DIY LEDs - The write-up

[cato]

The LEDs in a tube with fans works well for me. Over my 75g I have 3 tubes of 24 LEDs each. The LEDs are mounted on a 1/8" aluminum bar with Arctic Alumina adhesive, with small black heatsinks on the opposite side of the bar also with adhesive. That slides into the fluorescent tube carriers (from Lowes), with push/pull 12v ducted fans on each end (40mm computer fans). I have one tube with 24 RB XR-Es, and the other two tubes have 12 CW XP-G and 12 RB XR-E each. Plenty of light for my 75g, and wonderful color.

I didn't want the typical 'massive heatsink' approach due to my custom canopy, and I like the ability to just wipe down the plastic tube to remove any salt accumulation. Another benefit of the tube is placement - I have one tube right at the front of the tank angled back slightly, and it illuminates the front sides of my corals way better than the MH did. And after all, the front sides of the corals is what I'm looking at!


Some people have complained that cool white don't give you the ability to render reds and oranges, but maybe that is a difference between the cool white XR-E and the newer XP-G (or just that I got a bin that is slightly warmer).

Any pics of your unit? Your LED unit that is.

BTW just spent 2 days going through this thread from beginning to end. My head aches lol.

 

[MosMike]

MosMike are you telling me that while me and the rest of the world has been using compact fluorescents, we have for a long time had the option of picking up an affordable and reasonably bright bulb to put in our table lamps that allows us to adjust the exact warmness/coolness?

Link please. :lol:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/e27-60...ir-remote-control-light-bulb-ac-85-265v-42285

I use it as a night light in the bedroom
Several bulbs can be controlled by 1 remote.

 

[widmer]

That's a 5w bulb that changes colors, totally different idea than an actual lamp bulb replacement.

But hey, looks like fun, I might get one for my car :lol:

 

[S2minute]

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lol the LED pimpMObile :bounce3:

 

[MosMike]

But hey, looks like fun, I might get one for my car :lol:

For a car it's better to use an RGB flexible string - they run from 12V.

Did anyone encounter dimming pots with wire leads ?
Edit: found such stuff!
http://www.surplussales.com/potentiometers/WireLead/WireLead-2.html

(RCV) 3250L-C10-103
Wire lead, multi-turn, trimpot. 10k ohm, 1w, 5%. Surface mount, side adjust, 25 turn. 1/2" x 1/2" x 0.2". Made by Bourns.

Should be excellent stuff!

 

[S2minute]

Led Fixture

Led Fixture

Ok Fishman! I have all the U channels cut All i have to do is cut the HS sections to 2" each and smooth the edges. BOY that`s alot of cuttung! lol. If you don`t mind, i have some questions.

I`ve been figuring a new layout for each of the 3 sections over my tank. Each section will have this:
48 LEDS total
36 will be XP-E RB Group 16
8 will be XP-G White,(4 OW R4 bins 3A and 3D), (4NW R3 bins3C and 4B)
4 will be XM-L cool white @1500MA

Now since the XM-Ls will run @ 1500MA for a total of 12 over the entire tank, i`ll have to run them on their own HLG-B driver.

The XP-Gs since thy have a max MA of 1500, i can either drive them at 700MA and run them with the rest of the RBs OR drive them @ 1000MA in which case i`d have to run all 24 over the entire tank with ITs own HLG-B.

Then i`d have to run the 108 RB XP-Es @ 700MA on it`s own HLG-B as well.

SO, that route would leave me with 3 HLG-B drivers, which is good BUT,
do you think it be better to run each of the 3 sections independent of the other,(each with their own sets of drivers)?.

Should i run the XP-Gs and XP-Es all @ 700MA and run them on the same driver?

I`m not to concerned about dimming seperate colors to get an effect. I hope to do that with the ratio i`m working with. I DO however want to sim that sunrise/sunset and lunar cycle in my tank. I also whould like it to be as realistic as possible. My tank already is east/west orientation. What i`d like to see is that gradual fade UP of the LEDS from east/west just like the sun as it progresses throughtout the day as well as the moon.

Now, with the amount and type of LEDS i mentioned above, how would i best be able to do this while haveing the most efficiency?

 

[TheFishMan65]

Well for 144 LEDs you could do 12 string of ELN and have dimming at a very fine level, BUT what are you going to drive these with? IMHO East to West may look cool, but the fish and coral won't care - so how often will you be home to see it? I think the driver is the bigger issue.

I think I would drvie the XMLs with and ELN at 1.3 amps. I believe the HLG are $00+, but he LN are $34 or less. Maybe with the lower voltage you might even be able to driver 13-14 with the ELN (note 2 LEDs are cheaper than the driver difference).

XP-G same thng use 2 ELN rather than one HLG.

No if you controller has the output. Maybe do an east to west with the RBs. I believe Typhoon has 4 signals so Whites, East, Central, and West. If you have more control lines then sure use ELN and have finer control.

Another thought would be to use the CAT4101 driver. Since it drives 6 LEDs you would have even finer control. It will also be cheaper than HLG and ELNs.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I forgot to mention. Another choice is to make 3 seperate fixture each with its own controller. Which maybe another way to do east to west.

 

[kcress]

Well for 144 LEDs you could do 12 string of ELN and have dimming at a very fine level,

Why recommend ELNs? Twelve ELNs are unacceptable!

It needs to be done some other way. Either figure out how to do it with 2 strings per ELN (6 total), or use PFC drivers, or use the DIY controllers.

 

[TheFishMan65]

kcress, pleae correct me I am wrong. I thought the problem was turning them all on at the same time. I figured since these would be turned on at different times it would be alright. Does PFC make that much difference?

