DIY LEDs - The write-up

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I would never hold you accountable for any suggestion given. It is DIY after all. I suppose if I got 12, and it wasn't enough, I could add a third bank...

The little doodad itself gets hot, but how does it compare to MH for projected heat. Can you feel wamth in the beam itself?
 
The PAR meter is owned by my local club. I don't know if I can get ahold of it but I will for sure have it for readings WITH optics.
 
Still not sure about wattage Soundwave or if it's not important.. They are cheap enough but I'm curious of the difference. I can use exactly what you have and have a cushion but I'm curious about the wattage.. Should I have a 40w supply or a 150w supply and if you don't mind answering.. Why?
 
Projected heat is pretty much nil. There is a little warmth if you put the back of your hand an inch away from the LEDs but that's it.
 
You can get away with a lower wattage supply just fine. If you use a higher power power supply then it will only dish out what is needed.

Don't look at wattage as much as voltage and amperage. You could have a 5V 30a power supply that will put out 150 watts but can only run 1 LED per string due to voltage constraints. This would require one buckpuck per LED. Not very cost-friendly. Take a 24V 6.5a power supply and get 156 watts. Thus allowing you to run 6 LEDs per string with one buckpuck per 6 LEDs.

See the difference?
 
Let me explain a little further...

For example, say you want to use 12 LEDs. That would require at least a 24V 2a power supply when you run them at 1000mA. Given the inefficiencies of the buckpucks and whatnot, you'll only be using something like 1.8 amps on the 12 LEDs. You would need two 1000mA buckpucks for this.

If you wanted to run 24, up the amperage to at least 4 amps.

I found out the hard way that if you use a 24V 3a power supply to run 24 LEDs at 1000mA, you will kill the power supply because the LEDs are trying to run at 1000mA and pull too much power for the supply to handle.

In my case, since I have 6.5a power supplies, I could easily add 4 more buckpucks and run another two strings of white and two more blues.

I hope this clears that up.
 
I do see that but what if I ran a 24v 6.5 at 50 watts.. Would that be the same? Basically, I've seen the power supplys that run with low wattage yet the same amps and voltage.. I guess the reason I ask is because I've read the entire thread but never seen wattage mentioned or what difference 1000w is compared to 10w as far as LEDS are operated.... 24v 6.5 at 1w VS 24v 6.5a at 150w
 
I'm not sure we are understanding each other.

If you have a 24V 1a power supply, the maximum wattage it can put out is 24 watts.

24v 4a: 96 watts

24v 6.5a: 156 watts

volts x amps = watts

Say you run 6 LEDs and one bucpuck at 1000mA. You are still only using around 22 watts or something like that. It doesn't matter how big your power supply is as long as it's not too small.

Make sense yet?
 
Grrr, beers and forgetting ohms law.. bigger is better but not always needed... Just wanted to make sure the higher wattage supply wouldn't hurt or cause a issue in the long run
 
Why mot do larrger spacing with the extremely powerful yet extremely expensive bulb available. Is it cost prohibitive or just not aplicable? i.e. the MC-E from yadda yadda.. Are there any advantages *other than depth issues) to the expense of this LED ? It's obvious that it will reach quite deaper with high Lumens but WOW the cost is unreal
 
I think you answered your own question. They are too expensive at the moment and it's a pain to drive them. I think each one would need its own buckpuck. Also, the single mc-e, i don't believe, puts out as much as 6 of the xr-e models. All in all, it's just not cost effective for this application.

My opinion, though.
 
You also strive for a uniform wall of light. Having just a few really bright units would give a non-uniform blotchy look.
 
Actually, I think I keep answering my own questions and type before I think.. I'm looking into setting up a very large tank and for now MH is probably the way to go until it becomes cost effective to use the more powerful LEDs
 
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