My new DIY LED strip to replace some T5's

Y

yeldarbj

Active member
I decided to try switching over some of my T5's to LED's. I was initially planning on replacing a blue and an actinic with one of the Reefbrite blue LED strips, but the more reading I did, I realized I could probably build my own for much less. Total cost for the strip is ~$120.

Here is the result:

20100826_0002.jpg


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I used 12 Cree XR-E royal blues mounted on a 34.5" piece of 1/8" aluminum U channel stock. LED's are spaced 3" apart with 80 degree optics for wider spread. The great part is the LED's are supposed to last 10 years and the whole strip only used 34 watts. The 2 T5's I took off were consuming 145 watts.

You get a completely different actinic pop, like actinics on steroids. I can't capture it very well with a camera.

Here is what it looks like with just the blue/actinic T5's on:
20100825_BlueandActT5only.jpg


Here it is with just the LED strip:
20100826_RBLEDonly.jpg


When my other 4 T5 bulbs are running, there is very little difference in overall light, but I'm getting better color with the LED's and saving a lot of electricity. I've already built a 2nd strip with mixed white/royal blue LED's and planning a couple more strips to replace more T5's.
 
Brad thats pretty cool! I would like to replace my two supplemental 6 foot VHO superactinics that run on a icecap 660 with something like that. Where did you get all the parts from?

Jerrod
 
Ordered the aluminum from SpeedyMetals. They cut to spec and are cheaper than the local box stores. The LED's and drivers came from RapidLED. Stainless steel screws/nylon washers from Amazon.
 
I would love to know all the details on your LEDs.Would you be able to go threw the building process?
 
Brad how would you feel about maybe doing a little led presentation for the club at one of our meetings? It seems that a lot of us either have par,color,penetration questions or actual mechanical questions. I am always sceptical when new things start showing up,just like t 5s at first I did not think they were any good at all! Know I will take my t 5s over a halide any day of the week! lol.
 
Jarrod, I can go into some detail. I didn't take pictures of the actual build process but could try to do more of that next time. Basically the LED's come mounted on an aluminum star, like this: http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-1/Blue-Cree-high-hi/Detail. The LED's do produce some heat so they are typically mounted to some form of heat sink, just like a CPU in a computer. A lot of people are using true solid aluminum solid heat sinks with multiple fins for heat dispersal, but they are also mounting larger numbers of LED's very closely together. Since I was more or less trying to replicate a T5 with wider spacing, at 3", I decided to go with the aluminum channel. It's 1 3/4" wide, 1" high, and 1/8" thick. I drilled holes in the aluminum channel for screws and wires and used some arctic silver thermal compound between the LED star and aluminum channel. I mounted the LED's with stainless screws and nylon washers (so the screws wouldn't short out the LED's).

The toughest part is to solder the wire onto each LED. They are wired in series, and the first and last are wired into a Meanwell ballast. I had zero soldering experience prior to this and wouldn't call myself skilled even now. The aluminum bar does get warm to the touch when they are on but not hot. I mounted a computer fan above the aluminum channel to blow down on it to help keep it cool although I think it was probably fine without it.

Let me know if there are any other specific details you are interested in. You can make it more complicated with dimmable ballasts, but I chose to keep it simple for now.


Scott,
I could do some sort of presentation as to how it's put together and maybe to some of the different LED types/colors out there, but I'm not qualified to go into any detailed PAR/penetration type issues. I'll just need to find a meeting that I can actually make it to. For those of you going to Crase, be sure and listen to Dr. Sanjay Joshi's talk. He is the expert on lighting and will be discussing LED's. Plus, Reefbrite is supposed to have a booth. I've seen a lot of pictures of their modules and I think my 12 Cree Royal Blue LED bar is probably very similar.

While I'm not ready to completely switch out all my T5's, I'm planning on moving toward using only 2 T5's and the rest LED's over my tank. I've already built a second module with half white half royal blue. Again the colors are amazing.
 
I run three metal halides with no supplementation . I would be interested to learn more for sure. I have been toying with some LED fixtures but I haven't found an adequate power supply for them yet.
 
I wanted to bump this and see how its going! still happy with your results? any problems?


What width did you use? you just reduced the cost of this project by atleast 60$ so far :)

thank you!!
 
I'm very happy with the results. No problems at all. I've replaced 4 of my 6 T5 bulbs so far. I'm still running a blue plus and purple plus.

The aluminum channel I used is: 1-3/4" {A} x 1" {B} x 1/8" {C} Channel 6063-T52 Aluminum

I mounted a couple of computer case fans above the aluminum channel to keep the LEDs cool. They are 12v fans that I run at about 6v, and are near silent. The aluminum is barely warm to the touch. If you don't want to run fans, I'd probably mount the LEDs to a heatsink b/c they can get hot. The overall heat is nothing compared to the heat from the T5's.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
dang,

ok that addressed my concern about heat distribution. I was not sure if the U channel could release enough heat from the LEDs to be function as a psuedo-heatsink without any fans :(

I was going to mount the u channel outside of the fixture so a fan would look goofy on it.

