Looking for 10W LED Help.

P

Poseidon

Member
Hello,

I am looking DIY a couple of Royal Blue LED pendents to supplement my 20K Radium bulb. I recently went back to the halide from an all LED fixture, but really miss the dawn to dusk effect that I had with the LED, and of course that blue POP that just can be had with any other lights.

So far I have purchased a MW power supply/driver, the CLG 150-36A. I found that item referenced here in another thread, and for $12.95 shipped I thought it to be a wise purchase.

I am looking at making 2 pendents using these parts, all from the seller ac-rc on E-bay.

---90°-120° Beam Angle Adjustable LED Lens for 10-20W Square Shape Multichip

---PWM Dimmer

---Aluminium Heatsink for 10W High Power Led Panel

---New 40mil 10W 445nm Royal Blue LED Panel for Aquarium

The total comes to about $75 for all of that, only leaving some sort or housing required. I hoping that the driver and PWM dimmer I selected play nice together, and that at some point in the future I might be able to change out that simple knob for a Storm LED controller, to get the smoother fade in and out that I really want. For now, I should be able to set the LED chips for the color I want in the tank, and just have them kick on/off at certain times, say an hour or 2 before the halide comes on, and about 30 minutes after the halide goes off.

I am thinking that I will need to go with some LED that have some punch, so I can see the color difference when the halide is one, whether that is provided by 2 of these, or the more common "star" type LED is what I am trying to decide.

Here is a picture of my tank, in it's current form:


And from a bit farther back:

This one shows the PFO style pendant that I am working with. I am going to rotate it 90 degrees, and add the LED supplement to both sides.
 
My initial observation.

A PWM Dimmer probably will not be able to be used on this setup. As I've not seen a cheap one that can handle over 24 volts. (in therory it could work if you find a beefy enough PWM dimmer) But either way if you want PWM dimming control or control from a "knob" or storm controller you will need to pick up some LDD drivers as well.

If all you need now is ON/OFF the CLG-150-36A will work great. I've been playing around with one of that same bunch for a bit now bench testing some Bridgelux Vero Arrays(too bad they don't make one in royal blue, yet).

Just keep in mind that you need to have at least 27 volts worth of LEDs (3 of those ten watt chips) wired in series on the CLG.

Operating on typical Constant Current Mode you will need to have three or four strings of 3 ten watt chips wired in parallel to the driver. However you can just run a single string as well by carefully setting the voltage on the driver (turn both pots all the way counter clockwise, then hook up your 3 led string, then while monitoring current slowly, very slowly turn the voltage adjust pot clockwise a tiny little bit until you reach the current you want your string to run at, then back off a little. (As the chips heat up they will draw more current)

I've been able to bench test a single vero 10 array at 450mA and 27.2 volts (results will very depending on what you have hooked up though so take caution)
 
Thank you very much for the input so far.

I'm not sure I would have a place/room for a 3rd 10W chip. My tank is 36x24x22T, and the halide fixture is 14x10 in dimension. (I know I am not covering the outside 6" with significant PAR, but Acan's and Chalices sure like it out there.)

Maybe I am better off using the star type LED's, is there a minimum number I have to use for my driver? I was thinking of using 18, 9 on each side of the halide.
 
Poseidon said:
Thank you very much for the input so far.

I'm not sure I would have a place/room for a 3rd 10W chip. My tank is 36x24x22T, and the halide fixture is 14x10 in dimension. (I know I am not covering the outside 6" with significant PAR, but Acan's and Chalices sure like it out there.)

Maybe I am better off using the star type LED's, is there a minimum number I have to use for my driver? I was thinking of using 18, 9 on each side of the halide.
Click to expand...

CLG 150-36A............

As shown above, and to be honest.. NOT a good pick for what you want..
Though there are other choices one would be an LDD @ whatever power you want and a separate PS w a v out of 2xV(f) + 3..
 
Rather than the eBay 10w chips, just use royal blue Luxeon M. You're looking at ~$6 more for the LEDs, but the difference in output between them will be significant. Each of the nine Chinese chips in the '10w' arrays will output ~300mW each, times nine chips gives you somewhere around 2700mW maximum. A Luxeon M royal blue at 1A will output between 6200 and 6750mW of output, over double. Well worth it.


Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure exactly how noticeable only two of those LEDs will be next to even a 250w Radium.
 
oreo57 said:
CLG 150-36A............

As shown above, and to be honest.. NOT a good pick for what you want..
Though there are other choices one would be an LDD @ whatever power you want and a separate PS w a v out of 2xV(f) + 3..
Click to expand...

I see that, but I bought for only $2.95, shipped. ;) So, it wasn't terrible. :beer:

To supplement a 250W halide to get just a tad more blue to the tank, and to give me that LED POP before and after the halide comes on, what would you suggest?

If I can use that CLG great, if not... no biggie. I have a Reef Keeper Lite on the system as well, but not the module for 0-10v, so not sure if that really is a feasable option as an LED controller, as I would also need to buy another PC4. (About $150 in cost.)
 
