Dymax Robot LED Mods

[henZa]

Hey guys,

 

So my second Dymax Robot LED light finally arrived. Before putting it to use I have decided that I am going to modify it a little

 

For those of you un-acquainted with it this is it:

 

 

I have a friend studying for a PhD in Physics so I might drop by her lab and see if she can test it and get some specs on it first.

 

So at any rate what I have is a 28 LED lamp array arranged in a 4 x 7 grid. The whole unit runs on 6V and consumes 1.6W.

I have just ordered some (100 of them!) Blue (465nm) LED's online. Much cheaper than when I went into my local electronics supply store. They wanted about $3 each! I paid about $16 for the 100!

 

Specs of the LEDs I bought:

 

So now I have to decide how many of the LEDs to replace and also which ones. I could go across or down the grid. Any thought on the best arrangement? Also by my quick calculations (if I don't change resistors) I would be running each LED at around 57mW. This is less than the 75 or so mW's that the LEDs I bought can operate up to. I am guessing that they should still be bright enough - just not the 6000 mCd they can put out!

 

Anyway, I will keep you in the loop with any findings and how I go. If you have any ideas or advice let me know!

[peacemaker]

Well... there's a marine version available. It has a slight blue hue to it, which turns out pretty well in the Dymax IQ3.

[nosm]

It will be interesting to see how this mod progresses.

[andrewkw]

Well... there's a marine version available. It has a slight blue hue to it, which turns out pretty well in the Dymax IQ3.

 

Where can I order the marine version? I have 2 of the original lights and would like to add a 3rd. If it has blue in it all the better.

[DaJMasta]

Good luck with the build, but you're going to need a hell of a lot of LEDs to get even to the moderate lighting level.

 

 

Even the standard 'superbright' T5 LEDs in the proper colors are going to need dozens of emitters to match a single 1W high power LED.... and dozens more to reach a 3W cree's output. In the end, because of the size of each package and lead characteristics and such, I don't think they will be as efficient as a standard high power LED either.

 

May be nice moon lighting or for a pico, but much more than that and I doubt they will have the raw power needed to sustain photosynthetic corals.

[henZa]

Well... there's a marine version available. It has a slight blue hue to it, which turns out pretty well in the Dymax IQ3.

 

Is there an actual one labelled as a 'marine version'? I did notice with my new one that arrived that they use different LEDs - I suspect they have switched over to 'cool white' as opposed to the older 'warm white' LEDs. I tried to take a photo to show this, but as usual the difference isn't as pronounced in a photo.

 

[left unit is new one]

 

I also took apart my new one and discovered a couple of things that might help out any would be hackers of this unit out there;

• The LEDs are not SMDs and are through hole types
  
• The LEDs are also the shorter 'staw hat' type of LED - which has a wider dispersion 'lens'
  

Also to clarify what I intend to achieve with this... It is for my Dymax IQ3 tank where two of these are pretty bright given the tiny size. Therefore by adding some (maybe 1/4 to a 1/3) blue LEDs I hope to shift the colour temperature of the light and also bring out some more colours.

[Zeadon]

what can you grow with these? 1.6w doesn't seem like alot? can i ask of you plans for them?

 

zeadon

[henZa]

what can you grow with these? 1.6w doesn't seem like alot? can i ask of you plans for them?

 

zeadon

 

Probably not much in a nano tank... But when you have a tiny 2.2 Gal pico they are quite bright! One was a bit dim, but now with my second one things are nice and bright. Check out my tank thread for some pics of my setup to get more of an idea.

[superfrog]

watching this one with interest...can't wait for your next update...

[henZa]

Okay, my pack of LEDs arrived so I will be adding them soon. First I will see how bright they are to get an idea of how many I will swap out. I also need to think of a nice pattern so as to scatter the light properly. I will keep you updated...

 

I did make a 'Y' adapter to run both lights off the one power adapter though :-)

[jgoldsney]

Okay, my pack of LEDs arrived so I will be adding them soon. First I will see how bright they are to get an idea of how many I will swap out. I also need to think of a nice pattern so as to scatter the light properly. I will keep you updated...

