CoralVue T5/LED fixtures, $100

[Tamberav]

I can now see the real reason why no one has started this project. The unit has about 3 trillion screws!!!! Two of them I couldn't get out so we'll see if the husband has better luck when he gets home.

 

 

 

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/97789/BD-80232.html

 

More efficient than HEP.

 

Thank you!

[Horerczy]

I never did mine because I have no tank that needs a 8x24" t5 fixture.

[jedimasterben]

I never did mine because I have no tank that needs a 8x24" t5 fixture.

well, fix that shit.

[Horerczy]

well, fix that shit.

If i had a place for a 36" cube I would.

[Tamberav]

Still working on this, slowest project in history. My husband finished opening it up for me and there wasn't enough wires to attached to the hep ballast.... some googling of "shunted" and I figured out what Jedi was talking about (yay, I'm learning things).

 

I opened up the end cap and It looks like the wire coming out of the bottom makes it shunted? I do not see the actual copper pieces touching in any way. Could I just pull that wire out and it would no longer be shunted? I would just need to add a new wire (#18 AWG?) to the left side to connect to the ballast? Thoughts?

 

 

I don't think it does. Workhorse use shunted endcaps.

[Horerczy]

[jedimasterben]

Still working on this, slowest project in history. My husband finished opening it up for me and there wasn't enough wires to attached to the hep ballast.... some googling of "shunted" and I figured out what Jedi was talking about (yay, I'm learning things).

 

I opened up the end cap and It looks like the wire coming out of the bottom makes it shunted? I do not see the actual copper pieces touching in any way. Could I just pull that wire out and it would no longer be shunted? I would just need to add a new wire (#18 AWG?) to the left side to connect to the ballast? Thoughts?

 

 

Yes, shunting is just bridging the two contacts, so remove that shunt wire and you can hook it up like normal.

[Tamberav]

More than likely the outer two bulbs will be physically over the sides of that tank, I wouldn't even bother wiring them in, especially with a 9" depth. You'll have to raise the light so far above the tank to not burn your corals to death that it will just be unwieldy lol.

 

Bluefish can be controlled via iOS or Android.

 

 

This is how you wire the HEP ballasts:

 

 

 

Keep wires 1/2/5/6 less than 7 feet. You have to use 18AWG 600v rated solid wire. If you don't have any, you can get it here, less than $7 for 25', lots of colors to choose from : http://www.mcmaster.com/#8428t4/=w08jy8

 

This is pretty damn helpful.

 

Ordered wire today and picked up some more hep ballasts from Dave Fason.

[Arce]

Im still planning to do this in the future, if you dont mind doing a break down of what was needed and steps for replacing the ballast that would be awesome.

[Tamberav]

Im still planning to do this in the future, if you dont mind doing a break down of what was needed and steps for replacing the ballast that would be awesome.

 

I'll post pictures but this is sort of a learn-as-I-go project. Then again, this entire hobby has been learn-as-I-go.

[Tamberav]

Original workhorse:

 

 

Snip! Snip!

 

 

End cap:

 

 

Pull out the shunt:

 

 

Yellow Wire was not long enough so I replaced it:

 

 

With a red one I bought:

 

 

Other end looks like this:

 

 

Removed the shunt and replaced it with a new wire:

 

 

Then it was just a matter of following the diagram:

 

 

Ground, neutral, live?

 

 

My understanding is the ballasts are grounded by being connected to the metal frame, however, these ballasts are too big to fit where the screws go... so I ran a ground wire... is this okay?

 

 

The ballasts sit loose since I can't screw them in but they don't move much since the wires are fairly snug... they touch the reflectors, each other, components, ect... does it matter? Do they have to be screwed down?

 

 

 

And this heatsink, is it big enough for LED's or do I need something different? I'm thinking 2-4 nano-box pucks. I have two rock islands.. so might be able to just do 2 of I put one over each island and cut down on clutter of extra drivers/power supplies... or heat issues?

 

 

 

P.S. I have no bulbs to test with Wanted feedback first anywho....

[Arce]

Well that looked easy enough. Thanks for the walk through!

[jedimasterben]

Ground, neutral, live?

 

My understanding is the ballasts are grounded by being connected to the metal frame, however, these ballasts are too big to fit where the screws go... so I ran a ground wire... is this okay?

 

The ballasts sit loose since I can't screw them in but they don't move much since the wires are fairly snug... they touch the reflectors, each other, components, ect... does it matter? Do they have to be screwed down?

 

And this heatsink, is it big enough for LED's or do I need something different? I'm thinking 2-4 nano-box pucks. I have two rock islands.. so might be able to just do 2 of I put one over each island and cut down on clutter of extra drivers/power supplies... or heat issues?

