Lucasmaximas Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I currently have the 6g fluval edge set up with the mr11 LEDs, and I have a few soft corals growing. I'm planning to up the lighting as the mr11s arnt really up to it. I'd like to run 6 cree EX-R royal blues and 3 Cree XP-G cool white LEDs, I can't afford, (or get hold of as I'm in the uk) the dim4 or similar fancy programable drivers. What I'd like to achieve is to have the white and blue on separate dimmers. I have no idea about LEDs or drivers. Could some one please explain what I would need to achieve my above aim. I have already sourced the LEDs and an appropriate heatsink but have no idea how to power them or even what driver I could use for them! Can anyone recommend any driver/dimmer or other equipment availible in the uk without spending a fortune Many thanks Luke Hill Link to comment
uglybuckling Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I currently have the 6g fluval edge set up with the mr11 LEDs, and I have a few soft corals growing. I'm planning to up the lighting as the mr11s arnt really up to it. I'd like to run 6 cree EX-R royal blues and 3 Cree XP-G cool white LEDs, I can't afford, (or get hold of as I'm in the uk) the dim4 or similar fancy programable drivers. What I'd like to achieve is to have the white and blue on separate dimmers. I have no idea about LEDs or drivers. Could some one please explain what I would need to achieve my above aim. I have already sourced the LEDs and an appropriate heatsink but have no idea how to power them or even what driver I could use for them! Can anyone recommend any driver/dimmer or other equipment availible in the uk without spending a fortune Many thanks Luke Hill Sadly I don't know much about what you can get in the UK. My favorite kind of drivers, Meanwells, are made in China and I would expect they'd be available around the world. Inventronics is another great brand that should have similar characteristics to the Meanwells. Both work really well. Crees will work great. I would recommend neutral white rather than cool white if you can source them: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=4046988 Any UK people wanna chime in? =) Link to comment
Lucasmaximas Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 For the 3 white Crees and 6 cree blues I've been quoted inc postage £32.82 ($50.88) doe that sound about right? And how about this driver http://www.ledshed.co.uk/index.php/virtuem...t-driver-detail Anyone got any ideas? Can anybody recommend somewhere better that would have every thing I need and be able to do it for a similar/better price? Link to comment
gabe_j Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 honestly you're going to need two drivers to run seperate colors, why not stick to the idea of the dim4 and get the upgraded power supply to run the leds directly off the controller. stateside that controller and power supply end up around $100 or so. and since you have 4 available channels you can always use; 3nw on channel 1 3rb on channel 2 3 tv on channel 3 1 red, 1 turquoise, and 1 blue on channel 4. you can make a full spectrum unit for your tank for fairly cheaply sourcing your products from the states. and shipping it all at once. what are your ideas for a heatsink? At 500ma max you don't/shouldn't need much maybe a 4.25x5 would be plenty, you may want to practice your soldering if you want to go that small so your wiring stays neat and easy to trace, a good idea in your situation would be to measure your led placement and then cut your wire just long enough to fit between the leds without too much slack. then spray with either LED Seal or an liquid epoxy to keep moisture away from the connections. Fair warning though I'd only seal the unit after you've tested all your connections to make sure you don't have any cold solders, stray voltage and the color blended they way you want it. good luck if you have any questions just keep posting, i know there are enough of LED nerds on here to help you along the way. Link to comment
Lucasmaximas Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks for the advice, if I can't find an alternative I'll definatly consider that. Do you have a website that you recomend where I could get all of the above? Link to comment
Lucasmaximas Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 I've just had a look, and to order the dim4 the LEDs the power an heatsink is over $260 which is about twice my budget Link to comment
gabe_j Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 i'd just save up if i was you, that's actually a really good price for a light, most of my builds run from $450-$2500 so a dyi at $260 is a steal. why not cycle and keep it as a fish only until you can save up the cash to do it right and once. Link to comment
Milad LEDGroupBuy.com Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I've just had a look, and to order the dim4 the LEDs the power an heatsink is over $260 which is about twice my budget How are you calculating $260 for a DIM4 and 12 LEDs? also for the heatsink, that is whats going to cost the most to ship so I would source that locally. old computer cpu heatsinks work really well. Link to comment
Lucasmaximas Posted October 11, 2012 Author Share Posted October 11, 2012 To be honest it is mostly due to the makers les heatsink I decided to order from the states at all as i like the purpose build self contained heat sink. I did miscalculate the price with the dim 4 slightly. But I don't really feel the need to have as much control as the dim 4 offers I simply wouldn't e usin it to its full effect and therefore can't justify spending the extra cash. Does 6 Rb to 3 nw sound right? Many thanks Luke Link to comment
gabe_j Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 yea that should do, but what are you going power them with? 3 leds on a driver is going to have to be a pretty low voltage driver. something along the lines... http://www.ledsupply.com/7006-h-500.php should do it, just get yourself a 24v AC power supply. Link to comment
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