DIY LEDs - The write-up

[kcress]

YeP! Now we'll have to figure out the White XM-L to Blue XP-E ratios all over again. :hmm3:

 

[widmer]

Nice report on the XM-L, are you able successfully fit XP-G optics over them? Like carlco? I noticed that my carlco XP-series optics leave quite a bit of space between the emitter and the lens when they're snapped on.

 

[Frode]

I calculated that you could drive 15 XM-L on one Meanwell ELN60-48 at 1300 mA producing a total of 7350 lumen. Or 16 at 1000 mA producing 6048 lumen.

But indead the color, that's the big question for now...

 

[wisewendell]

wisewendell; LEDs Man, L E D s not bulbs.

Have at it. You should use U channel though NOT tubing.

Yes, LED's is what I meant .
What is the advantage of U-Channel over tubing? I figured since there was more surface area the tubing would be better?

 

[ShallowWaters]

Great thread - incredibly helpful! Unfortunately, I don't trust my handiwork when it comes to electicity and water. I am curious though - Now that you folks pioneered amazing work and researched parts all the way to end of the Internet, what commercial LED fixture company do you think makes the best lights by performance & value for SPS?

 

[kcress]

Nice report on the XM-L, are you able successfully fit XP-G optics over them? Like carlco? I noticed that my carlco XP-series optics leave quite a bit of space between the emitter and the lens when they're snapped on.

Widdy; I don't have any Carlo's. I hope you're not saying the XP Carlos hold the optics out forward a lot. That is the total reason these otherwise perfect optics, I have, don't work. Their holder holds them out forward too far.

I calculated that you could drive 15 XM-L on one Meanwell ELN60-48 at 1300 mA producing a total of 7350 lumen. Or 16 at 1000 mA producing 6048 lumen.

But indead the color, that's the big question for now...

These XM-Ls are now going to allow one string to use all of the ELN60-48s output effectively.

However it means we can't mix blues in with them anymore. On small builds you could run one ELN for the XMs and maybe run two blue strings in parallel on the other. This would give 33%:67%. Problem is, it may now take 25%:75% XM-L:XP-E. (head scratching)

Yes, LED's is what I meant .
What is the advantage of U-Channel over tubing? I figured since there was more surface area the tubing would be better?

U-channel is about 3 times better at dumping the heat than square tubing. The "back" side of the tube blocks all the other inside faces from radiating away their heat. That same face stymies all the convection possibilities too.

ShallowWaters; You're really asking in the wrong place. I don't think any of us even care. So we don't really know.

 

[S2minute]

Gasp! Fason that looks awesome man!

 

[ArmanS]

Great thread - incredibly helpful! Unfortunately, I don't trust my handiwork when it comes to electicity and water. I am curious though - Now that you folks pioneered amazing work and researched parts all the way to end of the Internet, what commercial LED fixture company do you think makes the best lights by performance & value for SPS?

Aqua Illumination Sol modules are really popular and if you visit the thread on the lighting form it shows great par measurements. They are expensive but worth it if you wont diy.

 

[S2minute]

Great thread - incredibly helpful! Unfortunately, I don't trust my handiwork when it comes to electicity and water. I am curious though - Now that you folks pioneered amazing work and researched parts all the way to end of the Internet, what commercial LED fixture company do you think makes the best lights by performance & value for SPS?

Shallow, you do realize how many of us, ME included did not trust our own handywork? There`s a TON of us but, SOME of us actually built a DIY lighthood and SOME MORE of us are getting ready to do just that...ME included. WHY?? cause we CAN, and we read,ask...and LEARN. It comes quicker to some than others but, we are gonna do it .What are the results?? LED light hoods that are2-3x are powerful than the commerical ones AND 2-3x cheaper. Also, the satisfaction that you went and did something you never thought you could do. That there are people on this fourm that give you more attention and put up with more stupid questions, than any comm. light fixture company Tech EVER would. Why?, because they actually give a damn about fellow reefers that want to TRY to be adventurous and succeed in this hobby. Yeah, that`s my thankyou to you guys out there that are there for people like us....like Dfason!! I`m gathering my parts now. I just got back my weilded Aluminum frame 72" and each end is bent at 15 degree angles at the 2` mark.

