couevas Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 It is time for me to upgrade my T5's to LED. I am going to go with a 50/50 array from RapidLED. I currently run an Aquaticlife 24" 4 bulb T5 fixture over my 20H. I want to gut it and replace with an array of about 18 cool whites and royal blues. I will be going dimmable and plan to pick up a Typhoon from BoostLED to control it. Below is an array I came up with that I would like feedback on. it is based on a 5.9 x 16 heatsink from Rapid (I think this will be a good size to fit in that fixture and also house the drivers. The plan is to run the unit with the original legs (placing the diodes about 6 inches above the water). Because of this, I will leave out the optics. Thoughts? The 5.9" x 16" grid is spaced by 1 inch and the light blues are from the 2 moonlight kit from Rapid. Link to comment
DC5 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I've got 26 LED's over my 24g cube, so do think 18 will be enough over a 20 tall? Link to comment
SWAG Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 I've got 26 LED's over my 24g cube, so do think 18 will be enough over a 20 tall? thought the same thing but he said he wanted tor replace his fixture.so im pretty sure this will have more power than his t5's Link to comment
couevas Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 I've got 26 LED's over my 24g cube, so do think 18 will be enough over a 20 tall? thought the same thing but he said he wanted tor replace his fixture.so im pretty sure this will have more power than his t5's I spoke with Mike at RapidLED and he said he would go with 16-20, but not more than 20 or risk too much light. These are XP-E & XP-G R5's and will only be 6 inches off the water (not top of tank). Although, I could pretty easily add 4 more in those empty spaces above and below the moonlights and go to 22. Guess I could just keep the intensity lower if it is too gnarly.... Link to comment
couevas Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 22 daylight LEDs, 2 moonlights Link to comment
couevas Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 if I am thinking of going 22, might as well get the 24 kit.... Link to comment
smai-tai Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 if I am thinking of going 22, might as well get the 24 kit.... I think this is your best bet. I have 20 LED's from Rapid on my BC29. I run the whites at about 65% and the blues at about 80%. If I were to do it over again, I would have done more LED's only to cover the entire tank a bit better. But I am very happy with my current set up and everything is growing very well. Link to comment
couevas Posted October 7, 2011 Author Share Posted October 7, 2011 Yeah, I am starting to lean that way too... Anyone have any thoughts or experience with the BoostLED Typhoon controller? I am having a hard time finding any real reviews of it or how people are mounting it... Link to comment
smai-tai Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 Yeah, I am starting to lean that way too... Anyone have any thoughts or experience with the BoostLED Typhoon controller? I am having a hard time finding any real reviews of it or how people are mounting it... I have not heard anything about them. But I am interested. I have the drivers from RapidLED as well as the Daytime Controller. It is not what I thought it was going to be. The controller is pretty basic. I was/am looking for something that has a bit more. Link to comment
couevas Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Just pulled the trigger.... RapidLED 5.9" x 16" Aluminum Heat Sink 2 LED Moonlight Kit 24 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers with 60 degree optics that I probably won't use and MeanWell ELN-60-48P LED drivers BoostLED Typhoon LED Controller Kit Link to comment
savageajc Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 One problem I see with your set up, one side of the tank you will have : B W W other side will be B B W IME you can tell the difference in the tank.. one side will be whiter, other side blue Link to comment
couevas Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 One problem I see with your set up, one side of the tank you will have :B W W other side will be B B W IME you can tell the difference in the tank.. one side will be whiter, other side blue That's a good point. Maybe I will try to make the number in the top and bottom rows odd in LED count. Link to comment
couevas Posted October 11, 2011 Author Share Posted October 11, 2011 How does this one look? (Grid spacing is 1/2 inch) I am realizing that it is tough to color blend with an even number of emitters... Link to comment
fifty50 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Following. I have the same fixture. Link to comment
couevas Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 Following. I have the same fixture. Good to know, Fifty. Any ideas on fan placement? If your fixture is the same as mine, it has what looks like a fan exhaust port in the top, center of the fixture (except there is no fan). I don't think this would be a very efficient placement of a fan either. Intake or exhaust, the air will need another entry/exit point. Perhaps I could install a fan there, then cut some intake holes in the top of the fixture on both ends....like this Link to comment
fifty50 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 i don't think it would matter unless you had space between the heatsink and the top of the fixture. if you're putting space then the fan will probably not be flush and would stick out on the top. if you're putting space then i'd think there's no need for intake inlets because it would just pull from the open fixture. unless of course you plan on using the splash guard as well. just throwing ideas out there. my DIY skill is limited. Link to comment
