New to NR and New to DIY LED

[discus513]

Okay, I was lucky enough to win a 6'' makers heatsink at a fragswap, I love the design of the heatsink and I think it will have the look or better than a store bought already assembled led unit when it is complete, I have been reading around on this board for a couple of days and instead of reading everyone elses setups, I'm going to post mine. I will mainly use this light over a 20g mixed reef tank, but I would like to be all intake if possible so I can take it with me to fragswaps and place it over my frag tank. Okay the 6'' heatsink comes with enough hardware for 12 leds, this is what I was kicking around, opinions are welcome! 6-RB,2-NW,2-OCW, and 2-TV.I would place them like this on my heatsink,see below, (Milad I hope this is okay that I took a snapshot of your utube video, I think you should have the heatsink showing the mounting points with no led's on them on your site so we can play with them! LOL). One of the issues I'm having is how I want to drive these, the picture shows the NW and OCW wired together and the RB and TV wired together, would this be okay? or would it be better to run 3 channels and run just the RB-1,NW-1, and ocw +TV=1? Okay Ill stop with this now, but Ill have more questions once I start getting some answers. LOL

[milfordguy]

I'm by no means an expert, but just would like to let you know of my similar setup. I recently made a DIY LED light and used similar LED choices. I had 6 RB, 4 CW, 2 TV and 2 OCW.

 

I got some advice from EVIL and he said my best bet would be to run the RB's on 1 channel, the OCW's on a channel, and the whites and violets on a channel for 3 total. He was giving me suggestions as I had already purchased some hardware, so your optimal setup may be slightly different because you haven't purchased anything yet. Also I have the RB driven @1000ma while both the white and OCW channels are driven @700mA. All channels are adjustable for acclimation.

 

Good luck, I'm assuming you will be recommended meanwell LDD drivers which require a PWN dimming signal, and an additional power source. However you may want to price that out comparing it to regular meanwell drivers with a built in power supply.

 

Like I said I would definitely wait for comment from someone more knowledgeable, but just figured this may give you some ideas.

[jedimasterben]

You're gonna need more LEDs than that to properly light a 20g.

[willz02]

yeah you are gonna need more than that, i was on the same boat couple of days ago but after reading full spectrum LED post by uglybuckling in here, pointed me on the right direction, already did my order and cant wait to put it together.

but was way more expensive than what i tough it would be, so I'm not using the makers heatsink not on my range

 

here is the post, "highly" recommend to read it if you want full spectrum, and if not it will point you on the best direction.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/311998-full-spectrum-led-layouts/

[discus513]

I am running the tank perfectly fine with a single par 30 multicolor right now, so I think I'll be fine with the amount of leds, if need be I'll run the par light too.although I may switch over to the Cree Leds now that I think about the ammount of light, and after reading the light output difference between the Bridelux and Cree leds.thanks

[discus513]

As far as the setup I discribed do you think it would work, it looks like I may have to run both channels at 700ma if I keep to this setup, would the 700ma be enough to push the RB's? I was trying to stay with the two channels because I want to add either the MakersLED Dimming Bar or the MakersDRIVER - Professional grade dimmable LED driver but that is if I can come up with the extra money, when you think of it you only spend about $30 more for the makers driver because you get the pot,two drivers, and a fan cord in one. But if I go with 3 channels I have to add another pot and another driver and want to to look cosmetical nice. I seen on the makers driver where it says it will mount on a 12'' or bigger heatsink though and that really sucks it would fit my 6'' heatsink, that may be a deal breaker, does anyone know the actual deminsions of the makers driver?, I wonder if I could offset my fan on the heatsink and squeeze in that driver? If I cant I may just go with the dimming bar and instead of running the meanwell drivers I may try the inventronics 25w watts X2 and mount them to the opposite side of the heatsink, does anyone know the deminsionsfor the inventronics 25W drivers? Thanks guys!

