Ultimate LED guide

[maxst2]

Yeah... there really isn't anything clearly set out for the D models of the meanwell drivers most of what i see is for timers and crap i dont want. I can't read a electrical schematic. I just want to have the pot control the dimming of the two drivers.

 

I had a local reefer that was going to help me do this pretty much bugged out on me due to work changes.

 

So again... Do I have all the parts or am I missing parts? Then can someone post a picture of their D drivers for me so I may get these setup. If you live near omaha,NE and are willing to have a training session (beer/drink of choice and pizza will be arranged lol) let me know

[evilc66]

LED connections are straight forward, and are covered pretty extensively, regardless of the driver. For the dimmer portion connect like this:

 

PS(+) ---|		 |		 |	  10K POT ---- DIM(+)		 |		 |PS(-) ---+-------- DIM(-)

 

PS(+) and PS(-) are connected to the output tabs. DIM(+) connects to the center tab. DIM(-) and PS(-) are connected together.

Edited April 27, 2011 by evilc66

[JRuddy]

I have just found the BEST LED ON THE MARKET!!!!!!

 

http://www.eco-lamps.com/reef.htm

 

Research to back it up by a PhD:

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature2

 

Hard to find though!!!

[evilc66]

Dunno about the best, but it's a good option. Those have been sold in the US under the Acan Lighting brand for about 2 years, and are readily available.

[redfishsc]

PhD only means you got 23 letters to go.

 

edit: the word "Sanjay" means much, much more to reef keepers than "PhD" ever will

Edited April 28, 2011 by redfishsc

[Blueseatex]

Quick Question. On spacing I see that 2 inches is the average between leds, Is That 2 inches from emitter to emitter, or from the edge of the star?

[evilc66]

Center to center.

[125mph]

Looks like I've joined the DIY LED club ...

 

Wow its bright!

 

And here is the final product lighting up the fuge... for now, its being dimmed... 6 Cree XP-G is overkill hehe

[evilc66]

Good deal. Hope it works out for you.

[redfishsc]

We completed the spectral analysis today. I don't have the data with me yet, it will be emailed to me soon and I'll put together some graphs.

 

 

However, one result looked compelling.

 

 

Are y'all aware of anyone using a 1:1 ratio of the Bridgelux 402 cool white, and the 455nm Satistronics 10w LED? This combo gave some pretty nice spectral curves that looked well balanced. Wouldn't be as blue as some people like, but nice nonetheless.

[osprey77]

After reading this thread from start to finish its time to DIY my LED biocube 14. Thanks everyone for your great info.

[evilc66]

Don't forget to read through the build threads that are stickied there too. Lot's of BC14 builds to use as a reference.

[cponte25]

How to dim Elos E-stripes?

Just got an Elos Aquatop with 2 white E-Stripes and 2 Blue E-Stripes. Each color set is connected to a 24V 4.5 amp power supply (looks like a common chinese laptop charger).

Each E-Stripe has 9 Cree XP and is claimed to use 21 Watts or so. Looking at the E-Stripe there are circuit board "modules" for each LED and they are connected to each other by three wires. Any idea what these "modules" are? Not sure how many wires connect each color to its power supply but presume 2.

 

Looking at 2 X Mean Well ELN-60-48P dimmable drivers connected to the Rapid LED DDC-01 PWM Controller since my ReefKeeper Lite is maxed out on modules (no room for their ALC controller).

Will this work?

Thanks folks (and particularly Evil66)

[cponte25]

How to dim Elos E-stripes?

Just got an Elos Aquatop with 2 white E-Stripes and 2 Blue E-Stripes. Each color set is connected to a 24V 4.5 amp power supply (looks like a common chinese laptop charger).

Each E-Stripe has 9 Cree XP and is claimed to use 21 Watts or so. Looking at the E-Stripe there are circuit board "modules" for each LED and they are connected to each other by three wires. Any idea what these "modules" are? Not sure how many wires connect each color to its power supply but presume 2.

 

Looking at 2 X Mean Well ELN-60-48P dimmable drivers connected to the Rapid LED DDC-01 PWM Controller since my ReefKeeper Lite is maxed out on modules (no room for their ALC controller).

Will this work?

Thanks folks (and particularly Evilc66)

 

Correction on prior post (How to dim Elos E-Stripes): The connector between each color tube set and the power supply has three wires, not two. Now I'm really confused. I thought the power supply only needed 2 wires +/-.

Ideas?

[evilc66]

Pictures please.

 

I have no idea how these particular LEDs are set up. In the E-Lite, the drivers were actually mounted to the main LED MCPCB, so there was no way to do a simple bypass replacing the power supply with a driver. Get some more details, and we can figure it out.

