DIY: Steve's LED's module

[der_wille_zur_macht]

on the topic of cheep has any one used or have other input on this driver http://www.sureelectronics.net/goods.php?id=1035
@t 3.99 it looks promising to me.

It can't drive many LEDs at the currents we need, meaning you'll need a LOT of them for a typical array, which makes the cost savings smaller. Also keep in mind it's a bare PCB, while many drivers commonly used are off the shelf products in a case. Of course if you can deal with a bare PCB it'll save you money to go that route.

If you're interested in cost savings in drivers, you can build something in that price range that'll handle a LOT more LEDs if you're willing to DIY. Check out the DIY driver thread I referenced above - a 3-up CAT4101 driver will run ~18-21 LEDs (three strings of 6 or 7 each, depending on Vf of the LEDs) and will cost about $6-8 to make.

 

[onetrickpony]

This is what I find interesting, a five year cycle for a reef setup

On average I think five years is a reasonable time frame for changes we have seen in the technology, the evaluation of equipment has been very fast, Five years ago it was flat reflectors , tar ballasts, 6.5 k MH bulbs, T-12 standard or VHO bulbs, sea clone skimmers and so on"¦"¦..

Today my base line of comparison would be to duplicate a setup of 2- 400w MH, electronic ballasts, Lumabrite reflectors, 15k to 20k bulbs...

So could Steve's LED's set up match my base line MH setup in a five year life cycle, equipment , bulb replacement, and electricity= ??? $$$ Plus possible heat issues to deal with

For me I am looking at five year costs for comparisons.
Steve's LED's for 1/3 the cost of a top of the line LED setup or spending more up front to meet my five year goal,

What do you think?

Cheap in terms of upfront cost. If you have a small tank, or one you're not planning on keeping more than 4 or 5 years, or you're figuring you'll upgrade lighting in the near future, these LEDs might still be a reasonable alternative to higher priced LEDs. Keep in mind that two or three years ago when the first people started playing with HP LEDs on fish tanks, this was about as good as it got. Again, I do not intend my comments in this thread to read like I'm saying these LEDs are crap, or useless, but rather to try to provide a realistic comparison between these and other commonly used LEDs.
.

 

[Runner]

on the topic of cheep has any one used or have other input on this driver http://www.sureelectronics.net/goods.php?id=1035
@t 3.99 it looks promising to me.

With one of those, a single Cree XP-G LED, and an old mag light, you could have a cheap DIY flashlight in the making.

 

[stugray]

"Quote from Steve

"Unfortunately, these LEDs do not have data sheets because they are an item that is specifically produced for Steve's LEDs, and the manufacturer is not willing to go through the trouble of creating a data sheet without a significant charge. The chip specifications are posted on the website. "
"

Is still want to call "Steve" on this statement.

IMO a reef-specific re-sale entity cannot afford to have custom LEDs made.
Especially more than one Die.

( maybe Tahir Iqbal will chime in ;-)

Also, to claim that he is having LED DIEs custom made for him from a supplier that wont provide a datasheet is ridiculous.
In fact, to have a product that is "specifically produced for Steve's LEDs" WITHOUT a datasheet is also more than misleading, it is fictitious.

Who in their right mind would have a SERIES of custom LEDs made for them WITHOUT A DATASHEET?!?


If that quote above actually came from "Steve" then I would not do any business with him because it means he is misleading people.

Again Just My Opinion.

Stu

 

[kcress]

This is what I find interesting, a five year cycle for a reef setup

On average I think five years is a reasonable time frame for changes we have seen in the technology, the evaluation of equipment has been very fast, Five years ago it was flat reflectors , tar ballasts, 6.5 k MH bulbs, T-12 standard or VHO bulbs, sea clone skimmers and so on"¦"¦..

Today my base line of comparison would be to duplicate a setup of 2- 400w MH, electronic ballasts, Lumabrite reflectors, 15k to 20k bulbs...

So could Steve's LED's set up match my base line MH setup in a five year life cycle, equipment , bulb replacement, and electricity= ??? $$$ Plus possible heat issues to deal with

For me I am looking at five year costs for comparisons.
Steve's LED's for 1/3 the cost of a top of the line LED setup or spending more up front to meet my five year goal,

What do you think?

DWDM has done the economic numbers several times in the Big LED thread. Do a search on the the big thread.

It comes down to about a year and a half payback over continued use of MH. But, that is with LEDs providing twice the efficiency as the LEDs being discussed here. That means probably 2 or 2 1/2 years for the payback and then less savings, (over MH), going forward from the end of the payback period.

