mmcguffi Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I just feel that with that many 170/95 LEDs it might suffer from the windex effect. just my 2 cents tho Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I just feel that with that many 170/95 LEDs it might suffer from the windex effect. just my 2 cents tho I see your point, but with it all being able to be dimmed separately you might as well have both in there. I mean, AI units are fine and they have a 1:1:1 RB:CB:CW. Link to comment
androidx1 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Thanks for all the replies guys. I like the idea of going to two arrays instead of three. I was worried though that a total of 12RB would not be nough for my RSM130 since it is the main wave lenght for coral. Is 12RB enough. I was thinking if I go to two arrays.....maybe I need to add an extra RB and NW maybe......?? The other think that really worries me is the heat since the LEDs will be so close to each other within the array. Is this a lagit concern knowing that the LEDs will be mounted on one of those nice aluminum heat sinks? I also like the idea of the turquise. I was actually going to do this, but I figured since I have the CB I didnt need the turq. Im really struggling with all this. I already have the arduino controller ordered and am now going back and forth on what to order for the LEDs.....ugh..... Thanks, Mike Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Thanks for all the replies guys. I like the idea of going to two arrays instead of three. I was worried though that a total of 12RB would not be nough for my RSM130 since it is the main wave lenght for coral. Is 12RB enough. I was thinking if I go to two arrays.....maybe I need to add an extra RB and NW maybe......?? The other think that really worries me is the heat since the LEDs will be so close to each other within the array. Is this a lagit concern knowing that the LEDs will be mounted on one of those nice aluminum heat sinks? I also like the idea of the turquise. I was actually going to do this, but I figured since I have the CB I didnt need the turq. Im really struggling with all this. I already have the arduino controller ordered and am now going back and forth on what to order for the LEDs.....ugh..... Thanks, Mike Either way will work fine. Don't worry about either configuration. Also, I run 46 LEDs on a 30"X8.75" heat sink with 2 4" fans turned way down. My Heat sink stays barely above room temperature and certainly below 80 degrees. 30 on a 20"X8.75" heat sink with a pair of 4" fans and your heat sink will stay frosty. Link to comment
marc111 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 You do. The DR has a max of 700mA but you can run it a bit higher if needed. I really find NO need to run LED's over 700mA. Never have, never will. Every LED build I have done has always been under 700mA. The ES line has a 1A limit. When running a CREE over 1A it also maxes it out to 5w. -Dave Thanks Dave. I appreciate the feedback. You have built a lot more than I have. I have the drivers so my first bank will be wired with things separate so I can see all of the effects. I have a 30 in deep tank and I want to be sure of good penetration. If things turn out as you indicate I will be able to simplify my driver approach. Mark Link to comment
sliceOreef Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 What a great thread with some real innovative ideas and inspiring results!! It's been almost 2 years since I had to break down my Nanocube 12 with a 70w MH + 36w actinic CFL DIY retro hood. I had to move from Washington to Indiana and the tank was 2 years old at the time. The MH was just too much heat in the summer and what was originally a nice easy tank to take care of turned into a real pain in the ass. Constant evaporation cooling and occasionally having to float icecubes is why i'm going LED this time around. I've read this entire thread as well as several others and I think I'm ready to give LEDs a try. From what I can tell mixing LEDs on at least 2 dimmable arrays makes for the best visual results. For my first try I'm going with the following mix: 4 Cool White 6500K 2 Neutral White 4500K 2 Deep Red 660nm 6 Royal Blue 455nm 2 Turquoise 495nm 4 True Violet 420nm Whites and Reds on 1 array, with Blues, Turquoise and Violets on another. No optics other than the 120 degree ones that are built in. All LEDS will be about 3 inches off the water in the hood behind a splash-guard with a couple 60mm fans and a 7"x12" heatsink for heat dissipation. All will be driven at 680mA max. Anybody tried a similar LED mix? If so what are your impressions? Link to comment
devmasa Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Has anyone tried using the dimmable rgb led strips to accent the LED lighting colors ? Of course these wouldnt provide any sufficient lighting for coral growth but would surely add some extra warm colors to the regular blue/white mix Link to comment
