DIY LEDs - The write-up

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OBI et al; You can't compare oranges to lamp posts!

If you do you're failing to realize that all the various "6500k, 10k, 14k, 20k", MH all have 2k, 2.1k, 2.2k, .. etc., etc., up to and including the higher k colors(blue) pouring out of them.

Someone running NW or even WW is providing 'some' of what was present in any MH spectrum.
 
kcress said:
OBI et al; You can't compare oranges to lamp posts!

If you do you're failing to realize that all the various "6500k, 10k, 14k, 20k", MH all have 2k, 2.1k, 2.2k, .. etc., etc., up to and including the higher k colors(blue) pouring out of them.

Someone running NW or even WW is providing 'some' of what was present in any MH spectrum.
Click to expand...

wow - I am fully aware of the spectrums, combining etc. I was just commenting on the whole history of reef lighting. Lighten up. :lol2:
 
Ok Got another question. I went ahead and bought my led's and optics. Just now trying to figure out which drivers, My question is Is it better to have 8 of the eln-60-48 or would I be better having 4 with 2 series of 12 parallel on each driver, That would put them at 650ma, But how would that effect the light output on the led's, I hear this 700ma is ideal but, why? The xp-g cw is good for 1500ma Should I get close to that, Sorry for so many questions but, the only dumb one is the one I don't ask,
 
Oh boy... So Ive been out of the scene for abotu 5 years and wanting to get back in and low heat and energy are definitely of interest so looking at LED for a 7' 265g tank. A quick find at premium aquatics for a72" for $3300 had me quickly search DIY LED!!!
So, wondering if anyone has a "cliff notes guide to DIY LED" Really I think this would be a great thing to add to any forum and any thread that is more than 10 pages!
Just to answer the basic questions most people want to see...
Continually updated info covering:
Difficulty, cost, pros/cons, options, caviots/gotchas...
It would almost be a moderator who would have to post a sticky to the top of the thread pointing to this type of document..hmm maybe even a wiki page everyone could help update? More than willing to help out (technical side of things...not LED guru side # ; )
 
Divingjunkie said:
Ok Got another question. I went ahead and bought my led's and optics. Just now trying to figure out which drivers, My question is Is it better to have 8 of the eln-60-48 or would I be better having 4 with 2 series of 12 parallel on each driver, That would put them at 650ma, But how would that effect the light output on the led's, I hear this 700ma is ideal but, why? The xp-g cw is good for 1500ma Should I get close to that, Sorry for so many questions but, the only dumb one is the one I don't ask,
Click to expand...


I'd not hesistate to run the two parallel strings on each ELN and thus reduce the number down to 4 while saving $$, space, and heat. It also minimizes harmonic voltage issues caused by too many switching supplies in a house.

The difference between 650 and 700 is not much and in some cases you can still get the 700 anyway because ELNs actually can drive a little more than the 1.3A they advertise if you aren't pushing the voltage demand at the same time.

Absolutely include the fuses and resistors so you can protect and monitor the individual string currents. This allows you to easily check for balance while commissioning the build.



rhwimmers; This is The Thread. It's all in here. No, there are no cliff notes as everything keeps getting asked over and over again even in this thread. Hence, the good clear questions followed by detailed thorough answers keep getting left behind. The only close thing are the excellent "summaries" put together by Fishman on a regular basis in this thread. He updates them as he does each one. Start here and painfully work backwards to the latest one. It's within probably 15 pages and is easy to notice as he has large text headings. You should be able to rip thru the pages above and spot it as you mechanically look for large black text.
 
Boy kcress, you must not refer back to it very often :). Try page 200

Per someone (doesn't now page #s) excellent suggestion I was going to addit to my tag line (signature ?), but I don't seem to have the ability to add BB or HTML code. Can any one PM we with this?
 
Well after much discussion with the moderators, I think I have something that works. Please add to the summaries if you know of any more. We will see if it takes off!
 
Looks good!

Hopefully some yahoo won't ask a personal build question in there and mess it up. :sad2:

Nice work!:beer:
 
It wouldn't matter. The only posts the count are the first (directions) and last which should have ALL summaries. If someone doesn't follow directions I will just correct it (hopefully not too often) and update. talk about messing up - sorry for the hijack folks.
 
Just got my kit from rapid led. I got the 36 led kid with the meanwell 48-p drivers and their new controller. This is my first led build and I don't wanna fry my leds. I know they cant be run at 12v, so I bought some 10v power supplies. Should I wire the meanwells to the 10v power supplies or the cords that came with them? Also, what amps should I set the leds to run at when I adjust the driver?
 
rompininphx said:
Just got my kit from rapid led. I got the 36 led kid with the meanwell 48-p drivers and their new controller. This is my first led build and I don't wanna fry my leds. I know they cant be run at 12v, so I bought some 10v power supplies. Should I wire the meanwells to the 10v power supplies or the cords that came with them? Also, what amps should I set the leds to run at when I adjust the driver?
Click to expand...

Not quite sure what you are trying to do. If you got the Rapid controller then you connect that to the dimming inputs on the drivers, the AC in go to the wall and the DC out goes to the LEDs. There is no need for an additional power supply unless the controller does not come with one, but am pretty sure it does.
 
The dimming input is 1-10v on the analog Meanwells (I think the PWM ones are similar) and I have heard that more than 10v can fry them. PWM works a little differently but I believe that part is the same. The controller takes care of all of that.
 
LEDs can not run over about 3.5 volts or the blow out. I think your are talking about the dim voltage to the meanwell that can't go ver 10 volts. I think you better read the direction again. Meanwell's need 3 connection (2 wires each).
AC - neutral and live
PWM - plus and minus from a 10 volt supply (always on/full power)or some sort of a controller
LDS - the plus and minus of the LEDs.
 
When you use dimming on a string of led's does it actually cut the wattage and thus amount of energy being used by the string? How exactly does it work and how does it effect energy consumption?

And does this seem reasonable to start LED setup. I have a 4 foot tank 25 inches deep. It is going to be fowlr to start, so I am thinking of getting a 36 led kit with 3 drivers, then when I expand to 72 leds (when I go corals) I will just parallel the drivers I have and not add more. Save a few months for more stuff type thing.
 
There are two dimming modes:

Pulse Width Modulation: This turns the LEDs on and off many times a second (faster than our eye can see). Since the LEDs are off they are using no power during the off part of the cycle. Yes it saves energy.

Lower Voltage Dimming: this lowers the voltage to the LEDs and therefore the current. Since wnergy used (watts) is equal to voltage * current it saved energy.

Sound like a good plan, BUT if you wait too long you may have trouble finding the same LEDs. A few months ok. A year well you might be in trouble.
 
I am actually very interested in trying the XM-L's but I want a mixture of cool and neutral white. A few sites have the led's listed, but remain unclear to when they will be avalible (I am aware that they were just announce for general sale a few days ago).

If I just go ahead and do it, I would be getting XP-G's and XP-E's.
 
BTW, just wanted to share something I read about yesterday. A company called Bridgelux has managed to make a 135lm/w LED (at 350mA with 2.9Vf) with a different technology that, according to them, "... can deliver a 75% improvement in cost over current approaches. ... The company anticipates the delivery of its first commercially available GaN-on-Silicon products over the course of the next two to three years."

The point here is, an LED with better than CREE XPG specs at 1/4 of its price.

http://bridgelux.com/media-center/p...-silicon-technology-for-solid-state-lighting/
 
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