't say what layout works best, every person has a different opinion of what they want. I haven't seen my IT2080 over the tank yet, but the layout is very similar to my IT2040 and it's very 10K at 100%. I based my layout off how blue my old D120 light was. At 3:2 blue to white, it was very 14K. But this new light is MUCH more white than my old one. So I now argee with bhazard451 about how much blue you need to get a 14K look. If you want a 14K at 100%, I'd say you want at least 2:1 blue to white and maybe even more like 2.5:1. And even then, I'd buy enough extra blues to turn it to a 3:1 if you needed to (the extra leds are cheap). That is if you can get them switched out? Kind Corals seems to be having issues with that. I haven't tried yet.

I'm pretty happy with the light. My old one had no lenses and had a different layout with 11 rows of 5 leds. This one woth only 4 rows and 90 degree lenses has a much 'narrower' light pattern. I'm going to have to play with lenses and light location some. The box is solid and clean. They come well packaged. We had 24 lights in our order and every members lights were boxed seperate. And I had 3 different lights (IT2080, IT2040 & D120) so I had 3 seperate boxes master boxes and each light was boxed again inside the master.

I'll take some photos today as I get things done and post them up along with some PAR meter reading. Oh, and I switched out the moon leds for 2 of the darker blue (440nm vs 450nm... not much different) and one UV. The moonlights are still plenty bright. I dimmed them down from 5 to 2 for last night.

 

[latinyoungn]

Ron I'm looking at the it2080. I'm wanting a 14k look with full spectrum. What layout would work best? Also what are your over all thoughts on this fixture?

The default reefbreeder layout is supposed to be 14k at 100% brightness

 

[latinyoungn]

I can't say what layout works best, every person has a different opinion of what they want. I haven't seen my IT2080 over the tank yet, but the layout is very similar to my IT2040 and it's very 10K at 100%. I based my layout off how blue my old D120 light was. At 3:2 blue to white, it was very 14K. But this new light is MUCH more white than my old one. So I now argee with bhazard451 about how much blue you need to get a 14K look. If you want a 14K at 100%, I'd say you want at least 2:1 blue to white and maybe even more like 2.5:1. And even then, I'd buy enough extra blues to turn it to a 3:1 if you needed to (the extra leds are cheap). That is if you can get them switched out? Kind Corals seems to be having issues with that. I haven't tried yet.

I'm pretty happy with the light. My old one had no lenses and had a different layout with 11 rows of 5 leds. This one woth only 4 rows and 90 degree lenses has a much 'narrower' light pattern. I'm going to have to play with lenses and light location some. The box is solid and clean. They come well packaged. We had 24 lights in our order and every members lights were boxed seperate. And I had 3 different lights (IT2080, IT2040 & D120) so I had 3 seperate boxes master boxes and each light was boxed again inside the master.

I'll take some photos today as I get things done and post them up along with some PAR meter reading. Oh, and I switched out the moon leds for 2 of the darker blue (440nm vs 450nm... not much different) and one UV. The moonlights are still plenty bright. I dimmed them down from 5 to 2 for last night.

Ron,
I would love to see some pictures of the IT2080!!!

 

[WilkReef]

just wondering if you got your lights yet. When I got my lights they did not match the layout that I ordered. I did not know there were two different Christmas specials. I checked the layout of the ones you ordered and that is the layout I have. If I would have seen this layout I would have ordered them first, so I got a little lucky. With the blues on 100% and the whites at about 30%, it looks all washed out. From what I read green doesn't do any good. So I was thinking I would replace the two green with two RB. Was hoping you had your lights so you could tell me how you like yours. Anybody think swapping out green for RB is a bad idea?

I just received them yesterday and I am very pleased (and surprised) with the quality of these guys. I need to rebuild my canopy before I can comment on the final look, but I put one on the center glass and I very much like the color. I personally like the less blue (10k-12k) look and these really look great with equal white and blue power. As soon as I complete my weekend project and install these guys I will give you an update and try to post some pics.

 

[Travis1787]

I should have went bluer myself I wish I did now that I hear that rons is so white... I went with a total of ...

29 blues (26 rbs and 3 460s for the moons which run at full power with the blue channel on)

14 whites (10 7500k, 2 12k, 2 3500k)

4 violets 2 reds 2 greens ,

 

[Travis1787]

But I could be wrong I haven't seen them yet

 

[KindCorals]

I should have went bluer myself I wish I did now that I hear that rons is so white... I went with a total of ...

29 blues (26 rbs and 3 460s for the moons which run at full power with the blue channel on)

14 whites (10 7500k, 2 12k, 2 3500k)

4 violets 2 reds 2 greens ,

taking the lenses off the whites (I did the reds too) will help a bit to make it more blue

if i could just figure out how to solder the leds, I could fix my problem completely lol

 

[bhazard451]

taking the lenses off the whites (I did the reds too) will help a bit to make it more blue

if i could just figure out how to solder the leds, I could fix my problem completely lol

Use a 45w or 60w iron if you need to. You're desoldering from a heatsink, so you may need more power.

The solder melts within seconds. Use a tweezer or grab the leg off the solder on one side, and do the same for the other.

To solder back in, there should be enough to just line it up, then heat the leg while on the solder. Done.

 

[KindCorals]

Use a 45w or 60w iron if you need to. You're desoldering from a heatsink, so you may need more power.

The solder melts within seconds. Use a tweezer or grab the leg off the solder on one side, and do the same for the other.

To solder back in, there should be enough to just line it up, then heat the leg while on the solder. Done.

thanks man, I will go and exchange this iron for a more powerful one and hopefully that will do the trick.