 

I did make a 'Y' adapter to run both lights off the one power adapter though :-)

Any progress?

[henZa]

Not yet. Sorry been pretty busy with work but I have some free time coming up so I'll tackle it then!

 

For those of you not so willing to dive in with the soldering iron, I came across this one the other day on the web. It is basically a re-branded Dymax Robot LED called the Klar Krysal Gooseneck LED and incorporates a row of blue LEDs with a switch to change from just blue to all one! Damn! Basically what I am doing. Oh well ;-)

 

Oh and they also have a re-branded IQ3 under the same name...

[Just4Derek]

any update?

[jgoldsney]

Any progress on this....have you managed to get the fixture apart?

[henZa]

Any progress on this....have you managed to get the fixture apart?

I have taken it all apart to find out which LEDs it uses but still have to dig out my soldering iron. I finish up with my ultra busy time at work at the end of this week so expect some updates after that :-) Any info in particular you want on them?

[jgoldsney]

Any info on how you separated the fixture would be great...I have the 4 screws out but it seems like the fixture is still held together at one end and I don't want to break it.

 

What LED's did you end up getting?

 

I am considering replacing 15 leds in one of these....I am running 2 lights right now which seems to be fine for the zoas and mushrooms in the tank but would like a little more pop to the corals.

[henZa]

I am adding the blue LEDs to mine for the same reason – to make the corals fluoresce a little more. I think the brightness of two units is pretty good otherwise.

 

So taking apart; Once you have the cover off, the board still seems a bit tight since they weren't very generous on the length of wire inside the stem. You have to take the bottom controller apart and then feed the wire in a bit then it can come out a bit. You might need to de-solder the wire to make it easier... Once I do mine I will post a series of pics outlining the process.

 

See up the top of this thread for specs of the LEDs I bought, but they are a special short 'straw-hat' style of LED (with a wide angle dispersion lens) which I couldn't buy at my local electronics supply store so I had to buy them in bulk online. If you are keen to buy some from me for a few bucks then drop me a PM.

[henZa]

Hi everyone. Sorry for taking so long with my updates! Xmas, New Year, going away etc. got in the way...

 

Anyway. I took lots of pictures during the mod, so I will let those tell the story. In questions just ask in the thread below...

1. The Unmodified Robot LED
   
    
   
2. Power Supply
   
   Opened this thinking I could feed more cable through but turns out it was pretty well glued inside the gooseneck.
   
3. Opening the Light Head
   
   Pried the board out enough to work on it
   
4. The LED Circuit Board
   
   
5. Testing One Blue LED
   
   Not knowing how much of a match my new LEDs were I tried one. Not as bright – but more blue!
   
6. LED Head Fully Disassembled
   
   It was getting hard to work so I decided to break the glue that was bonding it all together.
   
7. Half the LEDs Changed Out
   
   Final test with half of the LEDs replaced.
   
8. Putting it back Together
   
   I had to cut the plastic notch off the top panel since it wouldn't easily go back in. No harm though and now easier to open!
   
9. Schematic For Other DIY'ers!
   
   I also worked out the schematic for anyone who wants to fool around more or work out other potential mods.
   

 

So my conclusions? Well I reckon it was a worthwhile mod since the colours are a lot ore vibrant than they were. The tank in general is still a little too white for my liking but I don't really want to perform the same mod on the other unit since I would loose a lot of brightness.

 

In terms of the schematic, I worked out that the setup they use is essentially 14 parallel circuits, each with two LEDs. Each one of these circuits has a 10 ohm resistor to limit the current. The two LEDs are obviously have different internal resistances since the white one is noticeably brighter.

 

See my tank thread for the latest FTS to get an idea of the colour. I adjusted this image to reflect as close as possible the actual light colour so it is pretty accurate.

 

Anyone else modding these? How did you go with your mod jgoldsney?