Finished 12" Full-Spectrum MakersLED [54W Mixed + 24W Violets per Cluster]

[jedimasterben]

That should work, but a quick snip might be the best to do. Then just solder it back together and wrap with a tiny bit of electrical tape and nobody will be the wiser.

[AlanM]

 

Great How in the world am I supposed to tune them up with my meter without snipping the wiring apart? That's a lot of work in a small space. I think I might just turn the screw a little bit without checking, and make sure to never run the violets beyond about 70% of dimming.

Snip them, then put 2 terminal blocks with a 5W 1ohm resistor in series.

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=015-1

 

Then you can measure the current running on the string just by measuring the voltage drop across that resistor any time you want. 700mA gives you 700mV of voltage drop (and 490mW of heat, hence the big resistor).

[xerophyte_nyc]

Snip them, then put 2 terminal blocks with a 5W 1ohm resistor in series.

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=015-1

 

Then you can measure the current running on the string just by measuring the voltage drop across that resistor any time you want. 700mA gives you 700mV of voltage drop (and 490mW of heat, hence the big resistor).

 

interesting...

 

What I will try to do first is turn on the violets and set the dimmer to the value where the blinking starts and gently increase the amps - blinking should stop soon, if not I can tune them back down to the point of blinking again.

[xerophyte_nyc]

I opened up both violet dimmers and tuned them by sight - not accurate, I understand, but I think I got it just right. Now the blinking stops at around 19%, and from there on up the intensity increases smoothly. Even at 40% it looked bright to my eyes, whereas before the intensity was lacking. I will just keep the duration of dimming to 1 minute so that the blinking will take about 20-30 sec when the violets first go on.

 

I cut some notches for the ethernet jack and DB-15. I will get a female-female coupler so that I can put a plate over the DB-15 and hide the cut plastic. I don't have any solutions to make the ethernet jack prettier. A faceplate is too big for this box. Not a big deal.

 

I cut out a square and will use it to mount a fan onto the project box and keep the drivers cool. I used some self-adhesive insulation I had laying around to hide the ugly plastic edges. Not perfect, but good enough for now. I can always go to an arts+crafts store and find something more suitable.

A look under the hood. I still have to drill holes, fit a couple grommets, and use them for the driver power cable, and for the fans' power supply.

I took these photos with my brand new Sony DSC-RX100 camera. What a nice piece of craftmanship. I really like how the aperture can be adjusted manually by rotating a ring around the lens. I was even able to take nice pics of my coral without adjusting white balance - there is a color temperature setting, just set it all the way up around 9000k and coral looks great under actinic lighting.

The lights will be over the tank in about 2 weeks when I return from my cruise. Bon voyage!

[xerophyte_nyc]

Back from vacation! The Disney Fantasy Cruise was fantastic, I must say.

 

Almost done with these lights. Final build photos below. With a little luck I will be hanging the lights over the tank tomorrow evening.

 

Fan power supply: I merged the heatsink fan and the power box cooling fan power cables into one. The fan wires leaving the heatsink will attach to the project box via a basic DC plug, the fan in the box will then have it's wire soldered together with the DC adapter wires directly to the DC plug receptacle on the project box. The DC adapter wire will enter the box via a separate hole. Sounds confusing, but it will make sense hopefully in the photos. I did it this way so that the fans can be plugged into my RKL on a timer, separate from the lights.

 

Box fan wire + DC adapter wire soldered together onto the DC plug receptacle:

 

Heatsink fan wire soldered into a DC plug:

Ethernet dimmer control wires + DB-15 jack for LED wires + DC plug for heatsink fan:

Here is the finished heatsink with fan secured, and hanging cable mounts attached.

Side view of heatsink. This is the side that has the LED wire bundle coming through and into the side channel on the left. It is a clean look, which is important because this part will be visible to the public.

Here is the other side of the heatsink, without any wire.

And finally, here is the power box all assembled. Not the prettiest, but it is relatively neat and will be hidden away so aesthetics is not critical.

