Serpentman's 300g upgrade

Thanks Patrick.

So far little progress on the LED's. Unfortunately, the drivers are back ordered for 4-6 wks. Hope to get the heatsinks and LED's themselves on order this week so I can begin construction. Should have some updates soon...
 
Heeeeeeeey... I think I was the one talking to you about using Meanwells, and if so I've learned some new information thats kind of important for people like us trying to use LEDs on big setups...

According to Kcress (A major electronics/DIY LED guru in the DIY forum) the reason Meanwell drivers can be so cheap is because they only draw power from the AC sine wave when it is above the voltage they use (48v). Since they are only using a portion of the wave, they have to draw ALL the amperage they will need out of the wall socket at that time causing short bursts of high amperage draw. Under 8-10 meanwells this is not really a problem, but with anything over that it startes causing an electronic phenomena called harmonics that heats up all the wires in that circuit a lot, even the wires in the walls. This can cause your LEDs or other lights on that circuit to flicker and has the potential to start fires....

My new plan is to use Der Wille Zur Macht's DIY driver plan. This is a lot like the buck drivers in that it can only run six LEDs per string and needs an external power supply, but they are extremely cheap to build if you have the skill and can be powered by a single larger power supply. Better and bigger power supplies normally come equipped with a feature called PFC that will prevent the wire heating caused by multiple meanwells.

My LED thread detailing all this (and some PAR numbers) is here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1826521
 
Yikes!!!! Thanks for the heads up. I was following your thread but haven't been on in while. Will definitely check it out.
 
Last edited:
Taqpol said:
Heeeeeeeey... I think I was the one talking to you about using Meanwells, and if so I've learned some new information thats kind of important for people like us trying to use LEDs on big setups...

According to Kcress (A major electronics/DIY LED guru in the DIY forum) the reason Meanwell drivers can be so cheap is because they only draw power from the AC sine wave when it is above the voltage they use (48v). Since they are only using a portion of the wave, they have to draw ALL the amperage they will need out of the wall socket at that time causing short bursts of high amperage draw. Under 8-10 meanwells this is not really a problem, but with anything over that it startes causing an electronic phenomena called harmonics that heats up all the wires in that circuit a lot, even the wires in the walls. This can cause your LEDs or other lights on that circuit to flicker and has the potential to start fires....

My new plan is to use Der Wille Zur Macht's DIY driver plan. This is a lot like the buck drivers in that it can only run six LEDs per string and needs an external power supply, but they are extremely cheap to build if you have the skill and can be powered by a single larger power supply. Better and bigger power supplies normally come equipped with a feature called PFC that will prevent the wire heating caused by multiple meanwells.

My LED thread detailing all this (and some PAR numbers) is here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1826521
Click to expand...

Good to know Alex! thanks for posting this!
 
It's been a long while since I've updated. The switchover to LED's is under way. The LED's and heatsinks arrived this week. Just waiting on the wire to begin soldering.

Here are some pics of the new rack. The arrays side on a slider bracket. This arrangement will allow me to move the individual arrays front to back and side to side for optimal placement.

DSCF0459.jpg


DSCF0458.jpg


Also picked up a 2nd skimmer to run on my system. I'm going to divide my system into 2 subsystems. In the event of emergency, I will be able to disconnect between the two and run both subsystems independently.
 
Jeff,
That light rack is going to look sweet! What are you thoughts for raising and lowering this system?
 
Padrino said:
Jeff,
That light rack is going to look sweet! What are you thoughts for raising and lowering this system?
Click to expand...

My entire lighting rack will be mounted to pulleys. I'm hoping this will allow me to optimize intensity and spread

Taqpol said:
How are you planning on driving the LEDs? That rack looks slick!
Click to expand...

Thanks man! Since I have the ability to raise and lower, I ended up going with the 700mA MW constant current drivers.
 
serpentman said:
My entire lighting rack will be mounted to pulleys. I'm hoping this will allow me to optimize intensity and spread



Thanks man! Since I have the ability to raise and lower, I ended up going with the 700mA MW constant current drivers.
Click to expand...

this will be a manual operation, you will raise and lower this rack by hand?
 
It will be manually operated. I am going to use the same system I have in place for my MH's just with the new rack.

DSCF8006.jpg
 
Been considering a similar light hanging system for my MH reflectors and some T% but am worried about?
Pulley rusting and jamming?
Also is there any need to add an additional safety cable in case the pulley looses grip?
 
Maroun, there is a safety tie off on the pulleys. If they were to let go, the rack would only drop 1-2" before it caught.

As far as the pulley's themselves, the wheels are plastic and the housings are powder coated. For the galvanized pins to fail, they would have to rust through 3/8" steel. Although it could happen, it would take decades. In hindsight, I should have replaced the hardware with stainless steel. If they start to show corrosion, I will do just that.


Padrino, if you check out page 22 of this thread, there is a brief recap of the build pics.
 
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