[cponte25]

Pictures please.

 

I have no idea how these particular LEDs are set up. In the E-Lite, the drivers were actually mounted to the main LED MCPCB, so there was no way to do a simple bypass replacing the power supply with a driver. Get some more details, and we can figure it out.

 

I'll post pictures ASAP. I suspected the drivers were mounted on the little circuit boards (3 LEDs each). Because in Europe these units do come with a dimming option, is it possible the third wire from the "power supply" to the lamps carries the dimming signal?

[evilc66]

Very possible.

[cponte25]

I'll post pictures ASAP. I suspected the drivers were mounted on the little circuit boards (3 LEDs each). Because in Europe these units do come with a dimming option, is it possible the third wire from the "power supply" to the lamps carries the dimming signal?

Hello Evil, here are a couple of photos of the E-stripe. Three wires coming into each circuit board. Each of the two black cords in the top photo goes to a power supply. The two white lamps are connected in parallel. The objective is to dim each color to simulate sunrise & sunset. The 100% power color mix is fine.

 

[Gig 'em]

WOW, this thread is pretty overwhelming... I'll be building my own LED fixture pretty soon so, thanks for all the info!

[evilc66]

Hello Evil, here are a couple of photos of the E-stripe. Three wires coming into each circuit board. Each of the two black cords in the top photo goes to a power supply. The two white lamps are connected in parallel. The objective is to dim each color to simulate sunrise & sunset. The 100% power color mix is fine.

 

Cool. The drivers are directly on the pcb, so replacing the power supply isn't going to cut it. What you would have to do is actually peel back the jacket on the cord entering the strip, and figure out which wire is tied to the dimming circuit. If you can get some clear hi resolution photos of the board and the driver chip (little black chip with 8 pins between the first and second LED from the left on each 3 LED pcb), then I can tell you what you need to do.

 

WOW, this thread is pretty overwhelming... I'll be building my own LED fixture pretty soon so, thanks for all the info!

You're welcome. Don't be afraid to ask if you have questions.

[cponte25]

Cool. The drivers are directly on the pcb, so replacing the power supply isn't going to cut it. What you would have to do is actually peel back the jacket on the cord entering the strip, and figure out which wire is tied to the dimming circuit. If you can get some clear hi resolution photos of the board and the driver chip (little black chip with 8 pins between the first and second LED from the left on each 3 LED pcb), then I can tell you what you need to do.

 

Here are 2 photos (separate posts due to size). The red and white wires are labeled+ and - at the lamp and the middle wire (blue) is not labeled. I measured the voltages at all three wires: 23.85V between Red and White and 2.73V between Blue and White and 21.3V between Red and Blue.

 

You probably already knew the chip is a LM3404. I could not follow the trace from the blue wire to the IC. It went to the square device next to the right hand screw on the horizontal photo. The traces are all on the upper surface as the bottom is aluminum. They are faintly visible in the photos and hard to see with the naked eye. The red and white traces run the length of the PCB. IF this in not enough info, I can try again with a magnifying glass. Let me know and thanks for the help.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the other photo (not so good)

[redfishsc]

Here is the thread for the spectral analysis that was done on Crees, Rebels, Bridgelux, and Satistronics, just for those browsing this thread in the future who would like to see these.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=271198

[evilc66]

Here are 2 photos (separate posts due to size). The red and white wires are labeled+ and - at the lamp and the middle wire (blue) is not labeled. I measured the voltages at all three wires: 23.85V between Red and White and 2.73V between Blue and White and 21.3V between Red and Blue.

 

You probably already knew the chip is a LM3404. I could not follow the trace from the blue wire to the IC. It went to the square device next to the right hand screw on the horizontal photo. The traces are all on the upper surface as the bottom is aluminum. They are faintly visible in the photos and hard to see with the naked eye. The red and white traces run the length of the PCB. IF this in not enough info, I can try again with a magnifying glass. Let me know and thanks for the help.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the other photo (not so good)

 

Perfect. It's not going to be easy for most to get this dimmable. The driver is a National LM3404. It uses a 2.5v pwm signal on pin 3 to control the output. You would have to make a circuit like a 555 timer pwm driver, or program a controller like an Arduino to get the dimming control. Driving the input pin to about 1KHz should be enough.

[Patrizio_g]

Hey evil I got one question, how many led do you need per gallons?

I estimated 3 cool white and 2 royal blue on a ten gal, and 6 cool white and 4 royal blue for a 16 gal

[evilc66]

You don't size an LED setup by gallons. You do it by surface area. Get me dimensions, and I can make some recommendations.