rean_jem Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 after some thinking i decided to retrofit an aquamedic metal halide fixture as i downgraded my tank to a 8.5gal tank. i was really concerned with the heat of the halide and i wanted to do this while i havent installed the fixture yet. a big thanks to evil for helping with the layout and amount of leds i need. so to start with i have this the red outline will be taken off and be replaced with a 9" heatsink. the height of the fixture is like 3inches so with the heatsink and a fan on top of it, it will still look stock except for a big hole on top for the fan. i am hoping i can also stick 4 buckpucks inside also if that is okay. the fixture has holes on both side so i believe that should be enough for ventilation. it will be a 5x4 led arrangement with 60deg optics on the center and 80deg on both sides to accomodate the extra length of the aquarium. 9 cool white, 9 royal blues and 2uv leds and also 2 lunar leds. i would like to do this on a budget (as everybody else) so inputs on where to get them cheaper is greatly apreciated. 9 cool whites http://www.ledsupply.com/creexre-w100.php (not sure if this is the cool white evilc66 told me) or this one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15943 im not sure what to get. 9 royal blues http://www.ledsupply.com/creexre-rb.php ( i cant find the equivalent part at dealextreme) 2uv and 2lunar leds i have no clue where to get 9in heatsink with heatsink usa 2 24v power supplies http://www.ledsupply.com/15791-ps.php and i have the fan and the power supply for it. 4 dimmable buckpucks is it ok to hook up the lunar led to the uv, royal blue string? what kind of screws and do i need a plastic washer to attach this to the heatsink and where do i get it? if anybody has a site cheaper for this, please post here, thanks. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 DX has the cheapest LEDs, but not necessarily the best quality pcbs. They work, but they have a higher potential for failure than what you would buy from LED Supply. LED Supply recently dropped their prices, so they are closer, but still more expensive. It would be worth it for me for piece of mind. The R2 has a good bit more output than the Q4 that LED Supply sells. Kai Domain is pretty much the only place to get 3W UV LEDs. You can run them with the royals, but you can only run them at a max of 700mA. You won't lose a significant amount of performance from the royals for doing this. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 LED Supply recently dropped their prices, so they are closer, but still more expensive. It would be worth it for me for piece of mind. The R2 has a good bit more output than the Q4 that LED Supply sells. with that said, i should go with Q4 from led supply? another question please is i will be getting 2 700mA buckpucks for the royal blues and uv and 2 1000mA for the whites, how do i wire this to the power supply? do i wire 2 buckpucks in parallel? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 The Q4 will still provide adequate light, and I might take it over the DX R2 for the better pcb, and a little better color tint. Buckpucks will be wire in parallel to the power supply. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 i need help with the arrangement of the array. i placed an order of 9 cool whites and 9 royal blues and 2 uv's. i was told to arrange it 5 by 4 but it was mentioned in one led thread that its better to stagger it. how do i do this. attached are pics of arrays i thought of till i got a headache. the first one has 10 whites and 10 blues + 2 uv's which i think is the best one. please help. sorry if its small. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Almost. They way I would do it is this: W-B-W-B-W -B-W-B-W- W-B-U-B-W -B-W-B-W- Throw the UVs in the middle somewhere. Link to comment
phaze5 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 by any chance do you want to sell me your reflector... Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 Almost. They way I would do it is this: W-B-W-B-W -B-W-B-W- W-B-U-B-W -B-W-B-W- Throw the UVs in the middle somewhere. man, you're really good! i never would have thought of arranging it that way. how about if i move the first row to the last row so that i will have more leds at the front of the tank or maybe the top is the front for you, lol. by any chance do you want to sell me your reflector... il pm you once i get the leds. if the leds, buckpucks and fans doesnt fit inside the fixture then i will have to sell the whole thing with the ballast. if it does work out then i will sell the guts ie reflector, bulb, uv glass sheild, and ballast) basically a plug and play guts, lol. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 evil, upon closer inspection i noticed that with your layuot i only have 8 blues and 10whites. if i follow that layout i would have to order 1 more white and i will have 1 blue leftover. will this work. i dont know if its staggered enough though? B-W-B-W-B -B-W-B-W- -W-B-W-B- W-B-W-B-W or just 3 rows W-B-W-B-W-B B-W-B-W-B-W W-B-W-B-W-B W-B-W-B-W -B-W-B-W- W-B-W-B-W 1 extra white and only 8 blues. -B-W-B-W- or should i just order order 1 more extra blue and white to do this W-B-W-B-W B-W-B-W-B W-B-W-B-W B-W-B-W-B Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Don't order more. Work with what you have. You could take that first layout and swap rows 3 and 4 to blend it a bit better. You will have a noticeable color in each corner. