DIY LEDs - The write-up

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As long as you are supplying the same voltage to the dimming leads from the Apex as you are currently, then drive current should remain the same. On the other hand, if you're currently using 7V on the dimming leads to get 350mA and you ramp the Apex to 10V you'll be driving your rig higher than 350mA. It keeps everything pretty safe if you set your max intensity at the 10V maxiumum. It also gives you the full 0-10V dimming range. The way I understand what you want to do, 350mA should be set up as 100% brightness on your Apex, not 35%. If you haven't adjusted the max output on the drivers, you need to. Make sense?



The apex sending out up to 20mA is from Neptune and the meanwell 48-60D using 3mA through the dimming wires is from rapid led who got it from meanwell.
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Thanks 2 TAZ, good info to know.
 
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Yeah, makes sense. I haven't messed with the voltage adjustment at all, just the current to achieve my dimming and PAR tuning up until this point. Excellent, well I will continue reading the manual you provided and place my order with Rapid for those dimmable drivers this evening once the wife gives the thumbs up, lol.
 
The voltage adjustment I'm refering to is the voltage you're applying to the dimming circuit externally, not the internal adjustment.
Good Luck with the Mrs.!
Tim
 
One question about the dimmable drivers, to make sure I'm understanding correctly so far...if I am currently running my LEDs at 350mA, I would equate that to 35% of the drivers potential. So once I setup the ramp profile on the Apex, I would enter a max of 35% to to maintain approximately the same "intensity" that I currently have with my manually adjusted ELN 60's? No need to go into the driver box and adjust anything at all?
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No, set the driver to max mA you want to run the LEDs at the ramp up the Neptune to 100%, 35% of the drivers output is more then 350 mA if the driver is turned up to full output. Full output is 1.5A for the eln60-48D, so 35% is 52.5 mA. Just curious, why do you intend to run you're LEDs at only 350mA?
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I woud like some opinions and comments on my led spacing for my fixture that I am building for a standard 75g tank. Spacing is 2" on center....side to side and front to back. I plan on running xre royal blues with 80 degree optics and xpg white with 60 degree optics. Fixture will be about 6-8"s above water surface. Sps dominate from halfway up in the in the tank. Thanks in advance!
DSCF1155.jpg
 
2 TAZ said:
No, set the driver to max mA you want to run the LEDs at the ramp up the Neptune to 100%, 35% of the drivers output is more then 350 mA if the driver is turned up to full output. Full output is 1.5A for the eln60-48D, so 35% is 52.5 mA. Just curious, why do you intend to run you're LEDs at only 350mA?
Click to expand...

Okay, so I still manually set the drivers to the max current I want them to be and set the Apex at 100%, makes sense, thank you. Well, when measuring with my PAR meter, when I had my LEDs at 700 mA, I was bleaching my corals out, so I turned the royal blues down to 500mA and the whites to 350mA and things seemed to recover and coloration improved. I'm getting about 450 at the water surface and approximately 200 at the sand bed where my clam sits. I'm using 60 degree optics and have my unit about 12" off the water line. My growth is good in both SPS and LPS, but like most people my coloration could be better and so I have swapped out a few CW for NW and will be ordering about 16 more NW to swap out the rest of the CW next weekend to see if things will continue to color-up better.
 
redhanded77, I think you spacing looks cool, but I'm more concerned about the support of that large heat sink...are you going to have any support along the edges or middle to brace that thing? I would be worried about over time it breaking the framing its secured to on the ends. What's the weight on that thing, maybe it just looks heavier than it actually is...
 
Wes - thanks for the input about the led spacing. RIght now the fixture is just a mock up to get an idea on size and dimension. The final product will be made alot more stout.

For right now, my main concern is getting the led spacing and amount right. Im stuck deciding if I should go with 72 or 96 led total. I just want to make sure I get good coverage and good par. I would really hate to under size it and have to make modifications later.
 
Hey red, 72 should be fine and you'll like what it does for the electric bill. I have 96 XR-Es on my 120 and they are plenty. mine are all XR-Es and I'm pushing them at somewhere around 600mA with 500+ PAR on my purple monti cap high in the tank. When I do water changes it's almost florescent when the water is low with the lights off.

Are you doing 50/50 with the XP-Gs? Most people say that's pretty white, of course you can always dial the whites back to get the over all color you like and it will be more efficient.
Tim
 
72 should be more then enough, I used 3 blue XR-E to 2 white XP-G all at the same output and I think if I did it again I would add more blue. I may end up lowering the output of the XG-Gs
 
I'd love to get a underwater light meter to see what my LEDs are producing, can anyone recommend a good one that won't cost too much, and if posable were I can get one.
Thanks
 
I am using 18 XPG CW's, 6 XRE CW's, 8 XRE Warm Whites and 52 XRE Royal Blues and it's maybe 14K at best. so a 52/32 Blue White split and just over half of the whites are XPG's and I think I might end up throwing some more blues in.

The wide angle shot toward the end of the video show about how bright it is. Doesn't look quite as blue in person

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8AvUusinL8
 
What do you think is a better patter for 12-XP'G and 24 XR-E blue on a 8.5"x12" heatsink which will be placed inbetween 2 20k-Radiums which light up the right and left sides of the tank?
8.5"
B W B B W B
B B W W B B
B W B B W B 12"
B B W W B B
B W B B W B
B B W W B B

Or

B W B W B B
B B W B W B
B W B W B B
B B W B W B
B W B W B B
B B W B W B

They are both pretty similar, the middle rows just alternate differently. I'm open to other suggestions too. Thanks
 
I like the 2nd one better, but if it were me I might try to push some W to the sides, unless you're going to run tighter optics on the side blues than the whites in the middle.
 
chrisfowler99 said:
I like the 2nd one better, but if it were me I might try to push some W to the sides, unless you're going to run tighter optics on the side blues than the whites in the middle.
Click to expand...
My thought process on having all blue on the sides is that it will mix with the Radiums better. I could be wrong. My optics are all 65/60 degree
 
They would work, but they are not as efficient in terms of lumens/watt. So like may they re cheaper to get started and cost you more in the long run. Don't remember the exact spces on Cree. They are also higher voltage 6-8 volts which will make for shorter string and more cost in drivers.
 
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