DIY LEDs - The write-up

[Neogenocide]

I've got a quick question for those who have ordered the Cree XR-E Royal Blue LED's. I just received my order, however they are not marked in any way that they are CREE, like my whites are. They look like them, but I haven't tested them to make sure they are actually blue. can anyone verify or provide a pic of what they actually look like? I will post up a pic here after I get my kids into bed.

Is this a real Cree or a knockoff?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Mcain Bwood]

1. Tank size 24x24x24 cube 60 gallons
2. Very High Light
3. Led's fixture can be any height where its most efficient.

I am also interested in aesthetics as i will not be using a canopy.

Thanks

 

[kcress]

RE that is MOST useful!
Thanks a bunch.

I haven't actually seen the mentioned optics. How do they mount?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I've got a quick question for those who have ordered the Cree XR-E Royal Blue LED's. I just received my order, however they are not marked in any way that they are CREE, like my whites are. They look like them, but I haven't tested them to make sure they are actually blue. can anyone verify or provide a pic of what they actually look like? I will post up a pic here after I get my kids into bed.

Thanks,

Scott

I'm guessing your whites are marked on the starboard - which simply means the star was Cree. The LEDs are almost certainly Crees if you bought them from a reputable dealer, but they probably just put them on another brand of star, which really isn't a big deal.

If you look REALLY closely at the LED itself, you can tell which is which because of the slight tint of the cool white phosphors.

1. Tank size 24x24x24 cube 60 gallons
2. Very High Light
3. Led's fixture can be any height where its most efficient.

I am also interested in aesthetics as i will not be using a canopy.

Thanks

Maybe 48 LEDs, 700mA drive current, 60% XP-G cool white and 40% royal blue XP-E or XR-E. Really, mounting height will depend on where you want them to be - then pick appropriate optics. For instance, if you went 18 - 24" up, you might want 40 degree optics.

 

[Neogenocide]

I guess I was more worried about them being counterfeit, but they were ordered from a reputable dealer. Again, the White are on Cree boards, but the blues are unmarked.

Scott

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It's very common for vendors to use their own MCPCBs, no big deal.

 

[Neogenocide]

Coo....thanks for the info.

Scott

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I got the beamshot comparisons up for MC-E and XP-G using all available Carclo optics except for the ellipticals.

Rather than having to make several posts to contain all the images, I instead made a JavaScript slideshow located here that makes the differences very clear:

http://www.worstkind.com/aquarium/leds/optics/mce_xpg.html

If your browser doesn't support Javascript or if you want to do your own A-B comparison between different optics, just browse the images manually, they are well named:

http://www.worstkind.com/aquarium/leds/optics/

One thing I notice is there isn't much difference between the Carclo XRE and XPG/MCE optics on these LEDs.

On the MC-E, comparing 10209 (frosted wide for xpg/mce) to 10211 (frosted wide for the xre), you can tell a *slight* difference because the + mark moves a bit... on the XP-G I can't really tell a difference.

Cool stuff. Had anyone taken PAR readings from the MCE? Looks like that monster could really light up some space

 

[ReefEnabler]

RE that is MOST useful!
Thanks a bunch.

I haven't actually seen the mentioned optics. How do they mount?

All of the Carclo optics that I have used have the same holder which looks like this:

The 4 pegs go into the holes around the star, but the pegs do not come flush to the base, there's a small gap. They actually rest on 2 outer edges of the star itself, but there's a large opening for wires, very easy. A tiny tiny dab of superglue on one side will keep them in place.

And all the various optics are just lenses that snap into the top. Have to pull back two small tabs to remove them from the holder which is a bit tricky but not so bad.

The lenses all look the same except the outer surface will be either smooth, frosted or rippley (obviously ) So careful not to mix them up (which I did, and which is why I busted out my camera in the first place).

