leedoherty
New member
Hi could somebody recommend me an led rig for my new tank it measures 30" wide 24" front to back and 12" deep really want to try sps with this one and already have a bubble tip anemone thanks
Minimalistic multichip DIY LED build
- Thread starter maglofster
- Start date
College Fishman
New member
Im really looking to DIY my own LED for my 20 gallon long tank. its 30" long and 12" deep. Im new to this whole idea and its kind of mind boggling haha
Im pretty good with wiring and soldiering, so i really dont think its going to be terribly difficult. Im not going to be growing SPS or anything HARD like that. i would like to keep softies and leathers (again nothing needing INTENSE SUPER LIGHTING)
Ive been looking at Rapid LED and they only sell the single LED's. I was looking into multi-chips and they seem to make more sense. I was thinking i could get away with 1 50watt white (idk what color temp) and 1 50watt royal blue (again idk the temp/nm). Im not really sure what lense's to go with either.
Thanks a ton for the help dudes
Im pretty good with wiring and soldiering, so i really dont think its going to be terribly difficult. Im not going to be growing SPS or anything HARD like that. i would like to keep softies and leathers (again nothing needing INTENSE SUPER LIGHTING)
Ive been looking at Rapid LED and they only sell the single LED's. I was looking into multi-chips and they seem to make more sense. I was thinking i could get away with 1 50watt white (idk what color temp) and 1 50watt royal blue (again idk the temp/nm). Im not really sure what lense's to go with either.
Thanks a ton for the help dudes
Your spot on. Been a lot of changes and info from the start. I had 3W all figured out, until I stumbled on this thread closing in on a year ago now.---Rick
bhazard451
New member
There doesn't seem to be many tank shots of the "dream chip". Was it a success?
I am still trying to figure out all of my wiring and hardware, but parts are here and getting laid out... I will do a build thread when I get it all figured out... I don't have an electrical background so I am trying to figure it out as I go!
thermoJoe
New member
OK, here is some PAR data for the build described in post #2747 on page 110. Breifly, this is the 60W hybrid chip from AC-RC with a 60 deg lens.
PAR is measured with a LI-COR LI-193 Spherical Quantum Sensor that was placed 2.25 in (5.7 cm) below the water surface as measured from the top of the sensor as shown here
Placement of the PAR sensor in this aquarium is awkward because it is designed for deployment in the field, so I could not look at different depths, not that there is much in this shallow aquarium. The sensor is 22 in (55.9 cm) below the LED chip, but slight off center, as shown here
I recorded PAR data by adjusting the light intensity using a VDM controller from Neptune Systems by specifying the %intensity, which sets the voltage between 0 V (0%) and 10 V (100%). I also measure the current to the chip at the different driver levels. At 0 Voltage (0% intensity), the MW driver still puts out 0.3 A. The driver used was a MW HLG-150H-36B. Here are the results
The PAR response is rather linear, which is nice to see, even when the LED is driven at maximum power (150W at 4.4 A). Note, the LED chip has a max rated current of 4.2 A, so I don't like running it at 100%, even though it is limited to 150 W.
PAR is measured with a LI-COR LI-193 Spherical Quantum Sensor that was placed 2.25 in (5.7 cm) below the water surface as measured from the top of the sensor as shown here
Placement of the PAR sensor in this aquarium is awkward because it is designed for deployment in the field, so I could not look at different depths, not that there is much in this shallow aquarium. The sensor is 22 in (55.9 cm) below the LED chip, but slight off center, as shown here
I recorded PAR data by adjusting the light intensity using a VDM controller from Neptune Systems by specifying the %intensity, which sets the voltage between 0 V (0%) and 10 V (100%). I also measure the current to the chip at the different driver levels. At 0 Voltage (0% intensity), the MW driver still puts out 0.3 A. The driver used was a MW HLG-150H-36B. Here are the results
The PAR response is rather linear, which is nice to see, even when the LED is driven at maximum power (150W at 4.4 A). Note, the LED chip has a max rated current of 4.2 A, so I don't like running it at 100%, even though it is limited to 150 W.