 

[S2minute]

Leds

Leds

I got ahold of an XM-L. I fed 700mA to it and was suitably impressed. Make that VERY impressed.

Besides the crazy amount of light - 260 lumens - that it spewed, I was impressed by the fact that I could hold it in my fingers without it getting noticeably warm. This means that if you ran XM-Ls at 700mA you could use a really minimal heatsink scheme.

I did screw it to a small stamped heatsink and cranked it up to 2A. That was 650 lumens or about 1/2 a 100W light bulb!! That started to warm up the heatsink a bit.

I'd probably consider 1.5A to be a good working maximum for the XM-Ls. That would still allow fairly lean heatsinking without a concern-able lifetime impact.

I can't see using them without optics though. The wide dispersion of so much light will have a lot of light hitting places it shouldn't.

I dropped some optics on it that included 25, 20, 15, and 5 degrees. They all made a great spot on the ceiling 5 feet above.

Any of those spots would make a great bike light with only the one XM-L. I didn't have any proper optics though. These were for LumiLEDs. They are the plastic cones with a recessed hole that fits down over the LED. They result in just about zero leakage out the sides. Anyway using proper optics and mounting them above the tank a foot or two would be great. You could crank the factors up to maybe 20sqin/LED.

OH GOD NO:spin2: A NEWER type of LED:fun5: just when i was getten used to the other ones.:crazy1:

 

[Teh Noob Reefer]

Whats the price range of store bought vs diy led lighting?

 

[wisewendell]

Widdy; I don't have any Carlo's. I hope you're not saying the XP Carlos hold the optics out forward a lot. That is the total reason these otherwise perfect optics, I have, don't work. Their holder holds them out forward too far.




These XM-Ls are now going to allow one string to use all of the ELN60-48s output effectively.

However it means we can't mix blues in with them anymore. On small builds you could run one ELN for the XMs and maybe run two blue strings in parallel on the other. This would give 33%:67%. Problem is, it may now take 25%:75% XM-L:XP-E. (head scratching)



U-channel is about 3 times better at dumping the heat than square tubing. The "back" side of the tube blocks all the other inside faces from radiating away their heat. That same face stymies all the convection possibilities too.

ShallowWaters; You're really asking in the wrong place. I don't think any of us even care. So we don't really know.

Even with good and proper air movement? My dad builds computers on the side so I have tons of fans and 12v power supplies laying around.

 

[widmer]

So since this thread is all over the place, I figured why not post a couple pictures of the flashlight I just finished building for my dad:

It was a totally broken 1920s-1930s flashlight I picked up for $7.00, dropped in 3x Cree XP-G and circuitry to drive them @ 1,050 mA for ~1,100 lumens. With the Carlco 12.4 FWHM collimators, ultra low iron glass peice and 2x Trustfire rechargeable lithium batteries, it turned out pretty cool. Happy reefing.

 

[kcress]

That's pretty sweet Widdy.

wisewendell; It's very hard to even get good air flow with tubing.

 

[wisewendell]

That's pretty sweet Widdy.

wisewendell; It's very hard to even get good air flow with tubing.

Arg, that bites

 

[S2minute]

What i love to see Widmer... another origional thinker

 

[ShallowWaters]

Thanks ArmanS.
S2minute, I appreciate the DIY encouragement and recognition of the forum. My DIY efforts usually lead to time-consuming maintenance but I'll keep thinking about it.

 

[bourbeaue]

Any one tried hooking up a DIY build to an AI controller ? Wondering what kind of control signal they use ?

 

[agoutihead]

So what's the skinny on these LEDs?

Can you use any kind of LED because there are a lot of companies that sell various LEDs.

Do they have to be a particular color or Kelvin?

I realize that 3W seems to becoming a standard. At least right now.

Also I read somewhere that there was a company that put a patent on reef LED units to monopolize the market.

So what's the case, will we see a lot of new LED fixture startup companies that will hopefully help expand the market and lower the price?

 

[HeneryH]

After running my rig for several weeks I pulled it down to do a little work on it. I noticed that some of the whites (normally a yellow color when not lit) had a black spot in what seemed like the middle of the lens or on the surface of the LED material. Looks like they are burned but they still light.

Anyone ever seen this before? I am only running at 833mA for LEDs rated at 1.5A.

I think I will replace them as a precaution.