My DIY Hydra 26 HD Clones

[TheFishGuy31]

I needed to replace the black boxes over my 75g & I wanted either the Kessil AP700s or the AI Hyrda 26 HDs. Being that I'm going to a 125g I wasn't willing to spend $2700 on the AP700s.

I realized that BRS had all of the information I needed to make my own fixtures based on the Hydra 26 HD.

First is the picture with the LED layout (from BRS):

Here is the LEDs per fixture as per BRS' website:
6 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
6 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
6 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
2 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
2 - Cree XP-E2 Green
2 - SemiLED 415nm
2 - SemiLED 400nm

I ordered three heat sinks from RapidLED:

Pasted the LEDs onto the heatsinks using Arctic Silver & wired them so that each fixture has a channel for Blues, Royal Blues, Whites, Reds, Greens, & 400/420nm violets.

I used Meanwell LDD-700H 700mA drivers powered by a 30vDC 15A power supply.

LEDs powered up:

Full tank shot:

The color mix is one that I found on RC:
Blue/RB = 75%
White = 45%
Violet = 65%
Red = 40%
Green = 40%

I use a pot as an input to an arduino to control the total power output, & then each color value is multiplied against the total power so I can adjust the brightness of the fixtures while keeping the color ratio the same.

I still need to get project boxes to house all of the drivers & the Ardunio, as well as build the hood for the 125g so I can mount everything in it.

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.

 

[psidriven]

looks sweet. how is the spread and any disco ball effect?

 

[TheFishGuy31]

So far the spread seems pretty good.

There is definitely a disco ball effect that wasn't present with the eBay lights.

The heat sinks are not warm to the touch (I'm probably 20% or less of total power), but in time I will add fans & temperature probes to the fixtures, as well as an LCD w/ button interface to adjust each of the channels.

At some point I might interface it with my Apex to do a sunrise/sunset, but for now it's just plugged into my EB-8.

 

[psidriven]

disco ball effect seems to lessen as you turn up the intensity. lmk if you find a good fan. my current one has a bit of a high pitched whine i don't like.

 

[JoeyH08]

How much did you spend?

 

[TheFishGuy31]

How much did you spend?

Going through my eBay purchases & RapidLED it was about $400 to make three fixtures. That includes the $70 soldering station I bought.

Though I already had the Arduino, power supply, & wire. I'm going to guess I'll spend another $50 on some breadboard, project boxes, & terminal strips to clean everything up.

The worst part of this project was mounting all of the LEDs to the heat sink & then trying to solder tiny pieces of wire between the pads. The wiring looks like butt & I'd definitely recommend using a PCB if you have the means.

 

[TheFishGuy31]

disco ball effect seems to lessen as you turn up the intensity. lmk if you find a good fan. my current one has a bit of a high pitched whine i don't like.

I had Vantec Stealth PC fans on an old setup. They were dead silent.

If I can find some small enough to fit into the Onyx fixtures I'll definitely use them.

 

[Tooboot]

I needed to replace the black boxes over my 75g & I wanted either the Kessil AP700s or the AI Hyrda 26 HDs. Being that I'm going to a 125g I wasn't willing to spend $2700 on the AP700s.

I realized that BRS had all of the information I needed to make my own fixtures based on the Hydra 26 HD.

First is the picture with the LED layout (from BRS):

Here is the LEDs per fixture as per BRS' website:
6 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
6 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
6 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
2 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
2 - Cree XP-E2 Green
2 - SemiLED 415nm
2 - SemiLED 400nm

I ordered three heat sinks from RapidLED:

Pasted the LEDs onto the heatsinks using Arctic Silver & wired them so that each fixture has a channel for Blues, Royal Blues, Whites, Reds, Greens, & 400/420nm violets.

I used Meanwell LDD-700H 700mA drivers powered by a 30vDC 15A power supply.

LEDs powered up:

Full tank shot:

The color mix is one that I found on RC:
Blue/RB = 75%
White = 45%
Violet = 65%
Red = 40%
Green = 40%

I use a pot as an input to an arduino to control the total power output, & then each color value is multiplied against the total power so I can adjust the brightness of the fixtures while keeping the color ratio the same.

I still need to get project boxes to house all of the drivers & the Ardunio, as well as build the hood for the 125g so I can mount everything in it.

Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments.

Being new to electronics and diy leds, but with interest for my own tank I have some questions as to how you made this work.

I'very embarked on a diy led project and started some research, now I'm left with a bunch of questions between what books Dandmanuals are telling me and what I've seen people acomplish.

I plan on using a total of 32 LEDs, mix of blue royal blue whites and uv. I want to go the arduous route and program a day night schedule for 3-4 different channels and was planning on using 700ma ldd drivers. My question is around the power supply. What specs should I look for, I jumped the gun and ordered a 12vdc 20amp power supply but now worry that I won't have enough volts to power the LEDs in series.

 

[mcgyvr]

Power supply voltage needs to be higher than the combined forward voltage of the string of LEDs..

