TheFishMan65
New member
Interesting lay out. Is that the way they will be over the tank? Which ones are which color?
Mountains of sawdust (360g plywood, LED, Arduino build)
- Thread starter der_wille_zur_macht
- Start date
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
This is one of three units. The biggest. The bars are around 18 inches, for reference. Will be around 24 inches up from the water. 40 degree optics. My power density, by most rules of thumb, is very low - but as should be clear by now, I am not going for a typical edge to edge uniform light distribution.
LEDs are a mix of royal blue XP-E, cool white XM-L, and warm white XM-L. I will preface the ratios by saying I think they will cause a stir, too.
It is 1:1:6 warm
royal. Whites to be run around 2.2 - 2.5A. Blues at 850mA.
In additon to these three big new fixtures using nice shiny new state of the art LEDs, i am recycling my old leftovers from experiments into some strategically placed accent lighting. Details TBA because it is still in development. But I have some various Rebels, XR-E, XP-E, XP-G, and some no names I bought on a bet.
LEDs are a mix of royal blue XP-E, cool white XM-L, and warm white XM-L. I will preface the ratios by saying I think they will cause a stir, too.
It is 1:1:6 warmroyal. Whites to be run around 2.2 - 2.5A. Blues at 850mA.In additon to these three big new fixtures using nice shiny new state of the art LEDs, i am recycling my old leftovers from experiments into some strategically placed accent lighting. Details TBA because it is still in development. But I have some various Rebels, XR-E, XP-E, XP-G, and some no names I bought on a bet.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Big stars with little LEDs are RB XP-E. Big stars with big LEDs are cool white XM-L. Little circles are warm white XM-L. That is the only MCPCB I could get my desired warm white bin on (from Cutter). They were a bit of a pain to work with due to the tiny size but not terrible.
I got XM-L specific optics from a vendor and am now regretting it. They were expensive and they have pretty much zero clearance for wiring on the star, so i am going to have to modify the holders to get them mounted. I should have just used cheaper XR-E or XP-E optics since I am gonna have to modify anyways.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
1:1:6 warm
That should say warm : cool : royal.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
So I finished running cables and fired up the entire LED rig over the weekend, which was met with a bit of disaster thanks to a faulty pcb. Details here:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19353858#post19353858
I have to say, the XM-L are freaking brilliant. As a reminder, my ratio is 1:1:6 of NW XM-L to CW XM-L to RB XP-E. With the XM-L at 2.6A and the XP-E at 800mA, it is too warm. The tiny number of XM-L totally overpower the blues at those currents. I am probably gonna end up running the blues a little hotter and the whites a little lower to compensate. Anyways, despite the slight disaster with the drivers, it was an exciting weekend. XM-L may seem pricey but thanks to the really good efficiency at such high currents, IMHO one of them can easily replace 2 XP-G or maybe 3 or 4 XP-E/XR-E.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=19353858#post19353858
I have to say, the XM-L are freaking brilliant. As a reminder, my ratio is 1:1:6 of NW XM-L to CW XM-L to RB XP-E. With the XM-L at 2.6A and the XP-E at 800mA, it is too warm. The tiny number of XM-L totally overpower the blues at those currents. I am probably gonna end up running the blues a little hotter and the whites a little lower to compensate. Anyways, despite the slight disaster with the drivers, it was an exciting weekend. XM-L may seem pricey but thanks to the really good efficiency at such high currents, IMHO one of them can easily replace 2 XP-G or maybe 3 or 4 XP-E/XR-E.
TheFishMan65
New member
Are you driving the XM-Ls with parallel CATs or some other way?
Did you get any pics of it?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
XM-Ls are driven by v0.2 (I think) of terahz's LM3409/HV board. They use his BOM except for Rsense and an inductor with a higher max current.
I did get one or two pics on my cell camera but they suck. Once the wrinkles are out I will bust out the real camera, I promise.
The big decision right now, since I fried a bunch of the 4101's I had been using for the blues, is do i just rebuild those, or do I switch to 3409's running the blues in parallel?
I did get one or two pics on my cell camera but they suck. Once the wrinkles are out I will bust out the real camera, I promise.
The big decision right now, since I fried a bunch of the 4101's I had been using for the blues, is do i just rebuild those, or do I switch to 3409's running the blues in parallel?
TheFishMan65
New member
Thanks, I found the update on the driver thread after I asked.
daninfamous
New member
Hows the tank going? Are you still using turf scrubbing? If so how is that going as well?
Glad to see you keeping the tank going.
Glad to see you keeping the tank going.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Dan, sounds like you need to read back a few pages. The tank has been dry for a while. But I did like the ATS and I am planning on using it once the system is back up.
Speaking of, I have a specific target date now. There is a frag trade locally late next month that I want to have the tank running by. Clock is ticking!
I have been making some more rock lately and I like it so far. This is really the only thing keeping the tank incomplete right now - waiting for it to cure.
The tank has been dry for a while. But I did like the ATS and I am planning on using it once the system is back up.Speaking of, I have a specific target date now. There is a frag trade locally late next month that I want to have the tank running by. Clock is ticking!
I have been making some more rock lately and I like it so far. This is really the only thing keeping the tank incomplete right now - waiting for it to cure.
daninfamous
New member
Oh, im sorry. I saw you had to repair it, I must of missed that it was totally dry. Well its good to know that it will be coming back soon, was an epic build.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Current plan is to have the system running by the next local frag swap, which I think is the weekend of the 18th of November, so I have a bit more than a month. That is the blink of an eye though, considering it takes me almost a week to make enough RO to fill the system.
The few corals I had were mostly given away. The fish were put in a 60g tank I had available as a temporary home. Unfortunately I lost the tang a few days after the move,
presumably due to stress from the move. And, one of the shrimp gobies jumped shortly after the move. Otherwise livestock is fine.
The few corals I had were mostly given away. The fish were put in a 60g tank I had available as a temporary home. Unfortunately I lost the tang a few days after the move,
presumably due to stress from the move. And, one of the shrimp gobies jumped shortly after the move. Otherwise livestock is fine.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
My rock workstation, where I spent an hour or two this morning:
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Poeticlydead
New member
Lol
Are you forming it in the Little Tikes turtle sandbox?
Are you forming it in the Little Tikes turtle sandbox?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Yup. Mixing in the far bin, forming in sand in the turtle, and curing in the close bin.
The turtle is great because of the sheer size. I can make nice big pieces at an appropriate scale to the tank.
The turtle is great because of the sheer size. I can make nice big pieces at an appropriate scale to the tank.
