LED Aesthetics: What do you really think of your color?

[Trick]

Blaster - Agreed. That is the joys with LED's, make it how you like it. The 660 has nothing to do with those colors but the RB and blue do.

 

-Dave

do you have a before and after for the 660nm?

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

How are they not "as good" as the XML? The XTE is more efficient and they cost like 1/3 the price. The XML has to be driven pretty hard to get a price benefit out of it although it's a better deal in neutral -vs- cold white.

 

You must be getting magical XT-Es

 

XT-E = XP-G but cheaper

XM-L Lumens per watt is 147

XT-E Lumens per watt is 127

@700mA

 

CREE put these out to replace the XP-G not to replace the XM-L.

 

Now if you consider "good" lumens per dollar. They blow the XM-L out of the water.

[sliceOreef]

Here is what I'm thinking for a layout.

 

 

Driver 1: 4 cool white: 2 neutral white, 2 deep red, 2 royal blues, 2 turquoise.

Driver 2: 8 royal blues 6 True violets

 

Should I be concerned with heat saturation by grouping LEDs in a cluster? Will color blending with no optics at 3 inches above water be good?

 

Thanks!

 

edit: I forgot to add that these will be driven at 680ma max and likely dimmed 50% (adjusted for proper color balance). there will be 2 60mm fans blowing across the heatsink which is 30cm x 80cm

[Paleoreef103]

Here is what I'm thinking for a layout.

 

Driver 1: 4 cool white: 2 neutral white, 2 deep red, 2 royal blues, 2 turquoise.

Driver 2: 8 royal blues 6 True violets

 

Should I be concerned with heat saturation by grouping LEDs in a cluster? Will color blending with no optics at 3 inches above water be good?

 

Thanks!

 

edit: I forgot to add that these will be driven at 680ma max and likely dimmed 50% (adjusted for proper color balance). there will be 2 60mm fans blowing across the heatsink which is 30cm x 80cm

It looks good, but you will show a disco ball effect at 3" above the water. If I were you, I'd run the light at higher power and keep it 6 to 8 inches above the water. The further above the water, the better the color blending will be. Have fun!

[sliceOreef]

It looks good, but you will show a disco ball effect at 3" above the water. If I were you, I'd run the light at higher power and keep it 6 to 8 inches above the water. The further above the water, the better the color blending will be. Have fun!

 

I can't raise the light because this is a retro into a Nanocube 12dx hood. I was thinking I could just use a diffuser like the home depot diamond style if I get too much disco. With the extreme overkill of LEDs for a 12g tank, I at least have the option of going that route with no net loss of light to the tank thanks to the dimmable design.

 

My main concern is the 7 LED clusters creating a heat dissipation issue for the inner LED. I'm guessing temps will be fine but I won't know for sure until I wire things up and go postal with my IR temp gun to get some exact heat measurements. Now I need to find out what would be considered TOO HOT for these epileds.

 

I should be ordering everything around the end of this week.

[jfarabaugh]

I can't raise the light because this is a retro into a Nanocube 12dx hood. I was thinking I could just use a diffuser like the home depot diamond style if I get too much disco. With the extreme overkill of LEDs for a 12g tank, I at least have the option of going that route with no net loss of light to the tank thanks to the dimmable design.

 

My main concern is the 7 LED clusters creating a heat dissipation issue for the inner LED. I'm guessing temps will be fine but I won't know for sure until I wire things up and go postal with my IR temp gun to get some exact heat measurements. Now I need to find out what would be considered TOO HOT for these epileds.

 

I should be ordering everything around the end of this week.

 

the diamond pattern diffuser should solve most of your issues with the disco.

[mikellini]

Can someone post a link to this diffuser? In a thread maybe?

[Trick]

Can someone post a link to this diffuser? In a thread maybe?

i've found that the diamond pattern diffuser works better when it's further away from the led's

[sliceOreef]

Can someone post a link to this diffuser? In a thread maybe?

 

There are several styles but the most common and cheapest is the acrylic or styrene 2' x 4' sheet in a prismatic pattern. You've probably seen them in the office and never noticed them. They are used in conjunction with fluorescent lighting. There will be a lumen reduction and possibly a loss of the shimmer effect when using this.

 

 

i've found that the diamond pattern diffuser works better when it's further away from the led's

 

Is this with or without optics?

[jfarabaugh]

There are several styles but the most common and cheapest is the acrylic or styrene 2' x 4' sheet in a prismatic pattern. You've probably seen them in the office and never noticed them. They are used in conjunction with fluorescent lighting. There will be a lumen reduction and possibly a loss of the shimmer effect when using this.

 

 

 

 

Is this with or without optics?

