Minimalistic multichip DIY LED build

[monty2k]

Hi guys.

I've bought these LEDs from aallion2008 on ebay, and he gave me this specs:

50W White LED 16000k - 30-36V 1.6A
20W Red LED 660nm - 25-28V 1A
10W Red LED 630nm - 8-9V Max 1200mA, rate is 900mA
20W Blue LED 455nm - 30-36V 700mA
20W Blue LED 420nm - 30-36V 700mA

The Leds didn't come in individual packaging with printed specs on it, i guess it's the old "you get what you pay" rule, as these were very cheap compared with the AC-RC ones.

My question is, is there any way that i can measure the values on the LEDs themselves to see if they are correct?

These are the LEDs:

Thank you.

 

[tomservo]

I just bought three of the 60W actinic blue hybrid 30 10000K X 30 445-447nm Royal blue panels.

Question: How high are people driving these chips? The spec says it can be run up to 4.2A or 151W at 36V. Is there any benefit to buying the higher current PS? Where is the sweet spot as far as efficiency goes?

I think I just talked myself into buying the 150W PS and dimming it down with the dimming function

What do you guys think?

I think that's what I would do as well.. We say we're overdriving these emitters but with the 45 mil chips, they are actually 3 watt emitters.. So 60 x 3 = 180, and then with some derating, 150w is not unreasonable if you keep it cool. I believe they are referred to as 60w because of the package. Just like how the "50 watt" 660nm reds are really only 32 watts or so.

 

[Lassef]

The blue and the red´s differ from the ones I use. The 20 watt I use consist of 9 invidual LED´s in three rows, just like the normal 10 watts.

In fact, they have the same nature as the LED tomservo refer to. This means that you get a more concentrated "light"area and better "punch" from the chip.

To determine if you got the right stuff or not is difficult. Test them and if they meet your expectations, you can probably say that they are right, at least for you


Sincerely Lasse

 

[marspeed]

monty2k my led's came from luoxiquan

 

[monty2k]

monty2k my led's came from luoxiquan

Are they similar?

 

[marspeed]

the 50 watt looks the same but mw is different look at the labels in my picture
i will post pictures of the front later

 

[ronreef]

I think that's what I would do as well.. We say we're overdriving these emitters but with the 45 mil chips, they are actually 3 watt emitters.. So 60 x 3 = 180, and then with some derating, 150w is not unreasonable if you keep it cool. I believe they are referred to as 60w because of the package. Just like how the "50 watt" 660nm reds are really only 32 watts or so.

I wouldn't rate emitters by physical size. The chip specs are available on-line directly from ac-rc's ebay store or any other reputable seller. It states specifically, what the absolute maximum forward current is for a specific emitter/chip.

For example, the emitters on the 10000K/445-447nm actinic hybrid, the absolute maximum rating for forward current is <700mA. Even at a max specified supply voltage of 3.6V per chip would put the maximum output power at 2.52W per chip.

700ma x 3.6V = 2.52W. For that multichip panel, they are not 3W emitters.

Ron

 

[ronreef]

Hi guys.

I've bought these LEDs from aallion2008 on ebay, and he gave me this specs:

50W White LED 16000k - 30-36V 1.6A
20W Red LED 660nm - 25-28V 1A
10W Red LED 630nm - 8-9V Max 1200mA, rate is 900mA
20W Blue LED 455nm - 30-36V 700mA
20W Blue LED 420nm - 30-36V 700mA

The Leds didn't come in individual packaging with printed specs on it, i guess it's the old "you get what you pay" rule, as these were very cheap compared with the AC-RC ones.

My question is, is there any way that i can measure the values on the LEDs themselves to see if they are correct?

These are the LEDs:

Thank you.

I highly doubt those emitters are 3W emitters. Be careful. Do your research and you should be fine.

Ron

 

[ronreef]

FYI: According to ac-rc, and as you may know already, some sellers are labeling their LEDs Epistars but are in fact New Century LEDs. To the trained eye, it's relatively easy to tell one manufacturer from the next based on the LED's unique surface pattern. Even the model numbers don't make sense and are copied over from one brand to the next. As a start, look for sellers that readily provide data sheets and color spectrum analysis.

 

[noplay180]

Lasse thanks for the advice asking with others i have not slept thinking about how i could get this started. How does glass euro bracing affect light

 

[tomservo]

Borrowed from another site:

Light transmittance through high quality cast acrylic is 92%. Light transmittance through Starphire glass is 91.3%. Light transmittance through regular glass is around 88%, but significantly lower at both ends of the visible range.

For example, transmittance of 400 nm wavelength through regular glass is 84.6%, 440 nm is 88.5%, 500 nm is 89.9%, 620 nm is 87.7%, 680 nm is 83.5%, 700 nm is 82.2%, 720 nm is 80.6%, 740 nm is 79.4%, 760 nm is 77.8%.

Note: Taken from a discussion on a forum on glass

I'm not sure what thickness these numbers refer to, as obviously that makes a difference.. I would assume the numbers are for 1/4", that seems likely at least. I can tell you the real problem is condensation and salt creep, both of which will KILL your light levels.

On my nano just the acrylic cover (clean) is about 5% lower PAR, but when there's condensation (pure water, no salt spray) the drop is more like 20%. Salt creep is even worse!


