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Coral Vue Hydros

DIY LED Frag/Fuge light


disaster999

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disaster999

After contemplating about an LED build for 2 years, I finally bit the bullet and going to build a LED light for my fuge tank in my sump. the area its going to light is around 14x16x16.

 

bought my LEDs and driver from china

IMAG0013.jpg

 

12x3w constant current driver....$9.60

6 cree q5 white.........................$19.13 @ $3.19 each

5 cree xr-e blue........................$18.82 @ $3.76 each

1 china made red......................$2.21

total.........................................$49.76

 

i am still thinking about the configuration on the heatsink...how i can evenly spread the LEDs on the heatsink with the RED right in the middle. the heat sink is probably going to be around 4" wide, 10-12" long.

 

going to go shopping for a heatsink, thermal compound, wire, drill, tap and screws this weekend

 

 

 

this is my first light for the sump, a crappy 10w LED light that didnt really do much

_DSC3822.JPG

 

then upgraded to a 70W MH but the bulb is probably a few years old and turning everything in my sump brown

DSC_4162.JPG

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disaster999

i sure know how to make a thread that no one replies to...anyways, for those who are interested heres the final result. after hours spend just on drilling, by hand, without a power tool, with a small modelers drill (dremel doesnt hold a bit that small) the end results is pretty good. im quite happy with the light...but i have to see after i put this on my frag tank

 

heres some pictures

bunch-o-leds

DSC_4214.JPG

 

cree q5 white

DSC_4216.JPG

 

cree xre blue

DSC_4218.JPG

 

all done

DSC_4237.JPG

DSC_4233.JPG

 

lit up

DSC_4230.JPG

DSC_4231.JPG

DSC_4223.JPG

 

the spread

DSC_4224.JPG

 

i dont have a fan on it right now, i bought 2 24v fans thinking i can hook this up to the driver and run it in series, but i dont think the supply voltage is enough. my multi meter reads 39.5v under load. according to the driver, it drives the light at 650mah. each led is getting around 3.3v right now.

 

im stress testing the light without the fan trying to see how hot it gets. so far its been on for about an hour at ambient temperatures of 30c and the heatsink is at 44.2c, each LED is reading around 46c. well within the 60c evil suggested so im debating if i should fan cool it.

 

well let me know what you think

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i like this. i am curious to see how the corals react to the red led. what red corals are gonna be under this light?

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disaster999

i dont know if the red will do anything besides making the tank more "warm". i dont like the blue and white look too much.

 

i have some sps frags, pinkish/orangeish birdsnest with yellowish/greenish tips, that browned out under the craptastic 70w MH. so hopefully this will bring the colors back

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Very interesting. I remember finding a number of 220v AC drivers on ebay when I was looking to be disappointed by the fact that I couldn't use them, but this one looks to be able to run as low as 65vac. That's awesome! WANT!

 

EDIT: If the 3rd line translates to "Voltage Output:", then you could actually run closer to 16 LEDs.

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48v tends to equate to 12 or 13 leds, leaving room for a higher vf at higher drive currents.

 

even the xp series comes out to 3.5 at higher drive currents, looks like it outputs a 650ma.

 

maybe 14 xp series would still be safe

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disaster999

thanks all.

 

the driver drives the bulb at 650mah from 24-48v. its non adjustable. im not sure what other info you guys need

 

i measured the power output of the driver and its supply less than 40v. does that mean i can add more LEDs if i want? the seller did write "12x3w" on it.

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40v with or without a load?

if its 40v measured across the leds while they are on you could add two more. although you might want to let it run for a while and test and also test when it turns on, the vf could be different at different temps.

 

if you just attached the driver to the wall and measured the output voltage, that means nothing.

 

with xr-es i would not go higher than 13

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disaster999

40v with load. 52v without.

 

i might add one more blue led and have the red LED right smack in the center. i spend such a long time trying to arrange the LED so its all symmetrical but its impossible with 12 LEDs. i just said F*** IT and did it the old fashion way.

 

so running the LED light for the whole day and i never say temps higher than 48c. even with ambient temps of 33c and no air circulation. i guess i can get away without using any fans!

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disaster999

i ordered it online. its a chinese style auction page. i dont think you will be able to order it there tho. everything is in chinese and the sellers dont speak a drop of english

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hmm, maybe with some rudimentary chinese it could be ordered here?

 

but yeah, guys, this is non dimmable, which also means no color control, maybe somehow if you ran a power resistor in parallel, i dont know how tricky that would get, and it would also be ineffecient if you dimmed at all.

 

there are 300ma drivers on dealextreme that can handle high voltages as well, just a thought.

also i think bestdealbuy (something like that) has a 400ma driver also capable of high voltages.

 

disaster, i wouldnt try to run any fans on this power supply, since it is current regulated, thats the downfall with ac drivers.

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disaster999
oh. you in hong kong,can you order for me?

 

 

i was just talking about ordering the LEDs. i can get everything else

 

i can order LEDs or the driver for you if you guys want. shipping charges SHOULDNT be too expensive since my driver + leds only came up to around 300 grams with the box.

 

hmm, maybe with some rudimentary chinese it could be ordered here?

 

but yeah, guys, this is non dimmable, which also means no color control, maybe somehow if you ran a power resistor in parallel, i dont know how tricky that would get, and it would also be ineffecient if you dimmed at all.

 

there are 300ma drivers on dealextreme that can handle high voltages as well, just a thought.

also i think bestdealbuy (something like that) has a 400ma driver also capable of high voltages.

 

disaster, i wouldnt try to run any fans on this power supply, since it is current regulated, thats the downfall with ac drivers.

 

oh i found out its not only about knowing chinese, but also they arent really willing to ship things overseas. from what i heard LED is a controlled export item in china *shrugs*

 

and for the fans, i think your right. could be why my fans werent working when i tried to hook them up. i guess i need to get a power supply after all...damn, and i thought i can run this without using another power socket.

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disaster999

i did some rearranging with my sump, replaced the restrictive hose to the chiller with a larger diameter one, cleaned the frag section and snapped a pic with the LED light

 

im really liking the red in the LED light.

 

DSC_4244.JPG

DSC_4245.JPG

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Do you find that you get a lot of red shimmer lines? In the test that I have done with red LEDs (and others have found this too), it's far too distracting, and almost nausiating. I have a decent amount of surface aggitation on my tanks, so that probably doesn't help.

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disaster999

i was working on the sump for a good 3 hours+ today with the led as my light and the red led didnt distract me much. i dont have as much surface agitation in the sump as you can see in the second pic so thats probably why.

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