somebloke Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi Guys I have a Malawi Mbuna tank that measures 66x24x24 inches and is currently lit by on aold light bar from my previous tank. This means Im using a pair of 36" T8 Grolux tubes to light my tank. I want to build an auto sunrise/sunset system, using W/R/B Leds, and to be able to adjust each colour intensity/brightness to obtain a spectrum Im happy with. I dont need coral or plant levels of brightness, as its just for viewing. Critically, close to natural spectrum and the all important "shimmer" are my main aims. I want my tank to look as close to natural as possible. I think the MakersLed controller will fulfill my needs, but after that Im a bit lost as to what drivers and aslo LED selection itself. I have no idea how many, what colour mix etc I need. Also, whats the likely shipping cost to the Uk please ? Any help greatfeully recieved. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I would just use white LEDs, half cool white and half warm white, and maybe some OCW mixed in. You don't need many, maybe 12x white LEDs and 2-3x OCW to bring up color rendition. You can use a single MakersDriver for that, run the white LEDs on a 700mA driver and the OCW on a 500mA driver, will be plenty. Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 Thanks for the reply. Whats OCW ? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 A mix of 470nm, 495nm, and 660nm on one star. Standard Cree whites don't have the best color rendition, and the addition of these chips can help with that, and can help make the colors in the fish stand out more. Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 Thinking about your reply Jedi, that doesnt sound like very many LEDs at all. What sort of spacing are you thinking of, and will that cause spotlighting ? Will I need optics ? Which actual chip ? Cree xml ? What size power supply ? Will I need a heatsink ? How much for shipping to UK ? Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Bump for answers to above... Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 sorry for all the dumb questions.... Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Thinking about your reply Jedi, that doesnt sound like very many LEDs at all. What sort of spacing are you thinking of, and will that cause spotlighting ? Will I need optics ? Which actual chip ? Cree xml ? What size power supply ? Will I need a heatsink ? How much for shipping to UK ? Since you're not looking for intensity, you don't need to have a lot of LEDs. Run no optics and and you will have the spread you need. The XM-L series has terrible color (cool white are mostly all blue, neutrals and warms are typically green-tinted off-axis) and are very expensive for what you would need them to do. Drivers depend on a few things. There's Inventronics which are 0-10v dimmable, so you'd need the DIM4 controller to dim them, or use potentiometers. Meanwell LDD are PWM only, so you'd need the Storm or Storm X controller for dimming, no manual dimming. The MakersDriver needs the MakersController to dim them, or a 0-10v controller. The MakersController is superior to the DIM4, but the Storm and Storm X are vastly superior to both. All LEDs need a heatsink. The Makers heatsink is good, but shipping is expensive overseas. You may be able to source something locally for much less if you're going to enclose it, but if you weren't planning on a hood, then the MakersLED is the best choice. Shipping you calculate on the site, add the stuff to your cart and put in your country and zip code and it'll tell you. Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Ben, thank you. Ive put together a proposed list, but I dont know what drivers to use or what power supply.... Storm Controller 4x OCW 4X 13" 5.88 heatsink 6x XTE cool white 6x XTE warm white Your thoughts please? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 If you're using the Storm, then you can only use the bare LDD drivers. Use one 700mA for the white LEDs and one 500mA for the OCW. The LDD can handle up to 14x XT-E, so you can add another of each XT-E if you want to. Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Any recommendations on which driver exactly Ben ? Do I then also need a main power supply ? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yes, the LDD drivers, one 700mA and one 500mA. You can use the HW that have wire leads or you can use the H that don't have the wires, but you'll need one of the Coralux boards, as well. Yes, the 180w is the smallest from there, or if you could find a 48v power supply locally then that is also an option, you need one that provides at least 70 watts (gives some headroom, you want a power supply with a wattage at least 20% more than the LEDs you're powering). Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Ok, so the Meanwell 700h and 500hw and then maybe a local power supply and thats me full set up with auto sunset/sunrise, maybe moonlight ? I beleive the Meanwells shut off the LEDs totally, as other cheaper ones dont ? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Correct, the Storm can give a 0/255 or 0/4096 signal and they will cut the current completely. Link to comment
somebloke Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 One last question - do you think I need a few blues or will the OCW cover that spectrum ? Link to comment
Milad LEDGroupBuy.com Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 One last question - do you think I need a few blues or will the OCW cover that spectrum ? OCW covers the cool blue spectrum Link to comment
somebloke Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 Ok, im going to bump this as Ive still not done it. Is the list above still a good recommendation or have things moved since Jan this year? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Nope, pretty much the same. Link to comment
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