Diy led
- Thread starter flworkd
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Rhodes19
New member
brassmonkyballs
BMB
I don't think it matters and to be honest these heatsinks should be overkill. On a long tank i would consider shorter individual heatsinks just for ease of placement and handling.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
here's a couple Meanwells I have on order that are available from wattsupply.com but they are special order from meanwell...and they're relatively new but have all the dimming options...3 in 1, plus PFC, and all the other bells and whistles. again these are the higher end drivers so the cost is higher....here's the specifics:
* Universal AC input / Full range (up to 305VAC)
* Built-in active PFC function
* Protections: Short circuit / Overload / Over voltage / Over temperature
* Cooling by free air convection
* OCP point adjustable through output cable or internal potential meter
* IP67 / IP65 design for indoor or outdoor installations
* Three in one dimming function (1~10Vdc or PWM signal or resistor)
* Suitable for LED lighting and street lighting applications
* Compliance to worldwide safety regulations for lighting
* 5 years warranty
* Suitable for dry / damp / wet locations
HLG-185H-42: This is 185W 42V and 4.4A. ~$110. Can run 6 strings of 12 so up to 72 LEDs @700mA
HLG-120H-42: This is 120W 42V and 2.9A. ~$100. Can run 4 strings of 12 so up to 48 LEDs @700mA
HLG-100H-42: 100W 42V and 2.28A. <$100. Can run 3 strings of 12 @700ma but I'm more interested in this one for Cree which are 3.2V so can run 2 strings of 12 at 1100ma of Crees.
There is a larger HLG 240-42. ~$120. I do not have this one on order. As you might expect is 240W and 42 V. Puts out 5.72A so that 8 strings of 12 so 96 LEDs at 700mA.
Note I mentioned all 42V. They have a variety of drivers in each model at different voltages. They make 48V versions as well but the current output is lower. Likewise they make lower voltage versions and the current output is higher. You just have to pick what will work best for you and then make a call and see if they can be ordered. I can tell you it took me a while to find a source for the HLG's that I wanted. They special ordered them for me and said Meanwell ships to them on Wed and Fri and they will process out to me same day. I should have next week.
Back to the running at 700mA on the FEDY's. I now fully believe this is over-driving these LEDs. There is just too much heat being produced and at this rate longevity will be compromised without a doubt. I run Crees at 1000mA and its warm to the touch. Running Crees at 700mA and maybe they are room temperature. @ 700mA FEDY's get the heatsink quite uncomfortable to touch unless I run them down in the 500mA range. There is just no way this should be happening on a large heatsink. I'm now 90% sure I will be going back to Crees with the added cost for my 120g. I will continue to run FEDY's on my 29 cube and finish the build on my 40B.
sorry folks...just my opinion.
skunkmere
New member
My 200 watt fedy driver just got fried today. It was working fine yesterday and today it would not turn on. I swapped it out with a new back up one I had and my LEDs are back on. My friend said that we are really pushing those drivers with so many LEDs. It lasted me like a month cuase I got it going on March 10. I guess we get what we pay for. Has anyone else had any problems with the fedy drivers?
Since I need to make some changes on my fixture anyways I guess I'll just have to go with some real Meanwell drivers.
Since I need to make some changes on my fixture anyways I guess I'll just have to go with some real Meanwell drivers.
Rhodes19
New member
Ok, after watching my tank temp going from 76 to 80 deg after adding a second 250w MH I think I need to build my own LED light set. I don't think I can add a third MH to my 180 (72x24x24, rimmed) without having to get a chiller and I'd rather not go there yet. After reading the past 22 pages I think I have a good overview of what I need to do but I have a few questions that I need help with. My tank is/going to be primarily lps and sps with some clams in the future. What I would like to know is:
How do I figure out how many LEDs I need? I know that there are a lot of variables but I don't know what most of them are or how to use the information. I see 168 would be plenty but I have some other tanks that I will want to build for as well.
If I want a 20 K look I know I need a 2:1 ratio of 18K white to royal blue. Does that ratio still apply if I but the royal blue on their own strip?
How many rows of LEDs do I need in order to cover the 24" front to back? I know I need 1.5" - 2" in between LEDs in a series for heat dissipation.
What degree lens should I get for the white LEDs and for the RB LEDs? I'm thinking of putting the RB LEDs in their own strip down the middle of the tank and on their own dimmable driver so I can play with the color.
Would you recommend a dimmable driver for the white LEDs?
