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Coralife 20" PC to LED retro More Q's


FishOnTheBrainCoral

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Well I am getting a little ahead of myself here since I wont be home for about 3 more weeks but I am bored and thought I would start this up for questions from the LED pros.

 

Here is the plan I have a Coralife 20" 96 watt PC fixture that will be refit to LED's. This is going over a 10g AGA frag tank, on the factory legs that put it about 4-5 in. from the water.

Here is the parts list so far..

 

8---CREE XRE-RB on Star

8---CREE XRE-WG-Q5 on Star

20--CUSTOM BERGQUIST THERMAL PADS FOR XRE STAR (in case I screw them up they are cheap)

2---Meanwell ELN-60-48D

1---5.886 Profile 18 Inch Heatsink fron heatsinkusa.com

 

I feel like I am missing something but that should cover it for now. I don't plan on running any optics unless you all say I should. I would like this to handle SPS if possible. I plan on running the RB on one and whites on the other so I can fine tune to the color spectrum I would like. LMK if I could get away with less LEDs

Maybe I read it wrong but I think I had seen that you cant put the meanwells on a cheap-o timer?

 

Feel free to speak up I am going to need lots of help!

Thanks!

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Sounds like a fair plan. You could probably drop to 12 LEDs and still have good results, but 16 is by no means overkill. No need for optics here.

 

As for the drivers, you can run them on timers, but don't forget your power supply for dimming control.

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Ok.. thats what I was forgetting. I was wondering if this will work? Will I need one for each meanwell? I am trying to do this on the cheap. However I really like the idea of adjusting the lights to my preference.

If I did drop to 12 LED and bumped it down to a Meanwell LPC 35-700 so I don't have to get power supply. What would be the optimal white to blue ratio to get a 14-20k look? Could I use CREE XP-E RB's instead aren't they a little brighter to add more blue? In fact If I just went with XP's for all of it would it work a little better since if cut down to 12? If so what would be the ratio for that? Would a good thermal paste be better then these pads you think?

Edit:

So I think I am going to go with the XP's anyways what would be a good ratio for these?

Sorry for all the stupid questions... I thought I read enough in some of the other threads now I am questioning myself. thanks Evil

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If you use a non-dimmable driver like the LPC-35-700, then make sure you can adjust the height of the array to set your intensity. The power supply you linked to will work for the dimming circuit, but you can find units that will work for about 1/10th the price. You don't need much current.

 

If you want a 14K-20K look, stick with a 1:1 mix of white and blue. You can use XP series LEDs (and no, the XP blues aren't any brighter than the XR-Es), but XR-Es will be more than enough for that tank, and they are cheaper.

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Ok.. thanks again. I now think my plan is going to be 7 & 7 with XR-E's.. I am going to go with the original plan of the 2 ELN-60-48D since I wont be able to adjust the hight, plus it will make it a lot easier to acclimate to the new lighting. As far a power supply I was thinking I could use the 12v 3 amp radio shack one I have now?? I shouldn't have a problem hooking both of them to it if I am understanding it right.. Going to do a little more research. I am also going to check of the difference between efficiency of the thermal pads and using a compound to the heat sink.

Good thing I am not starting this for a couple weeks. I should be all lernted up by then..lol

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Well so much for doing it on the cheap. I could have just bought a nice 70watt MH and been done with it. But where is the fun in that :D I have always wanted LED anyways now I can see what it is going to look like on my frag tank before I spend the money on my 28..

 

Here Is what I have on the way.

7- CREE XRE-RB on Star

7- CREE XRE-WG-Q5 on Star

14-CUSTOM BERGQUIST THERMAL PADS FOR XRE STAR

2-Meanwell ELN-60-48D

Total so far.. 187.53

I am going to pick up a wall wart at RS when I get home, as well as some hardware one I see what i need to get.. Other then that I have everything else I am going to need I believe, multi-meter, soldering iron, wire, and CAMERA!

 

To try to keep it nice and sleek I was thinking that after I gut the coralife fixture I can put the meanwells inside. How hot do these get? I am not going to be pushing them to much. I plan on using the stock fan from fixture.

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

New goodies!! I got my stuff in the mail now. I have to go to Seattle until 8/26 then its off to the build..