[discus513]

Where are all the led professionals at? Lol I need help guys,I would like to order by the 15th but not exactly sure what I need

[gus6464]

Is this a 20L?

 

This is what I built for my 20L.

 

Per cluster

 

2x 3UP (rb/nw/rb)

2x Hyper violet

1x OCW

 

Got 2 clusters no optics. Might add a third cluster when I set up the tank. Using Meanwell LDD and external PSU.

[discus513]

No it is a regular 20g not the long,I have a 6"makers heatsink so I will not have room for two groups, it will be one group spread out a little bit,I will probably hang the light about 8" off of the top of the water with no optics to help spread and blend the light

[discus513]

Milad, are you out there?

[jedimasterben]

You're also going to not be able to light the tank evenly with a 6" long light, even if you do not use optics (which won't get you a lot of punch to the bottom of the tank). For a 24" long tank, a 12" heatsink (or two 6") should be used. 4x NW, 8x RB, 2x CB, 2x OCW, 4-8x HV.

[discus513]

You're also going to not be able to light the tank evenly with a 6" long light, even if you do not use optics (which won't get you a lot of punch to the bottom of the tank). For a 24" long tank, a 12" heatsink (or two 6") should be used. 4x NW, 8x RB, 2x CB, 2x OCW, 4-8x HV.

eventually I may end up building a second light, but this is my first diy led and I want to make sure I can build one right before I take on a second, plus I'm on a tight budget right now with the kids and fiance getting ready to go back to school, the 6" heat sink I won has enough hardware for 12 leds so I'm trying to build the best light I can with what I have.do you have the makers driver or any of the 25 watt inventronics drivers that you can get me some measurements off of? If I can't make the makers driver work with my heatsink then I will probably stay away from the meanwell drivers that need the external power supply,I will try to find a driver and power supply in one that I can mount to the backside of the heatsink.thanks

[jedimasterben]

eventually I may end up building a second light, but this is my first diy led and I want to make sure I can build one right before I take on a second, plus I'm on a tight budget right now with the kids and fiance getting ready to go back to school, the 6" heat sink I won has enough hardware for 12 leds so I'm trying to build the best light I can with what I have.do you have the makers driver or any of the 25 watt inventronics drivers that you can get me some measurements off of? If I can't make the makers driver work with my heatsink then I will probably stay away from the meanwell drivers that need the external power supply,I will try to find a driver and power supply in one that I can mount to the backside of the heatsink.thanks

The 6" heatsink is just large enough to fit the fan. The MakersDriver will not fit, you will need a 12" heatsink minimum to use even a single Makersdriver and mount it in place on the heatsink. Also, the MakersDriver is built using LDD, so you will still need a power supply.

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

As far as the setup I discribed do you think it would work, it looks like I may have to run both channels at 700ma if I keep to this setup, would the 700ma be enough to push the RB's? I was trying to stay with the two channels because I want to add either the MakersLED Dimming Bar or the MakersDRIVER - Professional grade dimmable LED driver but that is if I can come up with the extra money, when you think of it you only spend about $30 more for the makers driver because you get the pot,two drivers, and a fan cord in one. But if I go with 3 channels I have to add another pot and another driver and want to to look cosmetical nice. I seen on the makers driver where it says it will mount on a 12'' or bigger heatsink though and that really sucks it would fit my 6'' heatsink, that may be a deal breaker, does anyone know the actual deminsions of the makers driver?, I wonder if I could offset my fan on the heatsink and squeeze in that driver? If I cant I may just go with the dimming bar and instead of running the meanwell drivers I may try the inventronics 25w watts X2 and mount them to the opposite side of the heatsink, does anyone know the deminsionsfor the inventronics 25W drivers? Thanks guys!

 

Ive done a 14g biocube before with just two channels and it turned out good. I had the OCW and NW on one channel and the RB and TV on another. That gives you enough range to adjust it to the color you like.