And the last question, where are people ordering the FEDY LEDs from? I'm sorry if I missed it.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. The last time I did any thing with electronics was over 25 years ago and it was tube stuff! LOL. Thanks every one for all the information you put up on this thread. Its been a fun read.
How do I figure out how many LEDs I need? I know that there are a lot of variables but I don't know what most of them are or how to use the information. I see 168 would be plenty but I have some other tanks that I will want to build for as well.
If I want a 20 K look I know I need a 2:1 ratio of 18K white to royal blue. Does that ratio still apply if I but the royal blue on their own strip?
How many rows of LEDs do I need in order to cover the 24" front to back? I know I need 1.5" - 2" in between LEDs in a series for heat dissipation.
What degree lens should I get for the white LEDs and for the RB LEDs? I'm thinking of putting the RB LEDs in their own strip down the middle of the tank and on their own dimmable driver so I can play with the color.
Would you recommend a dimmable driver for the white LEDs?
And the last question, where are people ordering the FEDY LEDs from? I'm sorry if I missed it.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. The last time I did any thing with electronics was over 25 years ago and it was tube stuff! LOL. Thanks every one for all the information you put up on this thread. Its been a fun read.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
Ok, after watching my tank temp going from 76 to 80 deg after adding a second 250w MH I think I need to build my own LED light set. I don't think I can add a third MH to my 180 (72x24x24, rimmed) without having to get a chiller and I'd rather not go there yet. After reading the past 22 pages I think I have a good overview of what I need to do but I have a few questions that I need help with. My tank is/going to be primarily lps and sps with some clams in the future. What I would like to know is:
How do I figure out how many LEDs I need? I know that there are a lot of variables but I don't know what most of them are or how to use the information. I see 168 would be plenty but I have some other tanks that I will want to build for as well.
If I want a 20 K look I know I need a 2:1 ratio of 18K white to royal blue. Does that ratio still apply if I but the royal blue on their own strip?
How many rows of LEDs do I need in order to cover the 24" front to back? I know I need 1.5" - 2" in between LEDs in a series for heat dissipation.
What degree lens should I get for the white LEDs and for the RB LEDs? I'm thinking of putting the RB LEDs in their own strip down the middle of the tank and on their own dimmable driver so I can play with the color.
Would you recommend a dimmable driver for the white LEDs?
And the last question, where are people ordering the FEDY LEDs from? I'm sorry if I missed it.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. The last time I did any thing with electronics was over 25 years ago and it was tube stuff! LOL. Thanks every one for all the information you put up on this thread. Its been a fun read.
Below my thoughts I pasted in a post from another thread...Note this thread is all Cree but the point is people are putting too many LEDs on their tanks.
On your questions about drivers I recommend dimming them all...you will want to control color mix and brightness.
For spacing 2" between LEDs and 3" between rows is a good rule of thumb. I would recommend 4 rows on the 24".
Lenses depend on how high your fixture will be above the water. 60 degree is a good all around. note on the below post he used no optics and a low count of Crees...I think he's getting away with both because he's only 3 1/2" above the water. If 12" above he would be getting poor color mix and no light at the bottom of the tank.
Mounting the RBs in a strip could work if you want to do a limited number for Actinic only viewing. But I would generally mix them within in each to assure good color mix.
My personal recommendation for your tank would be 96 to 108 LEDs. If using FEDY's 2 white to 1 RB. If Crees I would its more like 60% RB to 40% cool white for a 14000k look so it would need to be up'd to 70%-30% maybe for 20000k...Cree CW are really really bright.
Hope that all helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vthondaboi
Just a quick report on my PAR values and light setup.
250G 72x30x27.5
24 XPG CW - 1050ma driver
48 XPE RB - 700ma driver
No optics or shield. Lights are 3.5" from top of the tank.
1/3 way down - 300
2/3 down - 200
top of 2.5 inch sand bed - 90
300 seems like plenty of light to keep SPS. So why are people pushing it jus to bleach corals?
I plan to add optics to the RBs on the edges of the tank to help with spillover too.
I am not sure. I think people have become so accustomed to the watts per gallon ideas of old, that it is hard to except these little LEDs can do so much with so little. I am putting 65 on a 120g and suspect it will be way more light than I will ever need. With so many people having to dial back their mA's or dim their lights, it should indicate we need to rethink how many led's are really needed. Or at least get more hard numbers on Par to see what we are really doing.
End Quote
malac0da13
Member
That driver is not dimmable. Constant current mean it will output a constant current and varying the current is how the leds dim. I would also recomend an even amount of blue and white or maybe even more blue then white.
