DIY LEDs - The write-up

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I got mine repaired this afternoon. I soldered about 12" of wire onto each + & - of each led & then using wilmer's 2 AAA battery test, I checked to make sure each LED worked & I had a good soldered connection. This test revealed 1 LED that was backwards from the polarity imprinted on the board....good catch that saved me alot of troubleshooting later.

Then I crimped each LED together in the pos -> neg -> pos... pattern & to the barrel plug I will be using for the wall wart to plug into. All LEDs fired this time around :)

Man are they bright!!!! I am glad i got the diamable puck for the blue moonlights cause it is gonna need to be turned down quite a good bit LOL

I also bought a piece of aluminum "u-stock" so all the wiring will be run under the LEDs. That way I can make it look clean & also leave the extra wire for troubleshooting/bulb replacement if the need arises. I also have 1 white one i need to get a replacement for since i broke it. I have just bypassed it in the wiring loop, but the extra wire will make it easy to cut apart & solder in the new LED when it arrives

Once I get it all buttoned up in the project box, I'll take some test shots over the tank & post them up. I think I'm gonna put a quick-connect plug on it to make taking it off much easier too.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14824408#post14824408 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kcress
widmer; Can you even find any for sale or are those vaporware? The ones you linked to in mouser are certainly not the same thing. They are rather paltry 70Lumen/W, 10W, 3V, DC HBLEDs.

The main problem I see with the AC ones is that they aren't very blue but are warm white, or less warm white, but not cool white. This would mean you still have to come up with some blue and they'll be low voltage.

Do you really want hobbyist line voltage LEDs?
Click to expand...

At least one of my questions is answered...... I have really enjoyed both of the LED threads and have learned a ton. Since I have a ex-coworker that has been importing for years, I started off seeing if I could get quality imports without paying a US Distributor. Seoul Semi is the #3 largest producer of LED's in the world. They are leading the field with some of there LED's. As it turned out they were not the one to try and direct import from, but I faound some excellent color ratings and the data sheets are much more complete, including Raydata simulation sheets.

P7s are 900 Lu at 10 watts DC...... is that LED hobby stuff? Anyway, I do see that they are just not at the top of the list that has been explored. I wish I had the knowledge to fully check them out..... but I don't.

Thx again for the great thread.

Wash
 
lol there's no bulbs in this thread. Check the title. Go to the first page for the best explanation of this thread that you're going to find.
 
Which i have done, but i didn't see any mention of the answers i'm looking for. I found the flavor of the bulbs(actinically speaking) and i'm wanting to ensure i'm getting the proper degree as well as the MCD type and @ how ever many mA these bulbs are that are being used. I'm sure everyone is using something different, but i don't want to get the wrong stuff.
 
Just a follow up on this post I made earlier on page 29:

"Tahir Iqbal,

"Remember its our own LED...."

Oh.... so then you work for Furuier in Guangdong China.

Very interesting...


http://furuier.en.alibaba.com/produ..._power_led.html

Stu

Nice try cutting the top off the datasheets ;-)"

Tahir has been discussing this with me via PMs, and still claims that the LED DIES are proprietary made by his own company.

However, I just got a quote for the exact same dies shown above directly from Furuier ( same part number from the pictures shown back on page 29).


Odd that Furuier can resell the custom DIES made by Tahir's company ;-)

Stu
 
Kellsindell, the links that are provided in the very first post of the thread will point you to the exact LEDs that were used in the project.

I should be getting all of my stuff in by the end of this week and the fun will begin.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14828491#post14828491 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Soundwave
Don't worry about MCD. This is beyond that type of measurement. 700 to 1000mA is where we are working.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
Ok you asked for it.
This was done for a 10 gallon nano. I used the heatsink that is "small" from the link that you posted in the 1st post. It's 5.25" x 8" long. If you ask me, I believe it's WAYYYY overkill for these lights. In fact, as I adheared the stars with JB weld epoxy, I just about laughed at the absurdity. Oh well.