 

 

Milad, are you out there?

yes

 

 

eventually I may end up building a second light, but this is my first diy led and I want to make sure I can build one right before I take on a second, plus I'm on a tight budget right now with the kids and fiance getting ready to go back to school, the 6" heat sink I won has enough hardware for 12 leds so I'm trying to build the best light I can with what I have.do you have the makers driver or any of the 25 watt inventronics drivers that you can get me some measurements off of? If I can't make the makers driver work with my heatsink then I will probably stay away from the meanwell drivers that need the external power supply,I will try to find a driver and power supply in one that I can mount to the backside of the heatsink.thanks

 

 

 

Spec and dimensions of 25w driver are here: http://www.inventronics-co.com/upload/EUC-026SxxxDS(PS)_2013042603092790611.PDF

I used two of these in the biocube 14g build.

[discus513]

So from the looks of of things I could mount two inventronics 25w drivers to the back side of a 6" heatsink, 6" = 152.4mm and it looks like the inventronics drivers are 60mm wide, did you mount them on the heatsink when you did the 14 biocube? Also it looks like if I mount the fan offset on the heatsink I have at least 10mm of extra room and maybe could squeeze out a little more if I let the edge of the fan hang off the heatsink a little, which I may be able to do with the rounded fan gaurd.how wide is the dining bar that you guys sell? Also how many ma does the inventronic 25w put out? Is it 1000ma or 700ma max?

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

So from the looks of of things I could mount two inventronics 25w drivers to the back side of a 6" heatsink, 6" = 152.4mm and it looks like the inventronics drivers are 60mm wide, did you mount them on the heatsink when you did the 14 biocube? Also it looks like if I mount the fan offset on the heatsink I have at least 10mm of extra room and maybe could squeeze out a little more if I let the edge of the fan hang off the heatsink a little, which I may be able to do with the rounded fan gaurd.how wide is the dining bar that you guys sell? Also how many ma does the inventronic 25w put out? Is it 1000ma or 700ma max?

 

700mA on the 25W driver we have

What is the dining bar you are talking about? Not sure what you mean.

I mounted the heatsink inside the 14g hood so there was no room for the drivers. I ran the wires down below the tank.

[discus513]

The makers led dimming bar that you have on your site for like $12.75

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

The makers led dimming bar that you have on your site for like $12.75

22.84mm

[discus513]

22.84mm

Thanks! I will look at the heatsink tomorrow and figure out how much my fan will stick out if I get on of these, I like the perfessional look of it and need dimmers anyways, so hopefully it will work. If I had a suggestion for you, it would be to create a nano makers dimming bar and have it rounded out so that it goes around the fan gaurd. I may get one and try to round it out myself, I may be ablecut out 5mm or so off of the thickness from what I see with the pictures on your site, I almost wish the dimmer knobs where further apart and the ingraving was closer to the bottom, then I could trim a bunch out of it to make it fit. Just and idea!

[discus513]

So I'm starting to get this all figured out, I am going to go with the 12 leds, 6 - Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue , 2 - Solderless CREE XT-E White @NW, 2 - Solderless True Violet LED - 405nm , & 2 - Solderless Ocean Coral White , Now the way I figure this is that is 16 leds X 3W = 48W. But I am pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong) if these run at 700ma then they wont actually be using 3 full watts,right? So I think since I'm not going to be controlling them with a PWM dimmer I would be better off going with the direct drive Inventronics drivers, but here's where I have another question, I know that I could get 2 of the Inventronics 25w driver - 700mA and they will power these leds in two channels similar to the diagram I posted earlier, where both channels will be independent, dimmable, and I can put them each on a timer to shut off and on when I want, But would this work if I picked up 1 of the Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA , would I be able to separate this into 2 dimmable channels and have enough power to run these at 700ma? I know that they would both be on the same plug so I wouldn't be able to turn them off and on separately unless I put some inline shutoffs or something, but would work if I just wanted to set the spectrum up the way I like it and have it come on and off? I'm sorry guys I know I ask a lot of questions but I think I am starting to understand it a little more each day. Thanks to you guys!