 

[tahiriqbal]

Have to agree with Stu on his comments. Its just far too expensive to have something custom made unless you are willing to spend millions. Surely Steve's LEDs @ $2 a pop are not sold from that sort of investment and if it was me I would be selling these specially formulated LEDs at highly inflated price to skim the market . The company I work for spends millions and millions on developing LED DIE chip technology and we wouldn't even dream about making something which has very small customer demand (aquarium use). Maybe I could persuade my CEO but very very very very highly unlikely or should I say impossible .

 

[widmer]

With one of those, a single Cree XP-G LED, and an old mag light, you could have a cheap DIY flashlight in the making.

OK since you brought it up, I couldn't resist showing off...

With a $5 antique flashlight, a $7 XP-G R5, a $3 lithium 3.7v 2500 mAh battery and a $1.60 1050 mAh driver (battery and driver from dealextreme), I recently made the most crazy-bright little antique flashlight. This was a <$20 project. It doesn't look like it even works when it's sitting there, but when you turn it on it puts out a blinding 350 lumens.

 

[widmer]

Also @Stu - lol! I'd say you summed it up pretty well

 

[longiotti]

what about the EcoRay 60s? I heard they are coming out with a 2 foot model.
any input on those?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It's yet another generic LED fixture built with unnamed LEDs. Not really much we can say about it IMHO. Sure, it probably does a fine job of illuminating an aquarium but without specs on the components used it's hard to compare to a "typical" DIY build.

 

[Runner]

With a $5 antique flashlight, a $7 XP-G R5, a $3 lithium 3.7v 2500 mAh battery and a $1.60 1050 mAh driver (battery and driver from dealextreme), I recently made the most crazy-bright little antique flashlight. This was a <$20 project. It doesn't look like it even works when it's sitting there, but when you turn it on it puts out a blinding 350 lumens.

Cool. Now I'll have to give this a shot myself.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

OK since you brought it up, I couldn't resist showing off...

With a $5 antique flashlight, a $7 XP-G R5, a $3 lithium 3.7v 2500 mAh battery and a $1.60 1050 mAh driver (battery and driver from dealextreme), I recently made the most crazy-bright little antique flashlight. This was a <$20 project. It doesn't look like it even works when it's sitting there, but when you turn it on it puts out a blinding 350 lumens.

Antique flashlight: $5
XP-G LED: $7
Lithium cell: $3
Driver: $1.60
Distracting yourself from biochem homework for an entire evening: Priceless.

 

[XSiVE]

Antique flashlight: $5
XP-G LED: $7
Lithium cell: $3
Driver: $1.60
Distracting yourself from biochem homework for an entire evening: Priceless.

ha! the homework was what I focused on first too.. I was trying to figure out exactly what it was.

 

[widmer]

lol you guys missed the whole point of my post on the antique flashlight conversion: It was MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY studying...

 

[csarkar001]

damn, holmes! that is one bright flashlight! :eek1:

 

[widmer]

Its beam has very interesting properties as well becaues I am not using a lens on the LED. For instance, it emits a flood which extends almost 180 degrees and has razor-sharp edges. Also, all of the shadows created by it are razor-sharp as well due to all of the light coming from such a tiny point source.. So it feels a lot different than any other flashlight I've used before..

Anyways, I'm in the process of making one for my dad out of another antique flashlight, except with 3 XP-G's and strapping on tight 12 degree lenses, concentrating over 1,000 lumens into that tight 12-degree cone. It should be pretty cool. I'm thinking it will help him when he's out on the boat at night and trying to find a good part of shoreline to beach at.

 

[mudskipper1]

Not saying it is as efficient as Crees, or anything like that, but just throwing out that Blasterman requested satistronics make a HP emitter in the 445nm range, and they did. They have a 10w and a 20w die.

http://www.satistronics.com/10w-hig...-the-rapidly-growing-reef-lighting_p2773.html

He has gotten good color out of them, and evil is working on PAR and spectrum analysis I think.

Again, not supporting or bashing, just throwing it out.

Cheers

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Too bad it's rated in lumens, which is pretty much meaningless for royal blues. Also, note that the 10w and 20w versions have the same "150 - 200lm" rating. . .

 

[evilc66]

I should have data on that LED by this weekend. I have a fun lineup of LEDs waiting to go over the spectrometer. I'll let him post the data though, as he let me test the LED.

 

[mudskipper1]

Definitely looking forward to seeing those results before potentially ordering one for my setup.