DIY High Power LED Retrofit

[evilc66]

Umm.... Meanwell drivers that I am selling are dimmable.

 

With 45 degree optics, you will have seperate, visible cones of light until 6" into your tank. Like I mentioned earlier, it is going to be way too intense for the tank being so shallow. Seriously, if all you are looking for is shimmer and dawn/dusk, 80 degrees or no lens will be more than enough. I don't sell 45 degree optics anyway.

[juicestain]

so 12v 850mA power adaptor is good for 3 fans? how would the wiring go with this?

 

so far i ordered the 6 cw, 5 rb, heatsink, and 2x 1000mA buckpuck w/ pot. now all i need is 2 power supplies, 3 fans, and an ac/dc adaptor to power the fans?

 

is this the best power supply? http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16854+PS

im buying 2. 1 will power 6 cw and the other will power 5 rb

[juicestain]

actually can i just scratch all that and do this?

 

1 power supply-1 1000mA buck puck w/pot-3 fans-5 rb

1 power supply-1 1000mA buckpuck w/pot-6 cw

 

this sounds less confusing and would help makes things simpler for me. now what power supplies and what fans to go with? need some guidance!

[evilc66]

Go with the power supply you linked to. They are pretty reliable and have plenty of power. Use any fan that you can fit. Bigger the better, as they move more air with less noise. If you are going to run them off the main power supply, wire them in series so each fan sees a potion of the total voltage. If you run two, each will see 12v. If you run three, each will see 8v.

[juicestain]

okay last question. will doing it the way i stated above make it to where when i lower brightness with pot will this also lower speed of fans since its connected to the buckpuck or am i missing something here?

 

can the fans go directly to the power supply? would it be better to go the 12v 850mA power adaptor route?

[evilc66]

The pots change the current on the output side of the driver. It won't affect the voltage of the power supply. You can hook the fans to the main power supply, and they will turn on and off with the LEDs. This works fine. Using a seperate power supply strictly for the fans gives you a few more options. You can leave the fans on a little longer to help cool the heatsink after the LEDs go off, but thats not really necessary.

[Waterproof]

With regards to a dusk/dawn effect, I wonder if there is an alternative to using 2 power supplies. It seems we could use a relay switch on the +supply leg going to one of the buckpucks. The relay could be manipulated to open and close the circuit going to a leg of leds. As I recall, most relays are 5 or 12v. This would require the use of a separate power supply to trigger the relay. This defeats the purpose of using a single power supply. If there was a 110/120v relay, we could just wire it directly to a timer (using a cut extension cord) and control the on/off that way.

 

Any thoughts?

[evilc66]

By the time you get all the parts, it will cost the same as a second power supply.

[Waterproof]

By the time you get all the parts, it will cost the same as a second power supply.

 

Since when are we concerned about costs?!?!

 

How about if I use a series of solar panels to power a bank of lithium ion batteries, which will provide the power to run my timer. The timer will in turn control the on/off completion of the circuit...and brew coffee!

[evilc66]

Why not have it feed your fish while you're at it.

[Bamato]

I just spent the last hour reading this thread and I must say it has inspired me! I have a question or two.

 

-Will the two stock fans in the BC14 hood be enough to cool the heatsink with 12 LED's?

 

-And has anyone else used the stock moon LED's remounted somewhere and had success?

[evilc66]

Flow wise, the stock fans are sufficient, but they are in a terrible place. Ideally, the fan should be directly over the heatsink blowing down. You don't need a lot of airflow, but where the airflow goes is important.

 

Someone here used the stock moonlights mounted off to the side on an acrylic bracket angled in towards the tank. It actually created a pretty dramatic effect.

[crs2k]

I did both of these things. I did a top mount fan using waterproof's design from his first LED thread. It was easy to do and works great. I also just pit the stock moonlights back in and they look fine as far as I'm concerned. And the were free!

[Waterproof]

Here's another SPS update.

1st pic - Feb 23rd,

2nd pic - Mar 26th,

3rd pic - April 15th,

4th pic - May 20th.

 

 

Here's a pic of the foot spreading:

[sammy113]

woah! thats some nice growth under LEDs in 4 months. Very impressive!

[SethSPST]

Nice Growth, where is the placement in the tank?

[Waterproof]

Nice Growth, where is the placement in the tank?

 

Thanks. It's just shy of half way down, roughly in the center of the tank.

[deepdvnarq]

I just spent the last hour reading this thread and I must say it has inspired me! I have a question or two.

 

-Will the two stock fans in the BC14 hood be enough to cool the heatsink with 12 LED's?

 

-And has anyone else used the stock moon LED's remounted somewhere and had success?

i also did a top mount fan but didn't drill holes. i used a 80x80x15mm silenx fan. plenty of room. you dont even need to grind any post down, just shave off the triangular plastic off the two center posts(sorry about no pics, i lost all my pics somehow). i made two braces. mount the braces as close to the edge as possible, center your fan between the post, mark your holes on the braces,and screw it in from the underside of the brace. i replaced the two stock fans with 50mm evercools and have both pulling the air out of the hood. everything is fine. heatsink reaches 104.

[rvadub]

Since when are we concerned about costs?!?!

 

How about if I use a series of solar panels to power a bank of lithium ion batteries, which will provide the power to run my timer. The timer will in turn control the on/off completion of the circuit...and brew coffee!

 

 

Hahaha, or a roof full of solar panels..... they go up on our roof in two weeks and we become 100% solar! I'm gonna get paid to light my fish tank hahaha Plan to make the led money back one month at a time. But the solar cost, I plan to drink that away one month at a time haha

[Waterproof]

Hahaha, or a roof full of solar panels..... they go up on our roof in two weeks and we become 100% solar! I'm gonna get paid to light my fish tank hahaha Plan to make the led money back one month at a time. But the solar cost, I plan to drink that away one month at a time haha

 

 

Wow! That'll be a nice setup...if you pretend like you never paid for the solar panels! Where are you located?

[rvadub]

Boulder CO. I will say, do to that I might make ether a monster tank or a frag tank. But to think of the cost of leds for that kills me hen I think of what it has cost on this 29.

[Waterproof]

Boulder CO. I will say, do to that I might make ether a monster tank or a frag tank. But to think of the cost of leds for that kills me hen I think of what it has cost on this 29.

14! Even worse!

[dudedudedude]

Hey Guys, Great tutorial, inspired me to buy a heat sink and a JBJ 12 and get back into reefing. I like my light to be more on the whiter side. Would either of these patterns be satisfactory?

 

Thanks,

Dude

 

Pattern 1

 

Pattern 2

[evilc66]

You might get some banding of colors that way with either pattern. Honestly, go with 12 LEDs, 50/50 mix, and just use the drivers to set the color temp you want. It will blend together a lot better.

[dudedudedude]

You might get some banding of colors that way with either pattern. Honestly, go with 12 LEDs, 50/50 mix, and just use the drivers to set the color temp you want. It will blend together a lot better.

 

I initially was going to do that but I am afraid that I wont have enough PAR for SPS, any thoughts?