 

without

[Trick]

^with optics

[solefald]

I used a similar diffuser from Ace Hardware. Unfortunately it did not do much to help the disco ball effect. I am getting some matte diffuser film later on today. Will see if that will be any better.

[Trick]

I used a similar diffuser from Ace Hardware. Unfortunately it did not do much to help the disco ball effect. I am getting some matte diffuser film later on today. Will see if that will be any better.

is it the one from inventables?

[jfarabaugh]

I used a similar diffuser from Ace Hardware. Unfortunately it did not do much to help the disco ball effect. I am getting some matte diffuser film later on today. Will see if that will be any better.

 

you still have to worry about LED spacing......nothing is going to fix that.

 

Check out

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=257054&hl=

[sliceOreef]

you still have to worry about LED spacing......nothing is going to fix that.

 

Check out

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...=257054&hl=

 

Are you referring to clustering colors for improved blending as opposed to an evenly spaced layout? Dave's13up board being a good example of what I'm referring to. I'm trying to achieve something similar.

 

I'm curious to hear about what diffusers work best.

[Trick]

Are you referring to clustering colors for improved blending as opposed to an evenly spaced layout? Dave's13up board being a good example of what I'm referring to. I'm trying to achieve something similar.

 

I'm curious to hear about what diffusers work best.

you're getting your own board made? or you're just placing the led's close together?

[sliceOreef]

you're getting your own board made? or you're just placing the led's close together?

 

No, that's $$. I'm just spacing the star PCBs as close together as possible with the exotic colors centrally located in a 7 star cluster and a few clusters of white/RB/TV at the corners.

 

Here is my post with a layout diagram.

[Mostro]

Like everyone else who is sipping the Kool-Aid, I've read the whole enchilada, and, surprise!

Another LED build proposal!

To spread or to cluster, that is the question. Feel free to poke holes in it. (The build, not my Kool-Aid cup)

 

Requirements

75 gallon tank 48" x 18" x 18"

Sufficient PAR for SPS in a mixed reef biotope

Balance spread and coverage vs. clustering to achieve uniform PAR with minimal color shadowing

Utilize supplemental exotic LEDs for color pop

 

Solution

72 LEDs total

2 modules, each 12" x 7" and featuring 36 LEDs

Each module fab'd from (3) 12" sections of 2" aluminum U-channel, fastened side to side with 3/4" diameter spacers or similar

No optics, fixtures ~ 6-8" above water line for maximum blending

Possible use of anti-disco diffuser in spots, wish to keep shimmerage

2 fans for cooling

 

Overview:

16 NW CREE XP-G

8 CW CREE XP-G R5

20 RB CREE XT-E

8 B CREE XP-E

4 Turquoise 495 nm

4 Deep Red 660 nm

12 True Violet 420 nm

 

4 Drivers:

MeanWell ELN-40-48D driving 2 parallel strings of 12@ white LEDs (16 NW/8 CW total; 8 NW/4 CW per module)

MeanWell ELN-40-48D driving 2 parallel strings of 12@ blue LEDs (16 RB/8 B total; 8 RB/4 B per module)

MeanWell LPC-35-700 driving 1 string of 12 TVs (12 TV total, 6 TV per module)

MeanWell LPC-35-700 driving 1 string of 12 exotics (4 RB, 4 TQ, 4 DR total; 2 RB, 2 TQ, 2 DR per module)

 

Module

 

 

Tank Spread

 

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

Like everyone else who is sipping the Kool-Aid, I've read the whole enchilada, and, surprise!

Another LED build proposal!

To spread or to cluster, that is the question. Feel free to poke holes in it. (The build, not my Kool-Aid cup)

 

Requirements

75 gallon tank 48" x 18" x 18"

Sufficient PAR for SPS in a mixed reef biotope

Balance spread and coverage vs. clustering to achieve uniform PAR with minimal color shadowing

Utilize supplemental exotic LEDs for color pop

 

Solution

72 LEDs total

2 modules, each 12" x 7" and featuring 36 LEDs

Each module fab'd from (3) 12" sections of 2" aluminum U-channel, fastened side to side with 3/4" diameter spacers or similar

No optics, fixtures ~ 6-8" above water line for maximum blending

Possible use of anti-disco diffuser in spots, wish to keep shimmerage

2 fans for cooling

 

Overview:

16 NW CREE XP-G

8 CW CREE XP-G R5

20 RB CREE XT-E

8 B CREE XP-E

4 Turquoise 495 nm

4 Deep Red 660 nm

12 True Violet 420 nm

 

4 Drivers:

MeanWell ELN-40-48D driving 2 parallel strings of 12@ white LEDs (16 NW/8 CW total; 8 NW/4 CW per module)

MeanWell ELN-40-48D driving 2 parallel strings of 12@ blue LEDs (16 RB/8 B total; 8 RB/4 B per module)

MeanWell LPC-35-700 driving 1 string of 12 TVs (12 TV total, 6 TV per module)

MeanWell LPC-35-700 driving 1 string of 12 exotics (4 RB, 4 TQ, 4 DR total; 2 RB, 2 TQ, 2 DR per module)

 

Module

 

 

Tank Spread

 

 

Just be careful with the parallel strings, they can bite you in the butt

FYI if you are doing 3LED clusters you may want to look at our 3UPs which make the setup a bit easier since you have less stars to worry about.

