DIY LEDs - The write-up

[fernandokng]

Sorry, I tried, but the pics didn't come out too well.

1x150W by itself:

24 LEDS by itself:

Left: 1x150W with Right: White Crees

Left: 1x150W with Right Blue Crees

Video - Watch me slowly turn the LEDs on while comparing to the MHs

http://s468.photobucket.com/albums/rr50/bigfernhead/?action=view&current=MVI_2181.flv

I still have a lot of work in regards to mounting. I will get those pics to you once I'm finally done whew!

 

[Tron87]

You are going to have some seriously happy corals my friend.

And a nicer electric bill to boot.

 

[Soundwave]

You are going to love them. Watch the color changes in your corals over the next few weeks. I had a "pink" encrusting monti and after going to LEDs, it has turned purple and blue. Looks just like a purple haze. My monti caps started growing ridges instead of just plating out and they went from bright orange to almost rust/red. Really cool effect.

I scored my first tort today so we'll see how that does. Wish me luck.

 

[kcress]

fernandokng; Very Nice! Good effective movie too!

 

[hogateb]

OK Here are some pictures of the light

Used these LED's from LED Supply

Buck Pucks from LED Supply

Heat Sink from Heat Sink USA

Mounted in canopy, notice that I had to cut the corners of the heat sink off so that it would fit towards the front of the canopy. Had to do that so the wall/filter did not get the majority of the light.

Mounted with SS screws to the canopy top.

It is difficult to see, but the splash guard was designed to slid into slots on both sides of the canopy. Easy removal for cleaning etc.

Lights on. Pots turned to ~ 70%.

Canopy top to show fans mounted into canopy. They are both blowing down into heat sink fins.

Tank shot with lights on. Pots turned to about 70%, and no flash. Remember, this tank was set up about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Soundwave]

Nice.

What size tank is that?

Can you get a pic with the room lights off?

 

[dtech]

Nice looking build.
Soundwave are you still without lenses on yours with the additional LED's?

 

[szwab]

Broken thread?
Should be ok now.

 

[Nanook]

 

[hogateb]

Thanks Soundwave.

The tank is a MiniBow 7. It sits on my desk at the office. I will try and swing by tomorrow to snap a picture of it with the room lights off.

 

[Soundwave]

Man, I was wondering. I couldn't post all flippin day. Anyway, No, I am still not using optics. I have a baggie full of em though if I ever change my mind.

 

[hogateb]

Stopped by the office and snapped a shot of the tank with the room lights off.

Here it is.

 

[dogstar74]

Well I have a new 29 gallon. And I'm going to make another light set up. After using these lights on my 10 gallon, I think I would like to use the dimmable Buck pucks, and I believe I would like more blue than white. So here's my new design. What do you think?

 

[lilmonster]

Hogateb: very nice. How much did that lil'setup cost?

Dogstar74: was your 10 gl earlier in the thread?
(I want to make 1 for a 10 gl)

 

[dogstar74]

Yup it was in this thread earlier.

 

[kcress]

dogstar74: Just my gut feeling - too much blue..

 

[hogateb]

All told, Just under $ 300 including the light.

The light was about $ 225
Had the wood and other supplies for the canopy
Had the tank
About $ 35 in Rock
About $ 25 in foam and misc supplies for the wall
Had the acrylic for the filtration and overflow section
Had the Maxi Jet 900

I need to add a little bit more flow to it, but so far so good.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15076820#post15076820 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lilmonster
Hogateb: very nice. How much did that lil'setup cost?

Dogstar74: was your 10 gl earlier in the thread?
(I want to make 1 for a 10 gl)

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

More dim-dim questions from me:

1) Has anyone used the Endor Star LED? It is available with three Luxeon Rebels on one star. In the best bin, ~10v, 350mAh produces 300 lm, 700 mAh 540 lm. So roughly comparable to three Cree XR-E Q5 in series. From ledsupply, they are pretty cheap ($17/ea) - when you work it out to cost/emitter, it looks like a good buy - much cheaper than buying XR-E from ledsupply. I'm hesitant to order XR-Es from dealextreme (don't want to wait a few months) so I'm considering this, instead.

2) In the last few build photos posted, I see splash shields in front of the LEDs. In earlier photos in this thread, I don't remember seeing sheilds. Can people speak up about this? If you've built an LED array, did you use a shield or not? If you used one, what material was it? Are there other ways to protect the chips?

 

[dogstar74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15076947#post15076947 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kcress
dogstar74: Just my gut feeling - too much blue..

Before I built this, I would have agreed with you. But after having it over my 10 gallon, I've had to cover two of the three whites because my softies are light shocked and running to hide. When I covered two of them up, they began to extend more and really, while the color was blue, it seemed pretty balanced.

Anyway, that is why the will all be on dimmers. And if I'm getting too much blue, then I'll just dim the middle array, and they will be balanced white with blue.

Thanks for looking and commenting though,
Aaron

 

[kcress]

These mounted on stars are $18 on Deal Extreme(waiting).

http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/product/prd/zpowerLEDp7.asp

Not sure if they'd work with standard optics.. I'd also not consider driving them at 2.8Amps, probably more like 1.4A You could possibly avoid using a current driver though you would have to avoid dimming or have a big-step of dimming. You would also want to fuse the strings.