[--chris--]

Very sharp!

[xerophyte_nyc]

MISSION COMPLETE

 

Lights are over the tank. Played around with different levels. I settled on 30% NW, 85% RB, 65% OCW, and 18% Violets. My previous light had plenty of wattage and my tank was brighter than the new custom light so I'm not too concerned about starting at low levels - with the exception of Violets which are new to this tank. They will start low and be gradually raised over several months.

 

I wouldn't say that the new light is dramatically different from my prior set up. The oranges and pinks definitely pop more, as do fluorescent greens. Overall the colors are crisper with a pleasantly warm violet hue. Shimmer is good, and while I notice slight color banding which is completely tolerable, there is definitely no disco effect.

 

Violets and RB will come on first, followed by NW an hour later and then OCW an hour after that. Violets, RB and NW will taper over a 3-hr period, and OCW will taper at 2 hours.

 

FTS...please excuse the annoying fluffy pink algae. There hasn't really been any maintenance for about 3 weeks now.

 

 

Rock anemone

Feather duster with Favia

Zoas

ORA Birdsnest (still learning how to use my new camera)

Dendros

FTS with light

Side view

Interesting thing I noticed...even after the Typhon is fully shut down to 0 on all the channels, 5 of the 8 violet LEDs still have a faint light. I may wind up plugging the power cord into my RKL controller to shut down completely overnight.

[jedimasterben]

The violets are just draining of power. Mine do that, too, but they turn off completely after an hour or so.

[Wilder]

Amazing! Looks really good!

[xerophyte_nyc]

The violets are just draining of power. Mine do that, too, but they turn off completely after an hour or so.

 

6 hrs later, no change. Something about those violets...

[--chris--]

6 hrs later, no change. Something about those violets...

Weird...i never knew that either.

 

The light looks great. I know its been asked, but does your camera pick up more pink than how the tank really looks?

[xerophyte_nyc]

Yes there is definitely vmore pink and purple in the photos than real life. I did not shoot the photos with a custom white balance, I just used a 9000k color temp setting and I did not do any editing or photoshop. One of these days I will figure out how to get accurate color without a blur.

[AlanM]

My camera which shoots in RAW format has some post-production software that lets you pick a pixel in the photo to call "white" for the white balance. Maybe you could stick a white tile or something in the tank to use as a white balance source? Not sure how folks do it typically.

 

Your light looks really nice. Can't wait to get mine done.

[xerophyte_nyc]

My camera which shoots in RAW format has some post-production software that lets you pick a pixel in the photo to call "white" for the white balance. Maybe you could stick a white tile or something in the tank to use as a white balance source? Not sure how folks do it typically.

That sounds pretty easy! What I've done with other cameras is just place of sheet of paper under the light and then go to the "set white balance" setting on the camera.

 

Your light looks really nice. Can't wait to get mine done.

If you are switching from a non LED light, then you will definitely notice the difference. I migrated from another LED so the change was not dramatic but still is an improvement.

[xerophyte_nyc]

Coloration

 

It's been a few days now with the new lights. I have increased the day-length from 12 to 14 hours because for almost 6 hours the light is pretty dim as it ramps up/ down.

 

I don't have many corals since the tank is still in its early stages and I'm not in any particular rush. The best indication of coloration would be my various Zoanthids. Upon closer inspection, colors are clearly more vivid than before, and there are more colors as well. I am now seeing many hues and shades instead of solids. Pinks and oranges stand out particularly well. What used to be bright pink now has different shades. Blues now have various gradations including turquoise. Instead of solid purple, I can now see different shades of violet. The rock too is a more pleasant sandy/ beige color whereas previously it was more of a drab grayish. It is the OCW that brings out these other colors best.

 

These are not new pigments, it is just different reflections from new wavelengths.

 

I also like the ability to tone down the whites. My previous light had no dimming function so when it went on, it was full blast. I prefer the look of higher K lights, and I now have the ability to achieve that look.

