Need some help (LED)

[DigitalLegacy]

Hey NR,

 

So I was waiting on Steves LEDs to order my LEDs....He's not responding so I guess I'm gonna go Cree or Luxeon.

 

Now seeing as how I planned on using 28 of Steve's LEDs I spaced my heat sink for 4 rows of 7 LEDs (2in apart center to center).

 

 

What I already have:

2x Protrons 24v 6.5a PS

Heatsink

thermal pads attached

power cords

all wiring and connectors

 

Need:

Drivers

LEDs

 

The Royal-Blue Luxeon III Star LED has a 455nm - Wavelength, as where the royal blue cree's XR-E have a 450nm wavelength.

 

Questions:

1) Which is a better wavelength for our tanks? The Cree(450nm)? or the Luxeon (455nm)?

2) Are the Cree XR-E Q5 Cool white LEDs the ones everyone is using?

3) Anyone have any ideas on how I can still run these thermal pads?

4) Anyone know of any drivers that can run 7 3w LEDs per driver (need to be dimmable)?

5) If I can only run 6 3w LEDs per driver, what do I do with the other 4 spaces I have? UV? Violet? warm white?

6) Is the 50/50, Cool White/Royal blue mix still thing best for the coral?

 

 

Thanks for any help....Just haven't gotten a hold of steve's in a few weeks

 

Rob

[evilc66]

1) Most Cree royals are 455nm. The XR-Es have an output efficiency advantage over the LuxIII's, so I'd go that way.

2) It's the safe bet, but neutral whites are being used also.

3) Keep them where they are. 20mm star boards are very common.

4) Meanwell ELN-60-48D

5) See above

6) It's a good solution. Neutral whites are better for color rendering, but there is nothing wrong with cool whites.

[DigitalLegacy]

with that meanwell driver....do i run all 14 whites on one driver and power supply and the 14 blues on another meanwell and PS?

[evilc66]

The ELN-60-48D can take 7-12 XR-Es safely, so adjust accordingly. Also, these drivers don't use a large power supply to power them. They do need a small 9v supply to control the dimming function though.

 

If you want to keep using the 24v DC power supplies, you can use Recom RCD drivers. They can take up to 8 LEDs (with a 36v input). The Potrans power supplies can be adjusted higher than 24v (up to about 28v IIRC), so you should be able to run 7 XR-Es on a single driver.