Ron's DIY LED Project

[RonMidtownStomp]

First, a quick overview of the system. I have a 72"x30"x24" display tank and a 48"x24"x12" shallow reef tank next to it. I'm reluctant to switch the display tank lighting over too quickly to LEDs. I would like to switch entirely pending the results of this build and a few months of observations to follow.

I currently have two 12 bulb strips of Cree 3W Royal Blue LEDs powered by Meanwell drivers and am very impressed with the colors I get under the lights. I have not yet used any white LEDs.

After reading a bit and looking at the Phillips Luxeon ES device specs and pricing, it seems to me as if Cree has been trumped for now in the aquarium LED arena. The Luxeon devices have higher output, higher temp handling and are about 70% of the cost with less expensive lenses available. There's almost too good to be true, so I am going to try them and see what results I get. http://shop.stevesleds.com/main.sc

I'll split into multiple posts for easier parsing by the forums.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Here is my invoice:

Order Contents:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty | Description | Price Each | Total Price
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 | The Quad - Dimming LED Driver | $38.88 | $77.76
ma Current Rating: 1,000ma- For use with
high power Philips Luxeon LEDs

6 | 20 Gauge Driver Power wire | $0.20 | $1.20

100 | 24 Gauge LED Power wire | $0.10 | $10.00

2 | Thermal Adhesive - 1-Part Glue | $4.99 | $9.98

14 | Philips Luxeon ES ROYAL BLUE 3 Watt LEDs | $2.99 | $41.86

21 | Philips Luxeon ES COOL WHITE 3 Watt LEDs | $2.99 | $62.79

1 | Switching Power Supply 200w, 25 @ 8.3A | $24.99 | $26.99
Include Power cord?: Include 3-Prong Power +$2.00
Cord?

5 | Rivets | $0.08 | $0.40

40 | Optics for 3W LEDs - 30°, 60°, 90° | $0.45 | $18.00
Beam Angle: 90° Beam Angle
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal $248.98
Tax $0.00
Shipping (Priority 2-3 Day) $15.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Balance Due $263.98

I'd heard mention that he included extra devices and he was very generous with his extras. I received 21 blue and 24 white. I chose 90 degree lenses because of the depth of the display tank where I will also be testing these LEDs. I will eventually include PAR numbers in this thread.

I love his driver design, and as I had a Meanwell arrive with a bad pot, modular seems very cool and useful. I haven't done all of my reading on the drivers, yet, but I look forward to trying them.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Luxeon LED devices:

Steve's custom x4 driver. Having done PCB design, I think it's brilliant:

Lens:

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Required power supply, affordable and modular so it's easy to replace if it goes bad:

My quiet collection of 2W fans:

And my soldering tools all ready to go:

 

[Exotic Reef.]

I am following this

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

My intent is to make the C-Channel strips modular so I can move them around, try them on both tanks, try different color mixes, and keep things thermally separate. In other words, 12 Royal Blue LEDs on a 4' strip of C-Channel produce a certain amount of heat and require a certain amount of air flow. If you add 7 White LEDs, then you might add too much heat. I'd rather have 7 White LEDs on a separate strip of aluminum. I can also try 14 RBs, 7 whites, 14 RBs, 7 whites, 14 RBs that way with different spacings.

I'm going to start by building three strips of 7 white LEDs each on 4' sections of C-channel.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Whites all pasted down. I'm thinking one 4' strip with 14 royal blues and a 2' strip with 7.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

Those are all glued up, now. 10pm Pacific and I can solder. I have some driver wiring and wire prep to do before then.

 

[Saltwaternooby]

Pull an all nighter to get this done!!

 

[windowlicker916]

Going to have to knock at your door when you are done!

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

RC was "in backups" by the time I got to first light. I took a bit longer of a break than planned.

Does anybody know why you're not supposed to use the same thermal adhesive for the drivers as you do for the LEDs? Is it because it's copper to Al instead of Al to Al?

 

[windowlicker916]

Not going to put the drivers in a hobby box or something?

Guess they are cheap enough that if one blows it can be replaced easily enough.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

The drivers are still $40/each. I will do something for them, but they need airflow. Meanwhile they're going to not run for more than a few minutes until I find a good solution for them. I have a little hobby box, and some small fans. I'll probably put them in there with the pots in the walls of the box. Not to that point, yet.

Here in a little bit (hour?) I get to see what this number of LEDs looks like on the display tank. I don't think I have quite enough, and I want to try these on the shallow reef first. If this is close to the right number of LEDs for the display tank and all goes well over the next couple of months, there is a coral sale and another build coming for the display tank.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

The drivers are still $40/each. I will do something for them, but they need airflow. Meanwhile they're going to not run for more than a few minutes until I find a good solution for them. I have a little hobby box, and some small fans. I'll probably put them in there with the pots in the walls of the box. Not to that point, yet.

Here in a little bit (hour?) I get to see what this number of LEDs looks like on the display tank. I don't think I have quite enough, and I want to try these on the shallow reef first. If this is close to the right number of LEDs for the display tank and all goes well over the next couple of months, there is a coral sale and another build coming for the display tank.

 

[windowlicker916]

Based on calculations for te frag tank do you feel that technically that is all you need (or more) for that size tank?

Also what makes these drivers different in that they require cooling? The mean wells don't as far as I know.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

I have 38 Royal blues (3 strips) and 18 whites for a total of 56 LEDs which should be plenty for a 4x2 shallow reef. In fact, it's the same number of LEDs that Steve includes in the kit for 44-56" reefs. It's almost enough light for the display tank, but not quite. It's interesting how much a few white LEDs change the royal blue color.

 

[joe perry]

subscribed

 

[Landsailor]

It's funny. A few years back when I was toying around with high output LEDs, Luxeon was the king and Cree was sort of just arriving on the market.

Also what makes these drivers different in that they require cooling? The mean wells don't as far as I know.

Everything that is converting energy from one form to another needs cooling. Put the Meanwell drivers in a sealed enclosure and see what happens.

Steve's LED drivers are DC boards and require an external DC power supply. The Meanwells have that rectification built into them and are contained in an enclosure.

 

[windowlicker916]

Seems you have some electronic experience, have you considered possibly building a Arduino controller to controls the sprectrum? Not sure if those drivers supports PWM or not.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

I have an Electrical Engineering degree. More pictures tonight. Almost done riveting everything together! I tested them on the display tank and it's definitely not enough light in terms of appearance.