Step by step LED light help

[Marteen]

Are you kidding? Think of this like an "Idiots Guide to LED Aquarium Lighting".

 

 

I can't wait I've been trying to wrap my brain around this stuff for a while now. I have the electrical down but when it comes to programming boards and timers I'm all thumbs.

[evilc66]

I won't be covering controllers, as thats another book all by itself.

[Timanator]

I cant wait to start, gonna go shopping for a heat sink tomorrow

 

[evilc66]

That part's easy.

 

http://www.heatsinkusa.com

[Chiefmcfuz]

This is one idiot that thanks you!

[evilc66]

 

No problem!

[duke1231]

So how close are you to completing your step by step guide?

[evilc66]

Soon

[Timanator]

Think I'm gonna planing everything out this week.

 

[duke1231]

I cant wait to build one for my 5.5 AGA pico. I wonder if there is a way to build it into my coralife 9w light fixture?

[duke1231]

Are we there yet

[PurpleGORILLA]

so what happen to the step by step guide?

[evilc66]

 

I have been busy with other things and haven't been able to finish it. This week it will get my full attention.

[euphoricgear]

Are you kidding? Think of this like an "Idiots Guide to LED Aquarium Lighting".

 

 

i really need something like this! :-) cant wait to read it (funny think is, i hate reading too!) lol

[flyfish]

eVIL AND FRIENDS

I am also on the quest for the perfect DIIY led conversion. I currently have a RSM Red Sea Max. I want to build a LED hood similar in spec to the Solaris but custom built into a custom hood to replace the stock T5 PC unit. I have electronics experience and have a complete wood/metal shop. I am planning to use approx. 70 Luxion Rebels. 32 Royal blue, 34 white, and 4 green (cyan). My fixture will be approx 24" wide. My budget is about half of the 24" Solaris or about $750. I want this light to be capable of powering all coral types with no restictions. Here are my questions.

 

The most recent Solaris unit (I5) uses the new rebel LEDs with lenses. I am planning todo the same but buy them mounted on stars to ease mounting and wiring. Are the Rebels the best choice? Are the lenses necessary. Which Rebels are the best choice if at all? The most wide angle optic I can find for the Rebel is 25 degrees center to side. Is 50 degrees total spread enough?

 

Will the star mounting system allow the leds to be close enough? I believe that Solaris is using a custom PCB which is a bit to much work for a one off ( single unit).

 

Any experience with the 3 up stars (3 Rebels mounted on one star with a compatible lenses). Would they be too bright or too hot. I see that optics are now available for them.

 

I would like my unit to be dimable. What driver would you rec that is dimmable? How many drivers would be required and what sizes? How should they be wired?

 

What type of heat sinks and fans would you rec. I am envisioning two temp controlled push/pull fans blowing across top facing heat sinks, similar to the Solaris design. Should they be copper?

 

Any other obvious problems I have not thought of. I only want to do this once! I really appreciate any advice?

 

Flyfish

[evilc66]

Thats an enormous amount of LEDs of that size tank. I think you can throttle it back a little.

 

Rebels are good. I've used them before. If you use the single pcbs, your limiting distance between them will be restricted by the optics (usually 20mm, but that depends on the optics you use).

 

Optics wise, I wouldn't go any higher than 40 degrees, and with the amount of LEDs you are planning on putting over the tank, you can go much narrower because you have more overlap from the LEDs being close together. Tighter optics will also yeild higher PAR numbers throughout the depth of the tank.

 

Triple stars will have an advantage in color blending. Having the LEDs close together, and having a mix of white and royal blue on each star, will have almost a seemless belnd of color. You want to go with a 50/50 mix of cool white and royal blue. Try and get as high of a bin as you can afford. Right now, the 180lm whites are a little pricey. The 160lm ones are quite a bit cheaper for only 20lm less.

 

Don't know if the cyan LEDs are worth it. They offer virtually no benefit for photosynthesis, and will offer minimal advantages in color. I would personally invest the power into more whites and blues.

 

Driver wise, you are going to need a lot of them. Luxdrive Buckpucks are a simple choice as they have all the features you need. These require a DC or AC power supply (not straight to the wall) so that will have to be taken into account. The Buckpucks can drive up to 8 LED each when running a 32v power supply. I would personally seperate the whites and blues so you can have individual control of your color temp. I would get drivers with an output of no higher than 700mA. 1A would be pushing it with that number of LEDs.

 

If you still plan on using that number of LEDs, you are going to need a serious heatsink, and a lot of airflow. Two 24"x8.5" heatsinks from HeatsinkUSA would be a good idea. Cram as much heatsink into that hood as you can. You'll need it.

[luv-the-rics]

are we ready with a write up yet?

[flyfish]

EVIL,

 

Thanks for your response. a few more questions if you have time. I am getting closer to a final design and need to clarify a few things!

 

1. Triple star vs. single star. I don't want to solder Rebel leds to stars, can I buy triple stars with 2 white/1 blue and 2 blue/one white combinations or would I have to make these myself. If I used the triple stars would I use about 20 instead of the 60 or so single stars? Which optic (brand/model#) would be the best choice for the triple stars. What you said about being able to control the blue/white intensity is important to me. Can each led mounted on triple star be wired independently or are they wired as a group. If they are wired together it would seem that I should use single stars if I want to control the blue and white intensity separately.

