New thread: LED info only for ATS's only....

[SantaMonica]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IP65-30W-30...987112?hash=item43e624e7a8:g:p8QAAOSwv-NWVCjr

 

[SantaMonica]

I myself bought the 20 watt version, and it only used 13 watts out of the wall. And a lot of that was the power supply itself getting hot, so only a part of that went to the LEDs.

 

[fishbox]

I myself bought the 20 watt version, and it only used 13 watts out of the wall. And a lot of that was the power supply itself getting hot, so only a part of that went to the LEDs.

I'm looking at two 10w versions for a 3x4 screen (one light per side ). Would this provide enough actual power per side or should I look at 20w version?

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[SantaMonica]

The limitation there is the small screen size; larger lights will miss a lot of the screen. So the smallest physical size... 10w... should be fine.

 

[Horace]

Here is one red VS blue

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23848062&postcount=679


First pic is red screen-I got about 3/4 cup algae. There are a couple patches of algae that are kind of stiff with strands maybe a little less than 1/16" in diameter. The strands crush easily. The rest is hair algae. The other pic is the blue screen. I got about 1/4 cup algae.

This may be covered, but just because the blue only grew 1/4 cup vs the 3/4 cup from red doesnt mean forget blue IMO. What would be a better test is to test them combined to see if you would get 1 full cup, because they each may add growth not achievable from the other spectrum.

 

[fishbox]

The limitation there is the small screen size; larger lights will miss a lot of the screen. So the smallest physical size... 10w... should be fine.

Well the tank is a 40B that's not complete yet and I'm not sure how much I'll be feeding. Keeping the mindset at adding livestock slowly, I'm gonna start with the 3x4 screen and leave room to double or triple the size as needed.

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[Horace]

I myself bought the 20 watt version, and it only used 13 watts out of the wall. And a lot of that was the power supply itself getting hot, so only a part of that went to the LEDs.

that is probably because this fixture seems to allow for up to 240v. My guess is that this fixture wont run at 30w unless you drive it with the higher voltage.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

that is probably because this fixture seems to allow for up to 240v. My guess is that this fixture wont run at 30w unless you drive it with the higher voltage.

That's not correct. Universal voltage input LED drivers will output the rated power regardless of the voltage input. When a lower input voltage is applied, the driver/power supply draws more current.

 

[Horace]

That's not correct. Universal voltage input LED drivers will output the rated power regardless of the voltage input. When a lower input voltage is applied, the driver/power supply draws more current.

Then the 30w rating is a lie?

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[Floyd R Turbo]

I never said that. Power = Current * Voltage. If you know current and voltage then you can calculate the power used by the power supply.

For instance if it is truly delivering 30W of power at 120V, your current should be around 0.25 A (at the wall, not the load side of the power supply)

If it is delivering 30W of power on 240V, then current (wall) should be 0.125A

 

[Horace]

I never said that. Power = Current * Voltage. If you know current and voltage then you can calculate the power used by the power supply.

For instance if it is truly delivering 30W of power at 120V, your current should be around 0.25 A (at the wall, not the load side of the power supply)

If it is delivering 30W of power on 240V, then current (wall) should be 0.125A

I know how that works I am an electronics tech.

So my point is if the unit is only consuming 13w from the wall (as noted above), when the unit is rated for 30w, tells me that they are misrepresenting the actual power of the unit.

and yes Power = Current x Voltage

Obviously the current consumption is significantly lower than needed for 110v (about half) to achieve the 30w rating.

While I am not super familiar with the function of the LED drivers, I was under the impression that the drivers had a fairly narrow band of Voltage they worked with. That being said, I suspect that they dont always automatically adjust the current draw upwards when the voltage is lower. BTW, this is pretty common thing for cheap fixtures made for 240v to produce roughly half the output when put on 110v, and I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that is exactly what is happening here too given it appears to be consuming nearly half the power rating noted on the unit.

