DIY LEDs - The write-up

[Soundwave]

Thank you

 

[james3370]

i have (5) 1 watt blue luxeons & a buckplug that i am going to use for moonlights & (5) 3 watt white luxeons & a buckplug that i am going to use for "shimmer" suplementation on my new build. each set of leds will have it's own laptop pc power supply so they can be time controlled seperately

would a piece of aluminum stock (say 1/4" x 1") work good enough for a heatsink?? also plan on using pc cpu thermal paste between the leds & aluminum. there will be 4" pc fans on each end blowing across the t5s & this will be mounted between the bulbs (t5 - t5 - leds - t5 - t5)

 

[Soundwave]

That will work just fine for a heatsink on that setup. I actually did the exact same thing when I started working with LEDs. I added 4 of the 3 watt luxeons for a shimmer effect. It worked nicely. One thing you might want to consider, though, is going with angle aluminum which will give you more surface area for heat transfer.

 

[lynxvs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14536722#post14536722 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
I'm not trying to sound negative, here, but some of you guys are making this harder than it is. I've found a great combination and it is working flawlessly. I understand that there may be a slight voltage decrease vs what is stated but the output of the fixture speaks for itself.

Even with the fixture that I made, I can still improve it on a few different levels. However, I have no need or want to.

There are dimmable versions of buckpucks that, from my understanding, can be hooked up to a controller like the Arduino. The output of the board can act as a potentiometer (dimmer) and adjust the output of the LEDs a la Solaris.

Also, as stated, the optics will help immensely with the output of the fixture. For my current needs, again, I don't want or need them, either.

My main focus for this project is to help the reefing community by allowing all of you to have the information to build your own functioning fixture that will save you money and still put out a ton of light.

I have done research with 1 and 3 watt luxeons and they just don't put out like the Crees.

Also, by all means, please improve upon or completely redesign this idea.

I am happy that this thread has become a springboard for the discussion and I hope that this technology will help all of you.

One last thing... I have a friend coming soon that will bring the meter to test the amperage draw so I can actually find out what kind of power I'm consuming.

Keep rolling with the ideas, guys. Keep in mind, though, it's true that sometimes the simplest solution can be the best.

I'm not putting the design down at all you can't go wrong with a Buck Puck, Heatsink and Cree LEDs..... I can't put my finger on it but something just doesn't seem right.. you are using less then half of the LEDs that most people are using and are possibly not driving the LEDs with maximum current but still seem to have good coverage. The Solaris uses 60 Luxeon Rebels per 24" , Aquillumination uses 24 LEDs per foot and various other people including myself built different versions of a LED light that use a whole lot more then 48 LEDs. What gives?

 

[james3370]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14537771#post14537771 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
That will work just fine for a heatsink on that setup. I actually did the exact same thing when I started working with LEDs. I added 4 of the 3 watt luxeons for a shimmer effect. It worked nicely. One thing you might want to consider, though, is going with angle aluminum which will give you more surface area for heat transfer.

angle won't work....i'm attaching them to a light drawer. so in that case, would you go thicker or wider on the aluminum piece?

 

[Soundwave]

I'm not putting the design down at all you can't go wrong with a Buck Puck, Heatsink and Cree LEDs..... I can't put my finger on it but something just doesn't seem right.. you are using less then half of the LEDs that most people are using and are possibly not driving the LEDs with maximum current but still seem to have good coverage. The Solaris uses 60 Luxeon Rebels per 24" , Aquillumination uses 24 LEDs per foot and various other people including myself built different versions of a LED light that use a whole lot more then 48 LEDs. What gives?

I think the biggest thing is that everyone else (production units) is using optics. That cuts the light spread significantly. I know I'm not getting as high of PAR readings as a Solaris but that is the reason. Maybe it was some sort of lucky coincidence that this works so well.

By the way, I have power usage info. It looks like I'm using a total of 132.72 watts. The whites are at 83.52 and the blues at 49.2. That is half the usage of my PC fixture and produces almost 3 times the light!

 

[Reef55]

I'm only trying to figure out a cheaper way to power them.. I'm trying to do this on a 120 gallon tank, and thinking I'll need double what you have put together. Since half the cost is in the buckpacks, I was hoping for a cheaper solution there is all.

Your solution is the better way, I'm just looking for a cheaper way.

 

[EBOLII]

Soundwave I do like your setup..I was looking to expand to it for longer length though. You said your system was what 48" L what is the width? Is it posssible to run the buckpuck you have in series or would you need to swap out with a powerbuck?

 

[Soundwave]

angle won't work....i'm attaching them to a light drawer. so in that case, would you go thicker or wider on the aluminum piece?

I'm gonna have to go with wider. Reason being that it helps to pull the heat away. It would be better than going thicker because the heat would still be centralized over the LED. My opinion, though.

 

[Soundwave]

Soundwave I do like your setup..I was looking to expand to it for longer length though. You said your system was what 48" L what is the width? Is it posssible to run the buckpuck you have in series or would you need to swap out with a powerbuck?

Standard 75g. I think that's 18 inches front to back.