Trick Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 What a great thread with some real innovative ideas and inspiring results!! It's been almost 2 years since I had to break down my Nanocube 12 with a 70w MH + 36w actinic CFL DIY retro hood. I had to move from Washington to Indiana and the tank was 2 years old at the time. The MH was just too much heat in the summer and what was originally a nice easy tank to take care of turned into a real pain in the ass. Constant evaporation cooling and occasionally having to float icecubes is why i'm going LED this time around. I've read this entire thread as well as several others and I think I'm ready to give LEDs a try. From what I can tell mixing LEDs on at least 2 dimmable arrays makes for the best visual results. For my first try I'm going with the following mix: 4 Cool White 6500K 2 Neutral White 4500K 2 Deep Red 660nm 6 Royal Blue 455nm 2 Turquoise 495nm 4 True Violet 420nm Whites and Reds on 1 array, with Blues, Turquoise and Violets on another. No optics other than the 120 degree ones that are built in. All LEDS will be about 3 inches off the water in the hood behind a splash-guard with a couple 60mm fans and a 7"x12" heatsink for heat dissipation. All will be driven at 680mA max. Anybody tried a similar LED mix? If so what are your impressions? not enough blue Link to comment
androidx1 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hmmmm, a reluctant yes. My experience with cheap Chinese neutrals is they have terrible color uniformity in their illumination circle and aren't balanced real well (tend towards too much green), but I haven't seen the LED's first hand from aqua style. I'll stand firm that any LED higher than 6500K or so is basically retarded and sold on the premise the buyer isn't very smart in terms of how LED's are binned. If you want more blue in your color balance, then turn your royals up, but by all means don't use whites higher than 6500k as a base because you're just limiting your options. Hi Blaster. Before I ask you the question, I want to thank everyone on here especially to you and Dave for sharing all the data and all the input in this thread. It is really amazing, and Im happy I found it before I started my build. Regarding the NW and CW, I was looking at the cree LEDs and I dont see any CW warmer than 6500K. Cree CW XPG = 5000K ~ 8300K Cree CW SML = Same as above 5000K ~ 8300K Cree NW XPG = 4000K Cree NW XML = 5000K So the question I would like to ask you is what white LEDs should I be using to enable a tank that is not too dim or purple, but will still give good color. I was thinking of using Daves ratio of 5RB/2B/3CW/2NW/1DR. Do I use the above Cree's even though the CW is going to fall between 5000K ~ 8300K. I Know both you and Dave both seem to agree to use a CW on the warmer side. so specifically which whites would you recommend for both the CW and NW? Thanks Mike Link to comment
skunker Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 In all its glory! CW,NW,DR are in a series. I found this to be the best way to run them without a million drivers. The Blue, Royal blues are also in series together. This combo looks incredible and is by far the easiest thing to wire. The modules can also be ran in a parallel with each other for monster builds. Using a Burquest Gap Pad instead of messy thermal grease/epoxy or thermal tape. This stuff is extremely easy to use and also can be pulled off easily if needed. The overall size is 2.9"x1.5". Enjoy! -Dave What kind of spread do you get with these? Is there enough color control having only 2 channels? Any chance we can get pics over a tank? Link to comment
m12x13adass Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hey Guys, I wanted to run the LED formation by you before I set the leds. Which combination would be best? Option: 1 RB NW RB NW RB NW RB RB RB RB NW RB RB NW RB RB Option: 2 RB RB RB RB RB RB NW NW NW NW NW RB RB RB RB RB RB Option:3 RB RB RB RB NW RB NW RB NW RB NW RB RB RB RB Link to comment
Zeadon Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hey Guys, I wanted to run the LED formation by you before I set the leds. Which combination would be best? Option: 1 RB NW RB NW RB NW RB RB RB RB NW RB RB NW RB RB Option: 2 RB RB RB RB RB RB NW NW NW NW NW RB RB RB RB RB RB Option:3 RB RB RB RB NW RB NW RB NW RB NW RB RB RB RB option 1, better mixing. I dunno about what others think about this, but when you mount them, how about try placing them in clusters of 3, 1 neutral with 2 whites, and then places these clusters in an even distance around to each other, seems like best way of getting the colours to mix. I am in the process of planning my led build and will be clustering them. Link to comment
basser1 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 What kind of spread do you get with these? Is there enough color control having only 2 channels? Any chance we can get pics over a tank? Be patient..... Dave is working on retro for my BC29 hood. It will have 2 of these in it. I'll post pice when I get it, (hopefully soon)! Link to comment
