Minimalistic multichip DIY LED build

[007Bond]

I've been looking for quite awhile. I started following the multichip thread from the beginning, and have learned about leds as the thread progressed. When the guys started talking about the DC and then ac-rc making and selling them, they seem to be the solution for my hood and water depth. Like I said you can run them up to 252W's and they now have adjustable lenses, I think the combo will work. I'm going to use the Jarduino controller to adjust the 5 channels, of which most will run on the blue/uv side during day time. At night, I'll adjust the light for best coral viewing. I'm also hearing that ac-rc is coming out with a new DC .v2 in the not to distant future. I need the power to hit the bottom and I want color adjustment (ramping) through Jarduino. Only thing I'm really looking for, is the best multichip for my situation and it seems to be the DC at present.

Here are a couple tank pics. at present.

http://i.imgur.com/7QAE8o6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/lApXyn6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/diMr7eP.jpg

 

[proietti]

what are you going to do about all the stress bars?

 

[007Bond]

The fixtures will tilt front to back and left to right going to start with 4 fixtures 1 each end and 2 in the middle. I might end up adding 2 additional 2 in each opening.---Rick

 

[proietti]

If you are making a Kessil type cannon fitting I assume you will need to remove the lid?

 

[007Bond]

The fixtures will look similar to most that are described as "cannons". I think I'll put up a build thread on how they works when I get them made.
The fixtures will slide on a 3/4 pvc pipe running the length of my tank. They will have 1"pvc T's attached direct to the fixture that will slide over the 3/4 pipe,... the purpose, so they will always adjust their selves downward when I raise the trunk like hood. If they were attach rigidly to the hood something would probably break.
Here are a couple pics of how I am planning on mounting them, don't laugh at my art work

http://i.imgur.com/14tth7N.png

http://i.imgur.com/LYAvwU5.png

 

[proietti]

I see. Will be an interesting build.

 

[nady]

I updated the measurement of spectra custom 10W-multichips from the past. This time with more accurate spectrometer.

 

[TropTrea]

That is a very hard question to answer. As brands they are both reputable within their fields. What you have to judge is efficiency of the bulbs. Epileds tend to be good at producing the violet ranges and Bridgelux produce most colours. The downside with Bridgelux compared to Cree or Phillips is their efficiency. You will find that most bridgelux leds tend to be very voltage hungry relative to lumen output and most will not run beyond the 1000mA range.

There is one other thing to keep in mind with Bridgelux. There is a Chinese and American company under using that name Bridgelux. The physical appearance of the chips is almost identical however the quality level on the US ones is much more consistent.

It would not surprise me if these were all made on the same product line but the higher quality ones and the seconds are separated to the two marketing groups.

 

[proietti]

There is a Chinese and American company under using that name Bridgelux. The physical appearance of the chips is almost identical however the quality level on the US ones is much more consistent.

did not know this fact.

 

[TropTrea]

My first LED build used Bridgelux LED's and has worked for 4 years flawlesssly. My second build I jumped at an company offering Bridgelux LED's for less than half of what the company I originally bought the Bridgelux LED's from. On a small 12 LED Fixture I ended up replacing 1 LED the first week it was running, and roughly a year in operation I started replacing one every couple weeks. Till eventually 8 of the 1`2 LED's were replaced at the 2 year mark. I noted to the company that I bought the original LED's from and they informed me about some companies that were selling fake Bridgelux LED's that they were getting from a distributor in China called Bridgelux as well.

 

[quiksilverchin]

If i wanted to run 10 of the 10watt chips that run at 12VDC and up to 1000mA, what would be the best thing to power them?

I found the 2.5 power supply boxes and I could buy 4 of them to get to 10 Amps.

Thanks in advance

 

[_Snuffles]

I've decided to jump into this and give it a try for one of my smaller tanks, but having a hard time finding a dimmable driver for a 10w or 2x10w for that matter. (Really new to led) I had recently purchased a 5x10w from ac-rc thinking it would be "up to 5 10w led's" but when hooking everything together , obviously that doesn't work.


I'm only using 3 10w:
1 cool white
2 hybrid

Basically just wanting the cool white on one driver and the other two on another if possible. I've tried finding just a single 10w dimmable driver and had no real luck. If someone knows where to find one that would be awesome.

 

[themaddhatter]

Hi there! I've been trying to slug through this massive thread to catch up on everything Ive missed during a 5 year hiatus from the hobby. I'm going to be setting up my fish room shortly, and my two main tanks are a 72"*18"*22" 125 gallon and a 72"*18"*18" 100 gallon. I plan to have one as a FOWLR the other (125) as a mixed Reef. What wattage would be recommended if I was looking to build 3 cans for each? I saw a listing on eBay for 3 50W chips with drivers, but I have no idea how it relates to T5s and MH. Here's the link http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111204929749&alt=web.