 

The A/C side of the ballast is ground, neutral/hot, neutral/hot. It is A/C and the ballast is not polarized, so you can put the neutral/hot wires in either slot. Every cycle, A/C switches directions, so for the first 1/60th of a second the power goes from A to B, then the second 1/60th of a second it goes from B to A, then switches, etc etc.

 

Running a ground wire is fine.

 

I would use some double sided foam tape to hold the ballasts in place. Super cheap stuff. http://www.amazon.com/3M-Heavy-Mounting-1-Inch-50-Inch/dp/B00004Z4A8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447769509&sr=8-1&keywords=double+sided+foam+tape&pebp=1447769510475&perid=1PFX0R8V78SHJWGGQAHR

 

That heatsink is far too small to be useful.

[gus6464]

Nanobox Beam strips are doable on that heatsink running at 350ma max. This is my ATI Powermodule with 5x beam strips per row.

 

 

[jedimasterben]

A Powermodule is extremely well-cooled, these fixtures are not, and it would be an expensive assembly.

[Tamberav]

A Powermodule is extremely well-cooled, these fixtures are not, and it would be an expensive assembly.

 

I was thinking about adding some fans but haven't figured out how to cut holes. I have heard of people using tin snips but damn.. the metal just feels like it would be too thick for that.... but then again I have never used tin snips before. I also saw one where someone used a hole saw and another who used a dremel. I think I read around 95 degrees is optimal??

 

Do you know of a good 2 inch wide heatsink? I have a fair amount of depth to work with.

 

I would like to stick with nanobox pucks or a DIY layout.

 

I think the next step is to pick up some bulbs on black friday sale to test it out and put a thermometer in there to see what temp they are running at.

[jedimasterben]

Tin snips would not do a great job. Depending on the type of metal you'd need a different holesaw, and those can be pricey, but will do the best job. You can also use something like a dremel to cut a bunch of slits or drill a bunch of holes for the fans, the hole doesn't have to be the size of the tan, can be lots of small ones.

 

Heatsinkusa.com

 

When you add the LEDs, most of their heat will go up into the fixture, so you will get one reading with just T5, and another once you get the LEDs in like you want.

[Nanofreak79]

Nice start to the retro! I'd use the nanobox arrays if it were me too. I've used heatsink USA as well, I've always been happy. Can't wait to see this completed.

[Tamberav]

Tin snips would not do a great job. Depending on the type of metal you'd need a different holesaw, and those can be pricey, but will do the best job. You can also use something like a dremel to cut a bunch of slits or drill a bunch of holes for the fans, the hole doesn't have to be the size of the tan, can be lots of small ones.

 

Heatsinkusa.com

 

When you add the LEDs, most of their heat will go up into the fixture, so you will get one reading with just T5, and another once you get the LEDs in like you want.

 

 

So this? http://www.heatsinkusa.com/2-079-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/

 

Ahh.. okay, at the very least I will need to drill some holes for the fans for the LED's I figure. My parents may have a hole saw or dremel when I go visit (3 hour drive, ugh). They are the DIY type and have a garage full of crap...

[Tamberav]

Update: just called mom She said she had dremels, jigsaw, drills, ect.... "I got serious stuff, I'm sure we can make it work". Go mom!

[gus6464]

A Powermodule is extremely well-cooled, these fixtures are not, and it would be an expensive assembly.

Beam strips are designed to run with passive cooling.

[jedimasterben]

Beam strips are designed to run with passive cooling.

That is not correct. They are simply LEDs on an MCPCB. They cannot be designed to run actively or passively.

[gus6464]

That is not correct. They are simply LEDs on an MCPCB. They cannot be designed to run actively or passively.

 

 

You know what I mean. Dave sells his beam strips with no active cooling and runs them at 350ma.

[jedimasterben]

You know what I mean. Dave sells his beam strips with no active cooling and runs them at 350ma.

And they run right at six watts with 350mA. Passive cooling of six watts is easy, doesn't take much of a heatsink to do it (especially combined with an aluminum housing). Passive cooling in your Powermodule is possible, but I still don't think I would do that since the main plate inside the housing is not aluminum, but steel, so conductivity is four times less. But that's just me.

 

These fixtures are not good candidates for passive cooling of significantly higher heat loads.

[Tamberav]

ugh.. just bought a ton of t5 bulbs and drained my wallet... why am I going back to t5 again? I hope I can get a year out of these bulbs and just buy new ones every black friday sale. So fkn expensive... I could just buy a new LED light every year at this rate.