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*DIY* High Power LEDs


coolwaters

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im going to give http://www.futurecb.com/store/ProductDetai...AIRCHILD8395733

a try.

 

how would i reduce the current down to 1 amp?

 

Coyote can u help me with the wiring diagram on a 60 watt Xitanium LED driver its the 12v 5 amp max driver.

 

im going to use either the LD1086V or LM317T as the regulator.

the LED driver its already stabilized so im guessing its going to be a little easier.

 

*im well aware that the driver packs enough power to kill me several times...and anyone doing this should also be aware that DC current is a lot more lethal.*

 

You don't have to do anything about the 5 amp, the design i've described you will effectively insure that only 1 amp go trough the leds.

 

My main concern is about the 12v, it's not enough to power 3 leds in series (you need at least 13,5V for that) so you will have to go for 1 regulator, 2 leds, 1 resistor in serie. You can then put 1 to 5 of this group in parallel each will draw exactly 1amp.

 

I've searched for the datasheet of your xitanium but was unable to find one. Do you have it so i can check how it works?

 

With you 15V 1amp adapter you can do the same but with only one group of 3 leds.

 

As for the 12v voltage, it's considered as security voltage and your main risk is to start a fire if one of your wire his not well fixed...

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strangelove
Well, the cloudy water has turned clear. I will probably change the water one more time and then add some live rock and sand tomorrow. I will post some more pics after. As for the DIY guys, try a 12V power supply in series with sets of 3 Lux LEDs and a 1 to 3 ohm (depending on how much current you want to drive through the array) 5 watt resister per series. This of course changes with different types of LED. Only high power 3W LEDs will work in this simple circuit.

 

Note: It is very important to understand DC circuits before you start playing around with this too much. You power supply will have enough juice to start a fire!!! So be careful!!! If you havent the know how to calculate voltage drop across different components in a series, then you may consider using a LED curent driver rather than a voltage regulated powersupply. (a bit more safe) Note, I am using the 12 volt leads from a computer powersupply to drive all of my arrays. It is capable of 20A at 12V output capacity (240W or more). My entire array in parallel series configuratin that I designed draws about 4A about 48W and shed some resister heat on the blue series since there are only 2 LEds on those two. I had to drop about 5 V at 1A across those resistors - equivilent to a 5Watt heater. I attached those two to the heat sink to make sure they didnt dump heat into the hood. It is extracted with the forced air over the sink. I figure I get 39W of usable light (not the same as 39W of PC light) this is more intense since 39W of PC lighting looses much ogf the power to heat rather than light. I am only dumping about 9W of heat from the resistors and the little bit from the LEDs.

 

The heat sink has 2 3" fans on the back and the entire hood is exausted with upgraded fans fitting the factory position.

 

As for bright...it not only looks bright, but it is on par with about 150 W MH in PUR - thats light output in the photo usable range - So YES it IS bright. This will most definately get some SPS soon. No reflector needed with the LEDs I used (Luxeon III stars). They have a 120degree pattern (they shine down) so no reflector needed.

 

Total cost was probably around $200 when the dust settled plus some blood sweat and tears.

 

-Brad

 

Brad, once again that is awesome, look at how bright those lights are, your SPS are going to need sunblock B) Can I ask what is the temperature in your tank when your lights have been on all day? Also what is the ambient temperature outside of the tank? And get some corals in that tank bro, I've got to see what can grow in that. Also has anyone seen this programable led controller made by Neptune Systems, from what I understand you can dim the leds for a lunar cycle NS9117_1.jpg

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Brad, once again that is awesome, look at how bright those lights are, your SPS are going to need sunblock B) Can I ask what is the temperature in your tank when your lights have been on all day? Also what is the ambient temperature outside of the tank? And get some corals in that tank bro, I've got to see what can grow in that. Also has anyone seen this programable led controller made by Neptune Systems, from what I understand you can dim the leds for a lunar cycle NS9117_1.jpg

 

 

My tank has been on all day while I was at work. My apartment is fairly warm 76degrees (cold for Texas)LOL The tank temp is a whapping 79 degrees. I am running a Minijet pump upgrade to a 606 so i am guessing that it is adding some of the heat vs the factory wimpy pump. You could dim the lights but it a bit harder to do this. I would use a PLC and have different stages of resistance added or removed. This would all be outbord of course but the resistors would need to be cooled a bit since they would be effectivly dropping 12 volts across them at the full dim setting. Better yet, you could just set up 3 lighting zones and turn them off sequentially but this would take additional power supplies. For moon lighting - consider going to a separate system like a lunar tracker installed in conjunction with the LED retro fit daytime lighting.

