Beeker's 200DD Par38 Reef-New Pics 3-10-11!

[reeftankguy]

should got some better lighting

 

[beeker]

hahah you're kidding right? the light i took the pics with is only a 96w quad PC light, believe me when i say that my lighting will put your lighting in choke hold when it's all said and done, lol

[beeker]

Cell phone pics i took at lunch this was just to see the spread across the front of the tank, these are 4 12k's with 40 optics, bulbs are about 2 inches off of the water

 

 

 

 

First impressions, these bulbs are just awesome, can't wait to get the whole tank lit with these

[spanko]

That is totally outrageous with just (4) of them puppies, I can't imagine twelve!

Could it possibly be TOO MUCH LIGHT?????

[DCG1286]

That is totally outrageous with just (4) of them puppies, I can't imagine twelve!

Could it possibly be TOO MUCH LIGHT?????

 

Never too much light

 

Damn this is a ridiculous build already ... definitely going to be following this tank!

[spanko]

Oh yes, it is when it bleaches all of your prize coral!!!!!

[Black Mark]

hahah you're kidding right? the light i took the pics with is only a 96w quad PC light, believe me when i say that my lighting will put your lighting in choke hold when it's all said and done, lol

 

 

I'm glad this is a competition!

 

Anyways, what I meant was... for the money you spent, you could have gotten a lot more LED for your buck.

 

Also, it does not matter how much lighting you have... it's how you use it

[beeker]

every DIY led setup i looked at is only 300-400 less than going this route, the good thing about spending that extra 300-400 dollars means i have tons of flexability and tons of upgrade potential

 

i'm also not trying to light 100% of the tank, mainly just the rockwork and some of the glass around the rockwork i'm not lighting the backwall or the side glass or the front glass, so the effect is dramatic and exactly what i was going for :]]

 

i'll have 16 bulbs total, yeah it will be a ton of light, but then again i hate to skimp on the most important part of a reef tank so to me 16 is nesscessary though 20 might be in the works if 16 doesen't please me, lol

[beeker]

i somehow misplaced the S hooks so i couldn't get the 4th track up last night, lol

 

i raised the lights to about 5 inches above the water, the spread is better now and the spot effect isn't as great, i'm going to be leaving them here until i see how the sps frag on the bottom of the tank does over the next week this will be my gauge to wether the lights have a high enough PAR at the bottom of the tank

 

here's some new shots

 

this is with 6 bulbs over the right side and 2 over the left

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Black Mark]

I'm just saying, you spend over 2 thousand dollars and you can't even dim, or adjust your color.

[beeker]

why dim?

 

i want the most PAR i can get, if that PAR is 1000 then i'm where i want to be, lol

 

Why adjust color?

 

the color on these is beautiful, there would be no other color i'd want to adjust them too

 

if i wanted a bluer look i'd just add some 20k PAR38's and switch out some 12k PAR38's, to me the options are endless with this setup

 

and i could even add another 2 bulbs to each track and up the count to 24 bulbs so flexability with this system is endless, so many options and the LEDs that will come out in the next 7 years when i go to replace these bulbs will be even better and there might even be an upgrade to these PAR38's in the future, so to me i got the setup i wanted and that is all i care about

 

Dimming isn't nesscessary to me i'm going for PAR

 

Color mixxing is null and void once you see how great 3 white led's look with 2 royal blue leds honestly you'd have to see them in person to understand, my cell phone pics do the setup no justice

 

just look at the color of that Green duncan, it's the bee's knee's, lol

[Black Mark]

Interesting theory.

 

I highly doubt you will get 7 years out of these while over driving them.

 

Also, don't you think a dimmer knob or switch would be easier than removing and replacing light cans? Very costly, but some people have the extra money to throw around like that. If you were interested on lighting certain areas of the rock for whatever reason, I would consider flexible necks on the lights so you can "octopus" the par38s into whatever spot or intensity you like. Assuming you do high light SPS at some point, you can point a bunch of the par38s into one SPS area, or rock for maximum use.

 

Overall, I think for the money invested you could get really creative with it.

[beeker]

they aren't over driven per what i have read from Evilc66, so 7 years before led decay (luminous decay) sets in but in 7 years i'm sure the Led technology will be insane just look at the last run of stuff nanocustoms has come up with, it's only going to get better from here on out, which makes me a very happy reefer :]

 

i might end up putting 12 bulbs over the right side and 8 over the left since the right side will be heavy sps when i get done

 

but right now i'm trying to find out how low in my tank i can keep sps happy and thriving under these bulbs, after i figure that out the rest is easy, lol

[Noonan]

Awesome...