Oops, also if the Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA driver would work in the above post, Milad can you get me the dimensions for that driver as well? Thanks!

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

So I'm starting to get this all figured out, I am going to go with the 12 leds, 6 - Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue , 2 - Solderless CREE XT-E White @NW, 2 - Solderless True Violet LED - 405nm , & 2 - Solderless Ocean Coral White , Now the way I figure this is that is 16 leds X 3W = 48W. But I am pretty sure (correct me if I'm wrong) if these run at 700ma then they wont actually be using 3 full watts,right? So I think since I'm not going to be controlling them with a PWM dimmer I would be better off going with the direct drive Inventronics drivers, but here's where I have another question, I know that I could get 2 of the Inventronics 25w driver - 700mA and they will power these leds in two channels similar to the diagram I posted earlier, where both channels will be independent, dimmable, and I can put them each on a timer to shut off and on when I want, But would this work if I picked up 1 of the Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA , would I be able to separate this into 2 dimmable channels and have enough power to run these at 700ma? I know that they would both be on the same plug so I wouldn't be able to turn them off and on separately unless I put some inline shutoffs or something, but would work if I just wanted to set the spectrum up the way I like it and have it come on and off? I'm sorry guys I know I ask a lot of questions but I think I am starting to understand it a little more each day. Thanks to you guys!

 

Oops, also if the Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA driver would work in the above post, Milad can you get me the dimensions for that driver as well? Thanks!

 

 

you are mixing up how the drivers work. Its not about watts, its about volts. have a peak at: http://ledgroupbuy.zendesk.com/entries/25177163-What-do-I-need-to-power-the-LEDs-

 

If you put all the LEDs on one driver, then they will have to be dimmed together, you wont be able to adjust the color that way.

[discus513]

you are mixing up how the drivers work. Its not about watts, its about volts. have a peak at: http://ledgroupbuy.zendesk.com/entries/25177163-What-do-I-need-to-power-the-LEDs-

 

If you put all the LEDs on one driver, then they will have to be dimmed together, you wont be able to adjust the color that way.

Yeah I read through that the other day, I just wanted to make sure that I needed a driver per strand. Thanks for the help I will be ordering soon. One last question do I need to get thermal adhesive or grease when mounting my leds to the makers heat sink?

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

Yeah I read through that the other day, I just wanted to make sure that I needed a driver per strand. Thanks for the help I will be ordering soon. One last question do I need to get thermal adhesive or grease when mounting my leds to the makers heat sink?

 

 

GREASE! no adhesive for makers heatsink. thats the beauty of it.

[discus513]

alright, I have my drivers, leds,dimmer bar,grease,fan cord pretty much figured out, I'm not too sure on whether or not to go with optics or not, I read the post that is linked to cree optics , but I am not exactly sure how high the light will be hung and I want to make sure with only a 6'' heat sink light that I cover the 20g the best I can, and I figure without optics the light should blend the colors better, I guess I could always order them later if I decide that I need them, whats your opinion with 6'' X roughly 4'' of heat sink covering a tank that is 24"X12"X16''. I know it is not going to be the perfect light for this tank and it is not going to be my new SPS tank, just looking for your opinion with about how high and optics or not, and if so what optics?

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

alright, I have my drivers, leds,dimmer bar,grease,fan cord pretty much figured out, I'm not too sure on whether or not to go with optics or not, I read the post that is linked to cree optics , but I am not exactly sure how high the light will be hung and I want to make sure with only a 6'' heat sink light that I cover the 20g the best I can, and I figure without optics the light should blend the colors better, I guess I could always order them later if I decide that I need them, whats your opinion with 6'' X roughly 4'' of heat sink covering a tank that is 24"X12"X16''. I know it is not going to be the perfect light for this tank and it is not going to be my new SPS tank, just looking for your opinion with about how high and optics or not, and if so what optics?

 

 

with no optics, you are going to want to be closer to the water (under 10") anything past that you gota look at optics for your tank.