 

[james3370]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14538742#post14538742 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
I'm gonna have to go with wider. Reason being that it helps to pull the heat away. It would be better than going thicker because the heat would still be centralized over the LED. My opinion, though.

yeah, i'm thinking i'm gonna do something like 1/4 x 1.5-2" x 24" long....about the size of 1 of my t5 bulbs & mount it in the center of the 4 bulbs. should be right in the middle of the fans as well to help w/ cooling

 

[reefer_man_mike]

Hey soundwave, i have a standard 120 gal (4x2x2), how close together would i need to place the leds if i wanted to use optics? Im guessing i would want the wide spread optics if i did so correct?

 

[lynxvs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14538726#post14538726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
I think the biggest thing is that everyone else (production units) is using optics. That cuts the light spread significantly. I know I'm not getting as high of PAR readings as a Solaris but that is the reason. Maybe it was some sort of lucky coincidence that this works so well.

By the way, I have power usage info. It looks like I'm using a total of 132.72 watts. The whites are at 83.52 and the blues at 49.2. That is half the usage of my PC fixture and produces almost 3 times the light!

So what was the measured current in the White and blue LED series? What PC fixture did you have, the pics that you show are pretty bright... the PAR readings look really low...

 

[marspeed]

My two cents
first I would like to say thanks soundwave your design is very easy to understand, the components you chose are easy to obtain and by simply adding buck pucks power supply's and leds you can build any size fixture you need it's modular by design I plan to add three or four leds for moon lites and use dimmer pucks with three power supply's so I have the option to turn on or off the led colors at different times, also since I have a rimless tank I plan on using an Aluminum extrusion heat sink four foot long as a hanging fixture. I forgot about the leads that produce shimmer maybe I should add those in to
thanks again soundwave

extrusion model 923

 

[stugray]

Soundwave,

If you are truly only consuming 132.7 Watts from the AC power then something does not add up.

Here are my calcs:

White
Volt drop per LED @ 1000mA = 3.7V
Total # of LEDs = 24
Total voltage drop = 88.8V
Wattage delivered to LEDs @ 1000mA = 88.8W
Power consumed by BuckPuck @ 85% eff. = 104.5W
Power provided by 24VDC supply assuming 85% eff. = 122.9W

Blue
Volt drop per LED @ 700mA = 3.5V
Total # of LEDs = 24
Total voltage drop = 84
Wattage delivered to LEDs @ 700mA = 58.8W
Power consumed by BuckPuck @ 85% eff. = 69.2W
Power provided by 24VDC supply assuming 85% eff. = 81.4W

Total power 204.3 Watts


So this means that either the LEDs are not dropping the voltage that the spec says that it should (unlikely), or your buckpucks are under-driving the LED strings.

Stu

 

[Soundwave]

The current across the whites is 3.63V and the blues measure 3.29V. Amperage draw on the white side is 3.48A and 2.05 on the blues.

My old PC fixture was a wannabe coralife. It looked like a coralife but was not. I got it from some guy named ebay or something.

As far as the PAR readings, the picture I used for the PC PAR was the same picture I used for the LED PAR. It was just for comparison. I do have a few pictures of before and after with the same camera settings...

 

[lynxvs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14543837#post14543837 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marspeed
My two cents
first I would like to say thanks soundwave your design is very easy to understand, the components you chose are easy to obtain and by simply adding buck pucks power supply's and leds you can build any size fixture you need it's modular by design I plan to add three or four leds for moon lites and use dimmer pucks with three power supply's so I have the option to turn on or off the led colors at different times, also since I have a rimless tank I plan on using an Aluminum extrusion heat sink four foot long as a hanging fixture. I forgot about the leads that produce shimmer maybe I should add those in to
thanks again soundwave

extrusion model 923

Just a note if you are going to use a four foot heatsink on a hanging fixture make sure it's light

 

[lynxvs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14544631#post14544631 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
The current across the whites is 3.63V and the blues measure 3.29V. Amperage draw on the white side is 3.48A and 2.05 on the blues.

My old PC fixture was a wannabe coralife. It looked like a coralife but was not. I got it from some guy named ebay or something.

As far as the PAR readings, the picture I used for the PC PAR was the same picture I used for the LED PAR. It was just for comparison. I do have a few pictures of before and after with the same camera settings...


Are these different readings then the previous ones? Now you are using a total of 116.25 Watts..

 

[lynxvs]

I would first measure the power supply voltage then the drop across the individual strings of LEDs then measure current through each string. This should give you a better picture on whats going on.

 

[stugray]

Soundwave,

I am confused:

"The current across the whites is 3.63V and the blues measure 3.29V."

The VOLTAGE across each white should be ~3.6-3.7 Volts and 3.3-3.5 Volts.

"Amperage draw on the white side is 3.48A and 2.05 on the blues."

The Amps on the LED circuit NEEDs to be 1.0 Amps on the Whites & 0.7 Amps on the Blues.

We are obviously talking about different power supplies.

Please tell us where you are trying to measure things.
You must be measuring some things at the 24VDC power supply.

Stu