Ultimate LED guide

[evilc66]

Is an 8.5" width heatsink too narrow for an 18" wide tank? The tank is 36 x 18 x 25 and per Evil's recommendation I will be using 90 LEDs with 40 degree optics. In planning my hood I started thinking that the 8.5" heatsink from heatsink USA will be too narrow and that 10.5" might be the minimum. If so, what width would be optimal?

 

8.5" will be more than enough. 40 degree optics cover a 16" area at 80% intensity levels at 27" distance.

 

Hi there. I've ordered 6 ssc royal blue leds that come premounted on a board. I have one of these lying around and was wondering if it could be use to run them.

http://www.internethobbies.com/lgbanthrotin.html

 

I am not adept in electronics but since the voltage can be varied does it mean I will be able to dim the leds with the throttle?

 

You can use it turned all the way up, but you can't use it to dim.

 

Hey Evil. I have a question.

 

I was only able to afford 2 drivers in the gb and 12 of each led.

 

What I would like to do is to make six 4 led lights (2&2)all powered off of the 2 drivers. Is this possible?

 

If it is possible would I then be able to add 2 pots to each unit and then make them dimmable on each channel as well?

 

Also how do you power fans?

 

Thanks

 

Not sure what you are trying to do here. Could you explain what you are trying to set up?

 

Best way to power the fans is to get a seperate 12v power supply just for the fans.

[STI470]

" 40 degree optics cover a 16" area at 80% intensity levels at 27" distance."

 

Thank you. I'm sure you are planning on putting data like that in your write-up. That is VERY useful to those of us with no hands on experience yet.

[Saiyan]

Evil what I am doing is making basically 6 separate fixtures that will all be running and mounted at the same time and powered from the same PS if possible. Right now I have 2 corals that I want to get more light and one for the clam bed area. So for now I am basically going to supplement the lighting in my tank and I may only use 3 of the fixtures in the beginning. If I have a lot of cooling issues this summer I may use them all if that will let me keep the MH off.

 

Eventually, hopefully no to far away, I will build a complete lighting replacement with 60 or so LEDs for my 40b. This project will be learning for that one. Thanks, all of my electrical experience if with 480 three phase and 4160. This low voltage stuff is new to me.

[timdog]

Hi Evil/everyone,

I've read through most of this post, but after 15 or so pages, I'm starting to get crosseyed. I'm also still a little confused. I was planning on getting a 250w mh for my tank, but after exploring this thread, I think LEDs are the way to go. I have a 65g tank, which measures 36l x 18w x 24h. Can you provide a suggested array of LEDs, as well as a complete part list and quantites of what would be needed. I was looking at the Luxeon K2 stars. I actually work in the Hobby industry, and have access to power supplies and heatsinks that I can use. Would a 15v, 10 amp switching power supply work at all in this application? Thanks again for any help.

 

Tim

Edited May 13, 2009 by timdog

[phaze5]

Hey evil, I read the thread trying to find where to find uv leds I found one spot where you said you can get them from kai, I went to there site but there is nothing(even searched all leds related items) Do you happen to have the link bookmarked

 

edit: Also looking at doing a bc29

8.5" x 18" heatsink

20 cw's

20 rb's

2 uv's

40 deg opt.'s

1 24v 6.5 amp ps

sound about right to you

Edited May 13, 2009 by phaze5

[evilc66]

Hi Evil/everyone,

I've read through most of this post, but after 15 or so pages, I'm starting to get crosseyed. I'm also still a little confused. I was planning on getting a 250w mh for my tank, but after exploring this thread, I think LEDs are the way to go. I have a 65g tank, which measures 36l x 18w x 24h. Can you provide a suggested array of LEDs, as well as a complete part list and quantites of what would be needed. I was looking at the Luxeon K2 stars. I actually work in the Hobby industry, and have access to power supplies and heatsinks that I can use. Would a 15v, 10 amp switching power supply work at all in this application? Thanks again for any help.

 

Tim

 

For a tank like that, an array of 62 LEDs (16,15,16,15 arrangement with ~2" spacing) on a 36"x8.5" heatsink from HeatsinkUSA and 60 or 40 degree optics would work out well. You can use the K2s, but Crees tend to have a little more output and can be found a little cheaper. A 15v power supply isn't going to be enough. You will need a 24v power supply if you are going to run Buckpucks as drivers.

 

 

Hey evil, I read the thread trying to find where to find uv leds I found one spot where you said you can get them from kai, I went to there site but there is nothing(even searched all leds related items) Do you happen to have the link bookmarked

 

edit: Also looking at doing a bc29

8.5" x 18" heatsink

20 cw's

20 rb's

2 uv's

40 deg opt.'s

1 24v 6.5 amp ps

sound about right to you

 

http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=1690

 

No need for that many LEDs in a BC29, and certainly no need for 40 degree optics unless you want to give your fish a tan (not really, but it's a lot of light). 24-28 LEDs (UV included) with 60 degree optics will be plenty in that tank.

[djprofd]

Hey Evil,

 

Sorry to bother you, but i am about to start my bc 14 LED project and i want to get this right.

