Caravanshaka Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Hi All, I wanted to introduce you to an LED build I recently completed to replace a 160w Maxspect Razor over my Nuvo 24. First off, the major components: 2x ASIS 412 heatsinks, silver anodized with clamp mount www.cncreef.com 4x RapidLED dimmable drivers 40x LED's as follows: - 10 Cree Royal Blue - 2 Cree Blue - 4 StevesLED Violet - 2 StevesLED Tri-star triple pucks single channel (Cool Blue, 5000k, 5000k) - 4 StevesLED Tri-star triple pucks separate channels (Royal Blue, Cool White, 4000k) - 2 StevesLED Tri-star triple pucks anti-disco (Cyan, Red, 2700k) Molex Connectors from StevesLEDs The Design: I like to incorporate clusters to improve light blending, so each heatsink has 3 small clusters that consist of an array of LED's. The wiring was left to be pretty simple overall, which you can see in some of the photos. I left a good 6-8 feet of wire coming out of the gooseneck clamp mount that ended in a molex connector meant to attach to the driver box. The driver consists of 4 RapidLED drivers, and are wired such that the 2 white drivers have 1 plug and 1 dimming channel, and the 2 blue drivers also only have 1 plug and 1 dimming channel. After having the setup running for a little while, I have decided that I need to add a small fan to the driver box to make me feel more comfortable as the drivers do get pretty hot and are fairly confined for space. The Result: I can't even describe how much I like the CNCreef heatsinks. They are slim, sexy, and extremely functional. I have 60w of LED's on each one and I haven't even broken 100 degrees of surface temp. The fans are quiet, and provide ample cooling due to the airflow design of the fixture. They look so clean and don't resemble a DIY fixture at all once complete. The gooseneck clamp mounts are great for tanks that have an open top, and hide the wiring quite well. I love the light output from the color combinations. I don't see any specific color when they are on, so the blending is great. The blue's offer great actinics with the addition of violets, and the whites and colors bring out a great overall spectrum for daytime. As soon as I get the dimmers hooked up to an Apex, I will be extremely satisfied. And now, to the pictures: Link to comment
bdevillier19 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 pictures arent working Link to comment
Getcusome Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Dito that! Wanna see! Link to comment
Caravanshaka Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 hopefully that fixes the pictures Link to comment
bdevillier19 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 That's better. I saw your tank in cncreefs subforum. Very nice. Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Those are very nicely done. One quick question. Your description states 10 Triple Pucks total, but I only see four per light. Typo? I'm guessing you only have 2 of the 2.7K+DR+Cyan anti-discos. Link to comment
Caravanshaka Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 you are right, I switched that quantity to 2. Thanks for the catch Link to comment
GHill762 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 wow.. that looks super sexy.. looks like a commercial fixture are you using a controller of some sort? Link to comment
Caravanshaka Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 Full Apex setup with VDM should be arriving today or tomorrow. For now, it is on a manual timer and 2 temporary dimming knobs. Link to comment
zooman72 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Nice work, and nice tank - gotta ask though - what drove the decision to replace the Razor with these? Just trying to foster discussion... Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 would that heatsink work with optics? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Not with the splashguard. Link to comment
bpounds1991 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Wow man, that looks fantastic! Link to comment
Dramad1 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Sweet build. Looking nice and sleek. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 ah...i guess its easily modified with spacers and such Link to comment
CNCreef.com Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Not with the splashguard. We have an optional Splashguard Spacer kit that comes with Laser cut (1/8" and 1/4") trim ring. This buys you up to 3/8" additional space for optics. To take advantage of the airflow management designed into the fixture (air cools the heatsink, crosses over the LEDs, keeps a moving air gap between the splashguard, and exits through the slits in the center), we recommend this trim ring to maintain a sealed plenum and keep the fixture running at its best thermal performance. Your LEDs will thank you. Cheers Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Dayumn, you guys thought of everything, it seems! Link to comment
CNCreef.com Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Dayumn, you guys thought of everything, it seems! We try. Link to comment
Caravanshaka Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 Nice work, and nice tank - gotta ask though - what drove the decision to replace the Razor with these? Just trying to foster discussion... I replaced the razor for a few reasons: 1) the overall size of the footprint of the fixture was too big for the light spread. It was 27" long, but the spread from the outermost edges of actual LED's was only about 18" or so. Same thing front to back, it was 10" or so front to back, but only 3" of that contained LED's. This caused me a lot of frustration with getting filtration in and out on the Nuvo series tank. Since I had the light mounted to the wall, I would either have to remove the light and brackets holding it up, or move the tank out from under the light to get to the filtration 2) I like full spectrum. I know the razor covers everything you need with the neutral whites, but I like having a red and green/cyan in the mix because I just feel like I get better viewing color out of it. 3) I am a DIYer by nature. I have build several fixtures for local reefers, and when I saw the CNCreef heatsinks, I knew I was going to have to put them over my tank and probably over a few other friends tanks in the area after they see mine. (one of them has already ordered) Hope that helps Sorry for the late reply btw, I thought I was subscribed to get an e-mail but guess that I was wrong. While I am here, a quick update on the lights. They are doing great! all of my coral is showing growth, including sps in a 3 month old tank. I have the sunrise and sunsets going now on the Apex and love the way it is looking. Currently running 80% max on blues, and 40% max on whites for a while. May increase that slowly over the coming months though. Fixture is performing flawlessly. I periodically check the temps just to be sure, and nothing over 90 degrees with the above settings. Link to comment
CNCreef.com Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 90F? as in cooler than the human body? How many watts of LEDs? Link to comment
Caravanshaka Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 20x 3w LEDs on each heatsink, so 60w. Running all 20 at full blast I think max was 98 degrees if I recall correctly. Link to comment
JR! Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 wow thats awesome build. really looking into making one. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 20x 3w LEDs on each heatsink, so 60w. Running all 20 at full blast I think max was 98 degrees if I recall correctly. 98F is pretty safe for LED, the website did say the 412 is rated for 75W LED. but i can imagine somone filling the heatsink with as much LED as they can. im sure the LED will fry without aftermarket cooling Link to comment
CNCreef.com Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Very cool. Pun intended. wow thats awesome build. really looking into making one. We're ready when you are. What's the hold up?Some people have waited over a year for these while we worked on launching the site! (Totally my bad.. too much going on. finally got some time to breathe!) Link to comment
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