48" LED Array Build For My 75 Gallon

[Ron99]

Well I now have most everything I need to build this so here goes. I'll start with pics of the parts. Here's the housing (an old Hamilton housing with acrylic splash shield) the array will go into along with my 3 heatsinks and two lengths of aluminum angle to mount the heatsinks in the housing.

 

 

And these are the 8 Meanwell ELN60-48P drivers for 80ish LEDs (each can drive up to 13 LEDs), 80 Cree XR-E emitters (half cool white, half royal blue) and a bag of 60 degree optics. I do actually have some 40 and 80 degree optics to experiment with but I think 60 will be the way to go.

 

 

I forgot to throw all the nice stainless steel bolts I picked up into the pictures. What I still need are fans when I decide exactly what the configuration of those will be and some Arduino bits to make a controller. The plan is to program it to gradually bring the blues from off to full illumination over 15 to 20 minutes and then gradually bring the whites up over another 15 to 20 minutes for a nice gradual sunrise. Sunset will be the opposite.

 

So now to start drilling and tapping the aluminum angle...

[Ron99]

Some progress. Here are the two aluminum angles mounted in the fixture:

 

 

And then I lay the three heatsinks on top to figure out spacing and where to drill my mounting holes:

 

 

Now because of the shape of the housing the aluminum angle had to be mounted pretty much flush with the bottom of the housing but I need clearance for the LEDs and optics so the heatsinks have to be raised a bit. So I cut some nylon spacers to place between the heatsinks and the angle.

 

 

And here it is all assembled:

 

 

So now that the mechanical engineering part is more or less sorted its on to the electrical engineering

[Ron99]

Heatsinks cleaned and polished a bit and 80 emitters mounted:

 

 

next up, wiring...

[schgr.cube]

Looking great so far! Keep it up.

[sammy113]

Looks great so far. Whats the squares pieces I see in the heatsinks?

 

Here's what I did in a setup similar to yours.

I used Super Service cable (has 4 wire inside) so I have 4 big cables out of the fixture down to a panel with the 8 Meanwells. On top of the heatsinks goes an acrylic top with holes for the fans

These are two 36 LEDs banks (8"x16" heatsinks)

Subscribed to see how this turns out!

Any plans on the PWM circuit?

[Ron99]

Looks great so far. Whats the squares pieces I see in the heatsinks?

 

Here's what I did in a setup similar to yours.

 

I used Super Service cable (has 4 wire inside) so I have 4 big cables out of the fixture down to a panel with the 8 Meanwells. On top of the heatsinks goes an acrylic top with holes for the fans

 

These are two 36 LEDs banks (8"x16" heatsinks)

 

Subscribed to see how this turns out!

Any plans on the PWM circuit?

 

The heatsinks I am using are recycled industrial heatsinks. They have some machined cutouts that held some components once upon a time. The cutouts are only about 1/16 inch deep so a few emitters will be 1/16 inch higher than the others. I figured that 1/16 inch will make no appreciable difference in the lighting and I saved a ton of money buying recycled heatsinks instead of new ($74 shipping included instead of $200 with shipping from Heatsink USA) and these are also wider than what Heatsink USA sells. Each one is 12" x 15" so I have 12" x 45" of heatsink.

 

I still have to order my Arduino bits for the controller and will use the transistor/Arduino circuit in the Meanwell thread for the PWM.

 

So now for an update...

 

Have the first row of LEDs wired up:

 

 

Here's a close up shot:

 

 

And the moment of truth...

 

The whites fired up:

 

 

And blues fired up:

 

 

They're bloody bright! Can't look directly at them.

[up.left]

How much would you estimate the cost of the same alignment say 24-28 inches?

[up.left]

Also what is the difference between the 40-60-80 degree optics?

 

Im just learning about led's and would like to diy a system pretty much exactly half of yours. If you had the time to help with just a few questions in pm that would be awesome and much appreciated. I understand if you are busy though.

[Ron99]

After lots and lots and lots of wiring I have all the LEDs working. I decided to get fancy and do everything with molex connectors so stuff can be removed/replaced easily. But it looks a bit like wiring spaghetti right now. I'll clean it up as I mount it all in the housing. Here's the drivers and wiring and all the LEDS wired up:

 

 

 

 

And here it all is fired up.

