DIY LEDs - The write-up

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Wow, awesome thread.

I've been tossing around the idea of a 60x24x20 for a while. I think doing all LED would be a bit pricey, so was wondering if something like this would work:

-----=60" T5ho
o = LED w/ 60deg optic (total of 76; 2x19 and two 1x19)

-------------
o o o o o o o o
--------------
o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o
--------------
o o o o o o o o
-------------

-Justin

That'll work, but be careful about how you use the word "pricey". In the short term, your design may be cheaper (i.e. it'll perhaps be cheaper to put together).

In the long term - probably after 2 or 3 years - you'll lose the initial savings due to higher electricity costs and bulb replacement on the T5s.

So, if you plan on keeping your tank more than 2 or 3 years, consider saving an extra stash of cash and going all LED from the start - you'll end up saving money in the long term.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Do you think 2 of these will be fine for a 60G FOWLR?

Cree 6xQ6 + 6xRB @ 1000mA

Will the fans be necessary or I could go without?

I'm assuming you mean Q5 XR-Es? I don't know of any Cree LEDs that use a Q6 bin.

That aside, you'll want the fans, though if you chose carefully you'd probably be fine with only one on each unit. A month or two ago I made some comments in this thread about how I felt fans were not needed on one of the fixtures I built. Turns out, the batteries in my multimeter were dying, which was throwing off the current readings I was taking, so I was configuring my drivers inaccurately and underdriving the LEDs. When I got the drivers set up correctly, the heatsink got much hotter (an additional 35 deg. F, plus or minus, for a few hundred mA difference in current.) So I hope no one is reading those comments and deciding to leave fans off their fixtures.

That fixture was 8 LEDs at 500mA on a smaller heatsink, so extrapolating the result, I'm sure you'd want a nice fan on your unit.

Of course, it'll be easy to play with, and it'll depend a bit on how you are integrating the unit into your hood, etc. Design with the fans in mind, and then if you somehow discover you don't want them, take them off, or put a speed controller on them and turn them down a bit.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

+1

This (LED lighting) will open up options for hobbyist that have yet to be experienced with pin-point control of lighting within their reef. Sure, it will take A LOT more planning before construction, but we never said that new innovations would be easy or cookie cutter!

I'm already planning my next array now and this one has only been built a month, yet I'm perfectly happy with the outcome!

Indeed, it's interesting to read through these threads and see all the effort people are putting in to essentially recreating the exact same lighting effects as you get with traditional reef lighting (i.e. 100% consistent intensity and color across the whole aquarium.) Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

I'm encouraged that other people are trying to think outside the box with respect to using the flexibility LEDs can provide.

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

Agreed! I believe that the next array I make will have some red/pink LED's sprinkled around as well, not just cool white and royal blue; trying to simulate the pro-pink T5 bulbs. They definitely will be on different drivers so I can "dial in" my color choice and dimming capabilities for moonlighting. I also would like to explore the weather options as well, but I have at least a year before I start the new construction (wedding planning) and perhaps there will be big strides in technology and reductions in emitters next fall/winter!

 

[MontyJack]

Hi Folks,
I was asked by "žder wille zur macht"œ, if I can get some information of the Profi Llux from the manufacture GHL. I send them an e-mail, bud got no answer. But there is a good reason I got no answer! Everything you need to know is on their website and on two support forums (listed below) and also in English. GHL is supporting DIY projects in many ways. In what belongs to DIY light control they have three assembles to switch and dim your drivers. It is the EVG-AP-1F, EVG-AP-2F and EVG-AP-HIC. One good thing on this assembles is they have relays which are switching the driver on before dimming up and of after dimming down. That means you have no standby energy loss and les risk of failure while always plugged in.
Whit the EVG-AP- 1F you can switch and dim one driver. With the EVG-AP-2F you can switch and dim two drivers separately. Then there is the EVG-AP-2F HIC. This model is similar to the EVG 2F but is able to handle higher Ampere ratings (100A/240V), the relay switch is made of Wolfram. This is important in the switch on moment when there is the highest peak of Amperes. If the relay has a weaker switch it wears of fast and can bake together and remain in on position.
The EVG-AP's are plugged in to the Profi Lux via Western cable/plug. But if you don't go to use a Profi Lux, you can hock it up whit any other 1-10V signal. The only problem then is, to get the relays to work. There is a 12V signal coming from the Profi Lux to switch the relays. But this can be done by a modified timer as well.
The Profi Lux has eight 1-10V channels (L1-L8) featured and you can order an upgrade kit with more channels. With one of these channels you can control simultaneity up to 10 devices. Also they have a device to split the channels and to hock up multiple devices on it. It's the LBF-AP.
Further the Profi Lux has an DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) to control up to 64 items. If you get DALI drivers you can easily connect and control them as well as the analog 1-10V in the Profi Lux menu.
Finally they have a so cold LEDControl-1 with 0.700A/24V controlled via 1-10V (Western cable). This device can handle up to 6 HP LEDs depending on voltage and amperage.
GHL : http://aquariumcomputer.com/index.html
Manuals:
Profi Lux controller http://aquariumcomputer.com/System/Programming_guide_V408.pdf
EVG-AP-2F http://aquariumcomputer.com/Download/Manual_EVG-AP2_V400.pdf
Forum:
Profi Lux GHL http://www.aquariumcomputer.com/Forum/
Aqua-It: http://aqua-it.de/vb/index.php
What I wrote her are details from the sides above. Verify the correctness of the information's before you go and DIY!!!
Sorry for my English!!! I hope you could understand my writing.
Thank you

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

Good reporting all the same, thanks!

 

[Zythum]

Hi,

The source for my 2x 70V power supply, is stuff I have laying around. It will be more like an audio amplifier power supply, lolll.

