LED Retrofit for JBJ Nano Cube 24 DX

[Sherman]

Those LED no much use.

I add another 4 one watt blue and its fantastic

 

 

 

 

 

The tank light up by the 4 1 watt blue

[evilc66]

Running the fans in series is the same as wiring the LEDs in series. Wiring two 12v fans in series to a 24v supply means that each fan gets 12v and operates properly.

 

The streaks will always be more noticeable on camera. What optics did you end up using?

[Minadin]

Running the fans in series is the same as wiring the LEDs in series. Wiring two 12v fans in series to a 24v supply means that each fan gets 12v and operates properly.

 

The streaks will always be more noticeable on camera. What optics did you end up using?

 

60degree optics

 

I put the fans in the unit one blowing air in on right and the left one blowing out. Heatsink is super cool now. I used the stock fans think they are 60mm ones...but.. They sound like airplane engines now they are turning so fast.

 

I know now I wired in "parallel", slowly but surely I am getting this electrical stuff. After googling the difference between series & parallel I am now following you. Vacation starts Monday so I will take it back apart and do the fans in series.

 

It is also time to pay Radio Shack a visit. I am thinking about a cheap fan controller (like $4 or so) to control speed of fans so i can get the right balance of cooling and noise. I also still need knobs for the pots and I still have all this solder to use for some other project.

 

Thanks

Scott

[Minadin]

Fans are now wired in series. Quiet as can be now. I am looking at picking up 4 more fans and putting the 60mm ones back into original position blowing out. Four 40mm or 60mm ones I can use on the heatsink.

 

These are the ones I have in mind.

This one is sweet looking.

Newegg Aluminum 60mm Fan

Or maybe these, nice 10mm thickness

40mm Fan

 

 

Will update when I do more. I still want to do more with wire management etc..

 

Here's some more shots tonight.

 

 

Thanks

Scott

 

Evil, thanks again. If you smoke let me know got a couple to send your way

[coralcor]

wow that is one friggen bright tank!

[TB!^]

im looking into LED lighting for my JBJ12dx, any thing i sould know besides all the data stated above, also on the website for the Cree's how did you order i didnt see where to buy them?

[NanoN00b]

You can get Cree LED's here:

 

LED Supply

 

They're not cheap though. I'd get a good heat sink and go for it though. In less than two-three years you've paid for the LED's alone in energy.

[evilc66]

Fans are now wired in series. Quiet as can be now. I am looking at picking up 4 more fans and putting the 60mm ones back into original position blowing out. Four 40mm or 60mm ones I can use on the heatsink.

 

These are the ones I have in mind.

This one is sweet looking.

Newegg Aluminum 60mm Fan

Or maybe these, nice 10mm thickness

40mm Fan

 

 

Will update when I do more. I still want to do more with wire management etc..

 

Here's some more shots tonight.

 

 

Thanks

Scott

 

Evil, thanks again. If you smoke let me know got a couple to send your way

 

 

If you have the room, and the cash, try these. Nice flow and dead silent.

 

Looks like some nice smokes you have there I have been known to light up a good cigar from time to time.

[Minadin]

Well ordered another PSU, 4 fans & knobs from MPJA. I had to take off some optics because the live rock near surface had white circles "burned" into the rock, talk about focused light.

 

Will update later with more pics of new liverock landscaping.

 

Scott

[C Jerome]

I would be interested to know which optics you have taken off, in addition the front row. Also how have you found the spread to be front back/left right.

Also in post 69 the top right photo, what are the blue things called that the wires are going into?

I am planning a 24 or 30 LED array for my biocube29!

Jerome

[Minadin]

I would be interested to know which optics you have taken off, in addition the front row. Also how have you found the spread to be front back/left right.

Also in post 69 the top right photo, what are the blue things called that the wires are going into?

I am planning a 24 or 30 LED array for my biocube29!

Jerome

 

Hi,

 

Actually I left the front row on & took off all the others. My rock is pretty high and I was getting white circles bleached on the rock. Now it looks much better. The front row will use optics to focus light in the lower parts.

I have no problems with the spread and there is plenty of light now. My chaeto is now booming!

 

Anyone in Columbia SC area have a par meter for loan?

 

The blue things are called wire nuts - 150count bag at Lowe's couple $. The blues were right size for my wires.

 

Thanks

Scott

[C Jerome]

Its really hard to judge in photos how the light and coverage really looks in person. I have seen some photos of peoples LED lit tanks where it looks like the edges and or corners of the tank especially, look dark in the photos.

