DIY High Power LED Retrofit

[Waterproof]

What size fan did you use to replace the stock ones? 40 mm? Mine are making a hell of a racket and my temp is starting to creep up. I've got two SilenX 60 mm pulling heat off the heatsink, but I still currently have the stock fans moving heat in and out of the hood. I'd like to upgrade them as much as possible.

You'll be hard pressed to find a 40mm fan that can move enough air. The stock fans are 50mm, so you could find 50mm replacements that make less noise. I used 60mm silenx fans but had to shave down/off some of the corners to get it to fit.

[rvadub]

With the 60 degree optics, should I use those all on my bc29 leds? I don't have the piece here to figure out spacing, but I have a heatsink coming 7.29 wide x 16 long. I htink that is the biggest I could get will not having to rework the fans. Sound like a decent size?

[mdavis203]

You'll be hard pressed to find a 40mm fan that can move enough air. The stock fans are 50mm, so you could find 50mm replacements that make less noise. I used 60mm silenx fans but had to shave down/off some of the corners to get it to fit.

 

Looks like 60mm and a dremel.

[Waterproof]

Looks like 60mm and a dremel.

Exactly what I did. You can see the fans in my 2nd post.

[Waterproof]

I bought my first SPS a little less than 2 months ago. Here's a pic showing the growth since I bought it. The first pic is Feb 23rd, the second pic is Mar 26th, and the third pic is April 15th. I'm impressed w/ the growth. The foot is spreading quickly to cover the mounting epoxy. Ignore the color balance of the 2nd pic. The actual color has remained a consistent, healthy green. I just wish I had more room in my tank to try more SPS.

 

[Minadin]

Waterproof,

 

Hate to bug you maybe I missed it but how is your psu(s) stored? Just in a cabinet or mounted somewhere?

 

Trying to figure out what to do about mine.

 

Thanks

Scott

[Waterproof]

Waterproof,

 

Hate to bug you maybe I missed it but how is your psu(s) stored? Just in a cabinet or mounted somewhere?

 

Trying to figure out what to do about mine.

 

Thanks

Scott

 

I have my power supply in the cabinet. This runs to my driver box (also in the cabinet). Then I have my +/- wires for each leg of leds and to my fans running up to the tank. I used some cable sleeving to give it a clean look.

[juicestain]

hello waterproof. i put in an order for 6 cw and 5 rb leds in the group buy because i plan to recreate your build. do you still rec. i buy the 1000mA w/pot buckpucks from ledsupply.com? if this is the case where can i buy an ac/dc adaptor that will work with these.

 

i also visited heatsinkusa.com and i dont understand their layout for selling. do i have to call and put in a custom order or am i just a bit confused about things? i have an ap 12 btw and i realize this might require more or less from a heatsink.

 

i plan to completely throw out whats already in the hood but i would like to incorporate the 3 switches already built in to control moonlights, rb, and cw. i guess i will just get the peices for now and learn as i go.

[deepdvnarq]

hello waterproof. i put in an order for 6 cw and 5 rb leds in the group buy because i plan to recreate your build. do you still rec. i buy the 1000mA w/pot buckpucks from ledsupply.com? if this is the case where can i buy an ac/dc adaptor that will work with these.

 

i also visited heatsinkusa.com and i dont understand their layout for selling. do i have to call and put in a custom order or am i just a bit confused about things? i have an ap 12 btw and i realize this might require more or less from a heatsink.

 

for this setup, the two buckpucks with pots would be perfect. if you went with the meanwells from the group buy, you would have to wire your own dimming solution which if i remeber coorectly, would add another $15 to the price and you'll have to do it yourself. one meanwell driver is about at the cheapest pricing from the group buy could be $29. so if you want to indivdually dim each color, you will need 2 drivers. so thats $58 plus the other stuff you need to make it dimmable. if you dont want them dimmable, then i beieve you only need one meanwell driver which could run upto 13 leds. if you do want them dimmable and run them separate, then the buckpucks are your best option moneywise. it will be $40 plus $5 to ship and already comes with the pot ready to go. you can use this power supply and if you want to simulate dawn dusk, just get two of them, that is if you are going with the buckpucks. on heatsink usa ther are 3 determined widths for the small, medium, large. the small is 5.5", medium is 7.5" and the large is 8.5 inches wide. so if you need a heatsink that is 7" by 5" you could get the medium at 5 inches long and then somehow trim off the half inch or you would contact them for the exact size. if you wanted the same size as WP (8.5" by 5.5"), you can do it 2 ways, you can get the large at only 5 inches(which is the cheaper way also) or get the small at 8" long. the only difference would be on how the fins would run (side to side or front to back). since the pricing doesn't mater on the 3 sizes (small, med, or large), the difference would be on how long you need it. i hope i helped you and not confused you more. have fun with your setup, i really enjoyed making mine.

