Sunstar Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 I will see how it goes. If I don't use them, I won't they should be easily removed... I hope,. or added. Link to comment
Mustang Boy Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 trust me in a shallow 2g pico you wont need optics, even running the LEDs without optics at the full 1000mA will fry your corals. 40 degree optics are only used in applications of deep tanks, LED fixtures that are mounted high off tanks, or in semi deep tanks where they want a ton of light, like in an all out SPS tank. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 Then I will keep them asside for my 25 gallon. a high mount might be nice for that tank.It would be epically sweet if I could devise a stained 'shade" so to speak. I have chosen 2 700mA Buckpucks that are dimable, so I can adjust it to meet my coral's needs. Basically as per advice of Evilc66. The Optics came with the set and I figured buying them and using them now or later (doesn't matter when, depending on what I am advised) Considering how my tank hood was built before, and adjusting LED height is more or less out of the question, I am having to go the dimmable route. Also I could possibly adjust the height somewhat depending on fan type I pick to attach to my heat sinks. I am contemplating laptop fans as they blow out the side and I could direct it toward the ventalation. I will take your advice though. Keep them off the pico. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Okay I have the LED to the heatsink. But I want to confirm my wiring here. I can't view the image for some reason, but others apparently can. My friend said "Starscream: that looks vaguely like an accident waiting to happen." The green wires are connected to the Neutral white led's I made it green for clairity. excuse my crappy freehand. I did not feel like tweeking my better version which I removed some parts from since. I am using 2 x 3023-D-E-700P Buckpuck they will be inside a small project box. I have a chasis jack to plug the power supply in without the creepy splices. is my diagram "an accident waiting to happen" or "correct"? Edit. I was trying to find a good thread to study, but not sure where to look exactly. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 No yay or nay on the wiring thing? Link to comment
igotreefermadness Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 The wiring looks good. Just make sure everything goes negative-to-positive in one direction. Also, you might consider mounting the LEDs in more of a "zig-zag" pattern to help with spread. Although it might not be a huge issue since its only a 2g. Be really careful firing those up too, 6 LEDs is gonna put some crazy PAR ratings on that little 2g. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 They have dimmable bucks, so I can dim them down to a temp that won't send off crazy pars. I can't move them to zig zag now, they are glued down. I can only hope that dimming down they will still be useful to the couple sps I have in there. I need to get a couple plugs before I can continue. argh. But Hopefully things will be good. I bought a multimeter, I am just not quite sure how to use it. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 How do I find out the maximum amps the 5 led's will draw? the 2 buckpucks and the fans will draw 2.3 amps. I have 2.5 amps power supply. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 I need to go out and get a few more sizes of shrink tubing. Boy do I love that stuff. It's being contained within a project box that will be screwed to the roof of the cabinet. I need to get a couple more connectors. I am keeping it colour co-ordinated because it's too easy to get wires confused. my power supply plug is negative outside and postive inside, so I have matched my wires appropreately to the female socket I have attached to the inside of my box. I intend to shrink tube the black and red wires seperate then put a larger one over the whole part just to make it neat and tidy and prevent anything from causing issue in there. It'lll come together tomorrow when I get the few other bits. See this? that's a mess. I want it neat and tidy. Again, neat and tidy. This will happen. the wire pair with the white band belong to the white lights. I hopefully can get it marked nicely tomorrow. I hope this is not too terrifying.... Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 WOOO! IT'S ALIVE! ALIVE... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH My Husband had a look over my wiring and found a problem with it. He had me switch some wires around and checked to make sure I had it right. I do. Looks good. a little dark, the inside box pics, but its neat and tidy. Heat shrink tubing is Awesome!!! Not installed yet and I did a test with the fans, but the pic is without the fans. it all operates well. appears to be a small delay on it's turning on. I had spots infront of my eyes when I first activated it. Husband was saying Dim them, dim them, sheilding his eyes. Couple more things I need to do, then I get it installed in the hood. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Looking good. Just waiting to see it over a tank Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Evil. The buckpucks dimmer broke off. I am going out ot buy a new dimmer. is there a right and wrong way to do this? I went to get a new one tonight but hte electronics store is closed my buckpucks say: grey wire: CTL 0 - 5V Yellow wire:P REF +5V The wire snapped off right at the base of the dimmer. I am getting two tomorrow just in case. I was hoping this would be done tonight. Also having issue with finding the right drill bit ofr my stelf tapping screws. Once I get the drill I can install the lamp, then it's a matter of waiting to get the new dimmer switch. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Yeah. That happens. Those pots aren't the most durable unfortunately. You will need a 5K ohm pot to replace what it came with. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Yeah. That happens. Those pots aren't the most durable unfortunately. You will need a 5K ohm pot to replace what it came with. How do I know what wire to put where? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Doesn't really matter. It just has to be connected to the center pin, and one of the outer pin. The difference between the two outer pins is the direction of rotation that increases and decreases the brightness. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Okay that is good to know. So any colour wire can be to the center pin? and would one of these do? http://www.sayal.com/ActionIndexP.asp?ID=151081 specifically: (product numbers) RPA-2918-1 62-243-1 I am going to sayal tomorrow. I tried tonight but it was closed when I got there Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Excellent. I will do that then. few more issues need to be addressed before I can get this thing working as I would like Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 derpity derp... Fan overkill? I can unplug one if necessary. The fans are finally attached as I want them. There is one facing up and one facing down. I want to circulate the air around. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Major overkill. A single fan half the size of one would have been more than enough. Putting fans in a push-pull configuration offers no benefit, and only consumes more energy. A single fan blowing onto the heatsink will be just as effective. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 *weak imitation of tim taylor* More power? hurr hurr hurr. I can disable one fan, and see how it goes. I will do it at some point After I am done so my husband doesn't realise I am changing stuff in it. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 If anything, that fan setup will keep things ice cold. I'd be surprised if you ever feel any heat at all on that heatsink. I'm running LED setups with much higher wattages and lower airflow, and there is no heat in the heatsink. Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 that might have a bonus come summer. It gets a bit warm around here. I got the new pots (I got two might as well replace both) Link to comment
Sunstar Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Done. Now I just need to find a hex key for the knobs. Link to comment
sammy113 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Looks good! I'd put some protection for the LEDs. I've seen LEDs close to water surface without any protection to go rust in less than 6 months. One of them even stopped working Link to comment
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