[GHill762]

Looks great! Is that color pretty accurate? Reminds me of when i ran Fiji purple on my old t5 setup.

[xerophyte_nyc]

Looks great! Is that color pretty accurate? Reminds me of when i ran Fiji purple on my old t5 setup.

 

No it looks much more purple in photos. The real color is very pleasing, with a slight violet cast to it. Even GSP has turquoise and magenta coloration in it now.

[GHill762]

any way you could get a shot with just violets on? or is that too low light? or maybe with violets ramped up and evertying else low?

 

I really love this build.. I wish I wasn't afraid of DIY.. I don't understand all of the driver/powersupply/controller/POT stuff.. the layout, soldering, etc. doesn't scare me at all though.. I just need someone to do the hard part.. lol.

[You_Wrasse_is_Mine]

Nice build. Why so much violet?

[xerophyte_nyc]

any way you could get a shot with just violets on?

I'll get one for you tomorrow

 

Nice build. Why so much violet?

Violet is an important part of the photosynthetic spectrum for zoox, and is lacking in many LED set-ups

[--chris--]

I'll get one for you tomorrow

 

Violet is an important part of the photosynthetic spectrum for zoox, and is lacking in many LED set-ups

 

Too soon maybe, but hows growth looking?

[xerophyte_nyc]

Too soon maybe, but hows growth looking?

 

I don't have enough coral in my tank to make an accurate assessment. Zoas are adding polyps regularly, FWIW.

[Nocturnal]

I don't have enough coral in my tank to make an accurate assessment. Zoas are adding polyps regularly, FWIW.

 

Nice build. I'm looking to do something similar on my cube.

 

Were the Makers led drivers and controllers out when you put this together? I'm looking strong in that direction because it seems like a very clean look and the controller does all I care about and a little more. My plan has been to do a single cluster in the center. Have you found that the 12" heatsink keeps everything cool enough? I've thought about doing the 18" so that I can run the fan(s) that much lower for less sound.

 

my build thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/339039-diy-led-noob-critique-my-29g-cube-setup-please/

[jedimasterben]

Nice build. I'm looking to do something similar on my cube.

 

Were the Makers led drivers and controllers out when you put this together? I'm looking strong in that direction because it seems like a very clean look and the controller does all I care about and a little more. My plan has been to do a single cluster in the center. Have you found that the 12" heatsink keeps everything cool enough? I've thought about doing the 18" so that I can run the fan(s) that much lower for less sound.

 

my build thread

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/339039-diy-led-noob-critique-my-29g-cube-setup-please/

His build was finished in early February, MakersDriver was out late March and the MakersController was in mid-May.

 

Xero dismantled his tank a few months ago due to time constraints unfortunately http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/314580-bommies-edge-20-full-spectrum-156w-makersled-ats-dsb/?p=4592935

 

I've tested the Makers heatsink to around 120 watts per 6", and as long as the fan is running, the heatsink is warm to the touch. Without the fan, though, it's asking for trouble. I'd be much more comfortable running that much power/heat on a 12"+ sink.

[Nocturnal]

His build was finished in early February, MakersDriver was out late March and the MakersController was in mid-May.

 

Xero dismantled his tank a few months ago due to time constraints unfortunately http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/314580-bommies-edge-20-full-spectrum-156w-makersled-ats-dsb/?p=4592935

 

I've tested the Makers heatsink to around 120 watts per 6", and as long as the fan is running, the heatsink is warm to the touch. Without the fan, though, it's asking for trouble. I'd be much more comfortable running that much power/heat on a 12"+ sink.

 

Always sad to hear.

 

Thanks for the info. I may try to run fanless, but I at least want to be able to dial them down if they are noisy. I'm thinking I'll go ahead with the 18" to give more flexibility down the road for a larger system. I have an infrared thermometer that I use for cooking and other stuff that will let me easily test how warm the heat sink gets.