Here's a pic with the LED's off. Please note that the ballast will be attached to the Heat sink with screws when I get the money to buy a tap and drill set, so don't flame me for the rubber bands, OK?

Fixture-1.jpg


Here's with the lights on. I did a stagger pattern, and it doesn't seem to make any difference if the two blues are in front or the two whites. The lights blend very well together.

Lightson.jpg


Here's the Xitanium ballast I used. Be sure to get the wiring harness that is optional, as I found out, it really isn't optional, you do need it!

Ballast.jpg


These comparison pics aren't the best. The light from the LED fixture is very much more pleasing, and the shimmer is very nice compared to the VHOs and T5 that I currently have over the tank.

Unknown green anemones with the VHOs
Anemcvho.jpg


Unknown green anemones with the LED fixture.
AnemcLED.jpg


Rhodactis anemone with the VHOs
RhoVHO.jpg


Rhodactis anemone with LEDs
RhoLED.jpg


Green star polyps with VHOs
StarcVHO.jpg


Green stars with LEDs. Boy don't they look nice?!
StarcLED.jpg


Hope this helps you guys as much as you guys have helped me!
Cheers
Aaron
 
this is very impressive and i'm going to construct an experimental fixture for my 12gal nano(stock lighting kinda sucks on that thing)
if i'm happy then i may build one for my 90(if it proves as good as my twin 250 HQI fixture i have now)
any further advice or comments on the build would be greatly appreciated :D
 
Yeah, for a really compact build, I am sure that you'd get plenty of heat transfer in a 1/4 inch thick sheet of Aluminum instead of a true vaned heat sink like the ones on this build. Just cut it to size.

Aaron
 
Dogstar: awesome, now take care of that hair algae!

lobsta: If you do one for your 90 and already have 2x 250, you will want to up the amount of my fixture. FYI
 
It's starting to look to me like the LEDs have a fantastic niche with the little tanks. I'm sure as they come down in price, they will be used more frequently on larger tanks. But if a person can light a 10 gallon tank to great satisfaction with 6 LEDs, then it is a very affordable and reasonable venture.

So I was planning on using 28 of the same LEDs for my 15 gallon, albeit on the ceiling and with optics. I wonder if I would be better off starting with 14 or 21 LEDs and seeing how that goes...
 
Oh you saw that?! How embarrassing. (smiles sheepishly) I told you this tank is only an ICU until I get the 20 going. I just finished cutting the overflow and .... well You'll see a build thread soon. But as far as the HA goes, It comes from two large fish, little LR, and a bare bottom in a 10 that has no other filtration. So I'm not even trying really to get the HA under control. I just don't want the corals to die. Then I'm sure they'll come back nicely when I get them transferred.

Thanks again for your help Soundwave.
Aaron
 
ok here are pics of the rough setup. as i said a few posts back, i have remounted them on a piece of aluminum "U-stock" that will act as the heatsink. this is only 1/16" thick whereas previous flat-stock was 1/8", but i believe this being elevated it will get airflow (canopy fans for the t5s will be blowing inward from each end). granted this will also be where my hodge-podge of wiring will be stored, but i think the cooling will be sufficient

i cannot begin to describe how freaking bright these things are LOL ....not sure if it's cause for intermediate testing, the buckpucks haven't been wired inline, so they are getting full power off the wall wart & will be dimmer once the buckpucks are there. either way, the blues will be on a dimable buckpuck...which i mentioned earlier being glad i got

quick recap of what i have:
* (5) 1 watt blue...ebay generic from seller led-world2007
* (5) 3 watt white.....same seller
* (1) 350mA dimmable buckpuck w/ pot for 1 watt LEDs from ledsupply.com
* (1) 500mA non-dimable buckpuck for 3 watt LEDs from ledsupply.com
* (2) 20 volt / 1 amp wall warts from ebay seller yewelong
* wire is 24 gauge SOLID speaker wire from radio shack
* screws are 6-32 x 1/2" w/ #6 nylon washers & nuts on the backside
* Arctic Silver Thermal Compound used between LED stars & aluminum bar....basically any pc store. its the stuff you put between the cpu & fan

 
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