 

SANY0051.jpg

 

There will be Tons of photos along the way..

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

The victim..

SANY0053.jpg

SANY0055.jpg

Gutted some parts.. was going to use this for the fans still if I can make it fit...

SANY0056.jpg

SANY0057.jpg

This is how I plan to lay it out..

SANY0059.jpg

 

Hopefully I can finish this up tomorrow. My tank will be going without light for the time being. Thankfully I have had a bit of an algae problem so I need to black it out anyway.

 

I was planing to use the small 12v transformer to power the fan that came stock in this fixture. If I cant make them fit I will just wire direct from the wall wart I plan to get tomorrow for the dimmer. hopefully I can find one.. If I cant can I run this with out the dimmer?

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

picked up all the hardware to mount everything and the wall wart. I'll wire it up when I am done with that then smoke testing it...

 

Questions:

I know I should turn down the power inside the meanwells.. If I turn it down all the way will it still fire then adjust from there?

 

And just to make sure I have looked it over right I hook these in series.. In the string of whites for example,

+ hooks to - of the next light, then + of the next light etc., etc. back and forth..

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Blue and brown coming off the meanwell what goes to black what goes to white on power cord

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

HELP.. Why is it when I hook up the LEDs it flashes kinda bright then stays lit, just really dim?

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HELP.. Why is it when I hook up the LEDs it flashes kinda bright then stays lit, just really dim?

 

How much voltage are you pushing to the dimming wires? have any wiring pics?

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FishOnTheBrainCoral
How much voltage are you pushing to the dimming wires? have any wiring pics?

 

So I have 7 LED and it says 17 ish volts

 

wiring pics wont help cause its all drilled through the heatsink and coming though...

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Ok, then tell me how you wired it.

 

Did you go AC power to the Meanwell, and up to 10v on the Meanwell dimming wires? Are you using a potentiometer to dim each light string?

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

right now I was trying to hook it up w/o dimmer.. straight off the red & black... red goes to + on one of the LEDs the it is wired in series from there - of that one to + of next LED and so on

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right now I was trying to hook it up w/o dimmer.. straight off the red & black... red goes to + on one of the LEDs the it is wired in series from there - of that one to + of next LED and so on

 

How are you powering the +DIM - DIM lines?

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

not yet.. isn't that optional?

 

I wanted to bump test before I got to far.. just made me nervous..

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On the D model, the choice to dim with an inline potentiometer is the only optional part. You will still need to supply a max of 10v (ish) to that line. I made the same error when I was testing.

 

Doc and Evil both advised me to use a 9V battery on the dim lines if you don;t have a rock solid 9-10v power supply. In other words, if you buy a wall wart that is rated 9V, you have to actually plug it in and test it with a multimeter to make sure it is rated at what it says it is.

 

I used this:

 

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_i...products_id=298

 

Unplug the AC cord to the Meanwell.

 

Once you have 9v around, either battery or stable wart, and connected to the + DIM and - DIM, you need to take the cover off the Meanwell and turn the SV2 screw all the way to the left (check your datasheet if you can't find it, but it is marked on the board). You will then need to wire your multimeter in line like it is an 8th LED. So, you take the - wire from your last LED on one string, and tie it to the multimeter + (set the meter to 10A and use that slot on the meter holes), now take your - multimeter leg and tie that to the Meanwell black. Treat the multimeter like another and last LED...it is just + and - like an LED anyway :).

 

Now, you should have the AC cord wired, the DIM wires wired, and the meter lined in with the string to complete the circuit. Now plug the Meanwell AC in, and the 9V source, and since the SV2 is turned to the lowest setting, the LED's should fire, and will be brighter than what you have seen so far. Now, with the meter in line, the display will read some lower mA reading, which you can adjust but slowly turning the SV2 screw to the right. I don't know what mA you want to run at, but I used 13 LEDs a string and stopped at 975mA, for which 1000mA is the max for the XR-E.

 

 

Edit after your post

:lol:

 

I type too slow.

 

Make sure you test the voltage to the dim wires and wire that meter in line though...you could either be in long or short term trouble if you don't.

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FishOnTheBrainCoral

Now blues!!

SANY00533.jpg

 

I am using the same driver for test now I need to get the dimmer switch wired up and then putting it together!

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