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing

- 2x Hammond transformer, 50V CT, 5A (gives 250VA)

- 2x 15600uF capacitor banks

I am missing:

- 2x 5A Rectifying bridge

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing circuit from this page
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/powersup.htm

I get a ripple of 2% in the supply. Able to put out:

Voutput = 50V * 1.414 - 1.4V = 70.6V
Ioutput = 5A / 1.414 = 3.54A

That should be enough to drive 2 x 4 banks at 700mA each.

After measuring and thinking, I will build a canopy with a hinge in the middle. I will use 4 heatsinks, with a bank of 15 blue and 15 white LEDs on each. Each heatsink will be 7.29" x 27". I will have a 1.5" gap in the middle along the tank for the hinge and a 4 inch gap over my center brace. I only have 18 inches over the tank, not high enough for lifting and no beams in ceiling. I tough of lifting it with electric actuators, but the supporting structure would limit view and access to sides of the tank.

For the fuge part of my sump, I am still planning on doing a test. I will try to salvage a decent size heatsink to screw in the LEDs. I think I am gonna go the easy way (already have to transfer the tank) and get a Mean Well LPC-35-700W to power 12x Q5. It should still be enough to grow macro? My fuge section is about 10x20x20H.

 

[Zythum]

Double post on database error

 

[possys]

that's new 50w LED blub and anyone using it?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Hi,

The source for my 2x 70V power supply, is stuff I have laying around. It will be more like an audio amplifier power supply, lolll.

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing

- 2x Hammond transformer, 50V CT, 5A (gives 250VA)

- 2x 15600uF capacitor banks

I am missing:

- 2x 5A Rectifying bridge

Transformer + Rectifier + Smoothing circuit from this page
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/powersup.htm

I get a ripple of 2% in the supply. Able to put out:

Voutput = 50V * 1.414 - 1.4V = 70.6V
Ioutput = 5A / 1.414 = 3.54A

That should be enough to drive 2 x 4 banks at 700mA each.

Thanks for the info. Interesting. I have built little dinky "power supplies" to give 5v DC at a few hundred mA for controllers and little circuits, I never thought about doing it on a more massive scale. What's the cost for each of these, roughly? Though, playing with that much power all on one circuit scares me a bit.

For the fuge part of my sump, I am still planning on doing a test. I will try to salvage a decent size heatsink to screw in the LEDs. I think I am gonna go the easy way (already have to transfer the tank) and get a Mean Well LPC-35-700W to power 12x Q5. It should still be enough to grow macro? My fuge section is about 10x20x20H.

That should be more than enough, you might have to dim it back a bit. Several people are already running similar setups for refugia, so it's well proven.

It would be interesting for you to do half cool white XR-E, and half pure white (which is a bit warmer, of course) to compare the growth results. I'm wondering if the algae will respond better to the warmer color of the pure white.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

that's new 50w LED blub and anyone using it?

Got a link or a brand and model number? A bunch of vendors are packaging LEDs into lightbulb replacements. Typically, they're either the wrong spectrum, or use low-efficiency LEDs and as such, are not totally appropriate for reef tanks.

 

[krzysieks]

Shuld I drive Royal Blue LEDs with 1000mA buckpucks or 750mA and why?

And I decided that I will not use any optics for my LEDs. Thanks

I will post pictures of my LED light progress

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

Of course we are giving only our opinions here....so IMO I think that you should drive them at 700mA and extend the life of the LED's. If you have them wired up on different strands, it will allow you to control the color better as well. Not sure how you have it setup, but that's something to consider. There is no definite right or wrong answer, just your preference really. Are you planning to dim you LED's or just full power all the time?

 

[krzysieks]

Thanks wesley6610

I will use dimmable drivers 1000mA for LUXEON Rebel cool white and 1000mA or 750mA for Royal Blue??!?!?!??!!. 6 LEDs per buckpuck, 5 buckpuck for white and another 5 for blue.

to enlarge the picture/shematic of LED plans please click on the link
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2043613510034799017OEpIip - updated link

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It's really up to you, depending on your needs. 1000mA will give more output, but potentially shorten the life of the LEDs. No one's had one of these DIY fixtures for more than a few years, so we can't know for sure, but it might be the different between 8 years and 10 years of life, as an example.

If your cooling is really good and you want high-light corals, go with 1000mA. You can always dim them down.

If you're not totally confident in your cooling system, or you don't have a really deep tank with SPS way down at the bottom, 700mA is probably just fine.

 

[krzysieks]

1000mA it is! since I will drive white 1000mA I do not care if I shorten the life of the blue LEDs. I have mix of corals sps high in the back. lps, zoas, mushrooms, xenia, acans middle and bottom of the tank. Thank you all

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What lights do you have over the corals now?

Seems like the vast majority of people that put LED rigs over existing tanks are shocked by how much brighter the LEDs are, and end up running them turned way down to acclimate the corals.

 

[krzysieks]

I run 3 x 110W VHO, 2 actinic, 1 50/50 on 75 gallon tank. I will have to durn down LED to acclimate the corals.

My friend went from t-5 to LEDs. He runs white 35% and blue 75%. some of his corals got bleached.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Hey everyone,

I'm trying to encourage people who have played with LEDs to post in this thread:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1718642

I PM'd some of the people who have build threads, but I know there are a lot more people out there, so please stop by that thread and share your results if you've run DIY LEDs over a fish tank.

 

[MontyJack]

It seems to me, that you there in US use in average more blue then here in Europe! Here is common to have 2/1 white to blue in T5 and LED as well. What is the reason to have so much blue? Is it because the blue in your national flag? Ours is just 1/3 blue"¦:twitch:
Just kidding"¦