Looking for LED advise

[WmTasker]

I have a DIY led light that I need help tying to reconfigure for optimal lighting. I am looking for any input or suggestions on how to redo my lighting configuration. I am thinking about adding changing my moonlights to a LDD-300 and making a new channel the extra LDD-700. Im pretty sure my power supply will handle it.

This is currently what I have:

6 x Solderless Hyper Violet LED - 430nm

13 x Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue 450nm-455nm

4 x Solderless Cool Blue - 475nm

2 x Solderless Turquoise - 495nm

6 x Solderless Deep Red - 660nm

8 x Solderless CREE XT-E Neutral White (4500K)

1 x 250w 48v 5.2A DC Power Supply

5 x Meanwell LDD-700HW LED Driver

Here is the current configuration:

• LDD1 = 2 White for Moon light

• LDD2 = 4 deep red and 1 royal blue for refugium

The main tank has 3 drivers:

• LDD3 = 12 Royal Blue

• LDD4 = 6 white, 3 hyper violet, 1 cool blue

• LDD5 = 2 turquoise, 2 deep red, 3 cool blue, 3 hyper violet

I run this configuration for about 12 hours. 4 hours of ramping up, 4 hours of peak, 4 hours of dimming to off. During the peak 4 hours: LDD3 runs 80%, LDD4 runs 50%, and LDD5 runs 80%. I keep the same ratio as the LEDs ramp up and dim.

I am thinking about changing the current layout to:

• LDD3 = 12 Royal Blue

• LDD4 = 6 White, 4 Cool Blue

• LDD5 = 2 Deep Red, 2 Turquoise, 6 Hyper Violet

-OR-

 

• LDD3 = 12 Royal Blue

• LDD4 = 6 White, 6 Hyper Violet

• LDD5 = 2 Deep Red, 2 Turquoise, 4 Cool Blue

I would just use my current LDD drivers. Then I would try and experiment to see what percents to run the LEDs.

If I got another LDD, may I Could add a 6 more LEDs and divide them up. Plus adding 10 more LEDs.

Maybe I could divide the main tank up to 4 LDDs:

• LDD3 (700mA) = 12 Royal Blues

• LDD4 (700mA) = 8 White (+2)

• LDD5 (700mA) = 8 Hyper Violet (+2), 2 xp-2 red

• LDD6 (700mA) = 4 Turquoise (+2), 4 Deep Red (+2), 4 Cool Blue,

Any input is welcome.

Last Question : What would be the smallest power supply (watts, volts, amps) that would run one LDD 700 with 12 LEDs?

[jedimasterben]

I would personally ditch the deep red LEDs and instead swap some (or all) of your neutral white with either warm white or the high-CRI neutral white Nichia 219. Same color temperature but a 90CRI minimum instead of the shoddy 70CRI typical of the XT-E neutrals.

 

Run white on its own, violet on its own, royal blue on its own, and blue/cyan together. You can also run blue and royal blue together and then cyan on its own.

 

I would also look into adding lime. LEDgroupbuy doesn't (and probably won't be) sell them, though, so you'll have to look elsewhere for the time being.

[WmTasker]

I would personally ditch the deep red LEDs and instead swap some (or all) of your neutral white with either warm white or the high-CRI neutral white Nichia 219. Same color temperature but a 90CRI minimum instead of the shoddy 70CRI typical of the XT-E neutrals.

 

Run white on its own, violet on its own, royal blue on its own, and blue/cyan together. You can also run blue and royal blue together and then cyan on its own.

 

I would also look into adding lime. LEDgroupbuy doesn't (and probably won't be) sell them, though, so you'll have to look elsewhere for the time being.

Thanks for the reply.

So something like this:

 

• LDD3 (700mA) = 12 Royal Blues

• LDD4 (700mA) = 8 solderless cree xm-l2 warm white

• LDD5 (700mA) = 8 Hyper Violet

• LDD6 (700mA) = 4 Turquoise, 4 Cool Blue,

Why the change from neutral to warm whites and losing the Reds? When I set this up 2 years ago this was what I thought everyone was suggesting. Will the warm whites promote algae? Would I be better off running the royal Blues and whites with ldd-1000 ? Even if I would only run at 80% most of the time?

[jedimasterben]

Stay far away from the XM series. They're still low-CRI and don't have great off-axis color.

 

All light promotes algal growth.

 

The best to figure out driver current is to figure out the max current you want to give them. For me, my white channel is typically at half the power of royal blue, so I decided to use a 350mA driver for white and 700mA for royal blue. This way I can still dim them in the same 4096 steps and keep them at the same percentage on the controller.

[WmTasker]

Stay far away from the XM series. They're still low-CRI and don't have great off-axis color.

All light promotes algal growth.

The best to figure out driver current is to figure out the max current you want to give them. For me, my white channel is typically at half the power of royal blue, so I decided to use a 350mA driver for white and 700mA for royal blue. This way I can still dim them in the same 4096 steps and keep them at the same percentage on the controller.

So what's CRI? Are the XM's better than the XT series that I currently have?

[jedimasterben]

CRI is color rendering index. A higher CRI, generally, means a higher quality diode that presents colors more accurately. The XM series will have worse off-axis color than a corresponding XT-E, which aren't great to begin with as they have a low CRI, which is why I recommended the Nichia chips.

[WmTasker]

So .... I could keep 1 channel with my royal blues and my 1 channel of my hyper violet. What LEDs would you replace my other 2 channels with or add to my other channels?

 

Or would I be better off changing all my LEDs? What LEDs would you use on 4 channels?

[jedimasterben]

I wouldn't change all your LEDs, that's not necessary lol. Recommendation is still the same as above