[juicestain]

for this setup, the two buckpucks with pots would be perfect. if you went with the meanwells from the group buy, you would have to wire your own dimming solution which if i remeber coorectly, would add another $15 to the price and you'll have to do it yourself. one meanwell driver is about at the cheapest pricing from the group buy could be $29. so if you want to indivdually dim each color, you will need 2 drivers. so thats $58 plus the other stuff you need to make it dimmable. if you dont want them dimmable, then i beieve you only need one meanwell driver which could run upto 13 leds. if you do want them dimmable and run them separate, then the buckpucks are your best option moneywise. it will be $40 plus $5 to ship and already comes with the pot ready to go. you can use this power supply and if you want to simulate dawn dusk, just get two of them, that is if you are going with the buckpucks. on heatsink usa ther are 3 determined widths for the small, medium, large. the small is 5.5", medium is 7.5" and the large is 8.5 inches wide. so if you need a heatsink that is 7" by 5" you could get the medium at 5 inches long and then somehow trim off the half inch or you would contact them for the exact size. if you wanted the same size as WP (8.5" by 5.5"), you can do it 2 ways, you can get the large at only 5 inches(which is the cheaper way also) or get the small at 8" long. the only difference would be on how the fins would run (side to side or front to back). since the pricing doesn't mater on the 3 sizes (small, med, or large), the difference would be on how long you need it. i hope i helped you and not confused you more. have fun with your setup, i really enjoyed making mine.

 

would that power supply be more then enough for the 2x 1000mA buck pucks running 5 rb, 6 cw, and 2-3 60mm silentx fans? do you mind if i pm you with everything im ordering because i want to make sure i have everything so i dont pay for shipping twice.

[deepdvnarq]

would that power supply be more then enough for the 2x 1000mA buck pucks running 5 rb, 6 cw, and 2-3 60mm silentx fans?

yes. but if you want to simulate dawn/dusk, you will need two of them. you would only connect the whites to one power supply and the royal blues to the other ones. of this doesnt matter to you, then only one is needed. one of these power supplies can handle up to 5-6 buckpucks. remember also that fans are 12 volts and the power supply is 24v. you are going to have to run the fans in pairs wired in series to make them 24 volts or you can just get a 12v wallwart for about five bucks, then it wouldn't matter how many fans you have (either odd or even number fans). here is an option for you if you wanted to go that route. its from the same place. 12v 850mA wallwart

[juicestain]

im electrically challenged so this will be a learning process for me.

 

im going with 2x power supplies, 2x 1000mA buckpucks w/pot, 5x rb, 6x cw, 2x 60mm silentx fans. the only thing i need to know to finish this recipe is what power supplies to use. i want the fans to turn on when my cw leds do so they will both go to one power supply and the rb will go to the 2nd?

[evilc66]

You will want the fans to come on with the royals if you are going to do dawn/dusk effects. The blues typically come on before and off after the whites, and you want the fans to come on as soon as any LEDs come on.

[juicestain]

ah good call. i was in the mind set of the current light setup i have right now. do you recommend i use two of those power supplies deepdvnarq linked me to?

[sammy113]

I'm confused on the power supply... If I have 12 LEDs running on two buckpucks with potentiometers, Do I need two power supplies one for each driver or one 24V 5A with work for both. With Waterproof's wiring diagram I understand he uses one (don't know if its for illustration purposes) and just saw crs2k's build and he uses 2 power supplies (actually don't read the voltage on those)

 

BTW... I'm almost there to start mine. Thanks to Waterproof (refered by evil) and evil himself for the help and all this helpful info

 

Edit: Just read crs2k's thread and noticed he used 2 for the dusk/dawn effect. So anyways only one can be used for all 12 LEDs right?

[iMaGin3]

^^^ You only need 1 power supply to run both of the buckpucks. The power supply you listed above is sufficient for the two pucks.

 

 

Just wire according to WP's diagram. Each of the two buckpucks will control the different color LEDs (one puck for the whites and one puck for the blues). Each puck should have its own pot if you want to adjust LEDs.

 

However for the dawn/dusk effect...I think you may need to run 2 power supplies as each will need to be on its own timer to be controlled separately if I am not mistaken.

