DIY High Power LED Retrofit, Step-by-step guide Options

[Waterproof]

Great write up.....

I basically understand everything up to the point were its time to connect wires. You have 2 red and 2 black wires, 2 each from your white and blue LED's....im assuming that 2 reds are going to one puck and the 2 blacks are going to other one...is that right? If so, what next? Do the remaining wires from the puck go to your power supply (this is were it gets hazy for me). Do you have or can you post pics of the wiring...I'm almost ready to order for by BC29 and Pico...but want to make sure I know what the heck I need to do.

OK, the buckpuck has a total of 6 wires. Two go to the potentiometer, which will already be connected. This leaves 4 wires. Two wires are connected to the +/- of your power supply. The remaining two wires go to the +/- of your LEDs. You are correct about about my wires...two red wires (+/-) for the blues and two black wires (+/-) for the whites. Here's a wiring diagram:



This post has been edited by Waterproof: Feb 25 2009, 09:34 PM

[Waterproof]

Great job waterproof. I can see that the lighting is far better then the PC's they originally come with but are they strong enough to grow sps? Also if its the equivalent or just a bit less then the effects of a 70w MH, do you think you can keep clams? What color spectrum do you think this is under. 10k-14k-20k? Sorry about the questions. Great job once again. I'll be starting mine soon.

I think I can get my hands on a PAR meter this weekend to test the output. Right now, I'm not sure how it compares to a 70w MH. I know the corals are responding in a way that indicates increased light. Also, and this may be a stretch of relationships (A=B, B=C, therefore A=C), but it is known that LEDs put out greater PAR than PCs. However, while putting out better PAR, they may appear dimmer (i.e. less lumens). I've tested my system (PC vs LEDs) and the LEDs are brighter than the PCs. Therefore, I think it can be concluded that the LEDs are putting out greater PAR than the PCs. This will be verified once I get the PAR meter. Finally, I used 700mA drivers, but I recommend 1000mA drivers. This will give you approximately 30% more output.

The system, in my opinion, looks close to 14,000 K. Tonight, I switched out my cool whites for different cool whites with a higher K chromaticity. The original cool whites were ~6,500K and I switched to ~8,300-10,000 K. This has pushed the color closer to 20,000 K. Remember, with the potentiometers, you can get whatever color you want!

[Enzo0000]

thx for the diagram Waterproof...that helped much...time to get the ball rolling...might hit ya up again for more info sometime...


Thx again

[Waterproof]

PAR readings are in! I finally took some PAR readings, and things look pretty good. I switched out one of the 700mA buckpucks for a 1000mA buckpuck. So, I had the blues running at 700mA and the whites at 1000mA. As could be expected, I noticed a significant dropoff towards the edges and corners of the tank. At this point, I was outside the heatsink and only recieving the light from the outter LEDs. I focussed my measurements to three main depths within the tank - 4", 8", and the bottom (12"). Towards the center of the tank, and at a depth of about 4", I hit a PAR of 780! Here's a diagram of some of my readings:



I took readings directly over some of my corals. Here's what I found:



I'm pretty happy with these numbers. The front of the tank had lower PAR readings b/c the LEDs are positioned closer to the back of the tank. This isn't a big deal since all my corals are shifted away from the front glass. I'd bet if I ran both LED legs at 1000mA, the readings would be even more impressive. I took some readings with all LEDs run at 700mA, and there was a definite decrease in overall PAR compared to 1 @ 700mA and 1 @ 1000mA. I think it might be time to try a little SPS frag. Any suggestions?

[evilc66]

Nice. A little higher than I was expecting, but very good. With PAR numbers like that, you can keep anything you want sps wise.

[Waterproof]

Nice. A little higher than I was expecting, but very good. With PAR numbers like that, you can keep anything you want sps wise.

A lot higher than I was expecting! Just switching from the 700mA to the 1000mA driver on the cool whites made a big difference. The tank got a bit brighter, but the PAR shot up big time. With 2 x 700mA drivers, I was only getting around 500 PAR at 4" deep in the center.