 

[proietti]

Before you go ahead and purchase your leds check out this link. It is very interesting and one of the most complete studies I have read on leds. I have now amended my fittings more in line with this study and finally I am seeing the colours that have been missing from a lot of led set ups. The link is
http://reefll.com/svet_v_rifovom_akvariume

 

[themaddhatter]

Thanks for the link! I will take some time to consider this before proceeding. The tanks haven't been set up yet so I have some time.

 

[TropTrea]

Before you go ahead and purchase your leds check out this link. It is very interesting and one of the most complete studies I have read on leds. I have now amended my fittings more in line with this study and finally I am seeing the colours that have been missing from a lot of led set ups. The link is
http://reefll.com/svet_v_rifovom_akvariume

Yes there is some good information here but nothing really new. If you look at the total cost of there fixtures though even on a do it yourself bases you will be more expensive than getting the Pacific Sun fixtures complete.

The important thing to keep in mind is that you can create a light fixture for optimum coral growth, optimum florescence display, or optimum reflective light display. But you need to balance these out to your personal taste and desires, as when you increase one chances are you be hurting one of the other areas.

 

[themaddhatter]

Yes there is some good information here but nothing really new. If you look at the total cost of there fixtures though even on a do it yourself bases you will be more expensive than getting the Pacific Sun fixtures complete.

The important thing to keep in mind is that you can create a light fixture for optimum coral growth, optimum florescence display, or optimum reflective light display. But you need to balance these out to your personal taste and desires, as when you increase one chances are you be hurting one of the other areas.

What are the Pacific Sun fixtures? I haven't encountered these yet.

 

[ReefLedLab]

Yes there is some good information here but nothing really new.

Agreed. Because this article was published over 1.5 year ago and since this information was widespread

If you look at the total cost of there fixtures though even on a do it yourself bases you will be more expensive than getting the Pacific Sun fixtures complete.

You feel free to use any type of our 12x LED assemblies according to your requirements. If you would like to construct cheap fixture - you may use this assemblies: http://reefll.com/12xV1.0 if you would like to construct fixtures, based on assemblies, that has no any analogue, please use: http://reefll.com/12xV3.0

I would like to emphasize - no one of manufacturer of LED fixtures have the similar product. You may familiarise with this project here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/4/lighting

 

[proietti]

Yes there is some good information here but nothing really new.

The part of this article which I found interesting and when I did the change to my set up really changes things was the addition of the PC Amber. I don't know of any fixture which uses the PC Amber. NOT TO BE MISTAKEN WITH NORMAL AMBER. The broad range spectrum of this led really make Pocillaporas, Stylos and Histerix look pink.

 

[Meddler]

I love LED builds. I have done a lot of them during a couple of years. Recently (the last 8 months or so) I started using LED multichips instead of the smaller 3W LED's. The reason for this was inspiration from Maxspect using them and also an online friend (Lasse, one of the best reefers in Sweden) bought a couple of multichips and was very successful with his builds.

So I did a conversion of my Giesemann pendant, taking away the MH's and putting a heatsink and some multichips into it. This build has given me 8 months of very nice light and consistent SPS growth.

My Elos 120 with DIY LED:


But recently I started thinking of converting the lighting on my 160 gallon cube. I wanted this build to have the smallest footprint possible and as much wattage / buck. So this is what I'm going to build.

2x200W (driven att 180W each) multichips with a combination of 20K and 453nm blue leds.
2x50W 10K multichips. These are going to run a couple of hours midday just to ensure the right spectrum for growth.

So four chips totaling about 460W but only during peak hours. Most of the day only 360W though. This is replacing MH's and T5's totaling about 700W.

To cool the chips I'm using GPU coolers for computers. Very cheap, very efficient. The ones I'm using are rated for 250W GPU's.

The cooler with all the mounting brackets removed:


The cooler with one chip mounted:


Still waiting for my drivers and 90 degree lenses, but I will share pictures when the lights are going through their "burn in".

So I know that this is 2 years old, but being a new reefer, and a PC builder, I had a crazy thought:

What if you took HO LED multi-chips, and cooled it with a PC Liquid-Cooled GPU block? I know you can't use the SW, because it would eat away at the brass fittings...but still. Creating a small loop with a standard GPU block would be SUPER quiet, and you could get away on the build for like....$250 for the cooling. THen you just add new GPU blocks to each chip.

Anyone else thinking this?