 

2. Based on your advice I will scale back to a 60 led 24" fixture. This is the same as the Solaris.

 

3. Can you recommend a 32 volt power supply to match the puck drivers?

 

4. What are the best online sources for the leds, drivers, and power supply.

 

5. Should the pucks be mounted below the tank away from the hood?

 

6. When you say limit optics to 40 degrees are you talking center to side or side to side?

 

7. I will leave out the green based on your advice. What about UV? How many and what type?

[evilc66]

EVIL,

 

Thanks for your response. a few more questions if you have time. I am getting closer to a final design and need to clarify a few things!

 

1. Triple star vs. single star. I don't want to solder Rebel leds to stars, can I buy triple stars with 2 white/1 blue and 2 blue/one white combinations or would I have to make these myself. If I used the triple stars would I use about 20 instead of the 60 or so single stars? Which optic (brand/model#) would be the best choice for the triple stars. What you said about being able to control the blue/white intensity is important to me. Can each led mounted on triple star be wired independently or are they wired as a group. If they are wired together it would seem that I should use single stars if I want to control the blue and white intensity separately.

 

If you want that color combination, you will have to build it yourself (or have someone else build them). I think 60 LEDs still might be a bit much. You would be suprised as to how easy it is to bleach corals under LEDs. Optics wise, you only have one option for the triple stars and thats the 25 degree optics by LED Dynamics (sold by Luxeon Star and LED Supply). If you go with singles, there are many good manufacturers to choose from. It's down to cost and features at that point. If you get the right pcb, you will be able to control each LED on the star independantly.

 

2. Based on your advice I will scale back to a 60 led 24" fixture. This is the same as the Solaris.

 

Still think 60 LEDs is a bit much. PFO has to cover all the bases when they design a fixture, so they load up with more LEDs than needed for smaller tanks. You could easily cut back to 42 LEDs (14 stars if you use the triples).

 

3. Can you recommend a 32 volt power supply to match the puck drivers?

 

Here. This power supply has an adjustment so you can drop it down to 32v for safe operation.

 

4. What are the best online sources for the leds, drivers, and power supply.

 

Power supply, already answered. For LEDs (Rebels anyway), it's going to be Future Electronics and Luxeon Star for bare emmiters. Luxeon Star has the PCBs and the Buckpucks also.

 

5. Should the pucks be mounted below the tank away from the hood?

 

The Buckpucks are sealed tight and won't generate any heat, so they could be mounted in the hood. Doesn't mean you have to though.

 

6. When you say limit optics to 40 degrees are you talking center to side or side to side?

 

Side to side. You have to pay attention to the nomencalture that each manufacturer uses. Some use center to side, some use side to side.

 

7. I will leave out the green based on your advice. What about UV? How many and what type?

 

There are very few high power UV LEDs. They are a much better choice in my opinion than trying to use cyan. The only place you can reliably find 3W UV is at Kai Domain. They are a little pricey. I would say 3-4 UVs would be enough for the tank. No need for optics with those (shorter wavelength of light travels deeper in the water, plus you want a wider spread).

[luv-the-rics]

so hows that write up coming along?

[evilc66]

SLOWLY:lol:

 

It's a lot of information to write up, proofread, and make sure it's accurate. It's worse than writing a final paper for english class!!!

[luv-the-rics]

i wouldnt doubt it. are there going to be reference pictures?

[evilc66]

I'll try. They may not be added in at first though.

[luv-the-rics]

thats fine with me. im just excited to get the write up at all.

 

1. whats the best place to get cree blues and cree whites? what about uv?

 

2. whats the best place to get pucks for each?

 

3. whats the best place to get optics for each?do you even need optics for a 2g?

 

4. what size fan would you use for a 2g?

 

5. how many leds should be used? the tank is 9Lx6Wx7D

[Splumph]

thats fine with me. im just excited to get the write up at all.

 

1. whats the best place to get cree blues and cree whites? what about uv?

 

2. whats the best place to get pucks for each?

 

3. whats the best place to get optics for each?do you even need optics for a 2g?

 

4. what size fan would you use for a 2g?

 

5. how many leds should be used? the tank is 9Lx6Wx7D

 

I can answer a couple of these for ya

 

1. I get mine from dealextreme, shipping takes a while though. UV can be found on kaidomain, but for a 2g you need 1w at most...I would think it would be better to use royal blues.

2. I got my pucks from luxeonstar.com, becuase I needed them real quick. I know you can get them cheaper though, this is also where I got my royal blues.

3. Optics are only needed if your tank is deeper than 12"

4. A small 80mm computer fan would work, you can find 'em almost anywhere. I've got a 120mm fan over mine (12 leds) and it is overkill.

5. Evil is much better suited to answer this than me, but I'm thinking 3 white and 3 blue, you can get your heatsink at www.heatsinkusa.com.

 

Just my .02$