I am building one for the biocube 29 which is about one inch bigger in each direction than the JBJ. About what is the distance from the front of your heat sink to the front edge of the tank?

[GaryR1984]

Thanks a lot for the photos. I Learn by seeing it in order. Your photo's worked great to help me learn how I need to wire and hook these up! I owe you as well.

[evilc66]

The pictures on LED tanks always seem to be a little deceptive.

[Minadin]

C Jerome - The distance is 6 1/4" to the middle of the front "bow" from the heatsink.

 

GaryR1984 - Thank you, I bugged enough people to get the electrical parts down pat. I believe all DIY should be visual & written instructions. I may clean up my post and put it on my site.

 

One thing I will add soon is that my power supply gets hot to the touch - I stuck an old 40mm silent fan on it till my other fans/psu gets here Monday. The fan cooled it down dramatically, I wondered why temp went up 3-4 degrees after leds installed, it was because psu was inside the tank stand. Heat rises. There I go rambling again.....

 

evilc66 - Did the mailman stop by yet?

 

Fel Temp Repartio

Scott

[CoralLED]

I'm planning on following your lead on my 24g JBJ cube. Excellent work! Too bad the JBJ hood didn't allow LEDs to extend all the way forward. My one concern is that the JBJ hood limits placement of the LED matrix to the rear, leaving the front 1/3-1/2 of the tank without any overhead lighting. Did removing the 60 degree lenses on all but the front row solve this, brightening the front of the tank? Alternately, what impact do you think this will have on the PAR and the ability to grow SPS and LPS in the front 1/3 of the tank? I look forward to hear how your SPS corals do over time. This solution sounds like an excellent upgrade for the tank and will finally get me into SPS corals not to mention all the other benefits of LEDs you guys mentioned.

 

By the way, has anyone built a microprocessor to control the LED buck drivers that allows the intensity to ramp up in the first 5 hours and ramp down in the last 5 hours (kinda like the sun crossing the sky)? If no-one has tackled that yet, I plan on working on after I get all the parts put together here. I'm wondering if a ramp up/down would eliminate the bleaching problem you mentioned while still allowing full brightness for part of the day. Just thinking out loud here.... you guys probably have thought all this thru already.

[evilc66]

evilc66 - Did the mailman stop by yet?

 

Fel Temp Repartio

Scott

 

Yes he did. Thank you very much. I might enjoy one of those later this weekend

 

By the way, has anyone built a microprocessor to control the LED buck drivers that allows the intensity to ramp up in the first 5 hours and ramp down in the last 5 hours (kinda like the sun crossing the sky)? If no-one has tackled that yet, I plan on working on after I get all the parts put together here. I'm wondering if a ramp up/down would eliminate the bleaching problem you mentioned while still allowing full brightness for part of the day. Just thinking out loud here.... you guys probably have thought all this thru already.

 

There are a few of us starting to work on this

[frakthem]

Nice! Your build looks awesome! I am jealous of the pots in the hood, I wish I thought of that! Those prewired leads would have made my build a bit easier as well. Thanks for the props on your thread too.

 

I have had my LEDs up for about a month and couldn't be happier. The tank runs so much cooler and I like the look of it as well. I also think the coral is enjoying the added light as well. I ramped up to full intensity over a 2 week period as to not shock everything in the tank.

 

Great Job!

[Minadin]

I ramped up to full intensity over a 2 week period as to not shock everything in the tank.

 

Great Job!

 

Wish I had done the same. My four montipora frags are now bleached. I had to move the zoos to bottom in the shade they would not open. At least I can look forward to acropora. On the flip side my chaeto this last week doubled in size.

 

My knobs, psu & four fans came in but I forgot to order more wire. I will get tomorrow then update. Here are my knobs all in place and looking good. Blues left, whites right.

 

 

I redid the rockscape even though too late for what few corals I had. I like it better now.

 

 

This picture is large but I like it. Got my yellow tail damsel looking right at me and my starfish is posed in the rocks. I can get the thing to eat from my hand now.

 

 

 

Enjoy

Scott

PS. Send PM's only regarding all donations of coral

[JoeJ]

Scott,

 

Your DIY is very well documented and inspiring. I'm currently trying to generate interest in constructing this model for standard 10 gallon or 15 gallon tall (in my case) AGA at SDReefs (San Diego). I'm pleased with the 1 year performance of the AI LED on my 110 gallon mixed reef. So, now with the build of my new Nano and after joining Nano-reefs.com, I am very happy to have come across the LED DIY activity here (evilc66, soundwave, Waterproof, et. al.).

 

I look forward to a DIY controller for the DIY LED! (like on my AI unit!)

