Help With LED Scrubber Driver and Power supply

[Chris155hp]

Hey guy so I'm so close to finishing my DIY up flow algae scrubber but I am stuck at what driver and power supply to use. I have narrowed it down to 3 layouts (see bellow#1-3) all of which use a number of deep reds in series wired to two royal blues that are Parallel to each other but in series with the reds. I know this halves the brightness of the blues which is exactly what I am trying to do as they are much more efficient then the reds. So all will be driven with one driver/power supply similar to pictures below (not my picts)

Driver:
First off the driver needs to be as small and light as possible to fit in the enclosure and not add a lot of extra weight that the magnets I am going to use can't handle. Second it must me dimmable via potentiometer so I can dial in brightness level. Third it must 700ma as thats the most the deep reds can handle. I was thinking of a 700ma dimmable flex block at it seems perfect but I can never figure out how many leds a driver can handle unless its stated and especially with the royal blues being parallel

So im guessing layout/ number of Reds I can use depends on the driver. So lets find a Driver that fits the bill first then go from there. The more reds I can use the better as thats closer to the ideal ratio of 6:1-8:1 and since they are dimmable if they are too bright they can be dimmed down
Power supply:
also needs to be as small and compact as in my stand space is a premium.I don't need a huge one with way more power then the leds can use. So Just powerful enough for what I need


Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Chris155hp]

Heres the info for the Deep Reds, Royal Blues and the Flex block I was thinking of using (Idk if it will work)

 

[oreo57]

One LDD-500 or 700, one 30V ps Run all diodes in series..

Diodes need 26.6V + 3V for LDD drop = 29.6V power supply 25W or so..

The LDD is tiny and a 30v low amp power supply is as well, for a power supply that is..

http://www.onlinecomponents.com/datasheet/lpf6030.aspx?p=43122730

 

[perkint]

And if you want dimming via a pot, just add a dirt cheap arduino nano and a very simple program and you're good to go. And the arduino can control multiple channels using multiple pots if you wish

Tim

 

[Chris155hp]

thanks for the response why run royal blues in series as I am worried they might be too bright

 

[oreo57]

thanks for the response why run royal blues in series as I am worried they might be too bright

too bright for what???

then just get 2 Luxdrives..and 2 pots. One for each channel..
you can do the same (but different dimming) W/ 2 Ldd's ((Ldd's l's are $5 each)

you can use the same ps as above..

buckpucks are a bit pricy for 2 though.

as to cheap pwm dimming:
These and a 5V ps will feed the PWM circuit on an ldd.
At least it has been reported to work w/ that lower voltage, regardless of what the specs say. Small resistor across the dimmer output will help limit current to the LDD.
http://www.vozop.com/index.php/2a-pwm-inline-led-dimmer-for-adjust-brightness.html?___store=default

There 2 channel control w/ drivers: $18

 

[zachts]

thanks for the response why run royal blues in series as I am worried they might be too bright

algea likes blue light just as much as red. no reason to run them in parallel.