Joe, Good info. With those numbers, it gives you a lot of latitude for your coral placement and intensity. Does the light bother you when your looking at your tank, or does the 60 degree lense direct it to the tank? From the pic, it looks like your surronding area is bright. Thanks---Rick
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thanks for the info but im pretty sure your math is off
thirty nine ten watt chips thats 390watts of led
and you need 32cm2 per watt of surface area
390 x 32 = 12,480
that means you need 12,480cm2 surface area
to passively cool the leds
if you convert it to square inches by 12,480 x 0.15500031
that equals 1934.4038688 square inches needed
so your doubling the passsive cooling capacity of the sink i dont think that will work
according to the numbers you gave me you should be able to passively cool
about 200 watts of leds and about 130 watts if your use your 50cm2 buffer
i would say with a good fan or fans you should be able to cool about 300 watts maybe even your 390 watts but im not entirely sure to what ratio the fans aid in removing heat
i personally will be testing these heat sinks at 140watts probably running at about 60% max with one 120mm case fan. so this information was very helpful to me
i have a question though where did you come up with the 1000in2 surface area for the sinks?
Lassef
Member
You have to wait a month or so before is possible to answer that question. There ia arround 70 chip´s worldwide so the answer will certainly come. Just now its an other round comming up also.
Personally I will probably not have mine up and running before the end of this month.
Sincerely Lasse
firefightered66
New member
Thanks for all the info LASSEF, How are you feeling? are you back home yet?
College Fishman
New member
Anything? Thanks!
Lassef
Member
Nope - still in the hospital bed but I is allowed to came home tomorrow for the day and look at my fishes - has not seen them since october 1. I live 5 km from the hospital so it is not a long trip.
Sincerely Lasse
Landsailor
New member
I have three individual heatsinks.
The surface area figure came directly from Rapid LED via email. I'm also going to be running fans, too, and likely won't load them all up, anyway.
BTW, http://www.outletpc.com/qs7293.html has four Cooler Master 120mm fans for $13. Mine just arrived yesterday, but they look like good fans.
If there's one thing I really, hate, hate, hate about DIY with these >=10W LEDs is the stunning lack of design specs from vendors. When I designed some fixtures at a previous job using Aavid Thermalloy heatsinks and Cree LEDs, all of the thermal conductivity info was there. Aavid even has online calculators to show thermal transfer in still air and with forced airflow. Of course, their heatsinks are pricey, but it was much easier than the "That looks about right" guesstimations that we have to do with these big chips.
leedoherty
New member
Have just tried a single 50w multichip over my tank wow they are bright but I'm concerned about the light spilling out would you guys recommend the 60 degree optic or the 90 I'm a bit confused
ohhh i see my mistake i thought you were talking about putting all of those leds on one sink!
and yeah i agree with you about the sellers of these diy leds. seems like ac-rc is the most informative of them all
and about the 1000in2.... cool they didnt really have a lot of information about them on their site, i did a crude calculation of the in2 myself and got about 960in2 this information has helped me a ton on this build, i really like these sinks nice and sleek looking and built in way to mount fans and a slash guard not to mention great cooling capacity.
one thing i did notice when mounting 120mm fans on these is that the holes in the fans dont line up with the slots on the sink 90mm fans would though
however you can turn the fans at a angle and just use one bolt on each side and that should hold them on fine
oh and thanks for the link to the fans ill check them out for sure
Landsailor
New member
He did write "about 1,000", so that figure would be pretty close to it. I figured that by rounding up, I would be safe and it sure makes the math easier.
The splash guard is useless if you plan to use reflectors with 10W and larger chips. It's designed to fit the standard "star plus lens" combo.
I'll try to post a photo of the 120mm fan installed once I find the screws.
yeah it makes it easier for sure, i had not planned on using reflectors on my build because the chips are going to be so close to the water. hopefully the 100w chips wont melt the acrylic splash guard, if they do i will have to get a piece of tempered glass made