 

-Brad

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coolwaters

Coyote why can i only power 3 LEDs? with a 35w adapter i should be able to get about 8-9 up and going that that much power.

 

i got one of my heat sinks with fan just now and its pretty small. i'll probably only have about 3 LEDs on it and if the heat isnt a problem maybe 4.

 

all this wiring is new to me so im going to need a bit of help....

 

im trying to look up 1,25Ohms but no luck...what do u mean by 1,25 Ohms? 1.25?

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Coyote why can i only power 3 LEDs? with a 35w adapter i should be able to get about 8-9 up and going that that much power.

 

i got one of my heat sinks with fan just now and its pretty small. i'll probably only have about 3 LEDs on it and if the heat isnt a problem maybe 4.

 

all this wiring is new to me so im going to need a bit of help....

 

im trying to look up 1,25Ohms but no luck...what do u mean by 1,25 Ohms? 1.25?

 

Sorry but 15Vx1amp= 15W... I don't know where your 35W comes from. Maybe in fact it's a 2 amp? in that case you can put 2 group of 3 leds....

 

Yeah I mean 1.25Ohms

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coolwaters

ok thanks for clarifying that. 35 watt was the input power so kind of misread that...

 

so i need to get some LM317T regulators and the 1.25Ohms resistor, and then copy the diagram in figure 5 in http://www.national.com/an/AN/AN-178.pdf

???? that idea is for the 12v 5 amp LED driver right and i can power 3 LEDs in groups?

 

 

if so its not too hard...

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ok thanks for clarifying that. 35 watt was the input power so kind of misread that...

 

so i need to get some LM317T regulators and the 1.25Ohms resistor, and then copy the diagram in figure 5 in http://www.national.com/an/AN/AN-178.pdf

???? that idea is for the 12v 5 amp LED driver right and i can power 3 LEDs in groups?

if so its not too hard...

 

with the 12v adapter you can power only 2 leds in serie. 3 with the 15V one

 

And you need 2w resistor...

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coolwaters

ok so my shopping list is...

 

1. 2 watt 1.25Ohms resistor

2. 22g wires...need more thin wires O.O

3. LM317T regulators

 

Items i have/coming.

 

1. 12v 60 watt 5 amp LED driver

2. heat sinks and lots of it.

3. LEDs/might get more...

 

am i missing anything?

 

dam all this money im putting in it might as well get the 14" solaris hood...(lol jk not that much)

 

btw if i cant get 1.25Ohms resistor can i go with 1.2 or 1.3?

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ok so my shopping list is...

 

1. 2 watt 1.25Ohms resistor

2. 22g wires...need more thin wires O.O

3. LM317T regulators

 

Items i have/coming.

 

1. 12v 60 watt 5 amp LED driver

2. heat sinks and lots of it.

3. LEDs/might get more...

 

am i missing anything?

 

dam all this money im putting in it might as well get the 14" solaris hood...(lol jk not that much)

 

btw if i cant get 1.25Ohms resistor can i go with 1.2 or 1.3?

 

1.2 or 1.3ohms is ok and you can also take 2x 1W 2,5Ohms in parallele...

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coolwaters

untitled-2.jpg

 

is that what my circuit should look like? the [load] is the LEDs?

R1 is the 1.2Ohms 2watt resistor?

 

what is the C1?

 

and would this work with a LM317T?

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untitled-2.jpg

 

is that what my circuit should look like? the [load] is the LEDs?

R1 is the 1.2Ohms 2watt resistor?

 

what is the C1?

 

and would this work with a LM317T?

 

yes, yes and yes

 

C1 is a condensateur, you can add one but it's not really necessary...

 

Yes, it will work with a LM317T

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coolwaters

condensateur in english is capacitor lol u are French.

 

thanks for all your help.

im off hunting for parts now.

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coolwaters

just to make sure its not 1.2KOhms right?....

cant seem to find any 1.2Ohms 2w resistors....

nvm found some...resistors have no postive or negative right?

what kind of resistor should i get? as in what type of material?

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oups, i was tired yesterday: i forgot to translate in english.... LOL (or MDR in french...)

 

Yes, i really mean 1.25Ohms 2W or two 2.5ohms 1W in //...

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coolwaters

radio shack should have the 1.25Ohms 2 watt resistors right??? thats going to be my last option thou...

 

i'll probably get everything up and going by Friday of next week.

 

....dont want to think about much money i spent so far.....obsession???

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radio shack should have the 1.25Ohms 2 watt resistors right??? thats going to be my last option thou...

 

i'll probably get everything up and going by Friday of next week.

 

....dont want to think about much money i spent so far.....obsession???