I would probably use four of the Luxeon M instead of two.


You'll need a pair of Meanwell LDD-1000H or HW drivers to drive the LEDs, powered by the CLG you already have (damn, those things were a good deal!). To get 0-10v control, though, you'd need to use something like O2Surplus' analog converter boards, I think he sells them for like $15-20, but you would need the dimming module for your controller. The good thing is that the LDD drivers dim to 0 and shut off without needing a relay, so you can leave the CLG plugged right into the wall and wouldn't need to take up a relay slot.
 
Es no problemo. I love the LDD, they're an awesome little driver. They're also IP rated, as well, so they're water resistant like the CLG.
 
Ok, I just ordered a 2 up LDD board, and 2 LDD-1000's. So, with those on the way, next is the actual LEDs and a heatsink/fan.

The Luxeon looks like a very good option, is it the same size as a typical LED "Star"?
 
The ones from Stevesleds are on a custom 30mm square copper PCB, and the ones from Led group buy are on a standard aluminum star, but they also emit ~9% more light.
 
Poseidon said:
Ok, I just ordered a 2 up LDD board, and 2 LDD-1000's. So, with those on the way, next is the actual LEDs and a heatsink/fan.

The Luxeon looks like a very good option, is it the same size as a typical LED "Star"?
Click to expand...

Now that you have the very nice LDDs I might suggest the Luxeon K-8up. cheaper than the luxeon M but twice the power and perfect paired with the LDD and you CLG power supply. The LDD would allow you to even add a couple of single emiters to each string latter if you want.

Optics are available but for your use you probably don't want them. the LDD would be compatible with the storm type controllers, the previous mentioned converter board for 0-10v operation or use with a basic "knob" type pwm dimmer.
 
jedimasterben said:
The ones from Stevesleds are on a custom 30mm square copper PCB, and the ones from Led group buy are on a standard aluminum star, but they also emit ~9% more light.
Click to expand...

If you go Luxeon M's only go with Steve's, much better PCB and thermal dissipation especially if you run them at 1000mA! Really you could do two groups of three luxeon M's if you want, but the LDD doesn't care how many you connect, 1 to 3 per LDD off your CLG PSU will be just about as efficient.
 
jedimasterben said:
The ones from Stevesleds are on a custom 30mm square copper PCB, and the ones from Led group buy are on a standard aluminum star, but they also emit ~9% more light.
Click to expand...

They say they are the same bin so..........don't believe everything, but Steve's PCB should run them cooler so yes they should be brighter at the same drive current..... :beer:
 
Poseidon said:
Thank you very much for the input so far.

I'm not sure I would have a place/room for a 3rd 10W chip. My tank is 36x24x22T, and the halide fixture is 14x10 in dimension. (I know I am not covering the outside 6" with significant PAR, but Acan's and Chalices sure like it out there.)

Maybe I am better off using the star type LED's, is there a minimum number I have to use for my driver? I was thinking of using 18, 9 on each side of the halide.
Click to expand...

I know you already have the LDDs, which are a sure bet, but I'll throw this out also. Based on my testing with this driver you would need to add up the forward voltage of your string of single LEDs and make sure it is between 28 and 40 volts in order to limit current below 1000mA using the voltage setting.

So if using the ball park average for luxeon or cree royal blues of 3 volts you'd need to have at least 10 or 12 in order to run them directly off the CLG, but it would work just fine at that level with ON/OFF control.
 
Ok, next question. Does 14" of 1.4" wide heatsink provide enough cooling for 2 of those luxeons?

The black anodized stuff from rapid led matches my halide fixture, and I could easily buy a 36" strip and cut it to 14" 1 on each side of the halide long side.

Or... do I go with square tubing? I can get that local, and add a 1" fan to one end, not the "high pressure" one from Steve's, that is ugly to try and hide in the open.
 
Poseidon said:
Ok, next question. Does 14" of 1.4" wide heatsink provide enough cooling for 2 of those luxeons?

The black anodized stuff from rapid led matches my halide fixture, and I could easily buy a 36" strip and cut it to 14" 1 on each side of the halide long side.

Or... do I go with square tubing? I can get that local, and add a 1" fan to one end, not the "high pressure" one from Steve's, that is ugly to try and hide in the open.
Click to expand...

The Rapid Heatsink would be plenty provided either free air or a little airflow in the hood. Much better than just square tubing which REQUIRES a fan likely the pressure fan for use with an M! You might also consider the Makers 6" heatsink setup since you are using pendant MH two of those though a bit more would be way over kill and might not even need fans running with only two M's per heatsink, plus they'd look much nicer........

the endcaps are black and you could easily paint the sides.........

just using the Rapid heatsinks you'll want to use the optics or some other method of providing a glare shield, lest you go blind standing near your tank, :lolspin:
 
Old CPU heatsinks work well for a single M chip without a fan in free air if you have any laying around......
 
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