Diy led

[josephv]

Besides if it were not for Fedy them we would not have this thread.

Thank you for that comment. Please keep this thread on subject. Fedy has provided all of us with affordable, reliable LED lighting.
Jae and myself have had our LEDS running since december and
I have had 0 problems due to the manufacturer.
I have seen AI. Maxspect and other diy cree LED systems@ 4-8 times the cost and they look no better than mine.
Please keep this thread on FEDY LEDS and drivers.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Very well. But you guys also need to be responsible enough to be concerned about safety of the many people who jumped on this thread with absolutely no idea how to wire, measure, calculate or troubleshoot. And no instructions for anybody to follow. My PM box is near full from people on this thread seeking help on the topic as well as driver alternatives including you. I like helping but wish others did more of it.

I am simply trying to broaden everyone's perspective and knowledge on the topic because all of this is simply taken too lightly and at face value with many novice DIYers.

And Nobody owes FEDY anything. You can get the same product from Satisled. I am FEDY user as I continue to state and am in a position to give direct comparisons because I am also a user of the major brand.

I will refrain from posting here if that's your desire but there's nothing wrong with comparisons.

 

[Blackhawk007]

... peeing matches and whats valid or not and guesses? okay......

I guess I'll offer another inexperienced invalid opinion and a guess....your Cree having bubble lenses ... they may be older XREs .... This is current XPG.

I'd point you to some very experienced people describing the downside of stacking 10's of drivers like you are to drive large fixtures but it would be invalid and just opinions I suppose. Then again you're playing with 300v devices so you clearly know whats going on.

This classic example of the peeing match that I am referring to. I was pointing out my results with equipment that I have on hand, but you got upset over me talking about something that you like and use.

I don't know your background, and have never discredited your knowledge or made a personal attack on your designs or opinions. You also know nothing about me, my life experiences, what I know, or do for a living, or anyone else on here for that matter. Yet you make comments that we would intentionally mislead others because our results are not the same as yours (heat issues). I'm sorry but just because you have something that works does not mean that the rest of us aren't smart enough to do it a different way.

I have yet to meet anyone that has stacked 10's of drivers and so have no clue who your speaking of. If your referring to me I have 7 drivers that are timed to do a cycle that I prefer, never on at the same time (yet another inappropriate exaggeration of yours to make others look less intelligent than you).

This is what I mean! You don't like my particular setup so you make personal attacks, yet you have little information as to why it has been done this way not to mention you have not seen it functioning through its cycle. You should know that people take things into considerations even if you don't think they do based on your personal preferences. Then you want to say that I am PLAYING with this larger driver, and insinuate that I'm going to end up killing myself by stopping my heart. Again just because you have your reasons not to use such a dangerous driver does not mean that the rest if us are now less intelligent because of it. I made a choice, its good to know that you would not use it, but I am able to make choices also. With my current setup it works.

All of this is not to say that your not a smart guy. I will not go there, you may be very intelligent, some of your advice has shown that. But is seems that you at times let your opinion get the best of you and attempt to make others you know nothing about seem unintelligent. I gave you my experiences with the Cree and why I choose a cheaper one, and you respond with an attack. Enjoy your day.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

....... Then you want to say that I am PLAYING with this larger driver, and insinuate that I'm going to end up killing myself by stopping my heart. Again just because you have your reasons not to use such a dangerous driver does not mean that the rest if us are now less intelligent because of it. I made a choice, its good to know that you would not use it, but I am able to make choices also. With my current setup it works.

I didn't think I started an attack before you suggested the peeing contest so i apologize ...and I can't find anywhere I stated I didn't like your build.

I do question you running 7 or 10 or however many you have but you never mention to the masses here the potential downside of running multiple drivers of this nature... My point and experience of this thread is that maybe 5 to 7 out of 10 posters here have never wired or soldered a thing in their life prior to wanting to build an LED fixture from this thread, let alone have any electrical experience. Which is fine and to be expected, so long as somebody points out the potential pitfalls along the way. But they just see they can get LEDs for $1.27 and they look good and start ordering with no idea what to do next when they arrive. And you are not helping IMO.

I am glad you can make decisions....I didn't think thats ever been questioned. It appears you feel all of my posts are directed as attacks towards you. That was never the intent and not sure why you think I'm speaking to you. I try to fill in the blanks with more information but I will not apologize for trying to get information to people following this thread who have reached out to me privately for help and with questions.

Since you feel I am attacking I will say this: What I really don't like is that you post to a clearly very novice forum thread about a 300v driver and tell nobody that they shouldn't use it unless they are extremely experienced in working with high voltages. Yes it can kill...plain, simple, and fast....and should not be taken lightly. I'm glad you are comfortable with it and experienced enough or trained a lifetime to be successful. You suggested that when I originally questioned it. I am just shocked you would even mention it here and in such a nonchalant manner.