DaveFason Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Spread is great. A single is good for about 15" square. After that two will be fine. Imagine them as small "halide" bulbs. I'll try and get a video of one over a 12" cube. -Dave Link to comment
kgoldy Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Dave- are there any optics for these things- or are they strictly for shallow tanks/keeping SPS close to surface? Link to comment
DaveFason Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 kgoldy - I do not make optics for the 13up modules. I've noticed that optics are over rated. When you keep the LED's extremely close or clustered you can get PAR numbers just fine for tanks as deep as 26". Personally to many people use optics that dont need them. You do not need these outrageous PAR numbers and majority of people are over doing it. Here are a few photos of tanks that have been running my set ups for 8+ months without optics. This is just the blues ( Two 90's ) Both on 75 Clam on sand bed - ~ 26"-28". No optics Tanks that are deeper than 26" need optics and some people that want to hang their lights extremely high will still benefit from it. So as long as you dont have an extremely deep tank the 13up modules will work very well. Hope this helps! -Dave Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 kgoldy - I do not make optics for the 13up modules. I've noticed that optics are over rated. When you keep the LED's extremely close or clustered you can get PAR numbers just fine for tanks as deep as 26". Personally to many people use optics that dont need them. You do not need these outrageous PAR numbers and majority of people are over doing it. -Dave I think that what you need is a display tank lit with a 13 up module packed with sps and corals that are heavy in orange, red, and yellow and other colors that people traditionally think LEDs don't pop as well (at least under white LEDs). A few months of crazy color and growth is compelling evidence. Link to comment
DaveFason Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I've had this ratio for months but using my single LED's. The 13up is only better with the LED's being much closer. The photo's above are the exact same ratio minus one deep red. Here are tanks with the exact same ratio as the 13Up. -Dave Link to comment
kzv Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I've been wondering, would 2 13up modules be good enough for a 20l? Link to comment
basser1 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I've been wondering, would 2 13up modules be good enough for a 20l? I would definately think so. Dave is putting 2 of them in my BC29 hood! Link to comment
Trick Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Nice pics dave, it looks like your using blues below the 450nm range....... right? Link to comment
ecogirl22 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I used 1:1 ratio RB to CW (rapidled 12 over AP12. I love it. Looks between a high quality 10 to14K metal halide. Perfect for me:) Link to comment
sliceOreef Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 not enough blue After reading Milad's observations that RB, Turquoise, and Deep Red make a bright white light when combined, I agree that I will need some more blue. The question is 2 or 4 more RB? If I went with 2 more RB for a total of 8 the end result would be: 4 Cool White 6500K 2 Neutral White 4500K 2 Deep Red 660nm 8 Royal Blue 455nm 2 Turquoise 495nm 4 True Violet 420nm I can always balance by dimming one array a bit but the reds and turquoise might make for some weird color balance issues if I have to dim one array too much. Link to comment
Paleoreef103 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 After reading Milad's observations that RB, Turquoise, and Deep Red make a bright white light when combined, I agree that I will need some more blue. The question is 2 or 4 more RB? If I went with 2 more RB for a total of 8 the end result would be: 4 Cool White 6500K 2 Neutral White 4500K 2 Deep Red 660nm 8 Royal Blue 455nm 2 Turquoise 495nm 4 True Violet 420nm I can always balance by dimming one array a bit but the reds and turquoise might make for some weird color balance issues if I have to dim one array too much. Your balance is about right, but why not put the whites and the exotic trio on one driver and the blues+violets on the other. Keep in mind that the trio mixes to a white which means you really don't need much of the white LEDs. I'd probably go with: Driver 1: 4 cool white: 2 neutral white, 2 deep red, 2 royal blues, 2 turquoise. Driver 2: 8 royal blues 4 True violets with an optional 2 Standard Blues The advantage here is that you can always have the deep red, royal blues, and turquoise LEDs in perfect balance. Link to comment
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