 

[Santoki]

holy cow,
I'm away a couple hours and I've already missed a whole new page of new posts....
Talk about getting a life! JJK
Widmer, that is good to know... I thought the charges were per cut. I will have to make some larger orders in the future...
-R

 

[JoshuaG]

Ok, I have read most of what I can, but has anyone been in contact with Cree to see if they will be offering the XGP in Royal Blue? I am building another fixture and wonder if I should wait.

 

[JoshuaG]

Oh and if anyone has an extra ELN 60-48D laying around, I need one more

 

[Skeptic_07]

Tanks again ryan. Your beam shots are very helpful.

 

[dnahas]

I just found this pretty neat tool

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

We have discussed the resistor on the V+ side, this site puts them on the V-, or am I wrong?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you're using a resistor to regulate current, it doesn't matter which "side" of the LED it's on, as long as the LED(s) and resistor are in series.

 

[Skeptic_07]

I want to keep all my electronics (including the drivers) for the LED's in a box off to the side somewhere. Since I have 5 mw drivers and I'm planning on throwing a few LED up there on a buckpuck for moonlights, I will have 12 wires going to the fixture.

What would you guys recommend to clean this mess up?

I was thinking some kind of computer cables like serial cables or parallel cables. They are pretty cheap and they have screws to connect and disconnect which is a plus so the wire cannot pull out accidentally. The only thing I am not sure of is the gauge of the wires on those cables. its very tiny probably 26 awg or smaller. Would this provide too much resistance?

other things i researched was multi-conductor 'control wire' which was around $100 for 100' and only sold in 100' rolls. I suppose i could use a bunch of romex.. lol.. forget that it would be funny looking andromex is sold not stranded so it would be rigid. I remember this company my old job used to deal with called quik-pull. they made all sorts of multi conductor wire but it was all really expensive. of course they were buying huge rolls of it that we moved around with a forklift.. probably not worth it i doubt they'd deal with me. IDK.. i need 12 conductors.. any ideas?

 

[kcress]

Yeah the 26AWG would be a little small for long runs. Perhaps you could use a DB25 and double up the wires. That would give 12 + 1/2.

Or just use whatever and some of the nice flexible wire conduits available.

Twist each of the pairs together before putting them in the bundle. Remember there are some warnings about long runs of wire with MW drivers. If you really want the look, try it, but keep in the back of your mind how you'd mount the drivers much closer if you have too.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I want to keep all my electronics (including the drivers) for the LED's in a box off to the side somewhere. Since I have 5 mw drivers and I'm planning on throwing a few LED up there on a buckpuck for moonlights, I will have 12 wires going to the fixture.

What would you guys recommend to clean this mess up?

I was thinking some kind of computer cables like serial cables or parallel cables. They are pretty cheap and they have screws to connect and disconnect which is a plus so the wire cannot pull out accidentally. The only thing I am not sure of is the gauge of the wires on those cables. its very tiny probably 26 awg or smaller. Would this provide too much resistance?

other things i researched was multi-conductor 'control wire' which was around $100 for 100' and only sold in 100' rolls. I suppose i could use a bunch of romex.. lol.. forget that it would be funny looking andromex is sold not stranded so it would be rigid. I remember this company my old job used to deal with called quik-pull. they made all sorts of multi conductor wire but it was all really expensive. of course they were buying huge rolls of it that we moved around with a forklift.. probably not worth it i doubt they'd deal with me. IDK.. i need 12 conductors.. any ideas?

A couple of HDMI cables might work. Those look thick.

 

[dnahas]

..Twist each of the pairs together...

Thats what I have normally done for mobile electronics. Stick one end of the wires in a drill and hold the other, kind of fun.

I was planning on doing that until I saw the size of heat shrink available at fry's. Now I'm planning on putting one large/long section of heat shrink around my untwisted bundle so it looks like one cable. Untwisted to retain flexibility.

 

[Skeptic_07]

The conduit idea had crossed my mind but I want to be able to disconnect the wires easily to take the fixture down from time to time to clean it. good tip with the twisting. I never would have thought of that. The run shouldn't be very long. We're talking 10' max. how long is long? think i could use cat5?