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| MikeTR's BC14 - Updated Pics Pg. 3, LEDs Coming Soon! |
 Nov 1 2009, 10:55 PM
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#41
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828  |
My tank saw the first shimmer of the LEDs tonight.. I fired it up for a test run over the tank. wow! The colors are crazy..
I should have this finished up very soon. I'll be picking up a couple fans tomorrow. Hopefully it won't take too long to get them mounted on the heatsink. I'm still not sure if I want to mess with venting the air out the top (which means cutting and adding a fan grill) or just pull air through the heatsink and let the stock fans exhaust it. Either way I think I will plan on keeping the stock fans. Wondering if I need to reverse one of them so they both blow out? -------------------- |
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Nov 1 2009, 11:01 PM
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#42
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828 |
I took some updated pics to show how far I've progressed with the power compact bulbs. I'll post them later. It will be interesting to see the difference in a few months after the switch to LEDs. This switch comes at a perfect time as would be about due to change the PC bulbs.
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Nov 3 2009, 09:30 PM
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#43
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 Nano Reefer Posts: 171 Joined: 28-April 09 From: Naples, FL Member No.: 44,396 |
Nice thread you have here, Mike!
I just finish reading your post in our club website, about your thread here at NR. The post made me curious and decided to take a peek at your tank and LED project. Hope you get good benefits from this upgrade, I'll be following to read your results. By the way, welcome to the club. Where in SWFL do you live? Which LFS do you visit the most? This post has been edited by jdantunes: Nov 4 2009, 09:43 PM -------------------- |
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Nov 3 2009, 11:40 PM
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#44
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828 |
Last of the pics with PC bulbs.
FTS 11/01/2009
Blastomussa
Candy cane
War coral
Zoas
This guy has come a long way..
This post has been edited by MikeTR: Nov 4 2009, 08:54 AM -------------------- |
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Nov 12 2009, 02:13 PM
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#45
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828 |
OK time to stop making excuses and get this done already.. What's left to do.. mount fans, mount dimmers, clean up wiring w/heatshrink tubing, and borrow a PAR meter from our local marine club.
I've come to a standoff on fan placement.. In either case I'll be using 2 12v fans connected in series on the heatsink. I have the option of either mounting the fans on top or on the side of the heatsink . If I mount the fans on the side then it saves me the work of cutting holes in the hood, though I don't know if it will provide the ventilation needed. I think I would need to keep the stock fans as is (intake & exhaust). This would give a total of 4 fans, with two of them sucking air across the heatsink. If I cut the hood then most likely I'd do away with the stock fans and just have that area open for vents. This will take quite a bit longer to complete the build as I'll have to hunt down some decent looking fan grills. Which option should I go with, side or top? -------------------- |
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Nov 12 2009, 02:28 PM
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#46
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 Nano Reefer Posts: 415 Joined: 27-February 07 Member No.: 26,407 |
Awesome work! What was the total for the led buildout?
I would think side, to keep the outside aesthetically pleasing, if you run into heat issues, THEN cut the hood. with four fans though, I cant imagine that will be a problem.. especially w/ the feeding cover off. -------------------- |
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Nov 12 2009, 06:20 PM
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#47
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828 |
Total cost: (not including spare parts)
12 LEDs $60 2 Drivers $30 Heatsink $22 Pots for dimming $5 24v 6a Power Supplies $38 Spare Hood $50 Wiring, Solder, Heatshrink tubing, Connectors, Bits & Tap - $35 I'd say right around $240. If you wanted you could buy some stuff now, and the rest later. I spent a little extra on spare parts, a few extra LEDs and 1 extra driver.. If I decide to sell my old hood I can make some $$ back. Lots of work to get done on this tonight. -------------------- |
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Nov 15 2009, 05:06 PM
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#48
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Nano Reefer Posts: 35 Joined: 3-November 09 From: Columbus, Ohio Member No.: 48,216 |
How hard is the LED upgrade to do? I got a spare hood when I bought my tank. Only thing wrong with it is that the moonlights are dim. I might look into this more,and get pieces over a period of time.
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Yesterday, 11:15 AM
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#49
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Nano Reefer Posts: 815 Joined: 19-May 09 From: SW FL Member No.: 44,828 |
I didn't find it that challenging. More research than anything. The one thing that really slowed me down was that I got excited, mounted and soldered all my LEDs, then realized I needed 4 more holes on the sides to mount them. Throwing caution in the wind, I went ahead and tapped these myself with a great deal of care with the LEDs mounted. Was surprisingly easier than expected. I did have someone else drill & tap the majority of the holes though. I've got to give some of the credit to Waterproof for following his build, but I took ideas from others on here as well.
Should be getting my hands on a par meter soon.. hopefully things will work out and I can pick it up this weekend. -------------------- |
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