rillaboratories
New member
Has anyone tried the cxa series 3000+. They have enough intensity and spectrum that I believe would keep coral happy.
Minimalistic multichip DIY LED build
- Thread starter maglofster
- Start date
Krazie4Acans
New member
According to their data sheet they only come in 4000k-6500k variations. Their spectrum analysis does not show the 6500k version. Their 5000k has a very narrow blue spike with a peak around 450-455nm but has almost no blue spectrum (~10%) from ~465-520nm. There is a large amount of green, yellow, orange spectrum in its output. If the 6500k follows with similar changes on the spectral output then it would still have quite a bit of green, yellow, and orange. You would definitely have to run some supplemental blues to cover the needed ranges and I would be worried about algae growth.
You would also have to stick with the 36v version of the array because 77v at over 2 amps around our tanks would be incredibly dangerous and finding a driver to run it would be very difficult. I also found no information on pricing.
I think you would still be better off with one of the other multichips that has already been talked about. Krazie :jester:
The 90+ CRI models have a decently broad spectrum comparable to the bridgelux vero lineup. the 4000k and 5000k would cover a pretty broad range but still need the violet, royal blue, and blue supplemented for reef lighting.
themaddhatter
New member
Hi, I know this isn't a multichip unit, but looks very tempting. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/121210436361?redirect=mobile
Technical specification
Body Material: PC&aluminum, lens covered with waterproof material
Power: 60W
20pcsx 3W high power leds (white:blue=14:6)
Light spectrum: white 12000K;blue 460nm
Input Voltage: AC 85~285V
Luminous Flux: approx 3600lm~4200lm
Beam Angle: 120 degree
Waterproof Rate: IP65
Dimension: approx 181mm*141mm*98mm/7.1inch*5.5inch*3.86inch
They don't mention what the led models are or the driver. I actually wanted to find a housing like that to use with a 50w multichip. What do you guys think?
Technical specification
Body Material: PC&aluminum, lens covered with waterproof material
Power: 60W
20pcsx 3W high power leds (white:blue=14:6)
Light spectrum: white 12000K;blue 460nm
Input Voltage: AC 85~285V
Luminous Flux: approx 3600lm~4200lm
Beam Angle: 120 degree
Waterproof Rate: IP65
Dimension: approx 181mm*141mm*98mm/7.1inch*5.5inch*3.86inch
They don't mention what the led models are or the driver. I actually wanted to find a housing like that to use with a 50w multichip. What do you guys think?
Spend your money elsewhere, and your right this is not the place to post questions about 3w chip light fixtures.....
themaddhatter
New member
I stand corrected. And thank you for answering anyway. I just spent a few days plowing through as any posts as I could and it appears a lot has changed from what I had followed 2 or 3 years ago. I didn't even know anything about these LDD and not much about multichannel multichips. I will post my tank specs and requirements shortly with what I hope to achieve.
themaddhatter
New member
I'm currently setting up my fish room after a 5 years hiatus. I will need lights for 3 tanks. The first will be a 125 gallon long (72"x18x22). The second is a 100 gallon, (72x18x20?) I haven't brought this tank home yet so unsure of height. Last tank is a custom size (42x16x18).
I will start with the 125,which will be a mixed Reef tank. I noticed some people are building pendants and others a long fixture. Is there more benefit to one or the other (I will ceiling mount regardless ).
The tank has 2 cross braces and the three openings end up being 22" X 16" wide. I am trying to decide between having 3 50w chips centred one each over the openings, or go with setup that has either 3 20w chips or 1 20w surrounded by 4 10w chips in each pendant. I want it to be dimmable as I plan to add a Reef angel soon. What is the most cost effective way to set this up?
I will start with the 125,which will be a mixed Reef tank. I noticed some people are building pendants and others a long fixture. Is there more benefit to one or the other (I will ceiling mount regardless ).
The tank has 2 cross braces and the three openings end up being 22" X 16" wide. I am trying to decide between having 3 50w chips centred one each over the openings, or go with setup that has either 3 20w chips or 1 20w surrounded by 4 10w chips in each pendant. I want it to be dimmable as I plan to add a Reef angel soon. What is the most cost effective way to set this up?
themaddhatter
New member
Well, Here's what I've come up with so far. 3 Makersled 6" heatsink kits for the individual pendants. Makerled 5up board and 5 LDD-1000H drivers along with the manual dimmer panel. I want 1 50W multichip per pendant, and prefer to keep them single channel for simplicity (use 1 buck driver for each and leave the two extras for possible fuge light and fans.) I'm just trying to figure out what chip to use. I see some hybrid chips out there on eBay that look interesting. One is a mix of 15k and Royal blue ( Specification for 50W LED:
Lens Color: Water Clear
Emitted Color: Blue White (20 Blue Led + 30 White Led)
Color Temperature/Wavelength: White: 15000K; Blue: 450-455nm
DC Forward Voltage (VF): 30-36Vdc
DC Forward Current (IF): 1.5A)
Sold by led-world2007. The item number is 231109231021.
