DIY LEDs - The write-up

[sammy113]

sammy: What drivers are you running at what current and how many leds?

grim: thats a pretty cool idea. I'm not sure how that would look because I've never seen a warm white cree in action.

4 LEDs in each 1" x 12" ran by a meanwell LPC35-700 (3 modules in each driver) guess they run @ 700mA

 

[dnahas]

Dab of adhesive, like epoxy or polyeurethane, superglue also works but some datasheets say no superglue.... I still used it

I trying to figure out something relatively removable in the chance I want to change the optics. I don't think epoxy or poly would come off that easy. My fist guess was a dab of silicone may be enough to hold it on.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Looking at your diagram, it looks like your "total ratio" would be:

50% XR-E RB
25% cool white XP-E
12% warm white XR-E
12% cool white XP-G

It'll depend on the color bins you get for the various white LEDs but that strikes me as a very warm mix overall. I've never tried it but I bet it would look like an average 10kk MH lamp with no actinic supplementation.

If I were in your shoes, I'd either up the RBs by 10%, or switch some (or all) of the warm whites to neutral whites, or make sure my cool whites were a very blue color bin.

All within the realm of personal preference of course. . .

My bad, the 50/25/25 was thinking of the whites only.

I think I will give this a try.

45 Blues and 39 whites. Cut the warms back to 4.

 

[saraiva]

Pictures

Pictures

I would like to see aquariums pics with led lighting.
Prefereable from this thread.
Thanks

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

My bad, the 50/25/25 was thinking of the whites only.

I think I will give this a try.

45 Blues and 39 whites. Cut the warms back to 4.

Looking better. I'd make a few changes:

1) space the WW's out front/back as well as side to side, i.e. put them in the four corners. Not all the way to the corners, but such that they describe a square evenly spaced on the array if that makes sense.

2) Switch the warm whites to XP-G instead of XR-E. The advantage there is a wider viewing angle, so the light will diffuse through the tank better, which will be important if you only have 4 of them.

3) Spend the extra $50 or whatever it'll be and just go XP-G on ALL the cool whites instead of only a portion of them. They're 20 - 30% more efficient, so they'll essentially pay for themselves in two or three years.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Looking better. I'd make a few changes:

1) space the WW's out front/back as well as side to side, i.e. put them in the four corners. Not all the way to the corners, but such that they describe a square evenly spaced on the array if that makes sense.

2) Switch the warm whites to XP-G instead of XR-E. The advantage there is a wider viewing angle, so the light will diffuse through the tank better, which will be important if you only have 4 of them.

3) Spend the extra $50 or whatever it'll be and just go XP-G on ALL the cool whites instead of only a portion of them. They're 20 - 30% more efficient, so they'll essentially pay for themselves in two or three years.

I thought about the spacing after I posted. I have an idea in mind but will wait until I can get the LED's in and see what the spread is going to be before making my final layout. The reason for the Q5's is I don't want the light around the edges to spread as far and figure I will get better blending with the blue if they both have the same emission pattern, maybe not but it sounds good on paper :spin2:

Thanks.

 

[bourbeaue]

Grim, since when are you into LEDs ? I thought T5's were your religion ?

 

[adova]

Lol - news of Grim's conversion has reached Canada...

 

[dnahas]

I really didn't want to make the optics a permanent attachment and I still needed to shield the entire fixture. So I decided to attach the acrylic in a manner that holds the optics against the PCB. My acrylic is thin, .08, and would flex and bow not sitting flush on all the optics, so it required more screws than I would have liked to use. IMO the best option would have been to drill more holes into the heat sinks and mount into the aluminum. I also thought about using the same holes as the PCB screws but didn't want to deal with that hassle.

I'll see how long before the acrylic fails. What do you all think?

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim, since when are you into LEDs ? I thought T5's were your religion ?

I go with the best technology. LED's are finally there.

 

[maddog2002]

What if the fan on the DIY light stops working without be noticed. Will the temperature too high and kill all the LED bulbs?

 

[sammy113]

I would like to see aquariums pics with led lighting.
Prefereable from this thread.
Thanks

 

[stugray]

OK,

I have been building some more LED strips for the LFS and before I hand them over to them, I thought I'd get a few comparison pics.

They want plain old light for the fish display tanks, so 100% cool white is fine.

This build is XP-G cool whites only, no Blue.




First a baseline picture....

Here's a pic of my tank with 2X 400W XM 15K bulbs:

I then installed 36 XP-Gs on the right side of the tank, run at 700mA.

Here's that with the MH off & LEDs only:

Next is a pic after turning the Left side MH back on for comparison:

All photos were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel in Man mode, so no parameters changed between photos.

Stu

 

[widmer]

Stu:

FUN! Maybe I should see if my LFS wants to replace their salt-encrusted VHO's and 15-month-old halide bulbs :lol:

 

[Neogenocide]

OK guys....stupid question, but AC electrical isn't my strong point. On my Meanwell, it's marked ACL and ACN. I'm using a computer power cord to wire it to, and it's got white, green, and black in it. My question is, what is the correct way to wire it?

White to ACL and Black to ACN?

Thanks for setting me straight!!

Scott

 

[stugray]

"White to ACL and Black to ACN"

L stands for 'Line' ( or load ) - Black.
N stands for Neutral - White.

The truth is: It doesnt really matter with these drivers.

Stu

 

[Neogenocide]

Thanks Stu!!

I'm now seeing blue spots......wow is all I have to say. 1 more fixture to go..then I can get them over the tank!!!! Good Bye Halides!!!!

Scott

 

[kcress]

Stu, those look to be exactly the same brightness! 36Gs = 400W MH..

 

[Neogenocide]

Hey all....need some advice here.

I finished up the first of my 2 fixtures to go over my 46 bow last night. Of course I had to hold it over the tank to see what it would look like. Here is the weird part, it's providing blue and white disco ball like effect over the tank. I don't have heavy surface agitation, but enough that it shimmers. I'm at a loss here why it's doing this so bad. My fish will be trippin if I leave it over the tank. No video yet, and not sure it would even capture the effect.

I'm planning for 34 LED's total, 17 per half. 9 Blue, 8 White.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this? Is it too few LED's? Spacing too far apart? I'm looking for some direction if anyone has experienced this before.


Scott

10"x10" HeatsinkUSA.com heatsink

 

[akindbro4u]

Hey all....need some advice here.

I finished up the first of my 2 fixtures to go over my 46 bow last night. Of course I had to hold it over the tank to see what it would look like. Here is the weird part, it's providing blue and white disco ball like effect over the tank. I don't have heavy surface agitation, but enough that it shimmers. I'm at a loss here why it's doing this so bad. My fish will be trippin if I leave it over the tank. No video yet, and not sure it would even capture the effect.

I'm planning for 34 LED's total, 17 per half. 9 Blue, 8 White.

Any thoughts on what could be causing this? Is it too few LED's? Spacing too far apart? I'm looking for some direction if anyone has experienced this before.


Scott

10"x10" HeatsinkUSA.com heatsink
http://i267.photobucket.com

what hight, and optics?