For the record I like your fixture and tank allot. My preference would only have changed on the driver front as I am sure you can imagine.

I always have a great day and wish you the same.

 

[Blackhawk007]

It seems that you have great intentions. But your full inbox does not make you the LED god. It means that people know what questions to ask who to ask. This should show that those that have never done anything like this are seeking information and know how to, and this is good. This does not mean that every person that reads this, besides you, is an idiot. Nor does it mean that you are the only one getting PM's about this information. "5-7 out of 10" clearly shows that you think this. With 23,000 views I doubt its from only those that are in your inbox. Many people read this thread and do not post, and good for them.

There is a reason I have not posted where I got my driver from. There is also a reason that I am selective, when answering PM's, on who I give that information to. There is more that goes on outside of this thread, and your inbox, than you display an understanding of.

Talking about what works and what doesn't is excellent. I just have a an issue with you tossing around that the majority of people on here have no clue what they are doing, and that you are the only resource on here. Your advice is helpful, your negative opinion on peoples abilities and setups in not really needed. I think that you not posting here is a bad idea, but so is continuing to post that your better than 5-7 out of 10 of the people that read this.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

It seems that you have great intentions. But your full inbox does not make you the LED god. It means that people know what questions to ask who to ask. This should show that those that have never done anything like this are seeking information and know how to, and this is good. This does not mean that every person that reads this, besides you, is an idiot. Nor does it mean that you are the only one getting PM's about this information. "5-7 out of 10" clearly shows that you think this. With 23,000 views I doubt its from only those that are in your inbox. Many people read this thread and do not post, and good for them.

There is a reason I have not posted where I got my driver from. There is also a reason that I am selective, when answering PM's, on who I give that information to. There is more that goes on outside of this thread, and your inbox, than you display an understanding of.

Talking about what works and what doesn't is excellent. I just have a an issue with you tossing around that the majority of people on here have no clue what they are doing, and that you are the only resource on here. Your advice is helpful, your negative opinion on peoples abilities and setups in not really needed. I think that you not posting here is a bad idea, but so is continuing to post that your better than 5-7 out of 10 of the people that read this.

Oh please Blackhawk give it up already. now your putting words in my posts that were never said or insinuated. I never referred to myself as a god. I clearly said 5-7 out of 10 POSTERS not readers. My private PMs are indicative and private. The public posts are more indicative and concrete. I am better than nobody here. i am trying to help people who after they read the hundreds of vague posts and get no response to questions they clearly ask. I will again state...this is largely a very novice thread. Go back to post 1 and start reading up until now. Study the questions and the comments. Again, there is nothing wrong with it at all and people have to learn...thats the point of forums. What is wrong is giving vague information and not helping people learn. there's only a handful of people here that have been helpful in really explaining things.

Give it up on trying to discredit me and slanting the intentions of my posts already. Its really tiresome.

 

[Blackhawk007]

I find no fun in this I spoke for good reason. I am say how it is. I'm sorry you don't like being called out. I post as much info as I can and hope that it helps.

You will not find me saying that I will go to others houses to check their heat output to prove them wrong.

 

[truebeliever71]

Does your Pi$$ing match have to be online?? You both have every nice setups and have given great advice to on here. Please take it offline so as to detract from the meaningful discussion on this thread.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Does your Pi$$ing match have to be online?? You both have every nice setups and have given great advice to on here. Please take it offline so as to detract from the meaningful discussion on this thread.

Truebeliever you are right. Apologies. I'm done.

 

[Blackhawk007]

Does your Pi$$ing match have to be online?? You both have every nice setups and have given great advice to on here. Please take it offline so as to detract from the meaningful discussion on this thread.

Agree, sorry for your waste of time.

 

[Blackhawk007]

Back on track.
I have mentioned before that with the 18,000k LED's I have a tough time seeing the coralline in my tank. I have had the LED's up for about a month and noticed today that my new Tunze 6205's are all covered with coralline. These pumps are rather new and were completely clean when I installed my LED fixture. I then used my 6300k PAR 38 to examine the rest of my tank. I was shocked to see how much of my aquascape is covered with coralline now. Many of these rocks were bare side up because my 300 cracked and I had to downsize to a 210 not allowing most of the rocks to be stacked the same. Another thing that has been fun to see is the growth of my Monti's. I will start posting weekly photos to show the growth. Under my T-5's I was not able to see a daily change like this.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

That's cool. I have the same experience with Monti's growing super fast under LEDs vs MHs. Never thought about the 18000k washing out the purple. I have a tri color acro where the tips are not as vibrant purple.... Wonder if that could be same effect? Look forward to seeing pics.

