disaster999 Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 i under estimated how LONG this DIY process takes. i was sure i can finish this within one night, but i was dead wrong. i was only able to wire up 1/2 of my leds and tested out half of my drivers. i still have to wire up the other half of my leds, test my drivers, make a light rack, install 2 t5ho, and wire up the entire thing so its some what presentable. thats a pretty long list. gonna be a long day tomorrow heres the XPG and XPE royal blue at 100% here they are again barely on (i think its 10%) here the blue and royal blue at 10% all the picture above were taking with the optics placed on. theres no way you can look at them at 100% without optic without burning your retinas. although it gave a pretty nice effect when i stared at the blues at 100%. it looked like a billion blue sperm is swimming in your eyes afterwards. Quote Link to comment
sammy113 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Looking good man! Love the new fish. LED build is coming along nicely. Did you change driver from meanwell? Are you planning to automate dimming functions or anything? Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 i finally finished the wiring and testing the LEDs. still quite aways from finishing the entire light. i still have to add 2 t5ho and fans to the light. hopefully i can get it done within this week. anyways here are the pictures, all taken with my phone. didnt feel like breaking out my DSLR and processing the pictures later so i apologies for the crappy quality the finished project with the drivers all packed inside that box close up of the driver box. the 2 wires on the left is the power in, the 2 silver knobs are the dimming controls, the black port next to it is the 8 pin socket for the LEDs. internal gut shot, you can see the power supply i used for the dimming, the thing stuck on the lid on the right is the voltage regulator set to 10v. you can see the spaghetti wires to the dimming and 8 pin socket. 100% blues 100% whites 100% blue 10% blues 100% whites 10% blues only whites 100%, blue 10% blue 100% white 10% Quote Link to comment
FireCorals Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I was never a fan of tall tanks, but this setup looks awesome. Very well planned. Look forward to more updates Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Looking good man! Love the new fish. LED build is coming along nicely. Did you change driver from meanwell? Are you planning to automate dimming functions or anything? ive always wanted to run meanwell on this build. the china drivers only drive the LEDs to 650mah. not quite enough for my tank. the next big step for me would be adding a controller to my tank and have that control my lights. but i have no idea when that will happen. i dont really care for the auto dimming function, my lights has be just plain on/off for 2 years +. its not like i can sit there an enjoy an hour of sun rise and sun set i briefly placed the light over the tank and OMG its so much brighter than my florescent light. without any optics at 100%, just 2 inches over the water, its easily twice as bright as my 7 t5ho with reflectors. imagine having optics on my LED and the 2 florescent tubes, im going to cook my sps. good thing i opted for the dimming drivers. just having the light over my tank for 5 mins was enough to warm my heatsink. i probably need some good quality fans that pushes a lot of air and its quiet. I was never a fan of tall tanks, but this setup looks awesome. Very well planned. Look forward to more updates thanks, i hated the tall 30" tank thats why "downgraded" to 24" and kept the same foot print. i didnt want to go any lower or ill have limited space for rock work, also with the tank so short, it looks kinda weird. Quote Link to comment
sammy113 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Looks nice man! Glad to hear that is more powerful than the T5s. The two T5 will add good spectrum to the LEDs. For controlling the drivers you'll need now something like a RKL or such. If you would go with meanwell P model a $55 Typhon controller will do the job. You don't really need a super pwerful fan, just some air movement above the heatsink. I recommend you Cythe fans, they come very thin, as low as 20mm x 120mm x 120mm and comes in a high speed model with very low dB. Very quiet fans and durable. Can't wait to see this bad boy over your tank! Now that you test it without optics, do you plan on still using them even though it is even more powerful than the T5? Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 like i said, it was only 2 inches over the water and i dont plan to run it that low. cant imagine the salt spray on it after a day. it will be around 10-12" over the water so the optics would help penetrate. thanks for the info on the fans, i dont think i will have this light over the tank anytime soon. i gotta find time to head over to the computer mall and try and find the fans you are talking about. Quote Link to comment
FireCorals Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 thanks, i hated the tall 30" tank thats why "downgraded" to 24" and kept the same foot print. i didnt want to go any lower or ill have limited space for rock work, also with the tank so short, it looks kinda weird. Nice. 24" is perfect. I use to have a 120, I love the dimensions of that tank. Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 finally hung the light Quote Link to comment
sammy113 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 how do you like the 50/50 Blue/Royal Blue mix? I tend to use Blue with caution and a lot less than royal blue cause they're kinda "greenish/windex? Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 i didnt notice any windex tint actually. i kinda like it since i can see 2 distinctive shades of blue shimmering in my tank. i forgot to mention the lights are at 100% in those pictures. the color is close to 10k (at least thats what i need to adjust to on photoshop make it look somewhat similar in real life.) with 2 more florescent tubes it should bump it up some more. Quote Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Wow the tank looks great you did an awesome job with those leds. Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 thanks hype Quote Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Agreed. Excellent job! Quote Link to comment
748S911 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 great job with the DIY LED......im waiting for my led set up, and wanted to know where you purchased 8pin male/female connection and cable? once I get leds in I will prob. be asking you a bunch of questions.... Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 i got it at a local electronic store. they have a bunch of cable selection and connectors. you might need to source those online if you cant find them locally. Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 a little setback, ive successfully scared the #### outta myself when a small explosion went off inside the driver box. at first i thought i was ####ed, the drivers blew. but after calming down i figured out that its just the wall wart i was using that probably blew. after opening the box i was relieved to see nothing happened to my drivers. a diode exploded leaving some singed marks in the box, but other than that everything was fine. gotta get myself another wall wart. my tank will be in the dark again for another day. Quote Link to comment
bryanphillips Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 You may have mentioned this but I didnt skim the entire thread, what kind of camera do you use? Quote Link to comment
TinyGiant Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 i think you need a bigger hammer coral (or whatever that is on the left ) Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 You may have mentioned this but I didnt skim the entire thread, what kind of camera do you use? im using a D200 with a 60mm afs macro lens im also using my htc sensation xe to take some snap shots. i think you need a bigger hammer coral (or whatever that is on the left ) its a frogspawn. love that thing more updates on the light, found some wallwart around the house that can be used as a power source for now. still gotta get another power supply small enough to fit in the driver box and enough current to drive the fans also i finished wiring the T5HO lights. im using the new bulbs from ATI, i think ill be quite happy with it also im loving the blues. every florescent color just pops with them on Quote Link to comment
neuwave Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Lights looking awesome. Glad to hear the Pop in the electrical box was just as diode. similar thin happened to a buddy of mine but he nearly singed his arm hair off. Then dropped the sodering iron when hee heard the pop and then nearly set the carpet on fire. Quote Link to comment
bryanphillips Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 im using a D200 with a 60mm afs macro lensim also using my htc sensation xe to take some snap shots. That would explain the quality pictures ha cool and nice tank! Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 finally finished the light, but i still have a lot of wires to organize. but this will work for now. next step is to build an enclosure for the light and make lit sleek looking 1 Quote Link to comment
matt frizz Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Tank looks incredible. Frogspawn is HUGE. 1 Quote Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 thanks, yeah that thing is huge, its so big it cant hold its own weight. fell apart one time when i tried to move it. sold the frags Quote Link to comment
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