LED Light Pics - As Promised

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Decided to put the pics here to prevent the other thread from getting too big. Enjoy!

 

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~absolutc/122802-L1.jpg]width="587"[/image]

 

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~absolutc/122802-L2.jpg]width="587[/image]

 

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~absolutc/122802-L3.jpg]width="587"[/image]

 

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~absolutc/122802-L4.jpg]width="587"[/image]

[Satchmo]

Kris, I loved the way your corals looked under this thing in the other thread. Where did you get it? Does that ballast come with it, and how many LEDs can run off that ballast? How many of these things over what volume of water do you use to get that effect? Any info would be welcome. Thanks.

[HuBu]

thats pretty tight. where can you get those ballasts?

[Guest AbSoluTc]

The ballast is capable of running 8, 1watt leds. Right now it is running 1, 1watt led. Its running over a 28 gallon bowfront. When run next to a 150w halide, you can't really notice that its on. However, if you string up 10-12 of them - you will notice a very nice blue tint to the tank. Even with just this one, you can see brighter colors in the corals with the halide, just not as much as 12 of them would do.

 

I also have a 5.5 gallon that this LED runs over. From what I see, 2 x 1watt's would do a 5.5 nicely. At most 6 x 1watt's would be the max.

 

This is a test setup as of now. I can't give much nfo out on the "parts" of the setup. However, I will find out what I can and can not say about them and let everyone know.

 

What I like the most about this particular LED is the lens it has. With the lens on, you get a "beam" effect that cuts through the water and looks like sun rays. You also get to see the particles floating around in the water like you would in the "deep". Not to mention, the shimmer of the light - similar to metal halides.

 

With the lens off, you get a wider spread of light throughout the tank. Everything glows. Very nice colors I might add.

 

 

I will keep everyone updated.

[Salim]

I think It'd be interesting if you used a few red LEDs as "night lights" so that you could check out your nocturnal critters. Maybe a single blue with the lens on and 2-3 reds without the lens.

 

Just a sugestion.

 

Salim

[JIM27]

Forgive my ignorance but what are these lights good for? Moon lights?

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Low cost of usage

 

No Heat

 

Lots of light

 

No replacement bulbs

 

Little if any shift of spectrum

 

 

Umm, EXCELLENT for nanos! Whole tank lighting as well as moonlight if you want.

[Foogoo]

Wait a minute, forgive me for my ignorance but maybe I have not been in tune lately. Why can't you give any info on the ballast? I didn't even know they made LED "ballasts"...it's always been DC w/ a resistor as far as I know.

[JIM27]

Whole tank lighting? You'd need like 100 of those things!

[LiQuiD]

This is a strange post and I have a few questions.

 

The ballast looks like it only has the one plug on it so where would you plug in 7 more lights?

 

Why do you have the piece of paper over the manufacturers tag on the ballast?

 

Is that the Hi-Lite LED/Laser thingy they sell at Walmartand elsewhere , or different, and if different is it better or cheaper for that matter?

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Originally posted by Foogoo

Wait a minute, forgive me for my ignorance but maybe I have not been in tune lately. Why can't you give any info on the ballast? I didn't even know they made LED "ballasts"...it's always been DC w/ a resistor as far as I know.

 

Unfortunately, its not my info to give. As stated previously, I am testing it out and seeing how well it works.

 

 

Originally posted by JIM27Whole tank lighting? You'd need like 100 of those things!

 

For Nanos - No.

 

Originally posted by LiQuiD

This is a strange post and I have a few questions.  

 

The ballast looks like it only has the one plug on it so where would you plug in 7 more lights?

 

Why do you have the piece of paper over the manufacturers tag on the ballast?

 

Is that the Hi-Lite LED/Laser thingy they sell at Walmartand elsewhere , or different, and if different is it better or cheaper for that matter?

 

I can not answer your question on where you would plug in more lights. All I know is the information from the manufacturer states that up to 8 LED's can be wired to one ballast.

 

The paper is over the manufacturers tag because I am unable to release anymore information on it, at least from what I know now. I will see if I can offer anything else. Until then, the paper stays

 

These are no lasers. They are LED's. They run about 30 dollars a piece. As far as quality goes, how about 50,000 hours without a problem?

 

 

 

Hope this helps!

[JIM27]

Hmmm. So how many of those things would it take to light my 18g tall(footprint of a 10g but a lot taller)?

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Heres a basis for you -

 

1 - 1watt led will light a 5.5 gallon all by itself. At least the blue 03 will. As far as the whites go, I have not tested them - but have been told they are hella bright. So, I would say 2 whites on a 5.5 would be sufficient to sustain most softies and lps.

 

This is a guesstimate though. I will say, no more than 8 LED's would be required on a 5.5.

[JIM27]

How would just one of the actinics be enough? They don't even light up a whole dollar bill! And how do they do in deep water?

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Jim-

 

Did you see my night time pictures and my actinic pictures in my thread? Members Tank Section.

 

Take a look at them and you can get an idea.

 

Lighting an 18 gallon tall would probably consist of 12 or 24 LEDs. Either a mix or 2 seperate "strands" of each white and blue.

 

Perhaps some more pictures would be of asisstance? This light, can shine a saturated 2' x 2' ring up to 8 feet away without any problems.

