New custom LED reef lights

[JRChristiansen]

This is a prototype of the light I'm testing. If anyone is interested in me building them one let me know. They put off a ton of light. I will have blues and whites. They light up a space about 36"x36"

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[Jordan Kutun]

Spectrum?


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[JRChristiansen]

I can build it with 10000k 20000k or royal blue or just about any spectrum somebody would want. Also 2 colors in one with different power cords for blue and white. They consume a little over 50 watts and around 110 watts for the 2 in one.

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[jtrasap]

The nickel plated coolers will last a whole lot longer than the bare aluminum. I built quite a few of these a few years back and all of the aluminum sinks were junk within a year.

 

[JRChristiansen]

The nickel plated coolers will last a whole lot longer than the bare aluminum. I built quite a few of these a few years back and all of the aluminum sinks were junk within a year.

The heat sinks I use have a copper core. They use a fan to stay cool so I shouldn't have any heat issues with this set up.

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[jtrasap]

The problem is the aluminum on the outside. It will corrode like crazy to the point that it doesn't dissipate the heat. I have some of my old ones lying around somewhere. I'll have to see if I can dig some up. The nickel plated ones pitted a bit here and there but the aluminum ones pretty much rotted away due to the saltwater. Not knocking your lights, just a word of advice from my experience. It's been a few years since I built some but I've been considering throwing a few together for my 400.

 

[JRChristiansen]

I have used bare aluminum on all my heatsinks and light fixtures on my tanks over the last 12 years and never had corrosion issues. I even used bare aluminum c channel for Center braces before on my saltwater tanks and never had corrosion issues. They were about 1 inch away from the water surface. Maybe the ones you tried weren't actually aluminum or not quality aluminum or maybe that pot metal stuff. because I've never had a corrosion issue with any of my lights setups over the past years so I highly doubt I will have issues with my new 540g build. Plus most manufacturers use aluminum for their heat sinks on just about any light setup.

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[jtrasap]

I agree, I have aluminum bits and pieces here and there that stand up decently to the saltwater. It was the aluminum in the cheap CPU/GPU coolers that I had problems with. I tried a number of different ones and had the same issue with them all. I think the majority of them are low-grade aluminum. That's why I switched to the nickel plated coolers.

 

[JRChristiansen]

I agree, I have aluminum bits and pieces here and there that stand up decently to the saltwater. It was the aluminum in the cheap CPU/GPU coolers that I had problems with. I tried a number of different ones and had the same issue with them all. I think the majority of them are low-grade aluminum. That's why I switched to the nickel plated coolers.

I will check Into those if I have issues. Thanks for the heads up.

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