Bill from ReefLED lights said that if its too hot to hold in hand, its too hot for the led to survive. :(

Thanks for your guidance, its really appreciated as every penny spent nowadays has to go the the mile, (or two)
 
It's not too hot to handle without the fans, but the aluminum is pretty warm. I used the LED's for a couple days before mounting the fans. I just don't know what the longevity is without the fans. I just went with the recommendation of keeping them cool. Mine are spaced at 3". I think if you spaced the LED's at least 3" or more apart, you might be fine. I'm also driving them all at 700mA. If you used a dimmable ballast you could control the temperature better.

Are you wanting to add royal blues for color, whites, or both?
 
I was going to shoot for 24 LEDs at 46" so it was around 1.9 inch apart.

I was going to run a single 6048d to start and run the wiring in a way that down the line I could add a second 6048d and then run them at higher power.
Plus I can then have the reefkeeper controlling the lights for a gradual start on and off



Was DEF looking at the royal blue :)

I tested some junker LEDs to see what it would look like in the tank.

101208ftsactinic4623.jpg


LOVE the look of it. What about taking a second u-channel and putting it on top of the other one, (so you cant see the wiring) and then put a small fan on the end of it to try to blow thru the heat. worse comes to work I can change the concept design of the bracket to be thicker and then mount small fans on it to blow straight towards the LEDs.

If its handleable without the fans is a good sign. Cooler of course is always better but there is def some usage leeway. I big into LED retrofitting of cars and motorcycles and just was late to the game on reefing due to cost :)
 
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Are you planning on Cree LED's? If so you are not going to get more than 12-13 on one 6048d. I wouldn't double up the u-channel. I think it would trap too much heat even with the fan at the end. I think you'd be better off with the u-channel open to disperse the heat. I think you'd be fine with trying 12 LED's spread over the 46" span, using the widest optics, 80 deg. I wouldn't try 24 LED's on one aluminum bar without cooling. Not sure how you plan on mounting the bar, but it should work in front angled toward the tank. I'm afraid it might ruin your clean look. Nice tank btw.
 
Nice thread...thanks for all the info. I would really like to add some LEDs one of these days. I have already been brainstorming on how I could incorporate them into the new tanks. I already have the 150 HQI orbs for the new tanks, but I would really like to supplement with LEDs.
 
yeldarbj said:
Are you planning on Cree LED's? If so you are not going to get more than 12-13 on one 6048d. I wouldn't double up the u-channel. I think it would trap too much heat even with the fan at the end. I think you'd be better off with the u-channel open to disperse the heat. I think you'd be fine with trying 12 LED's spread over the 46" span, using the widest optics, 80 deg. I wouldn't try 24 LED's on one aluminum bar without cooling. Not sure how you plan on mounting the bar, but it should work in front angled toward the tank. I'm afraid it might ruin your clean look. Nice tank btw.
Click to expand...


Yup, crees.
I think the numbers would kick them down to 350MA so that was how I also figured less heat generation too.

yea, its prob too much heat retention like you said. I figured I could use an L bracket attached to it and then another bracket mounted to the fixture and use compression nuts to control the angle of the bar.

Thanks for the compliment! now you also see why im so picky on how the bar gets installed. its gotta match up with the look.
 
I don't think you can add more bulbs to drop it down to 350ma. I'm pretty sure the maximum number of bulbs per string is 12-13. You might want to check in with the experts on the big LED thread in the DIY area. That 6048d has an adjustment to drop the amperage.
 
FiReBReTHa said:
I was going to shoot for 24 LEDs at 46" so it was around 1.9 inch apart.

I was going to run a single 6048d to start and run the wiring in a way that down the line I could add a second 6048d and then run them at higher power.
Plus I can then have the reefkeeper controlling the lights for a gradual start on and off



Was DEF looking at the royal blue :)

I tested some junker LEDs to see what it would look like in the tank.

101208ftsactinic4623.jpg


LOVE the look of it. What about taking a second u-channel and putting it on top of the other one, (so you cant see the wiring) and then put a small <a href="http://www.bcduplication.com" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0) ! important; text-decoration: none ! important; cursor: default ! important;">cd duplication next day</a> on the end of it to try to blow thru the heat. worse comes to work I can change the concept design of the bracket to be thicker and then mount small fans on it to blow straight towards the LEDs.

If its handleable without the fans is a good sign. Cooler of course is always better but there is def some usage leeway. I big into LED retrofitting of cars and motorcycles and just was late to the game on reefing due to cost :)
Click to expand...

That looks absolutely awesome :eek1:
 
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