 

 

Still need to mount optics, pick up some fans and I'm waiting for the Arduino parts which should arrive this week and I can figure out the controller.

 

How much would you estimate the cost of the same alignment say 24-28 inches?

 

I am in for $1300 to $1400 so to do one half the size would probably be $700 or so. There's plenty of info amongst the various builds about using optics etc. I think with 60 degree optics I have performance equivalent to between a 150W MH and 250W MH. I will do PAR measurements once its all done and over the tank and compare it to my 8 bulb T5HO setup.

[Im2Nelson4u]

Hey dude awesome work. I read over at http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=62307 that you were going to dim your lights using using an arduino. Can you please post the step by step pictures of the circuit for converting the 5v pwm of the arduino to 10v? I've been looking at so many schematics that I don't which is the correct one to use. Me being a newbie doesn't exactly help either so a detailed pic ould be greatly appreciated. Also if you could post your sketch that would be awesome too

[Ron99]

Hey dude awesome work. I read over at http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=62307 that you were going to dim your lights using using an arduino. Can you please post the step by step pictures of the circuit for converting the 5v pwm of the arduino to 10v? I've been looking at so many schematics that I don't which is the correct one to use. Me being a newbie doesn't exactly help either so a detailed pic ould be greatly appreciated. Also if you could post your sketch that would be awesome too

 

The circuit is the one posted in the Meanwell thread:

 

 

However, I'm having a problem getting the circuit to work properly.

 

So after struggling with the controller for a bit I realized that it is going to take me a little while to sort that part out. I have also been getting some algae and cyano showing up on my rocks which I am fairly certain is due to my old T5 bulbs (15+ months old) I decided to just set it up without the controller for now and I can add that in later.

 

Here's a pic of the enclosure wired up with fans and drivers:

 

 

I also took a picture of the tank with the T5s using manual settings on the camera. Other then cropping a bit I didn't enhance the pictures at all as I wanted it to be a comparison between the two lights:

 

 

And here it is with the LEDs using the exact same camera settings:

 

 

It's definitely more blue with the LEDs and to me the coral colours look a bit nicer. It is also a bit dimmer to the eye so lumens are probably less but that is normal with blue LEDs. However, here's the important info...PAR readings.

 

With the 8 x 54W T5HO fixture I had about 300 PAR near the top of the tank, around 240 or so near the middle and about 160 at the bottom. This is running the lights about 3.5 to 4 inches above the water.

 

Now with the LEDs at about 7.5 to 8 inches above the water PAR was a bit over 500 near the top of the tank, about 400 in the middle and about 290 at the bottom. Holy photons Batman!

 

So I raised the fixture to about 15 inches in height for now as I can't dim the LEDs yet. Par is now about 350 at the top of the tank, 280 in the middle and still around 200 at the bottom of the tank. Remember, this is with the fixture 15 inches above the tank:

 

 

Also, the shimmer is really noticeable compared to the flatter T5 lighting. Oh and the bloody fixture weighs at least 50 pounds if not a bit more I think I will pick up some heftier S hooks to match the heftier chain I have already switched to!

[n0rk]

That is an awesome build, man. Interested to see how it goes for you, especially once dimming is done!

[Im2Nelson4u]

The circuit is the one posted in the Meanwell thread:

 

 

However, I'm having a problem getting the circuit to work properly.

 

So after struggling with the controller for a bit I realized that it is going to take me a little while to sort that part out. I have also been getting some algae and cyano showing up on my rocks which I am fairly certain is due to my old T5 bulbs (15+ months old) I decided to just set it up without the controller for now and I can add that in later.

 

I've been told to use a ICL7667 Mosfet which would make things much easier. If you wanna see the circuit I can post the pics

[sammy113]

Looks awesome! I'm still trying to understand Arduino to see if I can put it together

[Ron99]

I've been told to use a ICL7667 Mosfet which would make things much easier. If you wanna see the circuit I can post the pics

 

I would love to see the alternative circuit. I was hoping to get it to work with what I have already but options are good. Thanks.

[Im2Nelson4u]

I would love to see the alternative circuit. I was hoping to get it to work with what I have already but options are good. Thanks.

 

 

 

Ignore pin 5 and 6. Those are whatever your PWN pin is.