DIY LEDs - The write-up
- Thread starter JohnL
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der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Right now I'm using an Amprobe AM220. It does everything you'll ever need plus some stuff you probably don't need. It's also very convenient (autoranging, auto-off to save the battery, etc.) and not that expensive. I got it from Amazon, I think it was $30 - $40.
IMHO a fluke or other pro-level meter is probably overkill for the stuff we need.
IMHO a fluke or other pro-level meter is probably overkill for the stuff we need.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Agreed, though I worded the advice on the color bin a bit more strongly than perhaps I needed to. Color binning is pretty much a personal preference thing.
It's definitely brighter and will wash out royal blue XP-Es. If someone is mixing XR-E RBs and XP-G CWs, they might want to consider viewing angle - the XP LEDs have a wider angle so if you mix them with XR LEDs you might not get quite the same result.
[/quote]You should talk to that guy before he publishes that article on reefkeeping mag. :twitch:[/QUOTE]
I've been meaning to look him up. I heard he's a self-taught crazy who makes things up as he goes along so someone needs to knock some sense into him. :lol:
dnahas
Premium Member
In many others honest opinion >600$, I stopped adding, for fish tank lights is over kill too!!!
I think I'll get one that will do temp also it would be nice to have.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
The Amprobe model I have is available with a temp function as the AM240. I didn't get it because I always have an Arduino kicking around and it's easy to put a 50 cent temp probe on that if I need temperature readings.
The "best" RB LEDs are the Cree XR-E or XP-G. In terms of efficacy they're the same. The major difference is viewing angle - the XP-E has a wider angle.
Best place to get them would be any of the standards - ledsupply, rapidled, nanotuners, cutter.
If you're running the XP-G and whatever royal blues you end up with at the same current, you probably want many more royal blues to get a 20kk color - 60/40 or 65/35 (RB/CW) range is what I'd start with. You might want to mix in a small amount of plain blues, too, so maybe 50/15/35 (RB/B/CW). The plain blues are a nice sky blue color that's very close to many 20kk metal halides, but they don't have quite the pop that a royal blue does, so don't go too heavy on them.
TheFishMan65
New member
OK, you got me confused so probably some others. I assume that the first XP-G is supposed to be read XP-E since I don't think XP-G have royal blue yet.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Yes that's true, I meant XP-E royal blues, not XP-G.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
This is a new train of thought, but after disassembling a fixture I had over a nano for several months I think it's prudent to note some thoughts regarding long-term survivability:
1) It is a Very Good Idea to think carefully about shielding the LED array from salt spray and/or moist air. The tank this fixture was on had an acrylic lid but the lid had a lot of penetrations for different cords, equipment, etc and the end of the fixture near those holes has a fair amount of corrosion on the solder joints and hardware.
2) If you're using fans, make it easy to clean/replace them.
3) Make it easy to clean/dust the heatsink. The portions of the heatsink that were directly under the fans are caked with dust.
Just some thoughts. I get the feeling that many of us are building these fixtures with very long lifespan in mind. And while we don't need major regular "maintenance" in the sense of lamp replacements, it's a good idea to check the unit over and clean it thoroughly or correct any developing problems every few months, at least.
1) It is a Very Good Idea to think carefully about shielding the LED array from salt spray and/or moist air. The tank this fixture was on had an acrylic lid but the lid had a lot of penetrations for different cords, equipment, etc and the end of the fixture near those holes has a fair amount of corrosion on the solder joints and hardware.
2) If you're using fans, make it easy to clean/replace them.
3) Make it easy to clean/dust the heatsink. The portions of the heatsink that were directly under the fans are caked with dust.
Just some thoughts. I get the feeling that many of us are building these fixtures with very long lifespan in mind. And while we don't need major regular "maintenance" in the sense of lamp replacements, it's a good idea to check the unit over and clean it thoroughly or correct any developing problems every few months, at least.
dnahas
Premium Member
And/Or some XP optics that wont break the bank at 5$ each!
HeneryH
Henery Hawk
$1.20 each and fit the 10mm sq MCPCB:
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut837
Terrible pictures
I'll let you know how well they work in a couple of days.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
The "frosted wide" is ~26 degrees and has pretty poor efficiency. There's an elliptical that's wide, but who wants an elliptical? 
HeneryH
Henery Hawk
I really don't see many with efficiency greater than this. A couple are at 90% but there are MANY more with less efficiency than the 87% - 88%.The "frosted wide" is ~26 degrees and has pretty poor efficiency. There's an elliptical that's wide, but who wants an elliptical?
Yes, the wide has a 26*. For $1.20 it was worth a try. I can't afford the >$5 optics now so it was this or nothing.
The "frosted wide" is ~26 degrees and has pretty poor efficiency. There's an elliptical that's wide, but who wants an elliptical?
You are correct on the efficiency. The Carclo 10mm optic, 10414, has an efficiency of only 80% while others are up closer to 90%. The angle of the 10414 is actually 36.7 degrees according to Carclo's specs. The Cutter web site lists it incorrectly.
I used 150 of these 10414 Carclo optics on the 10mm square boards from Cutter. The little pegs make them incredibly easy to mount and I was very pleased with the beam I got. My LEDs (XP-G and XP-E) are about 15 inches from the water surface, 30" deep tank. The only issue I had with the 10mm board was they are a bit more difficult to solder given the smaller pads and the fact that the tip of your solder gun up very close to the LED. I soldered some 20mm stars and they are childsplay compared to soldering the 10mm squares.
Skeptic_07
New member
I noticed that a lot of MCE optics are compatible with XP leds and cutter seems to just list the MCE FWHM numbers.
Real specs for all the Carclo optics can be found here.
http://carclo-optics.co.uk/catalog/documents/Cree-01-10.pdf?osCsid=639fae1a16e0ce3a4fbe7858cedd4dbc
http://carclo-optics.co.uk/catalog/documents/Cree-01-10.pdf?osCsid=639fae1a16e0ce3a4fbe7858cedd4dbc
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