TheStar Posted August 5, 2009 Author Share Posted August 5, 2009 I'm about to wire these. As others have done I will be wiring in series. The RED wire from the Meanwell will be soldered onto the Positive + on the LED, pass through the LED, out the Negative - side and then (New Wire Here) to the next LED +. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Don't put anything more than 10v to the dimming line on the Meanwell driver. That 19v supply will kill it. Running the 9v supply for now will work. Positive to positive, negative to negative. Then plug the 9v supply into the wall. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 WOW...Evil, you were right. Words and even pictures can't really describe how bright these things are. The first time I turned them on, they scared me. I thought I burnt them out. I was going to use the 9V adapter mentioned above, but when I put it on the Multimeter to test the positive/negative, it was reading at 12V. I was really confused... I ended up just using a 5V 1Amp adapter. Does this mean, its half as bright as 10V? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Glad you got it running.The 5v supply on the "P" model driver won't equate to half brightness. That driver wasn't designed to take an analog input, so the brightness will be a little unpredictable. The 9v supply might still work, but you need to test something first. Many cheap linear power supplies like that will show a high voltage with no load on it. Once a load is placed on the power supply, the voltage could drop down to a reasonable level. Try connecting something to it, like a small incandescant lamp or a small motor and measure the voltage then. I wouldn't use the driver as the test device for safety's sake. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Cool, perhaps I can just use the 9Volt to run my fans. Can I add one of those linear taper pots between the fans and the wall to slow the fans down or would I need a PWM circuit on this as well? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 A pot can work for fan control. Just make sure it's big enough (wattage) to handle the load. Link to comment
goofyreefer Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Hey Star how are you going to mount the heat sink to the BC hood? I'm right behind you... I got the heat sink tapped and I routed out some of the fins of the heat sink to recess a fan. I just got the "P" model meanwells so I'll have to make a controller as well. Your initial reaction to turning your LED's on makes me really want to finish it now. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 I went back and turned these things on a number of times today and my reaction was still the same. I really can't believe how much light they put out. To mount them to the hood, I'm thinking I will just drill some holes through the hood and heatsink and tighten them up with nut, bolt and washer. I left the array running for a while today. I kept going back to check the temperature of the heatsink, which was just upside down on a table and boy did it get HOT! I did not have a way to measure it, but it was very hot to the touch. I'm wondering how much airflow/fan power you need to have to cool this thing down. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 You don't need much, but direct airflow on the heatsink is best. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hey evil, I somehow managed to burn out two of the LED's. I need to order replacements. Is this an exact match for the white? http://ledsupply.com/creexre-w107.php White Cree Q5 XR-E Star Features: 107 lm @ 350mA <li>1000mA - Max Drive Current <li>3.3Vf - Typ. Forward Voltage @ 350mA <li>6500K - Color Temperature <li>Lambertian Radiation Pattern <li>Cree Part# XREWHT-L1-0000-00D02 These are $8.92 each. If not, can you please point me to the right place? Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 11, 2009 Author Share Posted August 11, 2009 WOW, that was fast. Ordered the replacements yesterday and they are already here. Evil, these LED's look the same but they say LUXDRIVE RHEA 8018 on the star. Should I be concerned that they are different? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 There is no difference. It's just a different company making the star and mounting the LED to it. Link to comment
goofyreefer Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I haven't mounted my LED's yet but I did mount the heatsink to my hood and used a 120mm 12v fan for cooling. I also used a grinder to remove the plastic in between the grills where the stock fans would go for less air-flow restriction. I mounted the heatsink by drilling 4 holes in the hood and tapped the heatsink for 1/4-20 bolts. I used 1/4-20 nylon bolts. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Nice job, what kind of plastic screws are those you used to mount the Heatsink? Do you have a link? Do they clip in or is there a washer/nut on the bottom? Also, where did you order the spongy filter thingy that protects the fan from dust, etc? Link to comment
goofyreefer Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 The screws that you see on the top of the hood I got from Home Depot they are just nylon hex-head 1/4-20 bolts. I bought ones that were more than long enough (2.5") and I figured I'd just cut them when I need to. I didn't use any nuts I just tapped the heat sink and tightened it up to the hood. If you want one of those fan guards I'll give you one if you cover shipping. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 Away for the week. Looking forward to mounting the LED's into the Hood and installing it next week. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Just mounted this to the hood and doing a test before putting it on the tank BUT... I have a problem. I replaced the 2 burnt out LED's with 2 new ones that I ordered. They are the first 2 in the White string. Now the 2 new LED's aren't working either??? The rest of the string works fine? How could I be burning out only the first 2 in the string? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Start checking for shorts again. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Start checking for shorts again. Thanks Evil, 2 Questions, Could a Short be caused by the wiring (or solder) touching the heatsink/screw/negative or something? Do you have a quick way to check these LED's to make sure they still work? I used a 9V Battery on one before, but I am not sure if that was a good idea. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Any metal contact to any electrical contact can create a short. If you want to test LEDs, use a pair of AA/AAA batteries in series to make a 3v tester. 9v was kind of silly now wasn't it? Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 Any metal contact to any electrical contact can create a short. If you want to test LEDs, use a pair of AA/AAA batteries in series to make a 3v tester. 9v was kind of silly now wasn't it? Yes, is it just too much for a single LED? It actually worked when I tested it, but I only held it on there for a couple seconds. Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 How could only 2 of these LED's get shorted out? The whole thing was working, I mounted some stuff and then 2 of them got shorted? I can't figure this out, it just doesn't make sense to me. I ran the whole thing for a couple of hours without any problems (aside from the 2 lights not working the whole time.) Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 Yes, is it just too much for a single LED? It actually worked when I tested it, but I only held it on there for a couple seconds. OK, I just went back and looked at the Data Sheet for the Cree and the max forward voltage is 3.9. A 9 Volt battery is way too much - just for the record, it did work, but I did not keep it on for long and this is not what burned the lights out. Now I need to figure out how I did burn out the first 2 lights in the string twice? Link to comment
TheStar Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share Posted August 26, 2009 I ran the lights over the tank for about an hour last night. I will do an hour this morning and an hour again this evening. I will stick with a couple of hours a day for the first week. No pictures just yet. Need to get the camera charged after being away for the past week or so. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.