Another is a cree based chip (item number 261417340777) Model Name: CREE XT-E
Emitted Color: White(6pcs)+Royal Bule(4pcs)
Temperature Color:6000K(White) + 450nm (Royal Blue )
DC Forward Voltage (VF): 30-34V
DC Forward Current (IF): 1.2A
Does anyone have any experience with either of these or a recommendation? I'm hoping to get started ordering soon
Lens Color: Water Clear
Emitted Color: Blue White (20 Blue Led + 30 White Led)
Color Temperature/Wavelength: White: 15000K; Blue: 450-455nm
DC Forward Voltage (VF): 30-36Vdc
DC Forward Current (IF): 1.5A)
Sold by led-world2007. The item number is 231109231021.
Another is a cree based chip (item number 261417340777) Model Name: CREE XT-E
Emitted Color: White(6pcs)+Royal Bule(4pcs)
Temperature Color:6000K(White) + 450nm (Royal Blue )
DC Forward Voltage (VF): 30-34V
DC Forward Current (IF): 1.2A
Does anyone have any experience with either of these or a recommendation? I'm hoping to get started ordering soon
themaddhatter
New member
I have heard that the color rendering is not the same as t5 or MH. I used to run 250w 20k MH pendants before and I liked the effect, though I had a couple of 10k t5s to reduce the blue. What is a good color range to target with leds to achieve similar results?
Unfortunately you cannot get the same color from a white/blue only LED array that you are used to seeing with MH. It won't even be close. Keeping the T5s and maybe switching them to Coral+ bulbs you might be ok as the T5 will add back the missing spectrum, but not with the chips you posted, they will look a bit too white and washed out. LED ratio needs to be at least 2 blue to every one white. If using Cree chips you want neutral white (4000k - 5000k) anything higher will make corals look rather pale and washed out.
themaddhatter
New member
I saw some of their other variants had more Royal blue than white. I'll see if they have it with 4 to 5k. Would that still be too washed out? What chip would you recommend for a single chip pendant? And alternatively, how about if I went with 2 chips per pendant? I could go with 2 20w or 30w chips or even 1 50w and 1 20w..
You might wan't to look at using 10watt chips and supplementing with a few single stars to add some of the missing spectrum that most of the larger single channel multi chip leds will have.
If you plan to keep the T5 you should be able to get by using only white and royal blue in the LED portion but having some violet around 420nm and some true blue around 480nm in addition to a little bit of red 630nm and up (or could be from a few warm white leds)
There are some of those Cree arrays that would be pretty decent floating around for a single channel light but you'll have to hunt.
Everyone seems to be having decent results using the lumia chips but they are pricey (compared to ebay specials) and intended for 5 channels (you can combine channels but then you loose the ability to fine tune the color of the light)
If you plan to keep the T5 you should be able to get by using only white and royal blue in the LED portion but having some violet around 420nm and some true blue around 480nm in addition to a little bit of red 630nm and up (or could be from a few warm white leds)
There are some of those Cree arrays that would be pretty decent floating around for a single channel light but you'll have to hunt.
Everyone seems to be having decent results using the lumia chips but they are pricey (compared to ebay specials) and intended for 5 channels (you can combine channels but then you loose the ability to fine tune the color of the light)
themaddhatter
New member
I can probably keep 2 48" t5s to supplement, but I'm hoping to avoid it. I did some digging in eBayland and found this chip. 121489688748. It's description is :
Parameters For 50W LED Aquarium Grow Light:
Quantity: 1pc
Channel 1: EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 10000K x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 2 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 455nm Royal Blue x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA )
Channel 3 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 420nm x 5 chips + 430nm Violet(UV) x 5 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 4 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 445nm Royal Blue x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 5 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 15000K X 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Parameters For 50W LED Aquarium Light:
Quantity: 1pc
Channel 1: EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 4500K x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 2 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 455nm Royal Blue x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 3 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 430nm Violet(UV) x 10 chips (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 4 : EPILEDS BH-R4242D-A1 42*42mil 660nm x 5 chips + Epistar ES--CADBV45P 490nm x 5 chips (27-29V @ 350mA-500mA)
Channel 5 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 410nm (32-34V @ 350mA-500mA)
Parameters For 100W LED Aquarium Grow Light:
Quantity: 1pc
Channel 1: EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 10000K x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 2 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 455nm Royal Blue x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 3 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 420nm x 10 chips + 430nm Violet(UV) x 10 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 4 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 445nm Royal Blue x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 5 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 15000K X 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Parameters For 100W LED Aquarium Light:
Quantity: 1pc
Channel 1: EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 4500K x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 2 : EPISTAR ES-CADBV45P 45*45mil 455nm Royal Blue x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 3 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 430nm Violet(UV) x 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 4 : EPILEDS BH-R4242D-A1 42*42mil 660nm x 10 chips + Epistar ES--CADBV45P 490nm x 10 chips (27-29V @ 700mA-1000mA)
Channel 5 : EPILEDS EP-U4545K-A3 45*45mil 410nm X 20 chips (32-34V @ 700mA-1000mA)
I'm not sure whether the aquarium grow light or the aquarium light version works better for my application, but what do you think? It seems to be a lumia knock off. The price for a 50w grow is 37 and change or 61for the 100w. Either way, a hell of a lot cheaper than the lumia.
themaddhatter
New member
I may still end up going this route if I can't find a Chinese solution. I have another 6' tank to light too, so I may go cheap Chinese on one and save the lumia build for the other.
themaddhatter
New member
What are you using for moonlighting? A separate chip or one of the channels?i am using this for five channels + moon lite
themaddhatter
New member
Where did you find the board? That's an 8up? And what type of led are you using for moonlighting?
