evilc66 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Can't run 6 LEDs per driver on a 20v power supply. You will need at least a 24v unit. Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Also depending on the power of the fans you can run all 4 on a 24v. 2 sets of 2 fans in series running parallel with each other. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Does this look right? And can I run all this off a 24V ps? Assuming 12v fans and 6 XR-E Q5 LEDs? Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 That looks good. As long as you have enoughg amps in the PS then you can even run 2 more fans in parallel to the first two. The fans are very low current so 2 sets in parallel will not require that much current. The LEDs pull the most. Then again if you are running 2 sets on 2 power supplies just put two fans on each. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Does this look right? And can I run all this off a 24V ps? Assuming 12v fans and 6 XR-E Q5 LEDs? Almost. Just make sure you never connect anything other than LEDs to the driver output positive and negative. The fans will go straight to the power supply terminals. If you are using two supplies to do dawn/dusk effects, hook the fans up to the power supply for the blues, seeing as they will turn on first, and off last. This will make sure that the LEDs stay cool. Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Nice catch on that evil. I didn't even notice there was no driver in that diagram lol. The fans would go in parallel to the + and - going from the driver to the power supply, not in parallel with the actual LEDs. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Need to decide on a layout for LEDs.. perusing the build threads it looks like most have gone with option B.. a few with Waterproofs layout C.. and only 1 that I could find with option A. I would really like a good blend and don't want any spotlighting.. I actually have 16 LEDs total if I need to add more. Heatsink is 8.5 x 5.. upgrading to a larger sink is also an option. Opinions? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Any of them will work well. Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 your "meteor shower' is actually a war, youre right. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 I think option B is the one I'll start with as I think it'll be a more uniform blend.. I think option A would be just a tad bluer to the right side edge than on the left. My project hood should be arriving some time in the next week or so.. I'll have some time to play around with both patterns. I am a little concerned about using the arctic silver thermal paste and wonder if anyone has a thought?. I have used the arctic silver on CPU heatsinks numerous times, but find that after about 6 months it loses it's effectiveness? I find the CPU running at about 50C+ before I usually do anything about it. Reapplying the paste, brings it back down to 38C. Is there an easy way to measure the LED temps? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 It's not as big of a problem. We are dealing with much higher clamping pressure than with PC heatsinks, so the layer of paste is a lot thinner, and acts less as an insulator once it dries out. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 Moving along quite well.. after a small issue with a few lenses coming off.. here be the mounted LEDs. PS's to arrive this week along with the spare hood. Anticipation is building! Link to comment
MikeTR Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Spare BC hood and Power Supplies have arrived.. The supplies are Potrans 24v 6.5amp from MPJA.. they happened to be in Florida so I got them quick! When I do get around to the test fire.. how long are they safe to run without a fan on the heatsink? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 Hope to have this finalized by next week. Just received my mounting brackets. Had them fabricated by our maintenance dept. Nice to have a full service machine shop at your disposal. Initial fit looks good. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 My tank saw the first shimmer of the LEDs tonight.. I fired it up for a test run over the tank. wow! The colors are crazy.. I should have this finished up very soon. I'll be picking up a couple fans tomorrow. Hopefully it won't take too long to get them mounted on the heatsink. I'm still not sure if I want to mess with venting the air out the top (which means cutting and adding a fan grill) or just pull air through the heatsink and let the stock fans exhaust it. Either way I think I will plan on keeping the stock fans. Wondering if I need to reverse one of them so they both blow out? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 I took some updated pics to show how far I've progressed with the power compact bulbs. I'll post them later. It will be interesting to see the difference in a few months after the switch to LEDs. This switch comes at a perfect time as would be about due to change the PC bulbs. Link to comment
jdantunes Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Nice thread you have here, Mike! I just finish reading your post in our club website, about your thread here at NR. The post made me curious and decided to take a peek at your tank and LED project. Hope you get good benefits from this upgrade, I'll be following to read your results. By the way, welcome to the club. Where in SWFL do you live? Which LFS do you visit the most? Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Last of the pics with PC bulbs. FTS 11/01/2009 Blastomussa Candy cane War coral Zoas This guy has come a long way.. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 OK time to stop making excuses and get this done already.. What's left to do.. mount fans, mount dimmers, clean up wiring w/heatshrink tubing, and borrow a PAR meter from our local marine club. I've come to a standoff on fan placement.. In either case I'll be using 2 12v fans connected in series on the heatsink. I have the option of either mounting the fans on top or on the side of the heatsink . If I mount the fans on the side then it saves me the work of cutting holes in the hood, though I don't know if it will provide the ventilation needed. I think I would need to keep the stock fans as is (intake & exhaust). This would give a total of 4 fans, with two of them sucking air across the heatsink. If I cut the hood then most likely I'd do away with the stock fans and just have that area open for vents. This will take quite a bit longer to complete the build as I'll have to hunt down some decent looking fan grills. Which option should I go with, side or top? Link to comment
rbrusletto Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Awesome work! What was the total for the led buildout? I would think side, to keep the outside aesthetically pleasing, if you run into heat issues, THEN cut the hood. with four fans though, I cant imagine that will be a problem.. especially w/ the feeding cover off. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Total cost: (not including spare parts) 12 LEDs $60 2 Drivers $30 Heatsink $22 Pots for dimming $5 24v 6a Power Supplies $38 Spare Hood $50 Wiring, Solder, Heatshrink tubing, Connectors, Bits & Tap - $35 I'd say right around $240. If you wanted you could buy some stuff now, and the rest later. I spent a little extra on spare parts, a few extra LEDs and 1 extra driver.. If I decide to sell my old hood I can make some $$ back. Lots of work to get done on this tonight. Link to comment
Lnm130 Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 How hard is the LED upgrade to do? I got a spare hood when I bought my tank. Only thing wrong with it is that the moonlights are dim. I might look into this more,and get pieces over a period of time. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 I didn't find it that challenging. More research than anything. The one thing that really slowed me down was that I got excited, mounted and soldered all my LEDs, then realized I needed 4 more holes on the sides to mount them. Throwing caution in the wind, I went ahead and tapped these myself with a great deal of care with the LEDs mounted. Was surprisingly easier than expected. I did have someone else drill & tap the majority of the holes though. I've got to give some of the credit to Waterproof for following his build, but I took ideas from others on here as well. Should be getting my hands on a par meter soon.. hopefully things will work out and I can pick it up this weekend. Link to comment
MikeTR Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 Picked up the par meter yesterday and the LEDs are up and running on the tank. I was able to match the par output of the PC bulbs plus about 25%. Acclimation will be a snap this way. The array has been on for the past 2.5 hours and I'm reading 84.5F in the hood and the heatsink is not warm to the touch at all. The LEDs are running at about 30% of full brightness. Tank temp is at 77.. was a little above 80 with the PC bulbs. I've taken a bunch of pictures and an HD video which I'll post up later on. I've got a few more shots to take. Link to comment
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