jwpadgett Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I need a light for a new 40 breeder and really like the Lumia 5.2 pucks. I was thinking two on a 24" heatsiink. I want to use a controller like the stormx, but am a complete novice. A couple of questions: If I use a coralux 5up ldd driver board, can I mix 1A and 7mA pucks on a single board? Can the controller use the Lumia for moonlighting during the night cycles? If I went with the makers heatsink kit, what is the best way to integrate the driver boards and controller that wouldn't look like crap. I'm aware of the Maker's driver/controller/dimmer combo, but that's brings the light in range of a Radion price wise and doesn't make much sense. I'm trying to keep the cost close to $400, but that's proving difficult without using chinese black boxes. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Yes, you can mix and match LDD, it makes no difference. With the Lumia, you'll have ten LEDs per channel (two sets of five in series). If you use the Storm X, then you'll be able to dim them to 30/4095 for a full lunar cycle without it going over 7.5mA on a 1A driver. With the Storm, you'd be at 30/255, which is 117mA on the same 1A driver and would be much too bright. $400 isn't really going to cut it. Two Lumia is around $200, a Storm X is another $95, heatsink is $100. That's your budget right there and you don't even have anything to power it. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Thanks Jedi, Ok, so I do have two round heatsinks that are rated for 30W. They measure 5x3. The inner core is 2". Could I use these with a fan mounted to each? Would the 180W powersupply be enough? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Those heatsinks will not be adequate. The 180w is fine for two, but I would personally look to a higher build quality supply such as a Meanwell HLG. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Jedi, Thanks again for your guidance! What would be the minimum heatsink size needed for a single Lumia 5.2? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I've tested the 6" MakersLED heatsink with one and it did a pretty good job, so that would be the minimum. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Jedi, Is this the spec-sheet for the meanwell power supply you recommended? Would this still work with the 5up LDD drivers and a stormx - i notice it's dimmable itself? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Yes, but under NO circumstances would you dim the HLG. You'll kill whats on the output side of it. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Also, could I power the stormx and 2 fans using the same power supply with a 48/12v reducer? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Yes, I use Meanwell SCW for that purpose. The Storm needs either 9v or 12v input and around 400mA maximum (usually won't be anywhere near that, but it's good to have plenty of power available) and then your fans will say how much amperage that they need, then add around 30-40% to that number. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Are meanwell scw compatible with the LDD boards like coralux? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Not exactly, the pins are at different positions, but if you can make a solder bridge to connect a couple of them then it will work. There are a few board designs on ReefCentral that have LDD and SCW and a special circuit for powering fans and controlling them via PWM. They're inexpensive and awesome. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Are these boards available for sale or are they strictly DIY? I am a complete noob with this stuff, so I prefer to limit soldering as much as possible. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 They're DIY, but if you contact Aaron (O2surplus) and ask nicely he will populate the boards for you. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Thanks a ton Jedi. I've read many of your posts - part of the reason I'm attempting this. I'm sure I'll have more questions once I begin the build. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 Hey Jedi, I have a question on the SCW drivers. Would I need one for each fan and one for the stormx or would one be sufficient for all three? I PM'd 02surplus, but have not heard back yet, so I'm looking into doing a solder bridge on a standard LDD board. I also found some listings on ebay for downstep converters, would these work? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 You have to make sure that you have enough amperage for all the devices on the output. If you plan on controlling the fan via PWM, then you will need a separate one for that, otherwise you'll starve the Storm for output and kill it. Beware the quality on the ones you find from eBay and the like. I'm sure that there are some that are good, but I would personally not risk it. Link to comment
jwpadgett Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 Do you know how much amperage the stormx needs? I figure this would be sufficient for my two heatsink fans. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 The Storm X can use no more than 400mA. Link to comment
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