I'm completely cluless about SPS. If there a type you or anyone else recommends for beginners?

[evilc66]

Montipora (any), birdsnest, pocillopora.

[fiction101]

Thanks for the diagram!

Do you know how you would hook up two fans to a setup like this?

[npain316]

Very nice work.

What kind of heat are you getting...on the HS to be specific? The reason why I ask is 8.5x5" seems a tad on the small side.

[Waterproof]

What kind of heat are you getting...on the HS to be specific? The reason why I ask is 8.5x5" seems a tad on the small side.

I put the wire of an indoor/outdoor thermometer in the heatsink fins, where I assumed the highest heat would occur and monitored the heat for a few days while using two 700mA drivers. With the fans running, the temp hit a max of about 101-deg F. This was after about 8 hrs of runtime once things had equilibrated. I haven't re-tested it now that I'm using one 700mA and one 1000mA driver. There will be a slight increase in heat, but not enough to be concerned about, or so I would guess. Bottom line, the hood seems to be cooler than with the stock PC lights. Remember, this is with fans running. I wouldn't want to run the lights for too long w/o some circulation in/out of the hood.

[Waterproof]

Do you know how you would hook up two fans to a setup like this?

I'll let evilc66 chime in. I remember seeing a thread where he recommended a little piece of equipment to drop the voltage of your power supply down to 12v. I have my fans on a separate 12v PS. Why? I originally thought it would be nice to run the fans for a few minutes after the lights went off. After testing the temp, this really isn't necessary. I had feared that the heatsink would hold onto the heat for a while, but in reality it dissipates the heat very quickly, and the hood temp drops by about 20-deg in just a couple minutes.

[reeftankguy]

Excellent Job! Nice write up!

Can't wait till my stuff gets here!

Thanks for the look see...

Jon...

[npain316]

I'll let evilc66 chime in. I remember seeing a thread where he recommended a little piece of equipment to drop the voltage of your power supply down to 12v. I have my fans on a separate 12v PS. Why? I originally thought it would be nice to run the fans for a few minutes after the lights went off. After testing the temp, this really isn't necessary. I had feared that the heatsink would hold onto the heat for a while, but in reality it dissipates the heat very quickly, and the hood temp drops by about 20-deg in just a couple minutes.

You have a 24V powersupply right? Then its easy, with no extra equipment necessary. A fan runs on 12v. Wire 2 of them up in a series and you are at 24volts. Barring you have enough current from your powersupply, but fans draw very low amps.

Good deal on the temp.

nick

[Waterproof]

You have a 24V powersupply right? Then its easy, with no extra equipment necessary. A fan runs on 12v. Wire 2 of them up in a series and you are at 24volts. Barring you have enough current from your powersupply, but fans draw very low amps.

Good deal on the temp.

nick

You can always count on me to overcomplicate things! Thanks npain316.

[evilc66]

Dropping voltage always increases heat. Something as simple as wiring two fans in series is a great way to get the job done with minimal fuss. It is still possible to drop the voltage to change the fan speed, but generates much less heat when only dropping a few volts instead of 12.

[Enzo0000]

Is it possible to run 6 blue, 3 white LED's and a fan on 1 24vdc power supply? Also...When wiring does it matter if the buckpucks are before or after the on/off switch? I want to use one switch to control all the lights and the fan.

[evilc66]

You can run as many Buckpucks as the power supply will allow. They are wired in parallel, so the current adds.

You want to put the switch between the power supply and the Buckpuck.

[Waterproof]

You want to put the switch between the power supply and the Buckpuck.

Hey evil, I've got both my swtches (in the hood) wired up to the + leads of each LED leg after the buckpucks. I don't see the harm in this, but maybe I'm missing something. Whatcha think?

[rean_jem]

wouldnt that make the buckpucks hot as its still energized?

[Waterproof]

wouldnt that make the buckpucks hot as its still energized?

I don't know. They get pretty warm during normal use. I only use the switches to kill the lights when I lift the hood (so I'm not blinded). I use a timer to control the on/off settings.