 

A few more questions:

 

1) 100 vs. 107 lumens option on the Cool-White CRE XR-E, is it worth the upgrade? Is it like considering a CPU 2.6 MHz vs. 3.0 MHz? (probably a tech question for evilc66)

 

2) What exactly did you order at HeatSink USA? I'm a bit confused by the matrix of options there. The tiny images all look the same to me! Column #, Row #?

 

3) Have you compared your LED setup +/- all optics?

 

Thanks!

[evilc66]

7 lumens per LED per watt isn't going to make a big difference. If thats what is available to you, get it. If you are interested, I will be taking orders for LEDs in my group buy starting Monday. Good prices.

[Minadin]

Scott,

 

Your DIY is very well documented and inspiring. I'm currently trying to generate interest in constructing this model for standard 10 gallon or 15 gallon tall (in my case) AGA at SDReefs (San Diego). I'm pleased with the 1 year performance of the AI LED on my 110 gallon mixed reef. So, now with the build of my new Nano and after joining Nano-reefs.com, I am very happy to have come across the LED DIY activity here (evilc66, soundwave, Waterproof, et. al.).

 

I look forward to a DIY controller for the DIY LED! (like on my AI unit!)

 

A few more questions:

 

1) 100 vs. 107 lumens option on the Cool-White CRE XR-E, is it worth the upgrade? Is it like considering a CPU 2.6 MHz vs. 3.0 MHz? (probably a tech question for evilc66)

 

2) What exactly did you order at HeatSink USA? I'm a bit confused by the matrix of options there. The tiny images all look the same to me! Column #, Row #?

 

3) Have you compared your LED setup +/- all optics?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Thanks for your nice comments.

 

1. What? you don't think I would know the answer? Actually I didn't thanks evil.

 

2. Heatsink - 12" x 7.29" - HeatsinkUSA.com - $35.55 shipped

 

They offer 3 "widths" - Small 5.375 inch wide, Medium 7.29 inch wide, Large 8.5 inch wide

Just choose the length you want in inches

 

3. I can only compare visually as no par meter if this is what you mean. I love it with optics on only the front row to reach sandbed which is how it is now. My rock is up so high its only 3 - 4" from led's so I had to remove optics, they were literally buring white circles into the rock. If I ever change the rock, again, I will make it more of a flat squarish build approx 6 - 8" from the top of rock to leds sort of a 12 x 12 x 9 cube. But for now it stays.

 

 

Thanks

Scott

[C Jerome]

Scott

 

Do you really think the heat from the PSU was increasing your tank temp? What is your solution, put the psu outside the stand next to it? I assume I will have to do the same thing, are you going to put it in a case of some sort, they look a little bare to just be sitting around especially next to the tank where drips are possible.

 

Jerome

[Minadin]

Scott

 

Do you really think the heat from the PSU was increasing your tank temp? What is your solution, put the psu outside the stand next to it? I assume I will have to do the same thing, are you going to put it in a case of some sort, they look a little bare to just be sitting around especially next to the tank where drips are possible.

 

Jerome

 

I know it was the PSU I put it inside the stand, my tank temps were 81 to 81.6 before. Since I put a little 40mm fan on it and cracked the door open tank stays at 79 constant. I now have my fans, psu that I ordered and will begin the finish up of this project. As of right now only 2 60mm are blowing across whole width of heatsink. The additional fans should drop another couple of degrees in the tank.

 

I will either buy/build/modify a project box (black) with an open front(maybe). Cords out the back , connections front and put a couple fans for cooling. Will draw something up later for you to take a gander at.

 

Thanks

Scott

[Minadin]

Actually I took a few minutes since you gave me the prodding and drew up this very rough draft. It will have cutouts nicely done of course. Just a simple project box of pretty small size.

 

 

The size of the PSU's are 4 3/8" W X 7 7/8"D X 2"H. These are the ones evil recommends alot and a lot of people own them. No matter how many you have you can nicely box them to protect from drips, regain cabinet space and overall more visually appealing while keeping them cool.

 

Scott

 

 

EDIT:

Sometimes I go off on a tangent and spend money like it is never ending. Better yet instead of spending even more money (personally) I am just going to mount the two psu's on the top shelf of my stand, it is a perfect fit. I will then for free just drill out for a large 120MM fan to blow out the back, while leaving the 2 40mm(1 each) affixed to top of each psu. This I am sure will address my heat issues. I still think for someone with 1 PSU that this project box idea would not be a bad one for the reasons I stated earlier.

 

Anyone think drilling the back of my stand would be a bad idea? Or have an even better idea?

 

My stand