couevas Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 ...unless of course you plan on using the splash guard as well... Yes, I am going to need the splash guard. I plan on using the legs as opposed to hanging it (if the light distribution is good, otherwise I will hang it). However, I think I still may not need the intake ports. The fixture is by no means airtight and even though it may not be the most efficient way to flow air, others are doing it that way (ie. Ecotech Radion). Link to comment
couevas Posted October 14, 2011 Author Share Posted October 14, 2011 My orders from both rapidled and boostled arrived today, just in time for the weekend. Unfortunately, I am off to Vegas for the weekend so this project will have to wait til Tuesday. Until then.... Link to comment
couevas Posted October 18, 2011 Author Share Posted October 18, 2011 I shouldn't have a problem wiring both meanwells to one power cord, right? I would like to cut down on plugs... Link to comment
couevas Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 So, I am about halfway through this build overall. I got the LEDs mounted and wired to the drivers. The drivers are wired for power and to the Typhoon. Powered it up and all is good. Tonight I will finish the job. Still need to wire the moonlights and the fan and mount it all in the Aquaticlife 24" T5 fixture. I also need to figure out what I am going to do with the Typhoon. I would like to replace the existing control panel of the fixture with it, just don't know if I will be able to make it fit. I bought a hobby box just in case. I guess we will find out tonight. -------------------- Also, FYI: for those that go with the meanwell drivers...BE CAREFUL with the SVR2 trimmer pot. It is very easily broken by turning past it's limit (which I did). However, I called Meanwell directly and spoke with an engineer. He informed me the it is just a simple 1k ohm unit. YES!! They carry those at the shack for about a buck. De-soldered the broken unit and replaced with a new one. Good as new! Link to comment
couevas Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 It went perfectly!!! Here we go... Full Ultra Premium 24 LED kit from RapidLED and BoostLED Typhoon Controller Meanwell ELN60-48P's 12 XP-E Royal Blues & 12 XP-G R5 Cool Whites and 2 350mA Royal Blue moonlights BoostLED Typhoon Controller Link to comment
couevas Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 This is a 5.9" x 16" heatsink from RapidLED. I spaced each row and column 2 inches apart (as recommended). This made for 3 rows of 8 LEDs, alternating colors. The moonlights were placed a little closer to the other LEDs than the recommended 2 inches, but they are only on when the main LEDs are off, so heat shouldn't be a problem. LEDs layout out on Heatsink You then want to clean the entire surface of the heatsink and the backside surfaces of the LED stars with high percentage Isopropyl Alcohol (I used 92%). The higher the percentage, the less residue will be left behind when the alcohol evaporates. Heatsink cleaned with 92% Isopropyl Alcohol and LEDs fixed with Arctic Allumina thermal epoxy It is definitely a good idea to pre-tin your wires and solder pads on the LED stars. I did this. Then, when you are ready to wire the LEDs together, you just need to heat them. No extra solder is needed. All LEDs wired to each other (I ran out of black wire and had to improvise with blue speaker wire) Link to comment
couevas Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 The next step, once all LED strings are wired together, is to test the strings to make sure all LEDs still work after epoxying and soldering. I wired the cool white LED string in series and the royal blue LED in series. The moonlights are on there own. IMPORTANT: Before wiring the drivers to the LED strings, you want to make sure the current is set to a minimum level to ensure the LEDs are not blown out on initial fire up. This is done by unscrewing the driver case and adjusting the SVR2 trimmer pot. Turn it carefully, with minimal force, fully counter clockwise. Then wire the drivers to the LED strings as shown on the directions. Next, you want to wire in a multimeter so that you can turn the driver currents back up to the maximum level the LEDs can handle without burning them out. I set my white string to 950 mA and my blue string to 745 mA. Leads soldered in for string testing and mean well max amperage adjustment All LEDs work! Wire and set the BoostLED typhoon controller per the manufacturer's directions. Setting Typhoon Controller Link to comment
couevas Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 Once the LEDs are wired up, the currents are set and the controller is wired in and programmed, then it is time to mount in the fixture. I took to ripping apart my old fixture with a phillips screwdriver and some small dikes to cut wires. Fully disassembled Aquaticlife 24inch T5HO light fixture Apologies for the lack of picture, but I mounted a 70mm slim (about 5/8 thick) fan under the existing vent holes in the middle, top of the fixture. This is aimed to blow out of the fixture and pull heat off the heatsink. Then you need to figure out how to hang the heatsink securely in the fixture. I decided to try some metallic pipe hanger tape cut to short lengths and bent to 90 degrees. These 4 pieces were secured to the heatsink with 4 drilled holes and some nuts and bolts. Hanging device up close Heatsink hung securely in the fixture After much deliberating (in my head) I figured I would try to fix the drivers within the fixture with adhesive zip tie anchors and zip ties. This worked really well!! Meanwell drivers secured with zip ties Link to comment
couevas Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 All 3 drivers installed and and secured with zip ties While disassembling the old light fixture, I found two power supplies that were about half an amp and 12 volts. Perfect for a fan! Bingo! Fan power supply installed with zip ties All wires were routed cleanly and secured in place with adhesive zip tie anchors. Link to comment
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