I've read so many threads that the info is all kind of swimming.

Here's the list:

 

(2)3023-D-E-1000P Wired BuckPuck, 1000mA Output, DC Powered w/ Pot --- from LEDSupply

(6) Cool White

(6) Royal Blue

8.5" x 5" Heatsink from HeatsinkUSA (unless a bigger one will fit; anybody tried it?

(2) 24V 2.2+ amp Power Supplies

silenx 80mmx15mm fan to cool the heatsink

A power supply for the fan(s)

 

Sound about right? Am I overlooking anything?

 

Would adding an 80 deg. optic to one of the LEDs to spotlight a show coral/clam be obtrusively bright in that one area?

 

Thankyou so much for all your help. This board is the stool.

 

d.

[evilc66]

List looks good. Check out Waterproofs thread if you haven't already. Documents all the steps of him putting basically the same setup in his BC14.

 

I don't think you will need the lense for the clam. You will have over 200 PAR at the sandbed, and that should be adequate for almost any clam.

[djprofd]

wow, you are really fast. thanks for the reply.

 

d.

[timdog]

For a tank like that, an array of 62 LEDs (16,15,16,15 arrangement with ~2" spacing) on a 36"x8.5" heatsink from HeatsinkUSA and 60 or 40 degree optics would work out well. You can use the K2s, but Crees tend to have a little more output and can be found a little cheaper. A 15v power supply isn't going to be enough. You will need a 24v power supply if you are going to run Buckpucks as drivers.

 

 

 

 

Evil,

Thanks for the info. Which Crees would you recommend? Part numbers or item numbers sure would help. The heatsink and power supply are easy enough to pick out, not so easy on the actual LEDs and optics. Thanks again for the help and fast reply.

 

Tim

[deepdvnarq]

you would want the Q5's and the royal blues. for that amount of LEDs, you meet the minimum order for ETG TECH. they seem to be cheaper ($5 to$6) and they also carry the optics too for $1 ea.

etg tech 1-310-202-6400. contact is Anna Lopez

[evilc66]

^^^ This is a good place to go, and where I get all my stuff. Anna is the best. Make sure you specify XR-E series LEDs. The Q5 (this is the brightness bin) is XR-E only, but if you just specify royal blue, there are a bunch of different option. Get the Cree lenses. They fit the easiest, and are the cheapest.

[121a]

hey evil i'm thinking about making my current tank 4" smaller, so the dims would be 24"x16"x12"

my idea might be to use LEDs as the main light( i use a 250w MH right now, might be too much on such a small hieght), but supplement with T-5HO actinics. I was thinking on using a 20"x8" heat sink, and about 15 white Cree XR-Es. Would this be enough light to support clams/sps/ect? I'm still a noob to leds, i'm reading though...

also a quick guess at costs would be great!

Thanks!

[evilc66]

On a tank like that, you could run about 27 LEDs (9x3 at 2" spacing) for good coverage once you factor in optics. You could run without optics, but you would need to keep the fixture closer to the tank to keep performance up. With 60 degree optics, you could raise the fixture up to about 4-6" off the surface and still get good performance. You would be equivalent to a high end 150W MH at that point. If you wanted to go higher, and make it comparable to a 250W setup, you could go to 40 degree optics. With 30 LEDs, you can keep the spacing tight enough that you can go anywhere from no optics to 40 degree without changing anything. This will give you a lot of room to experiment with the different angles to see what fits best for the tank and it's inhabitants.

 

If you buy from ETG, you are looking at $162 for LEDs, and then $1 each for optics. For this setup, you would need 6 Buckpucks at $20 each, and then a power supply is another $14. You could pare things back a little if you didn't want the option of such high light levels. This would be a sweet setup though. Trimming things back to 24 LEDs (8x3) will take the drivers down to 4, but the spacing you would need for coverage wouldn't work too well for 40 degree optics.

[deepdvnarq]

hey evil,

have you heard any new news on the buckpucks. i'm still a little discouraged from my last experience with them. i have been testing my setup for the 37 gal and everything works fine as long as i do not put them in a project box. once i close the project box up, i lose a puck. i have switched the puck on different LED strings and its a different string every time. the buckpucks short out the PS. once the bad one is removed, the PS works again and the remaining pucks work with no problems as long as they are out of the box. anyways, i'm back down to 5 buckpucks out of 8 (not including the other 4 i already replaced) and i'm just waiting on the meanwells to come in from your group buy. i have concluded that heat does effect the buckpucks. do you think this is a new issue or has there always been a 50% chance of failure due to heat. i know WP has his in a project box and some others have as well with no problems but i see that they are only one to two buckpucks per box. i had 8. i should have just got a bigger box and slapped a couple fans on them. sorry for ranting, it still hurt my pocket (7 bad buckpucks)

[razornova]

Hi just a general question. When people state led spacing in inches does it refer the length from the light emitting diode to diode or edge of pcb to pcb?