For example..
If each LED has a Vf of 2.0V and if you had 10 in series thats 20 volts and you would need a 24V power supply.. (LDD basically has a Vf of 2 volts too)

A 12V power supply is a bad choice unless you are only running a few LEDs off each LDD driver..
Typically a 48V supply is the way to go but its 100% dependent on how many LEDs you intend to have in each string and their combined Vf..

Then it needs to be able to supply enough current for all the LEDs its powering..

 

[TheFishGuy31]

Mcgyvr hit the nail on the head.

Do you happen to know the forward voltage of the LEDs you're using?



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[louscal]

Very nice I am in the process of making my own also but using the heats ink bars from rapid led. Btw the guy mike is awesome do deal with

 

[Tooboot]

Mcgyvr hit the nail on the head.

Do you happen to know the forward voltage of the LEDs you're using?



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They range from 3.4 to 3.8 (royal blues are 3.2 to 3.6). A total of 32 LEDs. I guess I wondered if it mattered that the power supply was 12v, but each series would have its own driver (each series would range from 6 LEDs to 10, operating on their own drivers). And do they need resistors or do the drivers have these somehow built in.

If I understand mcgyvr's explanation correctly, the power supply suplies the same max rated voltage to all connected devices (in this case 12v to each driver)

 

[mcgyvr]

They range from 3.4 to 3.8 (royal blues are 3.2 to 3.6). A total of 32 LEDs. I guess I wondered if it mattered that the power supply was 12v, but each series would have its own driver (each series would range from 6 LEDs to 10, operating on their own drivers). And do they need resistors or do the drivers have these somehow built in.

If I understand mcgyvr's explanation correctly, the power supply suplies the same max rated voltage to all connected devices (in this case 12v to each driver)

yes it matters that the supply is 12V.. With Vfs of 3.4-3.8 you can only run 3 LEDs with each LDD driver (each series string)..

and you do not need resistors... thats what the LDD is doing...

and yes the power supply outputs the same (constant) voltage BUT the LDD converts that to a constant current to feed the LEDs..

LEDs are current driven devices.. They are not like a lightbulb or other electronic (resistive) device they need to be "fed" the proper amount current..
With smaller "indicator" LEDs you only need a resistor to accomplish that.. With larger LEDs you use an LED driver for that. The LED driver is more efficient/accurate with the higher power LEDs.


So basically the LDD is "feeding" the LED with the proper current it needs.. And in order for the LDD to do its job it needs to be provided voltage greater than the sum of the Vf in that string.
Gotta pay that babysitter if you want her to feed your kids.. Without the baby sitter your kids will eat all the food in the house and get fat and destroy themselves..

 

[Tooboot]

Perfect, it supports what I thought (after I bought the power supply). So I need a stronger power supply (as far as vdc goes), while ensuring I have enough amperage for the total ldd draw (700ma x 4 drivers = 2.8Amps). If a string of 9 leds in a circuit to one ldd draws 32Vfs I would be best to use a 36Vdc power supply. I am also thinking that being low in volts will results in lights in the series not lighting up, too high on the vdc front and it won't be an issue since the ldds act as a resistor and will manage the excess voltage. Thanks for the help, this is making much more sense to me now. I am starting with no live rock so it will take some time to cycle my tank (start this weekend) so I have some time to get these lights right. Love the babysitter explanation by the way.

 

[mcgyvr]

yes you want to be 2 (or 2.5.. don't remember exactly now) greater than the sum of the Vf of all the LEDs in the string..
The LDD "consumes" that extra 2V for its operation..

And yes if the constant voltage supply is not high enough then the LEDs will fail to light..
More voltage is fine but too low is a problem..

Not to add confusion but there are other LED drivers that can "boost" the voltage so you could have for example a 12V input voltage and the driver can "boost" that to whatever voltage/current is needed by the string of LEDs..
But the meanwell LDD isn't "boost" capable so you need a voltage higher than the LEDs are consuming..

oh and always get a power supply that has at least 125% more current than you need to avoid it running at its max..
And more current isn't a problem (as far as the constant voltage power supply is concerned).. Nothing wrong with only needing 2 Amps but having a power supply that has the potential for 10 Amps..

 

[TheFishGuy31]

After class today I'm probably going to look for a new power supply.

I don't know the power factor of the one I'm running, but I'm sure it's low because it's a cheap one from eBay.


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[Coralfuture]

Question about the disco lighting effect, with you using the same pattern as the AI primes can you use their lenses to defuse the disco?

http://shop.aquaillumination.com/collections/hydra-twentysix/products/ai-hydra-fiftytwo-twentysix-80-degree-replacement-lens

 

[TheFishGuy31]

My pattern is the same, but my spacing isn't exactly like theirs, so no, I couldn't use them.

My guess is that their LEDs are placed onto a PCB so their grouping is probably a lot tighter than you could ever accomplish using the LEDs on 20mm heatsinks like I used.