[deepdvnarq]

I'm confused on the power supply... If I have 12 LEDs running on two buckpucks with potentiometers, Do I need two power supplies one for each driver or one 24V 5A with work for both. With Waterproof's wiring diagram I understand he uses one (don't know if its for illustration purposes) and just saw crs2k's build and he uses 2 power supplies (actually don't read the voltage on those)

 

BTW... I'm almost there to start mine. Thanks to Waterproof (refered by evil) and evil himself for the help and all this helpful info

 

Edit: Just read crs2k's thread and noticed he used 2 for the dusk/dawn effect. So anyways only one can be used for all 12 LEDs right?

depends if you want to simulate dawn dusk effect. if you dont, then the one power supply is enough. if you do then you will need two to set the times on them differently. for example, your blues would come on at 9am. this would be your sunrise. then at 11am your whites come on. the only way to do. at 6pm, your whites turn off, then at 8 pm yur blues turn off. you would set each power supply to turn on/off at different times to achieve this. a power supply with 5A and 24 v can handle upto 4 buckpucks at 1A ea or 6 to 7 buckpucks at 700mA

[Waterproof]

Like they said above, my lights are simply on or off. I had planned to do an arduino build, which would give me complete control over sunrise/sunset independent of the power supply.

 

1 vs 2 power supplies? Either way works fine.

[iMaGin3]

Hey waterproof, Ive been kind of reading up on the arduino threads so... Im planning on using 2 meanwells and 15 or so LEDs with a Digital Aquatics Reefkeeper Lite controller and RKM-ALC module http://www.digitalaquatics.com/saltwater/RKM-ALC . The module has 2 x 0-10VDC Ports, and I plan on using it to dim the white and blue LEDs separate from each other to simulate dawn/dusk. I have a few questions for you...

 

in terms of connecting everything...Is it :

 

Module>meanwell>blue leds

Module>meanwell>white leds

 

or

 

meanwell>module>blue leds

meanwell>module>white leds

 

 

I just got the RKL controller today, still waiting on the module, and LED parts are being ordered in the GB, so I cant really physically test this out. Any helpful hints you can help me out with? My main concern is how everything is wired up though, and in what order. I am not too sure what the ports look like as of now, but should find out soon as the module has been ordered. thanks!!!

 

 

P.S. Sorry I posted in this thread. I figured i didnt have enough of the materials to start my own thread.

[evilc66]

Module>Meanwell>LED

 

You will connect the module to the two dimming wires on the driver.

[Waterproof]

The reason I have yet to build my arduino controller is because I know jack about programming other than a C++ class in college. I just don't have the time right now to learn something new. You'll have to direct your questions to the experts (not me). - maybe evil or vancouver reefer.

[MerDoX]

I thought buckpuck can handle 5-32V DC input.

http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/datash...21-BuckPuck.pdf

If this is true, can I have a series of up to 8 these LEDs? Everyone seems to be using 1 buckpuck for 5-6 LEDs only (24V).

 

I have a NEP with 6 T5 bulbs and I plan to create shimmering effects. I plan to use 4 rb and 3 cw in 1 straight row with alternating rb and cw bulbs. I also want to use 45degree optic to concentrate the light rays a bit. Tank is 36" long so these bulbs will be about 4" apart and 6" to the sides of the tank. All will be driven by a 1000mA buckpuck with potentionmeter. Total voltage is 3.7Vx7=25.9V, which should be covered by 32V max DC input. Will this work? Any suggestions? Please remember that I'm not trying to use these as main lights. They are for shimmering effects only. Lights are about 24" above sandbed.

 

This is my first post...woot! I'm from RC and I concur that RC is way behind you guys in terms of LED tech. Thanks for all great info here.

 

Michael

[iMaGin3]

Taken directly from the led supply website.

 

http://ledsupply.com/03023-d-e-1000p.php

 

 

Drive up to 18 1W LEDs & up to 6 3W LEDs

 

The buck puck can only push a max of 6, 3 watt LEDs in one string. Trust me everyones had this lecture from evil66

[evilc66]

I would love for them to support 8 LEDs, but they won't. It's almost certain death for the driver if you try. 6 LEDs is the limit. If you want to drive more, but don't want the additional equipment, you could try the Meanwell ELN drivers. Up to 13 LEDs, and they are line voltage (110VAC, no power supply).

 

Word of caution. 45 degree lenses will concentrate the light A LOT. If all you are looking to go is add shimmer, 80 degrees will be plenty, and you could probably get away with no optics at all. Using something as tight as a 45 degree lense is like putting a 250W MH over a 6" area. It will burn something. With 4" spacing you will also get very defined cones of light (spotlighting).

[MerDoX]

Thanks for your replies iMaGin3 and evilc66. I guess it was my wishful thinking that buckpuck can drive 8 LEDs :-)

 

From my calculations, 45 degree optic can cast 6" in diameter at 12" high and 12" wide at 24", which is at my sandbed. In theory, this will eliminate any spottings...since the lights are so high up. But it might be different in the tank. I may try 60 or 80 degree optics too....since they are so cheap in the group buy.

 

I want to control the intensity too so buckpuck driver is more appealing. I think I'll use 9 or 11 bulbs across my 36" long tank (3" spacing) so it'll be 1 Meanwell or 2 buckpucks. MW is not dimmable vs dail in intensity and K with buckpucks....decision, decision. Good thing is there is a few more days left for the GB. Suggestions?