[evilc66]

hey evil,

have you heard any new news on the buckpucks. i'm still a little discouraged from my last experience with them. i have been testing my setup for the 37 gal and everything works fine as long as i do not put them in a project box. once i close the project box up, i lose a puck. i have switched the puck on different LED strings and its a different string every time. the buckpucks short out the PS. once the bad one is removed, the PS works again and the remaining pucks work with no problems as long as they are out of the box. anyways, i'm back down to 5 buckpucks out of 8 (not including the other 4 i already replaced) and i'm just waiting on the meanwells to come in from your group buy. i have concluded that heat does effect the buckpucks. do you think this is a new issue or has there always been a 50% chance of failure due to heat. i know WP has his in a project box and some others have as well with no problems but i see that they are only one to two buckpucks per box. i had 8. i should have just got a bigger box and slapped a couple fans on them. sorry for ranting, it still hurt my pocket (7 bad buckpucks)

 

I have not heard anything more about this situation. It's strange that Luxdrive claims no need for additional cooling, but yours fails in higher ambient temperatures (ie. in a box).

 

Hi just a general question. When people state led spacing in inches does it refer the length from the light emitting diode to diode or edge of pcb to pcb?

 

Diode center to diode center.

[razornova]

Diode center to diode center.

 

Thanks a ton!

[121a]

thanks evil. the price is a little to steep for me as i'm just a teen without a job.

[evilc66]

That tends to put a damper on things. Time to start saving those pennies!

[timdog]

Hi Evil/Deep,

Thanks again for the help. You recommended 62 LED's. I'm assuming that the rows of 16 would be the bright whites, and the rows of 15 would be the royal blues. How many buckpucks would I need for this arrangement? How many LED's does each drive? Is it right that I would use the 1000mAh ones for the whites, and the 700's for the blues?

If I went through ETG, are these already mounted on stars? Will this array of LED's be equal to a 250w MH?

 

Sorry for all of the questions, I'm trying to figure out everything I'm going to need before I start buying stuff. Thanks again for the help.

 

Tim

Edited May 15, 2009 by timdog

[geo2]

hope you can pick this up too. know your in demand... Noticed you have a 40 gallon breeder and Im planning when I get the cash to put together an led set for one. Can you provide a generic plan for a mix of soft and hard coral tank ? I've looked at several and cant firgure out equivalent lighting levels LED vs mH

 

Any help would be great ...

[deepdvnarq]

Hi Evil/Deep,

Thanks again for the help. You recommended 62 LED's. I'm assuming that the rows of 16 would be the bright whites, and the rows of 15 would be the royal blues. How many buckpucks would I need for this arrangement? How many LED's does each drive? Is it right that I would use the 1000mAh ones for the whites, and the 700's for the blues?

If I went through ETG, are these already mounted on stars? Will this array of LED's be equal to a 250w MH?

 

Sorry for all of the questions, I'm trying to figure out everything I'm going to need before I start buying stuff. Thanks again for the help.

 

Tim

 

the rows would actually be alternating white with blues i.e.:

W b w b w b w b w b w b w b w b

b w b w b w b w b w b w b w b

w b w b w b w b w........

you get the idea. buckpucks can only handle a maximum of 6 LEDs and you could run both (whites and blues) at 1000 mA. you will need 11 buckpucks or 5 of the meanwell drivers. ETG will mount the leds for you on starbaords. you will need 2 power supplies. potrans 24v 6.5a will be just fine and only run $15 bucks ea at www.mpja.com. if you go with the meanwells, you dont need powersupplies for them as they run straight off the wall outlet (mains power/ ac power) but are more expensive. you might want to read up on the meanswells first as they take a little work to make them dimmable and Evil can tell you whick ones you need if you want to go with them (there are various versions). i don't know if this would equal 250 mh, Evil will jump in soon enough but i think you will need 40 degree optics (65gal right?). you are also going to need artic silver 5, a soldering iron (40watts or higher), 40/60 solder with a rosin core (not acid) wire 18 -20 gauge stranded not solid. you will also need size 4-40 screws with size 4 nylon washers for insulation. a 4-40 drill tap set to tap out the holes for the leds to screw them down to the heat sink. tools that you'll need Drill press, wire strippers, size #1 phillips screwdriver. that all i can really think off the top of my head, others will jump in. you could also go and read up Waterproof's thread as he listed everything too. enjoy and have fun doing it.

[keli]

I wouldn't ever dream of putting buckpucks inside a box - they get warm when outside one, so inside one they'd fry! I basically just drilled a hole in my project box, put all the wires in but let the buckpucks stay on the outside.

[quicknik]

Hi,

 

To get a better feeling about how the tank illumination would actually like in subject to number of led, gab to surface etc. i put together a small flash app which can be found here:

http://www.trashboard.de/wp-content/uploads/illumination.swf

 

Just play arround with the settings and get first idea about how it could look like.

 

Note: The app does not take into accout light lose over distance yet. I need to wrap my head arround a proper visualisation/calculation of light lose. I does not matter what units (inch,cm) you use since the calculation is relative. Just make sure that you don't mix units .

 

If you would like to see additional features,need help, find a bug feel free to contact me.

PS: sorry about my english, it has become pretty rusty during the years .

 

Hope this helps,

Nikolas