S2minute, well from what kcress says it limits your options. I would still consider running the whites off of 3 ELN and the blues off of the HLGs. kcress does that work?

 

[S2minute]

Light Fixture

Light Fixture

12 ELNs does not sound good however, producing the effect i would like to see will stagger the times they fade up and down still, I think i`d rather stay away from large #s of ELNs.

I may have read this somewhere but, say if i made each section independent, multipal DIY controllers could run different strings off the same driver? Man , i think i`m making this deeper than it should lol. It`s to bad i don`t know of a like central controller that could tell each driver, "ok, driver 1 start fading up your 1st of 8 strings and, it`ll do it gradually till it gets to the max you set it for. Then fade up the next string on the driver...as the sun progresses through the day. Yeah, i know, that`s prob a pipe dream but, hey if i had the knowlege to make one do just that, i`d jump on it.

WILLE any input to post #6046? Or anyone for that matter hehe :rollface:

I just got home from work and i`m fried. Not thinking clearly atm. I have this gut feeling that the amount of LEDs i`m using per section and the type will make for a very good blend. I just have to get my ducks in a row with the right type of drivers before i do that group order.

 

[TheFishMan65]

You could do that with multiple Typhoons. Only hard part would be keeping them sychonized. Have one start at 8:00 and start ramping up 4 strings. Then have the second start at 8:15 (or whatever) and ramp the next 4 strings. Etc. There is probably an open input/output that you could probably syncronize them with.

If you are set on East to West. This is what I would do. Build three identical fixtures. Save the driver money and use the CAT4101s. The drive 6 LEDs each. So have 8 strings of 6. Then place 3 typhoons in each fixture. Have them run the exact same program with a 15-30 minute offset in times,

 

[kcress]

kcress, pleae correct me I am wrong. I thought the problem was turning them all on at the same time.

No not at all. That is only an occasionally tripped breaker.

It's the harmonics. All of them sucking in tiny gulps at the same time. Death by a thousand bites.

S2minute; I haven't been closely following this thread but if you want a bazillion strings all independently controlled the DIY drivers and one or two large PFC power supplies to power it all would be the most reasonable setup.

An alternative to your madness would be to break your setup into three identical large-ish fixtures. Go to the effort of testing and arriving at the correct mix so you don't need to separate the colors on their own drivers. That's pretty crazy anyway since once you have the color the way you want it you shouldn't be jerking with it anyway for your tank's sake. Plus doing it with separate drivers is really inefficient since you will end up turning one color down some amount forever.

Anyway with matched percentages running on say three HLGs you would then need to only run the dimming sequence across three. One end comes on, then gets brighter, and brighter, then the middle comes on, and does the same thing staggered, then the other side. It's all setup to have them all on fully for 2 or 3 hours around noon then the first starts dimming followed by the middle.. etc etc.

I believe that would be more than adequate to provide a very respectable daily isolation pattern and look. The sun is not going to be a narrow line of light traversing across like a Xerox machine. mwahaahahaha.

 

[S2minute]

Kcress, you mean 3 identical fixtures and the leds all run at say 700ma? Even the XM-Ls?
Then that would mean i`d have to add more XM-Ls so i have the same count on each string.

 

[kcress]

Yes three.
XMLs.. All I can say is if they are going to dramatically raise the cost of the project by costing more AND requiring additional drivers they may be the wrong choice for the build.

Most builds wouldn't require separate dimming of three different zones. If you then need to run LEDs with a bunch of different current needs you end up needing a larger driver count.

For a design whose main purpose is simulated motion, I'd try to focus on getting that done reasonably with the fewest drivers. Since that will be the most cost effective result.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I just talked with Jill at CDIWEB.com. She told me that the HLG-185-48D are obsolete. They are being replaced with the H version. The H version is the high input voltage version. IIRC rather than being 90-240 it is 90-310. So those of you planning on using this may need to look for the new version. PS they have none in stock, but they will be $90.82.

I just ordered some ELN-60-48D for about $26. Shipping is estimated at $6.00.

Even with shipping one is cheaper then most of the sources I have seen posted here ($34).

The catch is they don't regularly stock them, but apparently one of you guys has called, because she remembered talking to you. It sound like they would be willing to stock them if there is enough interest. So guys make some calls, get some orders in. This can save everyone a few dollars. CDIWEB's number is 1-800-777-7334.

 

[iangibby]

I just talked with Jill at CDIWEB.com. She told me that the HLG-185-48D are obsolete. They are being replaced with the H version. The H version is the high input voltage version. IIRC rather than being 90-240 it is 90-310. So those of you planning on using this may need to look for the new version. PS they have none in stock, but they will be $90.82.

I just ordered some ELN-60-48D for about $26. Shipping is estimated at $6.00.

Even with shipping one is cheaper then most of the sources I have seen posted here ($34).

The catch is they don't regularly stock them, but apparently one of you guys has called, because she remembered talking to you. It sound like they would be willing to stock them if there is enough interest. So guys make some calls, get some orders in. This can save everyone a few dollars. CDIWEB's number is 1-800-777-7334.

I spoke with Jill last week to inquire on hlg18536b. I happen to ask if she had alot of requests but to my suprise she said no. Ill have those drivers by the end of the month. Very helpful people there.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Just curios as to why the 36 rather than the 48. Seems like it will require shorter strings.

 

[iangibby]

Just curios as to why the 36 rather than the 48. Seems like it will require shorter strings.

Im doing 6 strings of 9 so your correct in your assumption. Three fixtures of 36 leds on each 18blue 18white.

 

[mseepman]

I seem to remember kcress mentioning that the "H" versions were not the right ones to get due to some limitation on them...but I can't find the post.

Anyone remember that? Kcress?