Redoing my DIY LED fixture - Color Temperature Advice Needed

[Biokabe]

A few years back, I built an LED fixture for my tank, a 29g Biocube. Lately, I'm just not feeling the love for it. I'd prefer an 18-20k look, but most of the time it feels a closer to 10-12k. Coral coloration is kind of blah under it - corals that looked spectacular at the LFS or online fade out and get progressively browner. They still grow and seem to do well, but nothing spectacular.

 

It's been a while since I put together my LED array, and I haven't really kept up with all of the new releases in LED land. So, I'd like to start (almost) from scratch. I have three drivers (Inventronics 42w, 700mA current, I believe 52v forward voltage) that I'd like to reuse to keep costs down. My goal is to put together a full-spectrum (or close to it) array that would naturally sit in the 18-20k range if I dimmed all three channels equally. What mix of LEDs should I use to achieve that look?

 

Another question: In my original build, I used Bridgelux LEDs for the RB and NW LEDs. With my drivers, would I see much of a difference if I used Cree LEDs in the new array?

 

Thanks!

[evilc66]

What do you have now?

[Biokabe]

My current breakdown is:

 

12 Royal Blue

10 Neutral White

2 Blue

5 Violet

2 Deep Red

2 Turquoise

 

And here's the physical layout:

 

My current heatsink is 6"x9", but I'm going to put the new array on the 12" MakersLED heatsink.

[jedimasterben]

So you want to end up with 20K, keeping roughly the same number of LEDs and such, but better color?

 

 

4x warm white

6x violet

14x royal blue

4x blue

2x cyan/turquoise

2x lime

[Biokabe]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. I noticed there are no reds on your list - does the warm white take care of that part of the spectrum?

[jedimasterben]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. I noticed there are no reds on your list - does the warm white take care of that part of the spectrum?

Warm white covers all of amber, red, and deep red, so you don't need any dedicated diodes

[evilc66]

Plus they blend better. Discrete reds can stick out like a sore thumb

[Biokabe]

Fantastic. Should I try to cluster any of the diodes (like I did with the red, turquoise and royal blue), or just aim for an even spread on the array?

Plus they blend better. Discrete reds can stick out like a sore thumb

 

I'm definitely seeing that on the current array. They didn't use to, but I think there may be some uneven wear on my current array... there are a couple of bright red spots that you can see if you look closely. Actually, you don't have to look that closely.

[jedimasterben]

Yes, try to make small clusters if you can. There are also 3up stars you can buy of the colors so that they would blend even better. They're a bit more difficult to solder up, but they're super close together and much less disco.

 

You can also buy a roll of the 'sand' peel n stick frosting film from here: http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/dcfix/Transparent.htm It is cheap and helps blend the colors together more.

[Biokabe]

Thanks. I assume I'd apply the film to the splashguard?

[jedimasterben]

Yes. Looks like this, before and after.

 

 

Just realized the first photo has the splash shield totally off, whoops. But it still looks the same since the splash guard is acrylic

[Biokabe]

Thanks again, you've been as helpful as you always are. =)

 

So I think I'm just about ready to order. Here's what I was thinking for my channels:

 

Channel 1: 14x Royal Blue (44 volts, using the Cree XT-E lamps)

Channel 2: 2x Lime, 6x Violet (32 volts, using Phillips Rebel ES for the lime and SemiLEDS Hyper Violet for the violets)

Channel 3: 4x Warm White, 4x Blue, 2x Turquoise (32 volts, Cree XT-E for the white, XP-E2 for the blue, and the LEDGroupBuy Exotic for the Turquoise)

 

I'm going solderless on the LEDs (small apartment + silly cats = fire waiting to happen), so I put the channels together the way I did to avoid mixing the different solderless solutions used by RapidLED and LEDGroupBuy. If I'm making any silly mistakes setting up the channels that way, let me know. Comparing the different prices between the two sites, that was the most cost-effective way of putting it together, but I don't want to end up with a bad set-up because I tried to save $5. =)

 

Thanks again!

[jedimasterben]

I would highly recommend putting the lime with the white and not the violet. you probably won't be running the lime very high, and if on the same channel as violet, then the violets by default will run low, as well.

 

You can mix the two kinds of solderless, just got to plan ahead, the ones from RapidLED are wired a bit funky.