 

The colors look fine except maybe the Blue, that may be too much since you have them wired into the royals.

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

Are you referring to clustering colors for improved blending as opposed to an evenly spaced layout? Dave's13up board being a good example of what I'm referring to. I'm trying to achieve something similar.

 

I'm curious to hear about what diffusers work best.

 

 

If you are worried about disco, just put each different color as close as possible together, that removes most of the disco.

[Mostro]

Just be careful with the parallel strings, they can bite you in the butt

Apart from wiring in fuses and resistors to help measure and balance the strings, are there other aspects to be concerned about? (Sorry I guess this is not related to aesthetics)

 

FYI if you are doing 3LED clusters you may want to look at our 3UPs which make the setup a bit easier since you have less stars to worry about.

I haven't had any luck finding those clusters, perhaps you can send me a link.

 

The colors look fine except maybe the Blue, that may be too much since you have them wired into the royals.

So a 2.5 : 1 ratio of RB to B might be too windexesque? I definitely prefer a warmer color temperature.

 

Thanks for the response.

[Milad LEDGroupBuy.com]

Apart from wiring in fuses and resistors to help measure and balance the strings, are there other aspects to be concerned about? (Sorry I guess this is not related to aesthetics)

 

 

I haven't had any luck finding those clusters, perhaps you can send me a link.

 

 

So a 2.5 : 1 ratio of RB to B might be too windexesque? I definitely prefer a warmer color temperature.

 

Thanks for the response.

You have it right on the resistor fuses for parallel builds. The other option is high voltage drivers but then you run the risk of killing your sell if you dont put something to cover the contact points of the leds (like a layer of glass)

 

Here are the 3UPs: http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-royal...ral-white-3-up/

So they would be your base color and then you just tweak with the other colors as you see fit. Most cases you just spread these stars across your Heatsinks then slap in some Deep Reed or Turquoise or Blue right next to them to add color. Dave also has something similar thats a 13UP board that was posted a few posts ago.

 

2.5:1 RB to B is going to give you windex. I think you would want to put it closer to 4:1 or even higher. That Blue really overpowers everything.

[DaveFason]

Parallel builds can be just fine. Try using PLED's with each LED. This way if one does "go", the PLED jumps in acting like an LED with ~3.4-3.8vF. This way you will not get any imbalances with your strings if you have one fry.

 

They are cheap too. I still have some leftover from a monster build.

 

-Dave

[redfishsc]

I just wanted to share with y'all what I'm getting on my tank.

 

This tank has 3 warm white, 3 neutral white, and 12 royal blue. All Cree with a few Rebel royal blues (thanks Dave ).

 

 

Over a small tank like this, with no optics, sitting about 5" over the water surface, the color is GORGEOUS.

 

 

I might not recommend someone replicate this on a big giant tank since that's a lot of cash to risk on something you might not like, but I personally would not hesitate to do it personally.

 

 

It definitely has that Fiji-purple look to it, but it's not unnatural to the eye. It looks very rich, and corals that are yellow (like the Fiji yellow leather) look fantastic, as do red things like my Kedd's Reds zoas.

 

 

Here is a pic of what it looks like. Note: I DID have to manipulate this in Picasa-- which is why some of the whites look overexposed as "green". My camera is very limited in it's ability to get these pics right.

 

All in all this pic is pretty close to what it looks like in person.

 

 

The spot in the middle is slightly brighter than the rest of the tank-- by design. I have the LEDs weighted to be closer together in the middle.

 

[Mostro]

redfishsc, that's a lovely tank. Do you have blues and whites dialed up uniformly? I ask because if so it seems like a good reference point for a 2B:1W (N+CW) ratio along with others I've seen. I'm aiming for a warmer and more "yellow" color temp.

 

Milad, I misunderstood you to mean that there was a 3UP DR+TQ+RB LED. I think the 2RB/1W 3UP is a bit heavy on the blue side for what I'm trying to achieve, but seems like a great choice for others who like this look (as redfishsc above)

 

And lastly, thanks Dave for the tip on PLEDs. I think. Off for more research...