LFP's Xenon Projection and Cree LED DIY lighting system.

Sanjay uses 400nm to 700nm for the color range on his graphs. So, I cropped my plots to just include the same range to make it easier to compare.

hid12k1lfpscaledzj2.jpg


hid25kblfprescaledbp1.jpg



It's tough not to draw the conclusion that Xenon is able to duplicate natural reef lighting spectra much better than metal halide. This was totally unexpected.

Great observations Reef Enabler!

-Luke
 
Is there a way to correlate the two Y-axis units?

Interesting that there is a significant valley in the Xenon charts at ~450nm, where some of the MH's have their peak.
 
Nope, Y-axis units are just relative to the rest of the graph.

Also, it would look pretty silly to relate Y-axis's between 35w bulbs and 250w-400w MH bulbs :)

Put the 400w MH in a reflector and put the 35w in a projector and set the light meter a few feet away and we could compare intensity :)

Best Wishes,
-Luke
 
Luke I can't stress this enough.. Keep it up! Regardless of the outcome it is the pioneering spirit that drives this and every other hobby/obsession further. Unfortunately I have been banned by the wife from anymore DIY'ng for a while. Some crazy stuff about paying the morgage and leases, who knows!lol

My only complaint is, I would like to see a series of FTS's of the different stages in the lighting cycle to get a better handle on the actual look from the in front of the tank perspective.
 
there we go
glad to see you actualy tested ( to many people claim to do somthing but really have no clue whats going on)

anychance that you got par readings off the bulbs aswell?


for you this may be a good option because of your goal. but its still much more expensive then using the commonly useed MH components
 
Please could you tell me if you are using any dimmer control unit to control these LED lights? I am also in the process of making my own dimmable LED which are rated at 72 watts per strip (5060SMD 4800 lumens per strip, 8000k), hoping to use 10 strips in total. Each strip is rated at 72 watts, quite powerful in pure white colour not cool white colour. I was also hoping to insert three 1.5 meter long RGB flexible strips too. I want all these strips to be connected to one transformer and I need to know which transformer have you been using or would recommend? I am looking for dimmable transformer and cant seems to find anywhere. Please would you help me to solve this issue? I am based in the UK but don't mind importing from the US.
I am also looking for an independent dimmer control unit which could run these led strips and could perform full lunar cycle. I would highly appreciate you kind help and guidance.

Thanks
 
how do you control the current?

do you need to use a microprocessor with pulse width modulation (similar to how a MOSFET transistor is controlled)?
 
0-5v signal to range from 70mA to 700mA on that model.

They didn't seem to offer the model that I bought from the same seller about a year ago. It uses the same 0-5v signal to vary the power between 15mA to 1000mA.
 
A couple FTS shots would be great. How are your corals doing, do you see the same growth rate as with your previous light setup? Keep up your hard work, this is a great experiment!
 
Too soon to know. They all look healthy and growing, but I'm not going to make any claims of growth or success after only a few weeks. Have I noticed growth? Yes, if you look carefully, you can often spot minor SPS growth on a daily basis, and I am still seeing this. It's much too soon to judge if it is better or worse that my previous growth.

I can tell you what isn't growing though :) Anything on my glass :) I put this setup up, then cleaned my glass. It's been a couple weeks now, and my glass still looks like the day I cleaned it :)
 
LFP,

I love to see this type of work and innovation.

I too would like to know the brand of the bulbs you are using. I've read this thread, and the attached webpage and find it very well documented and written.

Could you please attach a name to the bulbs that you have tested and also a possible source to purchase said bulbs. If you can't recommend a source, then google is sure to come up with my own sources.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14136357#post14136357 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
Luke,
Bravo! Your endeavors are always fascinating to follow (loved your tank thread). It is refreshing to see people like yourself that are in the community and continually doing so much to try to advance it. Keep up the great work.

Paul
Click to expand...


I agree!!! It's nice to see people thinking outside the box, and then sharing the information with us. I'm looking forward to seeing your long term results.


Chris
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14069980#post14069980 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by areze
what do you get? a waste of money.

10 HID bulbs? or... 2 250w MH bulbs. Ill replace 2 bulbs thanks. and Ill put them on a sweet reflector for vertical penetration of the light for maximum efficiency.

and Ill use MH bulbs that have a spectrum that is specialized to precise wavelengths needed for photosynthesis and flourescence in corals.

the LEDs are nice, the automotive HID bulbs are a total waste unfortunatly. sorry.

*we actually had a very recent thread with another poster trying this automotive HID idea.
Click to expand...
HID is a more advanced technology and i think there on to somthing using it in reefkeeping
 
Luke, It looks from the pictures like you have the projector arranged in the middle pointing out. Seems like it would be better for your objective to place them on the perimeter and aim them in wouldnt it?

Also they do make 50w and 55w balasts for those you know. And they run on the same bulbs(most are rated for up to 60w) Just in case you want to be a real reefer and bump up the wattage :)
 
Thank you for all the kindness!

EnderG60- I'm definately aware. I run modded ballasts in my racecar that switch between 20w and 55w.

The 55w versions just use a different current sense shunt. If you spend the time to pick away or disolve the expoxy potting, you can unsolder the shunt and attach leads to run outside the ballast case. Then you can make adjustable power ballasts. You can find guides to do this on various HID websites, and it's been working great on my racecar for a few years.

I was interested in trying to extend bulb life to be as long as possible (and didn't feel like modding a whole bunch of ballasts), so I stuck with 35w/bulb. If I ever desire more output, I could spend an hour with each ballast and bump out the wattage, but then I wouldn't have met my goal of 1/2 power consumption from my previous system :)

Best Wishes,
-Luke

BTW- You could also set them up to run on a program to ramp-up and ramp-down power to the bulbs, much like controlled output T5 systems.

Maybe I will do something like that, but at the moment I'm very contented with the performance, and don't have the free time.
 
Thank you for all the kindness!

EnderG60- I'm definately aware. I run modded ballasts in my racecar that switch between 20w and 55w.

The 55w versions just use a different current sense shunt. If you spend the time to pick away or disolve the expoxy potting, you can unsolder the shunt and attach leads to run outside the ballast case. Then you can make adjustable power ballasts. You can find guides to do this on various HID websites, and it's been working great on my racecar for a few years.

I was interested in trying to extend bulb life to be as long as possible (and didn't feel like modding a whole bunch of ballasts), so I stuck with 35w/bulb. If I ever desire more output, I could spend an hour with each ballast and bump out the wattage, but then I wouldn't have met my goal of 1/2 power consumption from my previous system :)

Best Wishes,
-Luke

BTW- You could also set them up to run on a program to ramp-up and ramp-down power to the bulbs, much like controlled output T5 systems.

Maybe I will do something like that, but at the moment I'm very contented with the performance, and don't have the free time.
 
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