DIY LED lighting

[sweevo]

Nice unit coolwaters, yourself and evilc66 are certainly setting the bar for everyone else.

 

Guys, apologies if this is a daft question but..... these SSC P7's and Cree MCE's, it seems quite difficult to find places that can supply them @ the right colour temp i'm after, ie 9K-10K. I've looked at the datasheets and the bins do exist but I've not found somewhere yet that can supply just that specific bin/CCT.

 

I've seen the SSC P7's (C-Bin) on dealextreme but it doesn't list the full part number so there's no way (I can see) of finding the colour temp.

 

I've also looked at the MCE's at Cutter but they list the bins as WA,WB,WC,WE,WF,WK,WM,WN and there's no way of selecting just WA's. I've emailed regards this one.

 

Is this just a supply issue since these are the newest technology or am I looking in the wrong places?

 

I'm seriously thinking of replacing rather than supplementing my current 96W T5 luminaire and these bad boys look to be the key to being able to do that. The only current LED system here in the UK (if the manufacturer is to be believed) that could replace my T5's would cost me £360 ( $640). Since i'm going to have to spend £80 on new tubes in a few months I'm beginning to wonder if It might be worth spending that money (and a little more besides) on building a DIY LED equivalent.

 

The first stage I was planning was just to run a couple of these for a few weeks as a test and supplement my current 96W. If that all went smoothly I'm then thinking of going the whole hog.

[evilc66]

Any high end color bin for any LED is going to be hard to get. They have the lowest yeilds. Cutter and ETG will be your best bet on finding the top end LEDs, but you will pay for them. I don't think it will be worth the cost or the aggrivation to get those exact color temps. The effect can easily be made by adding royal blue LEDs. The royal blues also give the additional pop to the colors being so close to the UV spectrum.

 

I'm not convinced yet that P7's and MC-E's are the right choice for aquarium lighting. There is no denying the fact that they throw a serious amount of light, but you have to offset the one white, with an awful lot of blue LEDs. You can run into issues of "halo'ing" colors. It would be better for larger tanks to spread the light over a broader area. You will get more even illumination and better color blending from using a 1:1 configuration of XR-E series LEDs (Q5 for whites, and royal blues).

 

It's very doable, just don't going busting your hump trying to get difficult to get bins.

[sweevo]

My way of thinking with the MCE's was high lumens output for lower power and thus less heat as a by product and greater efficiency. I also thought using the MCE's might mean less auxillary circuitry, eg fewer drivers , DC supplies etc which might offset the additional costs a little too.

 

The array I have in mind will be 18" x 12" but I've got a 101 different ideas floating in my head at the minute so I've no concrete list of parts yet. The MCE's are my current first choice though for the above reasons. I guess a simple prototype needs building first, a proof of concept so to speak.

[evilc66]

Actually, the opposite is true of what you stated.

 

The MC-E's being a quad die LED can be driven in series by a 700mA Buckpuck. It's no different than driving 4 Cree XR-E's, because thats exatly what it is. The MC-E actually has lower efficiency than a Q5 or an R2. The reason they can't get it the same as an R2 is because of thermal constraints in the package itself.

 

You would be better off running multiple Q5's over a braoder area. More light (over a larger area) for the same amount of power. You can drive 2 MC-E's on a Buckpuck at 32v, but you can drive 8 Q5's which will net you about 100 extra lumens at the same drive current.

 

The MC-E is great for applications where a ton of light is needed in a very small space. The Q5 is better suited over a larger area in comparison. Remember, you are not shooting for lumens here. You need PAR. You can get around equal PAR for half the total wattage, which will mean less lumens overall.

[sweevo]

Actually, the opposite is true of what you stated.

 

The MC-E's being a quad die LED can be driven in series by a 700mA Buckpuck. It's no different than driving 4 Cree XR-E's, because thats exatly what it is. The MC-E actually has lower efficiency than a Q5 or an R2. The reason they can't get it the same as an R2 is because of thermal constraints in the package itself.

 

You would be better off running multiple Q5's over a braoder area. More light (over a larger area) for the same amount of power. You can drive 2 MC-E's on a Buckpuck at 32v, but you can drive 8 Q5's which will net you about 100 extra lumens at the same drive current.

 

The MC-E is great for applications where a ton of light is needed in a very small space. The Q5 is better suited over a larger area in comparison. Remember, you are not shooting for lumens here. You need PAR. You can get around equal PAR for half the total wattage, which will mean less lumens overall.

 

Yeah, see what you mean. I was thinking it was 450lm @ 350mA / Vf 3.2V per unit, not per die ( 4 x 3.2V) inside the unit. Thanks.