I do remember it melting very quickly in the past so maybe it is the heatsink.

thanks again

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well I haven't had much time to play with mine today, but here is what I can tell you. My IT2040 has 2 of the 630nm red and 2 of the 660nm red and instead of having a slightly blue tank, I have a slightly purple tank. The more I dial back the white channel obviously the more the blue channel takes over and the dimmer the reds get, so it does get more blue than purple. I think I'll play with swapping out some whites for blue and maybe even 2 of the reds for blue.

I was seriously disappointed at how dim the light was at full power... until I stuck the PAR meter in the water. The 90 degree lenses really direct the light straight down when compared to my old D120 with no lenses. The old D120 had a PAR of 250 at 20". The new IT2040 has a PAR of about 325 at 20" and the light is 5 to 6 inches above the water. So it isn't dimmer at all, it just isn't letting the light spread out nearly as much so the front of the tank looks darker. So I'll also play with removing some of the lenses to allow some of the light to spread out toward the front more. I will also move the light forward some.

 

[KindCorals]

Well I haven't had much time to play with mine today, but here is what I can tell you. My IT2040 has 2 of the 630nm red and 2 of the 660nm red and instead of having a slightly blue tank, I have a slightly purple tank. The more I dial back the white channel obviously the more the blue channel takes over and the dimmer the reds get, so it does get more blue than purple. I think I'll play with swapping out some whites for blue and maybe even 2 of the reds for blue.

I was seriously disappointed at how dim the light was at full power... until I stuck the PAR meter in the water. The 90 degree lenses really direct the light straight down when compared to my old D120 with no lenses. The old D120 had a PAR of 250 at 20". The new IT2040 has a PAR of about 325 at 20" and the light is 5 to 6 inches above the water. So it isn't dimmer at all, it just isn't letting the light spread out nearly as much so the front of the tank looks darker. So I'll also play with removing some of the lenses to allow some of the light to spread out toward the front more. I will also move the light forward some.

The purple was my problem too but I only had 2 reds. Removing the lenses did help me though, I removed them on the red and the whites since I havent been able to swap any leds out yet. I'll try getting a stronger iron though and try that

 

[Travis1787]

Its prob more so the violets and the royal blues then the reds

 

[Deleted member 286866]

Does anyone have a source for compatable 120* optics for an EverGrow D120? The LED's are now 90* and the only opticts available from Sunny currently also are 90* (they are out of 120* optics and no ETA on getting more). I need about two dozen to change out the 90* 's optics on the Red & Green LED 's on my 5 fixtures to minimize minor spotlighting. Other WAMAS members would like to try some too. She suggested just removing the 90* optics which should make some difference. Contrary to their web site the LED 's are no longer 120 * angle.

 

[vhinz]

I'm using IT2040 for almost 2 months now and it seems that during a power loss/outage the custom settings made using 30mins interval is still there but the problem is when the unit turns on when the power comes back it will automatically select the 1 hour interval in which the case I leave it on its default settings, so I need to manually go to menu and reselect the 0.5h settings that I have save.

Anyone? let me know if you have some fix/solution to this problem with my It2040. By the way I'm using v1.1 on my 1st unit and v1.2 on the other. thank you in advance.

 

[nikesb]

Ron, try removing the 630nms for the reds as the 660nms are more beneficial. With two of those, my tank does not have the purple effect on the it2040

 

[Ron Reefman]

Its prob more so the violets and the royal blues then the reds

My blue channel has a lot of the royal blue and the pair of violet and UV and the blue channel is very, very blue. As I ramp up the white channel, which still has more regular blues and the 4 reds, the color of the tank goes from blue to purple. There isn't any question in my mind that it's the reds that make the purple tint.

So most everybody who got lights with me ended up more white and purple than we wanted, we now see that we didn't buy enough 'spare' leds to make the change to more blue. I haven't asked Helen at EverGrow, but I understood shipping of just leds was rather expensive. Anybody have any experience with it? And if EG is too expensive, who is a good US supplier for the Bridgelux leds that EG uses? Reef Breeders? Others? I have learned a lot about Chinese leds, but not having been a diy led guy, I don't know the US suppliers. Thanks guys.

 

[latinyoungn]

Does anyone have a source for compatable 120* optics for an EverGrow D120? The LED's are now 90* and the only opticts available from Sunny currently also are 90* (they are out of 120* optics and no ETA on getting more). I need about two dozen to change out the 90* 's optics on the Red & Green LED 's on my 5 fixtures to minimize minor spotlighting. Other WAMAS members would like to try some too. She suggested just removing the 90* optics which should make some difference. Contrary to their web site the LED 's are no longer 120 * angle.

where did you hear this? is it the same for the IT series?

 

[bhazard451]

My blue channel has a lot of the royal blue and the pair of violet and UV and the blue channel is very, very blue. As I ramp up the white channel, which still has more regular blues and the 4 reds, the color of the tank goes from blue to purple. There isn't any question in my mind that it's the reds that make the purple tint.

So most everybody who got lights with me ended up more white and purple than we wanted, we now see that we didn't buy enough 'spare' leds to make the change to more blue. I haven't asked Helen at EverGrow, but I understood shipping of just leds was rather expensive. Anybody have any experience with it? And if EG is too expensive, who is a good US supplier for the Bridgelux leds that EG uses? Reef Breeders? Others? I have learned a lot about Chinese leds, but not having been a diy led guy, I don't know the US suppliers. Thanks guys.

Any epistar/bridgelux type 3w led will work. Ebay has a ton, and check random led suppliers as well.

They will mostly be on stars, but you can desolder them from the stars. That's what I did for mine.

I would also remove the 12k leds, unless you know what spectrum it is putting out. I never saw a plot for those.

 

[lbannie]

YAY!!!! Reefbreeders told me my 2080 should ship for the first of the year!!!