Yep same experience with those drivers!
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18521121#post18521121
If you're going to run the Fedy driver, I would add one more LED to each series to under drive the LEDs and driver. Since my post above, I ran 11 in series 8 in parallel, the driver output 3.2A and the LEDs were running around 400ma. Heat and output were not increasing in neither the driver or LEDs. Two weeks ago I added 3 more series, so I'm still running 11 in series, but 11 in parallel, now. The driver output is 4.4A and the LEDs are still running at around 400ma. The heat from the LEDs is the same, but the driver is running warmer, not hot though.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
How do you like the color temp at 400mA?
Remember how this all works... The lower you drive your LEDs the less voltage drop across them. The less the voltage drop the less watts per LED. The less Watts, the less the heat. Watts=V*I. I believe that driver is 36V. At 700mA the FEDYs drop about 3.45V so you wouldn't be able to run more than 10 in series. The more you run the more heat you're going to get from the driver. When you start getting close to the rating of the driver you will get appreciable heat generation.
But the weird part about what you're describing is the current. If you added more strings in parallel the current should have dropped not gone from 3.2A to 4.4A. So I believe that driver is a constant Voltage and not constant current. Which simply means your voltage is locked in at 36 V and your current will vary over some range depending on the load.
The really bad thing about a constant voltage driver is that the current will rise as temperature rises. Bucks..I think we just figured out why you got those test results. With a constant current driver the driver will vary the voltage to maintain the drive current..so if temps go up it will reduce the voltage to offset the increase in current that wants to occur. Constant voltage version does not....and therefore heatsinking becomes very important. The other thing about constant voltage is you have to put the right amount in series because the voltage is locked in. If you only had 8 in a string and pushed 36V across them thats a lot more than the 3.5V drop they normally operate at.....current would be up as well. By having 11 in series there is only 3.3V available for the LED to drop which is enough to run the LED...considering 3.2V is 350mA ...400mA sounds right. Again, it would be real nice if FEDY provided specs and operating ranges for these drivers. nobody knows what they're dealing with.
So i don't know whats going on at all with these drivers...I've worked offline with several of you experiencing current readings constantly changing and generating a lot of heat. I don't know how else to explain it.
Rhodes19
New member
Cool beans.
Thanks brassmonkyballs. That really helps. That gives me a better idea of what I need to plan for and will help with my design. I'm looking at making a canopy that is about 12" tall so I'm expecting to place the lights anywhere from 6-12" off the water. I think I will go ahead and mix the rbs in with the whites and make a separate strip of rbs to play with after the lights go out. See if I can get some fluorescents to pop. 
Thanks again.Chris
brassmonkyballs
BMB
I do know....and the answer is no. claim standard 50,000 hour life but there is no way thats going to be the case...they are being over driven by those running them at 700mA....no question. They have no test data, no Energy Star rating, no accurate curves, no discriminating between different types of LEDs, just general 'typical results'. Then again, remember what you are paying for. These are 5 years behind what Cree is putting out. Just look at the stars and the soldering and then look at an XPG from Cree....the difference is startling and looks like a child assembled them compared to Cree.
All that being said, they work if you know what you're dealing with and run them appropriately. Its the false claims of lumen output, color temp, and the 700mA rating that gets everyone in trouble. if you know that going in they will work fine for you.
All that being said, they work if you know what you're dealing with and run them appropriately. Its the false claims of lumen output, color temp, and the 700mA rating that gets everyone in trouble. if you know that going in they will work fine for you.
I am a poor judge of color temp as a reference for other people. I really like what I see, but I haven't had anything previously for a good comparison. FWIW - I'm running 121 @ ~400ma, 3:1, W:RB, with 60deg optics on all LEDs.
Thanks for the explanation! It definitely seems like constant voltage is what I'm working with from these drivers.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
As long as you like the color AND the corals like the light then thats all that matters!
FWIW...I looked on FEDY's site at drivers and everything I see says Constant Voltage on the case...in the pictures that show it.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
Here's a great find which shows what I was explaining above. I was amazed to find something this useful and in video no less. This should give everyone a real good idea of the difference between Constant Current and Constant voltage as well as the difference a heatsink makes. Its 7 minutes long but please watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEupSfzEIXM
That's perfect! Exactly what I experienced with these (constant voltage) drivers.
If you don't have Fedy drivers, don't buy them, but if you have them at least you now have a better idea of what you're dealing with. Add more cooling or under drive everything to make them last as long as you can!
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