 

[truebeliever71]

One thing I've noticed with the white LEDs is that they tend to have a green tint. Does anyone else notice that?

 

[Blackhawk007]

I will be adding a hand full of red Cree's in the next few days for a slightly warmer effect. Then whenever a group order comes together I will be swapping out 10%-20% of my 18,000k for 10,000k. It seems that my desired look is a bit more full spectrum. When I built my sump light I only had a bunch of 18,000k on hand so I used those. Not the best choice for growth but I had about 90 of them sitting here. As it turns out I have seem massive growth of my macro already. So if your like me and you end up with a few of these left over I don't think you can go wrong is you use them on your sump.

 

[Blackhawk007]

As usual these pics are off my phone so they are not the best but will have to do.
The monti have been in place for just 2 weeks now and have already started to attach to the rocks that I glued them to (these were in a different location before that because they were in my 300). I got both of them in January and saw normal growth under my T-5's. With the LED's its noticeably faster. The sump photo I had to take with my pumps off and sump full because with everything on the photo was too hard to see. I started with about 3 handfuls of macro just over a month ago.
I know these are things that normally grow quick. But the point I am trying to make is the effect that LED's have on the growth. Many have wondered if the LED's would increase or decrease growth and with a monti and macro its easy to see the effects because of the normal growth rate. Its too soon to tell with the rest of my corals but when that time comes I will also post the results, good or bad.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

One thing I've noticed with the white LEDs is that they tend to have a green tint. Does anyone else notice that?

I haven't noticed green. With the RBs off its pretty cold white. but I have noticed though the color of the tank inhabitants effect the perceived color to me. I have a tank with a lot of reds and greens and with just the whites on the color is sort of warm and with the wrong mix of RB the tank goes purple. Another tank just finishing its cycle with white sand and empty...the whites are icy cold white.

 

[brassmonkyballs]

As usual these pics are off my phone so they are not the best but will have to do.
The monti have been in place for just 2 weeks now and have already started to attach to the rocks that I glued them to (these were in a different location before that because they were in my 300). I got both of them in January and saw normal growth under my T-5's. With the LED's its noticeably faster. The sump photo I had to take with my pumps off and sump full because with everything on the photo was too hard to see. I started with about 3 handfuls of macro just over a month ago.
I know these are things that normally grow quick. But the point I am trying to make is the effect that LED's have on the growth. Many have wondered if the LED's would increase or decrease growth and with a monti and macro its easy to see the effects because of the normal growth rate. Its too soon to tell with the rest of my corals but when that time comes I will also post the results, good or bad.

My experience is consistant with yours. macro seems to go nuts for sure.

you mentioned in the other post you were thinking of some cree reds. I wonder if the neutral whites would do what you're looking for? they are pretty warm themselves and maybe need less of them?

 

[josephv]

My experience is consistant with yours. macro seems to go nuts for sure.

you mentioned in the other post you were thinking of some cree reds. I wonder if the neutral whites would do what you're looking for? they are pretty warm themselves and maybe need less of them?

I would love to do a few red on my tank. Maybe 16-12 of them .I was told they require a different driver. Do you know how to wire and drive them? Do the red have a downside?

 

[brassmonkyballs]

I would love to do a few red on my tank. Maybe 16-12 of them .I was told they require a different driver. Do you know how to wire and drive them? Do the red have a downside?

not sure if FEDY makes them but the Crees run at 2.3V I believe instead of the 3.5 you are running on 18000k. So you apply the same math we discussed a while back about sizing the driver and wiring them. So to drive 12 of them in series for example you're looking for a 42v driver which puts out 700ma. There's a cheap Meanwell LPC 35-700 thats a constant current driver. 48v 700ma $18 from Rapid. should be able to do 4 to 16 off that in series.

I have no experience with Reds but thought thats the 1st color stripped off when the sun hits the water. Some say they are bad and cause algae which makes sense given the wavelengths. Yet they are being used for the exact reason you guys want to...i saw one guy using neutral whites, reds, and greens and swears by it. As always color and appearance is up to the owner so long as the inhabitants don't mind. As long as there is enough beneficial PAR with whites and RBs they won't mind and you already have that. So give it a try and worse case is you remove them if over time you notice a shift in your tank that you don't like....ie algae or something. this is what I really like about DIY LED fixtures...its all in our control for tweaking!

 

[Blackhawk007]

The reds that I have on hand are the ones with the lens that came off of, they are XRC's. When I got them a few weeks ago I was told that they are 350mA and not 700. I will look into this further, but for now I will listen his instructions. I only picked up 5 to start with.