[JIM27]

Yes I've seen them(cool tank btw) and thats why I ask. They look like they light up a really small area VERY well but dim out fast, which is why I think you'd need a bunch of them for even lighting.

[UofAHog]

Is your source looking to market these LEDs in the future? If so then I can understand the current silence on info.

 

If they aren't gonna market it then by golly I want just the LED b/c I know how to get the driver.

[Nishant3789]

um dude jw but why the hell would u need a ballast anyways? i mean the only thing i can think of that would be inside of it is a couple of resistors and then wires to connect the LEDS to.... btw those LEDs 30 bux each????? holy crap dude u can get em online for under 5 bux TOPS considereing they are sum sort of superbright LEDs.... anyways the tank looks good so im suprprised. btw yea the ray of sunlight thing is sorta nice and it gives off the rippling effect. I would really like to see ure whole tank lit with just the LEDS on or at least sumthing to show teh difference between no LED and LED on cuz with my LED setup i cant see it at all when the other lights are on.... well i must say looks great whats the wavbe length on those babys?

 

nishant

[Guest AbSoluTc]

The information is not mine to give. Yes, they are going to be marketed soon I beleive.

[Alexis]

Those are luxeon leds, they are much brighter than your run of the mill leds. The 1w versions usually go for $20, they have 5w versions that are out that are about $30. They are available in many colors too.

 

You don't really need a ballast, just a 3.6v DC source. The leds can be overdriven, if you control the heat production. In terms of efficiency, they are probably not as efficient, in terms of lumens/watt as cold cathodes or compact fluorescents, the advantage is that the light can be better focussed.

 

www.luxeon.com

 

You can find luxeon powered flashlights at surefire.com or arcflashlight.com

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Not as efficient? Hmm. How do you draw that conclusion?

 

 

 

Anyways - this system is near ready to meet the public. However, before that happens - input is needed as to what you all (as reefers) want to see in a product? Mounting, blue/white ratio, etc etc.

 

Input is appreciated and wanted. So please, speak up

 

 

Kris

[Alexis]

the white luxeons are at 18 lumens/watt, per the spec sheet. The next gen luxeons are going to be about 25-30 lumens/watt for the white

 

a 55W 6400K bulb has 4600 lumens, per ahsupply's web site, this is about 80 lumens/watt. PC's are generally in the 50+ lumens/watt output.

 

cold cathodes are advertised at upto 140 lumens/watt efficiency.

 

That said, PC's will need more initial power to get to efficiency vs leds, while leds will lose efficiency with more power input. LEDs will also last longer, although the 5W luxeons are now only rated at 10% of the life of the 1W versions.

 

Leds are also point sources, so you will get a shimmering effect and can pack more led sources into a smaller area.

 

here is a chart

http://www.rawthought.com/lighting/efficiency.html

[ajroahkni]

I'd like to see a "hood" that can be integrated into the front molding of the glass, maybe a built up framing of the front molding. Aquarium could remain open top.

 

System could be sold as base units (50/50 lights), w/ additional lights sold component style. Also, if you could set it up w/ a routed frame to slide lights across/change angle of lighting, consumers would be able to spotlight certain areas w/ different spectrums, etc. A TOTALLY TRICKED OUT CUSTOM LIGHT JOB. Cool.

 

From a distance, tank would look lit, but w/out any lights!!! Like MAGIC.

 

So, is this the first product of the AbsolutCly lighting Co? (or whatever you decided upon?)

[Guest AbSoluTc]

Alexis -

 

Where did you get your nfo? The manufacturer specs rate the Luxeon star at 120 Lumens with a rated life of 100,000 hours.

 

:

[cmv]

http://www.luxeon.com/products/star_index.html

 

Is that the right LED? Some spec sheets here (PDFs).

 

edit: Ahhh! Check out this ~520kb PDF:

 

http://www.lumileds.com/pdfs/DS23.PDF

 

Page 3 is very interesting. Has some details on the optical lense/"collimator", says made from optical grade acrylic, don't expose to 75 degrees celsius, yadda yadda.

 

More information on lumens in there, too.

 

 

More from:

http://www.hdssystems.com/LuxeonVsNicha.pdf

 

The specification sheets give the edge in efficiency to Luxeon LEDs but my eyes do not agree. I

found that the Nichia LEDs appeared to be generating more light. This agrees with Willie Hunt

who was able to make accurate spherical lab measurements - his results were close to half the

published figures while my best estimate was three quarters. My tests were less sophisticated,

involving direct comparisons using standard arrays, LEDs with reflectors and computations of

the inverse square law. Some of the apparent difference can be explained by color temperature

and light distribution, but perhaps Nichia is also more conservative in writing their specification

sheet.

 

Here is a "cool hardware doood" review:

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/82/

 

Hah! Prediction: Soon ya'll will be jazzing up your sumps with mood lighting using these things. Check out the bit-tech review on page 3 with his acrylic case.

 

You can even buy one of these babies here (in quantities of 1):

http://www.markhannahsurplus.com/

(found at the end of the bit-tech review)

 

Pricey though ( ~$40?), I'd rather buy a 2x55w retro kit at AH .

 

5w = ~ $44

1w = ~ $16