tako Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Sorry to hijack, but do you know where the dive sites are in those photos, or did you just pull it off google? The pacific coast has some really excellent cold water diving if you get a nice visibility day like those. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 Sorry to hijack, but do you know where the dive sites are in those photos, or did you just pull it off google? The pacific coast has some really excellent cold water diving if you get a nice visibility day like those. If I remember right those photos are from somewhere off the coast of California. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Thought I would share the LED lens and reflector I'm going to use on my 50w setup. Its a 60 degree angle lens and reflector shipped for under $6. I still need to find an adequate housing for everything, but it will probably be an aluminum tube or something unless we just keep it as a retro fit. http://cgi.ebay.com/10W-20W-100W-LED-Lens-...utorefresh=true Link to comment
Neya Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 You didn't mention that at the begining. Why not look at some of the PAR3X lamps out there? Get's the effect that you want, with far less effort. If not, then you would at least want small arrays of multiple colors to get the typical blue reef look. You don't have to resort to the large high wattage LEDs though. You could get the same brightness and effect from a few white and blue 3W class LEDs with tight optics to get that "shaft of light" effect. Wattage would be lower overall, and the lifetime of the system would be greatly improved. He did, at post #5, I think because it was abbreviated(NPS) everyone semi looked over it. I think, considering you're doing a NPS, large bridgelux's would be a better idea for cost savings. Theyre more efficient and last longer vs chinese leds. I looked over (some, not all) of the bridgelux specs and it seems they're only slightly more expensive then comparable wattage of chinese leds. If you wanted blue you could substitute add satistronics 10w royal blues. Again, loss in efficiency, but since you're not building a par monster and sounds like you're mostly looking for 1. penetration of light and 2. cost savings vs metal halide then it would work really well. Evil is definitely right, you could go for a smaller led then 50w and use optics, with each step down your setup will be more efficient and you'd have less worries about overheating/bulb life imo. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 Evil is definitely right, you could go for a smaller led then 50w and use optics, with each step down your setup will be more efficient and you'd have less worries about overheating/bulb life imo. I was starting to think the same thing and was wondering if a 10W or a 20W Bridgelux would do same thing I was trying to accomplish. What you think? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 I still don't think you need to go that high power to get the job done. Seeing as you are going to want tight optics to create the "beam of light" look, high wattage LEDs could actually get you in trouble. While NPS coral don't need high PAR, they are still sensitive to excess light, and blasting them with even 10-20w of highly focused light could really damage the tissue. But, if you do still want to head in that direction, you can't get much better than Bridgelux. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 9, 2011 Author Share Posted April 9, 2011 I still don't think you need to go that high power to get the job done. Seeing as you are going to want tight optics to create the "beam of light" look, high wattage LEDs could actually get you in trouble. While NPS coral don't need high PAR, they are still sensitive to excess light, and blasting them with even 10-20w of highly focused light could really damage the tissue. But, if you do still want to head in that direction, you can't get much better than Bridgelux. I think I'm going to use the Bridgelux LED for my friends tank and I'm still going to get a Par38 or Par30 with 15 degree optics on it and call it good Link to comment
glazer Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 ha.. just mount one or two of these over the tanks http://www.dinodirect.com/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-...0-included.html Steve Link to comment
adinsxq Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 ha.. just mount one or two of these over the tanks http://www.dinodirect.com/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-...0-included.html pics. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 ha.. just mount one or two of these over the tanks http://www.dinodirect.com/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-...0-included.html Steve I don't even have that much money into the one I just built, and its pushing a heck of a lot more lumens ;D Got it wired up an made a quick disconnect power cable to run the driver and the fan. HERE'S THE LINK TO THE VIDEO Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Video of my DIY 50w LED over my coldwater tank. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 Do you guys think a 60 degree optic on this is going to get the job done? Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 Well we got a PAR meter under the 50w LED last night and here's what we got: 8" it was putting out 300 par. 12" down it dropped to about 180 16" down it dropped to 100 or so. Keep in mind that this ratings were measured without any optics on it, and right now this light is casting almost as much light out to the side as it is straight down. I should have a 60 degree optic sometime this week which will direct all of that escaping light downward and then we will retest it again. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 60 degree optic is in definitely makes a huge difference on the focus of the light spread. Testing it side by side against a 400w halide this weekend, and then new par ratings next week. Gonna finish the wiring and housing for the light this weekend and then there will be photos Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 No thread is worth its weight without pics, so since I finished it up tonight I thought I'd share Gonna get par ratings and side by sides tomorrow. So final cost on this was about $74, I'll know if it was worth it tomorrow after the final par tests. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 The lack of ventilation on both the fixture and the driver box has me a little nervous. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 The lack of ventilation on both the fixture and the driver box has me a little nervous. There's a fan mounted inside the light fixture that moves air across the heatsink, and there is 6 holes on the end of the fixture that let air in. There is also a good gap around the heatsink. I was testing the air flow in and out of it using cigarette smoke so I could see it, lol. I haave more than enough room to slap a fan on the project box with the driver, think it'd be worth wiring in? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Air may be moving through the fixture, but is it enough? Only die temperature readings will show that. No need for a fan on the driver. Just ventilation holes. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Air may be moving through the fixture, but is it enough? Only die temperature readings will show that. No need for a fan on the driver. Just ventilation holes. I'll check running temps today with my digital probe. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 If the temps get too high, I found a different heatsink/fan combo that is more designed for the fixture I put this into. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Got the par ratings taken over at a friends house tonight with the optic on it. At 12" in the water we were getting 406 - 419 par at the bottom of his tank on the sand bed which was just a little over 24" deep we had ratings from 148 - 163. Color of the bulb could be nicer, but a good start Also took temp ratings of inside the light housing after running it for a little over a half and hour and it was 125 degrees F on the heatsink. Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Video of my holding tank system that has most of my small sculpins and algae in it. Decided it'd be a good candidate to test my 50w LED over. Also a couple videos of my light on one half of a 250 gallon tank and couple of 250w halides on the other side. Link to comment
DaveFason Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I'll be surprised how long that thing lasts. And I would love to test how efficient they really are... I shot you a message a while back. I have new Rebel ES in NW and CW 4100K and 5100K that you hook some tight optics too. Love the DIY spirit, keep it up. -Dave Link to comment
adriansham Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 I have tried 3 of the 50W spot lights from Ebay, and I can tell you these guys are bright! The only issue is the heating. So make sure you get a really big heatsink, otherwise i can see it burning out quite fast! Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 I have tried 3 of the 50W spot lights from Ebay, and I can tell you these guys are bright! The only issue is the heating. So make sure you get a really big heatsink, otherwise i can see it burning out quite fast! Which heatsinks did you use? I'm ordering one that was designed for use on the 100w led, so hopefully it will dissipate the heat that much better. Link to comment
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