 

[hkgar]

SO, what do the readings from my lamp mean
Volt 116.9
Current .21
Watts 24.3

 

[SantaMonica]

Looks like a Kill-o-watt meter reading from the wall. If so, it means that the power supply + LEDs use 25 watts total. Typically, this would mean that the LEDs are using about 18 to 20 watts themselves, and the rest is wasted as heat in the power supply.

 

[FF337]

I have about 80$ give or take in this ATS. I am feeding it with my main pump off a manifold. I am using the 30 watt version of the waterproof flood light with red and blue LEDs.

I am using two 1" bulkheads as drains. I have a 2" piece of pvc in one above the operating level in case the first drain becomes clogged. I am going to change these 1" bulkheads to 2" bulkheads run the same way.

Thanks for your help fullbore. I decided to use the container vs the bucket since I had the space.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

it's more for the basics thread vs the lighting info thread but IMO that's an iffy install, you're trapping all the heat from the heat sinks against the plastic and even though those are IP65 fixtures I would still hesitate to put them into a semi-closed box. JMO though.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I know how that works I am an electronics tech.

So my point is if the unit is only consuming 13w from the wall (as noted above), when the unit is rated for 30w, tells me that they are misrepresenting the actual power of the unit.

and yes Power = Current x Voltage

Obviously the current consumption is significantly lower than needed for 110v (about half) to achieve the 30w rating.

While I am not super familiar with the function of the LED drivers, I was under the impression that the drivers had a fairly narrow band of Voltage they worked with. That being said, I suspect that they dont always automatically adjust the current draw upwards when the voltage is lower. BTW, this is pretty common thing for cheap fixtures made for 240v to produce roughly half the output when put on 110v, and I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that is exactly what is happening here too given it appears to be consuming nearly half the power rating noted on the unit.

Just making sure, I don't like to assume but that's good info on the 240 vs 120, yet another thing to watch out for. If that was the case, that would explain a lot.

A quality PS like a Meanwell will output the rated power at a wide variance of input. But then again we're not dealing with quality PSs in these fixtures, we're dealing with as-cheap-as-you-can-get PSs.

I work with commercial & street lighting, so those fall into the quality side of the fence. If a spec sheet says Vin is 120-277V, I know that the light fixture outputs precisely the same amount of light throughout that entire range of Vin

 

[Horace]

Just making sure, I don't like to assume but that's good info on the 240 vs 120, yet another thing to watch out for. If that was the case, that would explain a lot.

A quality PS like a Meanwell will output the rated power at a wide variance of input. But then again we're not dealing with quality PSs in these fixtures, we're dealing with as-cheap-as-you-can-get PSs.

I work with commercial & street lighting, so those fall into the quality side of the fence. If a spec sheet says Vin is 120-277V, I know that the light fixture outputs precisely the same amount of light throughout that entire range of Vin

Yeah I believe u. So the question is, are some of these fixtures simply falsely advertising the actual power output or just not work as good on 110v. Either way, if the fixture is consuming only 13w total when rated at 30w....they are misrepresenting the product..at least for 110v, if not both

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[FullBoreReefer]

I have about 80$ give or take in this ATS. I am feeding it with my main pump off a manifold. I am using the 30 watt version of the waterproof flood light with red and blue LEDs.

I am using two 1" bulkheads as drains. I have a 2" piece of pvc in one above the operating level in case the first drain becomes clogged. I am going to change these 1" bulkheads to 2" bulkheads run the same way.

Thanks for your help fullbore. I decided to use the container vs the bucket since I had the space.

Interesting idea on spraying the screen versus it running out of the pipe the screen mounts to, only thing you may see differently is the amount of salt creep from the over spray. Please keep us posted.

 

[Horace]

I wondered why there were two pipes!!! (spray bars)

If i was to go that route, which I can see the advantage of not having to mess with any water when you remove the screen, I think i would have mounted them much closer to the screen, and also done more/smaller holes. Not saying it would be better, just saying

 

[FF337]

The pipe with the screen attached removes without turning water off to it. Then drop it back in when cleaned.