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 k, will try that. thanks. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 after fitting the heatsink with the leds in the aquamedic pendant i noticed that the led is almost touching the glass like 1-2mm close. the glass will is bought at home depot then cut to size so its not tempered. will that be ok and will the glass get to hot to shatter? thanks. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 It won't get hot from the LEDs. Shouldn't have anything to worry about. You can always use acrylic if you are worried about it. So where are the pictures Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 haha, im excited as you are! as of right now im still seeing white spots after turning on the whites. the blues are not wired yet so no pictures as of now. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 pictures are up!!! the leds dont look as bright in pictures as it shows but you really cant look at it straight as it will give you a headache, i know coz of experience i just couldnt resist. the case with the holes drilled and the potentiometer in place. the wires sticking out are grouped whites and blues and labeled for easy wiring the underside showing potentiometer wiring of power supply from mpja fans installed (i had to move them at the center because they where in the way when it was time to slide it in the case) wired with no moonlights yet trial run installed and ready to be hung, just waiting on the power connection for the fans to close up the other side the back with heavy duty cabinet sliders. the sliders will be attached to the wall so i can slide the whole assembly on the side so i can have full access on my display with center bar moonlights bought from measurexplorer (ebay), stripped and coated with liquid electrical tape to insulate it) the birds nest! super packed and cramped Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 DUDE!! Awesome job. Can't wait to see it over the tank. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 thanks man, its finally coming together. i thought the hard part would be mounting the leds to the heatsink but i think it would be attaching it to the wall. question about the fans: 1. what kind of potentiometer (hopefully something i can just buy at radioshack) can i use to slow down the fan or can i just use resistors (what kind)? also the supply would be 24 v. i also need something small enough to cram inside the fixture. thanks in advance. this last thing will close up the other side and thats it. i also need to device a way to mount acrylic in the underside since the glass i cut wouldnt slide in because the uv lights are in the way and theres no way to raise the heatsink anymore. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Magnets. Epoxy one in each corner on the inside of the housing, then epoxy more to the acrylic. What is the current draw on the fans? Should say on the label. Link to comment
J-Bass Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Nice job rean_jem. Take some pics of it over your tank. I wanna see how much output & shim factor it produces. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Magnets. Epoxy one in each corner on the inside of the housing, then epoxy more to the acrylic. What is the current draw on the fans? Should say on the label. the magnet is an interesting idea, i will look into that. the current draw for each fan is 0.6A at 12vdc. Nice job rean_jem. Take some pics of it over your tank. I wanna see how much output & shim factor it produces. thanks. will post a picture maybe next week as i still have to put a potentiometer and something to cover the leds. but i can tell you in advance that its really nice and bright compared to a mh. Link to comment
J-Bass Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Yeah, I have an Ocean Light 70watt halide and the pendant is even smaller than the 150version. I know you can get the 250watt pendants(pendant w/no ballast) for around $60 or so from aqua-medic's outlet website. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 the magnet is an interesting idea, i will look into that. the current draw for each fan is 0.6A at 12vdc. thanks. will post a picture maybe next week as i still have to put a potentiometer and something to cover the leds. but i can tell you in advance that its really nice and bright compared to a mh. Don't you mean 0.06A? A 1/2W 10K pot will allow you to adjust down to ~16v (8v each) without getting too warm. A better way to do it is to use an LM317 voltage regulator, and use the pot for voltage adjustment. Link to comment
rean_jem Posted March 22, 2009 Author Share Posted March 22, 2009 can you please elaborate what you mean, like how to wire it or maybe point me to a supplier somewhere. thanks again evil. edit: will this work http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...n%3D8%26ps%3D35 Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 That would work, but you will be waiting a while to get that in from China. There are many diagrams posted in the net on how to make a variable voltage regulator using an LM317. It's not hard to find. Link to comment
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