[evilc66]

Interesting theory.

 

I highly doubt you will get 7 years out of these while over driving them.

 

Overdriving LEDs doesn't kill them. Heat does. With the drive currents we are running the LEDs at, the whites are at spec, and the royal blues are a little overdriven. All are still within the temperature tollerance. The heatsink on these lamps is extremely efficient and keeps the LED temps way below the maximum rating. We run the LEDs cooler across the board than any other manufacturer of almost any other LED fixture (AI could be the exception).

 

Beeker, don't be afraid to run less than 16 lamps. These are powerful, so take it easy Don't want you bleaching corals.

[Black Mark]

Overdriving LEDs doesn't kill them. Heat does. With the drive currents we are running the LEDs at, the whites are at spec, and the royal blues are a little overdriven. All are still within the temperature tollerance. The heatsink on these lamps is extremely efficient and keeps the LED temps way below the maximum rating. We run the LEDs cooler across the board than any other manufacturer of almost any other LED fixture (AI could be the exception).

 

I would expect the creator of a product to jump in and defend, define "At spec"

[beeker]

Well Evilc66 i put 2 maxima's into the tank last night, the blue maxima is under it own PAR38 same with the Gold maxima, the blue opened up about 80% and the Gold only opened about 30% of the way extended, both cam from under a 150w MH 10 inches from the bulb and are now both at the bottom about 32 inches away from the PAR38's

 

Not sure if that means the PAR38's are still too intense at that hieght which to me isn't a bad thing just means i need to raise the rig up a little which i can do easily, please give me your insight Evil if you can, not sure if you have experienced the same with clams or not

 

i know clams can be blasted with light and take it just wasn't sure if their reaction was becuase i'm still getting higher PAR than they got under the 150w 32 inches below the PAR38 bulbs which is what i'm thinking though i have no PAR meter onhand to test this, really wish i did, i've been trying to get one from my local reef club but that may take awhile

 

i don't expect evil to have to defend anything, to me he has answered all of my questions i knew the lights were driven below spec i think that is 700Ma per led right? but they can take up to 1000Ma The blue's may be at 1000Ma while the whites are at 700Ma this to me doesent matter all that matters to me is that i'm getting 100-200 PAR at the bottom of my tank, i know his lights can do this and seeing the reaction of my clams tells me they are a lot brighter than my eyes think they are

 

finding the right hieght for the rig is the only question i have left at this point, lol

[beeker]

Some new shots with my "Real" Camera

 

I don't think a FTS will ever be possible they all come out like the sun, lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[evilc66]

I would expect the creator of a product to jump in and defend, define "At spec"

 

Oh, come on now. Anyone that has known me for long enough around here will tell you that I will tell you the facts, regardless of whether I sell/make a product.

 

So what if I did defend what I make? You made a statement knowing nothing about the inner workings of the lamp. You stated clearly that overdriving shortens the life of the LED. That is only true if heat is not managed correctly.

 

As for the "spec", Cree rates the XR-E cool whites up to 1000mA drive current, which we are just under (about 950mA IIRC from the the manufacturer), and the royal blues at 700mA. Now, like I said, junction temperature is more important, and we keep them under 110C (Cree spec is 135C for all colors) at an ambient of about 75F (about what my room temp is typically all year). With keeping the junction temp 25C under spec on the royal blues, the overdrive isn't a concern. I've been running royals at 1000mA for over two years with no notable issues or lumen/PAR drop.

[beeker]

Get em evil, lol j/k

 

Hey evil want to answer my clam question? i'm more interested in that info than the specs of the bulbs, hahaha

[evilc66]

Like anything else, watch for signs of stress, and adjust accordingly. With the clam so low, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

[evilc66]

Black Mark, don't think that I'm attacking your for the statements you made earlier. Just trying to clear up some confusion on LED operation in general, and of our products operation.

[beeker]

ok evil i'll see how the clams look tonight when i get home and turn the lights on and mentally configure what i should do, i think i'll raise them another inch or two spread would be better and i doubt i'll lose much light

 

they've only had about 3 hours under the PAR38's but had about 6 hours of MH before i moved them so that might be why they aren't 100% epanded as well, i'll keep an eye out

 

I'm getting my hands on a PAR meter this weekend from my reef club so i should have numbers up by next week and that will help me with the Clam placement as well

[Black Mark]

Not a problem Evil, you actually know me. Knowing that, you would know I love to find out all the details I can

[evilc66]

Forgive my ignorance, but we know each other? I have no problem giving details to those who ask. Neither myself or Chris (Nanocustoms, who I work for) are one for keeping secrets, especially Chris