 

i don't know in us but in france it was easier to find 2x 2.5ohms 1w than 2W or you can take 1x 2.2Ohms 1w and 1x 2.7ohms 1W and put them in //.

 

here is what should look like a 1.2ohms 2W:

http://fr.farnell.com/jsp/Composants+passi...jsp?sku=1219199

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Hey Coolwater if you need more technical help or a place to talk about LED's, resistors and thingymadingys you should check out www.candlepowerforums.com. They're into lights as bad as we're into fishtanks! They should also know which leds have the greatest output...

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coolwaters

wtf thos people have flashlight fetishes...

 

im trying to find which LED has the best lumens per watt...

 

so far seoul leds are pretty good. but cost about 2 times as much...

 

i was thinking about getting luxeon rebel again since the watt per lm is pretty good.

 

i was on dealextreme.com and great prices...free shipping is wat really dragged me in =p

 

 

alright playing to get some seoul leds from them the 240lm at 3 watts best iv seen so far.

*heard in 2008 luxeon is going for 145lm at one watt!!* compared to the theoretical max is around 683lm per watt thats nothing lol.

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Wow you paid $4 a piece for your LEDs??

 

How many mcds are they?

Mcd stands for millicandela. which is basicly candlepower. 1000mcd = 1 candle

 

I just bought a bulk of super bright LEDs from a big company in china. I was reading

in Wired magazine that China is on the forefront of LED technolgy and will be the leader

in this field. This company is one of the biggest LED makers in the world. The 100 white

LEDs are 10mm super bright white at 140,000 mcds each. Plus they also gave me the

12 volt resistors. It was $25 plus shipping. I also bought bulks of the 10mm blue 60,000 mcds,

8mm Blue wideangle 30,000 mcds and 5mm blue 19,000 mcds.

 

Also I bought 12 volt transformers from a place here in Orlando called Skycraft.

They are an electronics surplus store. You can get 12 volt 500ma transformers for about $5 each.

Check out skycraft.com

 

Im transforming a 10 gallon nano cube to all LED lighting.

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coolwaters
Wow you paid $4 a piece for your LEDs??

 

How many mcds are they?

Mcd stands for millicandela. which is basicly candlepower. 1000mcd = 1 candle

 

lol they do it by lumen's which is 1000 millicandela.

the ones that were $3.40 was 120 lumens which is 120,000 millicandela

 

no way that 10mm or 5mm LEDs can dish out over 100 lumens.

but one watt worth of thos 5mm LEDs can do a lot.

.

 

I just bought a bulk of super bright LEDs from a big company in china. I was reading

in Wired magazine that China is on the forefront of LED technolgy and will be the leader

in this field. This company is one of the biggest LED makers in the world. The 100 white

LEDs are 10mm super bright white at 140,000 mcds each. Plus they also gave me the

12 volt resistors. It was $25 plus shipping. I also bought bulks of the 10mm blue 60,000 mcds,

8mm Blue wideangle 30,000 mcds and 5mm blue 19,000 mcds.

 

depending on the angle thos LEDs are determine the lumens...millicandela is a hard way to calculate light...

like u can be getting 10 lumens for thos leds or 100....

 

 

Also I bought 12 volt transformers from a place here in Orlando called Skycraft.

They are an electronics surplus store. You can get 12 volt 500ma transformers for about $5 each.

Check out skycraft.com

your going to need to build a circuit that regulates that transformer or u can get resistors....

btw if u dont care about thos cheap LEDs u can run them by voltage. it doesnt shorten their life that much but with resistors they can last a lot longer. its just a pain in the @$$ to wire....

Im transforming a 10 gallon nano cube to all LED lighting.

your going to need a lot of LEDs....lets see a 10mm white led gives off like .06 watts so u would need about 167 of thos leds to get about 1 watt per gallon. so basically just to see them....

(thats if its spread out evenly.)

 

see why i went to high power LEDs?

 

 

 

on another note it seems that iv ordered too many heat sinks....wat a waste =/

i need to get a lot of LEDs then i planned to...

(probably make a small array for my uncle's turtle tank.)

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coolwaters

while i w8 for my led driver im going to start my mini project.

 

can someone help me with the wiring?

 

i'll be using a 15volt 1 amp adaptor.

im planning to use 3 K2 LEDs on it 2 white and 1 blue.

 

Coyote says i can only have 3 LEDs on it but can i also run a 12v .6 amp fan along with the LEDs?

 

it just that the heat sink came with that fan so i might as well use it.

 

if its possible how should the circuitry look like???

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coolwaters

the fan is a 4 pin connector...

 

does anyone know which is the positive and the negative?

theres a Yellow, Blue, Black, and Green wire.

 

it seems that i fried one of my fans....o well it was a cheap thing ways...

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