Diy led

[brassmonkyballs]

what is the difference between fedy's blue and royal blue leds. do the blues look more purple?

thanks

The difference between Blue and Royal blue is the wavelength. Doesn't matter whether is FEDY, Cree, Seole, etc. Its a standard.

Blues operate in the 465nm-485nm and should not be used for the main source of blue in your tank. They are ok for adding color but not growing the coral.

Royal Blues are the ones we need for our reef tanks. They operate in the 450nm-465nm range which is the region corals respond to...ie Actinic.

 

[Blackhawk007]

I am not using fuses. But I did just add resistors to test mA. All of my drivers are outputting between 4.20 - 4.25 amps. Its a bit of a relief to know this since I have them wired 6 strings of 5.

 

[truebeliever71]

Blackhawk... I can't wait to get my 80 LED unit finished on my tank tonight.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

New to this forum/hobby, been followed this thread for a while now. Finally pulled the trigger on these Fedy LED over the Cree because of the cost. I have 6' tank with 24" deep and decided to go with 112 LED 2:1 white:royal blue with Heatsinkusa 8.460"x71" in 4 rows, am I doing thing right here?

brassmonkeyballs, can you share your wiring diagram on how you run 28 Fedy on the Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver? I'm planning to get 4 of these.

Should be good.....might want to add in a box of lenses for $14 when you place the order.

The attachment should answer your question on wiring. All the drivers can go to the same dimmer and 10V power supply. Use 2 POTs to separate the whites and blues and still 1 10V power supply.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

I am not using fuses. But I did just add resistors to test mA. All of my drivers are outputting between 4.20 - 4.25 amps. Its a bit of a relief to know this since I have them wired 6 strings of 5.

Just one resistor at the power supply? Need them on each string to check how they are balanced, But to be honest, I'd rather see you put a fuse in each string just to be safe.

 

[Blackhawk007]

Just one resistor at the power supply? Need them on each string to check how they are balanced, But to be honest, I'd rather see you put a fuse in each string just to be safe.

I can see how this would be misleading with how I wrote it. No I did not get only 1 resistor, would pretty funny if I did though. I have 7 drivers running for a total of 42 strings. I have been able to test 4 drivers = 24 stings = 24 resistors. I did this because these were the 4 circuits that were easy to access. The others would require a bit more work because of the placement of each string, haven't gotten that far yet. My results are from all 4 that were tested. Sorry to be misleading, but thanks for pointing it out.

To be honest for the cost of the LED's compared to the cost of the fuses and the amount of work....I'm ok with loosing a few if something goes wrong.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

I can see how this would be misleading with how I wrote it. No I did not get only 1 resistor, would pretty funny if I did though. I have 7 drivers running for a total of 42 strings. I have been able to test 4 drivers = 24 stings = 24 resistors. I did this because these were the 4 circuits that were easy to access. The others would require a bit more work because of the placement of each string, haven't gotten that far yet. My results are from all 4 that were tested. Sorry to be misleading, but thanks for pointing it out.

To be honest for the cost of the LED's compared to the cost of the fuses and the amount of work....I'm ok with loosing a few if something goes wrong.

So each string is seeing about 700mA?

How's you heat on the sink?

I'm more worried about a thermal runaway with those drivers and the fuses will sense the increased current faster than the LEDs.

It all looks very good though....nice color and great PAR.

 

[Blackhawk007]

So each string is seeing about 700mA?

How's you heat on the sink?

I'm more worried about a thermal runaway with those drivers and the fuses will sense the increased current faster than the LEDs.

It all looks very good though....nice color and great PAR.

Each one is around 700mA, give or take 20. I have one that was way off but I found that one of my solder points was poorly done so now its good. One out of about 450 not bad.

The heat is fine now. I had a bad driver and since I changed that out it's much cooler. I do expect the LED's on that string to have a shorter life span. But I will leave them on there to see just how short.

I still have a stack of spare LED's left over and will be ordering quite a bit more in the next few weeks so I can "play" with my spectrum to get it where I want it. So if any go out I should be able to handle it. Since this is so knew I expected a lot more problems than what I have seen so far.

 

[truebeliever71]

Question for you all... I'm finishing up my build with the FEDY LEDs and am wondering how you are securing the optics to them?

 

[Blackhawk007]

Question for you all... I'm finishing up my build with the FEDY LEDs and am wondering how you are securing the optics to them?

When you figure that out let me know. Right now mine are just hanging on there. I dont have an issue with them unless hit one.

 

[truebeliever71]

When you figure that out let me know. Right now mine are just hanging on there. I dont have an issue with them unless hit one.

The more I think about it silicone might do it. But I'm not sure how it will do with the heat.

 

[bucks448]

When you figure that out let me know. Right now mine are just hanging on there. I dont have an issue with them unless hit one.

twist them counter clockwise gently and they bind on the metal tabs.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Question for you all... I'm finishing up my build with the FEDY LEDs and am wondering how you are securing the optics to them?

Guys...don't use any glue that gives off an odor...like super glue...it will fog the lens and perhaps the LED. Not sure about silicone but it sure does stink. What I have seen recommended is epoxy applied with a tooth pick in 2 or 3 spots..so you can pop it off if you want.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Each one is around 700mA, give or take 20. I have one that was way off but I found that one of my solder points was poorly done so now its good. One out of about 450 not bad.

The heat is fine now. I had a bad driver and since I changed that out it's much cooler. I do expect the LED's on that string to have a shorter life span. But I will leave them on there to see just how short.

I still have a stack of spare LED's left over and will be ordering quite a bit more in the next few weeks so I can "play" with my spectrum to get it where I want it. So if any go out I should be able to handle it. Since this is so knew I expected a lot more problems than what I have seen so far.

+ /- 20mA is perfect from what I can gather....I guess 5-10% is acceptable.

Great to hear on the heat.

Nice when you expect problems and get few to none. Being careful and patience is all it takes and it really is easy isn't it...

I like the look of the tank...nice job.

 

[bucks448]

Guys...don't use any glue that gives off an odor...like super glue...it will fog the lens and perhaps the LED. Not sure about silicone but it sure does stink. What I have seen recommended is epoxy applied with a tooth pick in 2 or 3 spots..so you can pop it off if you want.

Really seems like a lot of work when the lock on if you just twist them counter clockwise a little.

 

[josephv]

I have been looking for led seal and can't find it. Anyone know where to get some or know of another product?

 

[Blackhawk007]

I have been looking for led seal and can't find it. Anyone know where to get some or know of another product?

Bob from Reef LED Lights said that its off the market for now due to a manufacturing flaw.

 

[truebeliever71]

twist them counter clockwise gently and they bind on the metal tabs.

Bucks... That's not working on mine. They're staying put OK (so far.) I did spray the LEDs with the LED sealer and put them on hopefully that's adding some holding power to them.

 

[truebeliever71]

I finally got my LED build done and hung last night... All I can say is WOW! I have never seen my corals look the way they do now.

Forgive the crappy photos... they were taken with my phone

 

[josephv]

Is there any other material that can be used to protect the LEDs from the salt?