From the PPG site about starphire:

In addition, Starphire low iron glass can have as little as 10% of the iron content of regular glass, allowing it to transmit 91% of light, compared to 83% for regular glass and without the greening effect associated with thicker glass panels.

I expect the different numbers for regular glass are simply due to the variation in brands/batches. I've noticed some green float glass is darker and some lighter than others.

 

[monty2k]

FYI: According to ac-rc, and as you may know already, some sellers are labeling their LEDs Epistars but are in fact New Century LEDs. To the trained eye, it's relatively easy to tell one manufacturer from the next based on the LED's unique surface pattern. Even the model numbers don't make sense and are copied over from one brand to the next. As a start, look for sellers that readily provide data sheets and color spectrum analysis.

These don't even have model numbers, they don't have any kind of labeling on them.

 

[tronyony]

Need some help

Need some help

Hi everybody, this is a great thread! Thank you guys for starting it. I have read through the whole thing but still cant make an educated guess on what I would need to switch from 8x54 T5's to the LED chips. If some of you veterans could help me out that would be great.

-Tank is a 100g 60x18x20
-Current lights are 6x ATI Blue plus, 1x ATI Purple plus and 1x GE Daylight 6500K in a Nova Extreme fixture
-Distance from top of water to top of sandbed is 16"
-Distance from current lights to top of water is 7"

I have a mix of LPS, SPS, softies and fish

I would like to dim the blue and white separately and eventually control them with a controller

If you need any more info please let me know

Thank you,
Tony

 

[gtfcniles]

Hi everybody, this is a great thread! Thank you guys for starting it. I have read through the whole thing but still cant make an educated guess on what I would need to switch from 8x54 T5's to the LED chips. If some of you veterans could help me out that would be great.

-Tank is a 100g 60x18x20
-Current lights are 6x ATI Blue plus, 1x ATI Purple plus and 1x GE Daylight 6500K in a Nova Extreme fixture
-Distance from top of water to top of sandbed is 16"
-Distance from current lights to top of water is 7"

I have a mix of LPS, SPS, softies and fish

I would like to dim the blue and white separately and eventually control them with a controller

If you need any more info please let me know

Thank you,
Tony

If you want to control them automatically you need to use meanwell drivers that support dimming.

 

[tronyony]

If you want to control them automatically you need to use meanwell drivers that support dimming.

Sounds good. The meanwell dimmable drivers can be used standalone until I get a controller? Can you recommend a setup for my tank

Thank you,
Tony

 

[noplay180]

Okay how about 100watt 20000k in the center and 1 420 50watt and 1 455 50watt. or would I get a better blend surrounding with 20watt

 

[blackthunda77]

Hi guys.

I've bought these LEDs from aallion2008 on ebay, and he gave me this specs:

50W White LED 16000k - 30-36V 1.6A
20W Red LED 660nm - 25-28V 1A
10W Red LED 630nm - 8-9V Max 1200mA, rate is 900mA
20W Blue LED 455nm - 30-36V 700mA
20W Blue LED 420nm - 30-36V 700mA

The Leds didn't come in individual packaging with printed specs on it, i guess it's the old "you get what you pay" rule, as these were very cheap compared with the AC-RC ones.

My question is, is there any way that i can measure the values on the LEDs themselves to see if they are correct?

These are the LEDs:

Thank you.

Based on this picture it seems like the wattage closely follows the # of chips in the LED.

I bought this chip

ebay link removed.
and its advertised as a 20watt however i only see nine chips in the LED. Can someone explain this to me?

Thanks.

 

[bhazard451]

FYI: According to ac-rc, and as you may know already, some sellers are labeling their LEDs Epistars but are in fact New Century LEDs. To the trained eye, it's relatively easy to tell one manufacturer from the next based on the LED's unique surface pattern. Even the model numbers don't make sense and are copied over from one brand to the next. As a start, look for sellers that readily provide data sheets and color spectrum analysis.

Ac-rc seems to be the only legit provider of good multichips that I've seen. At least you know what you are getting.

There just aren't enough multichip options for my needs yet though, and I wish there was. It would be so much easier to wire a multichip than wiring 50 leds on stars closely spaced together as much as possible, 3-UP and 4-UP chips are a bigger nightmare.

Epistar 3w leds by themselves just can't compare to a 3w XP-G2 or XT-E led in efficiency. 50 Cree XT-Es on stars for $2.50 each would cost the same or less than a 150w epistar multichip as well, would have much more lm/watt, and has the ability to include different color options that can be changed out at will. Cooling could be also be done with just fans and a heatsink instead of full cpu heatsinks on each chip. Disco effect would be more noticeable though.

There's no perfect solution yet, but I do like that multiple DIY led options are available. With MH and T5's, customization was down to just ballasts, reflectors, and bulbs. With DIY leds, we can design our own full fixture to suit our needs.

 

[gtfcniles]

Probably 3w led's at a guess...? 3w LED's under driven to give 20w.

 

[tronyony]

There's no perfect solution yet, but I do like that multiple DIY led options are available. With MH and T5's, customization was down to just ballasts, reflectors, and bulbs. With DIY leds, we can design our own full fixture to suit our needs.

This is the exact reason I am fond of this thread. I really want to switch to LED's and have a couple of options. I dont want to use Kessils so ReefLED DIY or this DIY chip thread is the crossroards I am at. I just have no idea what I would need for either option.


Tony