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Unread 04/02/2009, 02:06 PM   #601
ReefEnabler
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kcress, do you know why nobody makes higher voltage drivers capable of running much bigger strings of LEDs? Is too high of voltage problematic, or simply 'dangerous' when used in this manner??

for example... why not a full 110v 350, 700 or 1050ma Xitanium driver? that would be pretty useful.

fwiw your pics show up fine for me.


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Unread 04/02/2009, 02:13 PM   #602
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Weird. The pics do not show up on mine... ::shrugs::


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Unread 04/02/2009, 02:55 PM   #603
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Quote:
Originally posted by fernandokng
Weird. The pics do not show up on mine... ::shrugs::
are you at work??? if so, your work IT dept might have the url where the pics are stored blocked.....


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Unread 04/02/2009, 05:00 PM   #604
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It would be great if someone who's really in the know could make a simple guide to building a LED fixture after so much has been discussed in this thread. It's tough to sort through all of the conversation throughout this thread to find the information that someone who's totally new to all of this (like myself) needs.


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Unread 04/02/2009, 05:51 PM   #605
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Avoiding all the fine tuning and nuances of LEDs. Really, the first two or three posts in this thread do exactly what you want. I mean really, I don't care about series or parallel, or the finer points of heat transfer materials. From what I found, the first couple of posts on page 1 give me enough information to go from no knowledge to a working prototype that shines brightly. And it's enough know how that I can manage it. That's all I need. Just better lights to grow corals with less power wasted. Nuf said.

My only concern now is will the lights really grow the sps or other corals I'd like to keep? If the answer is yes, then hang the fine tuning, to me the only question becomes how many buck pucks hooked to a power source and 6 LEDs do I need for the aquarium size I have. And I'm not going to quibble over a 100 par values either direction. Just like any type of aquarium lighting, I believe you'll find some corals that will grow just fine with this lighting set up, some that grow gang busters!, and others that you just won't be able to keep. But how is that different than T5, MH, VHO or any other form of lighting.

This project just makes total sense as described in the first couple of posts. But I am learning a lot reading through all this. So please continue...(sits back down)

Aaron


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Unread 04/02/2009, 07:39 PM   #606
kcress
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Quote:
Originally posted by ReefEnabler
kcress, do you know why nobody makes higher voltage drivers capable of running much bigger strings of LEDs? Is too high of voltage problematic, or simply 'dangerous' when used in this manner??

for example... why not a full 110v 350, 700 or 1050ma Xitanium driver? that would be pretty useful.

fwiw your pics show up fine for me.

They do exist, they are mostly used in engineered solutions. That's like a streetlight or a stoplight. The integrated circuits generally have a limit of about 60V then all sorts of special effort has to be made. Hence not much offered above that. Also, as you suggest, the voltage is a bit of a safety issue.

Thanks for the pic feedback. I was wondering if only I could see them.



Quote:
Originally posted by widmer
It would be great if someone who's really in the know could make a simple guide to building a LED fixture after so much has been discussed in this thread. It's tough to sort through all of the conversation throughout this thread to find the information that someone who's totally new to all of this (like myself) needs.
dogstar74 is totally correct - just look at Soundwave's setup at the top. It's well thought out, and it works. Copy it!

Same for you adova.

I'd suggest you make just one relatively square system. Not long rectangular units. Then if you like the result just step and repeat it as often as you need/want to.


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Unread 04/02/2009, 07:54 PM   #607
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Quote:
dogstar74 is totally correct
Thanks

Quote:
I'd suggest you make just one relatively square system. Not long rectangular units. Then if you like the result just step and repeat it as often as you need/want to.
This is exactly what I thought. You can just add modules of 6 from the original post to get to what size you want! my 10 gallon I'll be using a 6 light module, and you guys that need a big enough one for a 300 gallon tank can add up the modules from there. Seems straight forward enough to me.

Aaron


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Unread 04/02/2009, 08:04 PM   #608
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Oh and Widmer,

We're all watching you HID thread too.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1603868

Can't wait to see what you come up with there. I hope that works out for you as well.


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Unread 04/02/2009, 10:07 PM   #609
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Just a quick question - has anyone used some of the more acute angle lenses on the 3W LEDs to check PAR on longer distances? After reading this thread, the original Xenon thread by LiveForPhysics, and widmer's follow up thread, I'm wondering if a blend of the Xenon height/beam focus concept with the LEDs would be practical, or if the PAR levels would drop too much if the LED's were mounted, say, 2 1/2 feet above the water surface with 30 degree lenses.

This setup would (in theory... he he he) have the longevity of LED's (assuming proper setup and running at 75-80% capacity), and with a higher mounting, keep the "spotlight" effect from partitioning the light into "blue" and "white" zones that narrow optics can generate at close to water surface distances. Fine tuned, I could see the LED array getting great overall tank coverage, but also limiting the lighting of the aquarium glass, or as Luke said "watering the driveway".


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Unread 04/02/2009, 10:57 PM   #610
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Most optic systems allow for up to, actually, narrower spots than I think most LEDers want, as evidenced by Soundwave's personal experience with optics.

What I'm saying is there are usually several choices up to - too narrow.

You should find the mounts and a family of optics that will span what you want. Do the trigonometry needed to get your desired tank bottom coverage, sans watering the driveway. Then buy ONE of each optic being the one you think you need and either side of the one you think you need. Try them, shading the neighbors, to see what it gets you with your mounting height. Then go with the optic that works.

It depends on a lot of things. Shimmer is going to be maximized by narrower optics and an agitated surface. If you have a smooth surface it will be easier to get spot-lighting.


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Unread 04/03/2009, 08:59 AM   #611
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Great read. I am interested to see Soundwave's optics results.
-J


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Unread 04/03/2009, 10:00 PM   #612
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I really want to use the external dimmable buck pucks - can someone please help me to understand what I will need to dim them (specifically - a link would be great) and how it gets wired in. Ultimately I want to dim several drivers off of one dimmer...

Shawn


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Unread 04/03/2009, 10:41 PM   #613
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After reading a little more about this, I would be VERY interested in putting together an LED fixture with the 3 degree lenses. With these lenses, a person could mount the fixture on the ceiling of their home and beam the light straight into the tank. If my quick trig is correct:

For a fixture on the ceiling, 6 feet above the tank, each LED employed would project a circle of light that's ~4 inches wide. This is excellent for those of you that want the higher light levels, placing your LEDs ~2 inches apart from each other on the panel.

If there really were no recognizable loss in efficiency by transmitting light to/through lens, then this would in fact direct more light into the aquarium because it's all entering at a virtually perfectly perpendicular angle, creating the least refraction physically possible.

This is exciting stuff guys, for those of you that are in the process of building these fixtures right now, I would strongly recommend using optics if not for the aesthetics of having your fixture completely out of sight (~6 ft above the tank), then at least for the efficiency. Alas I am a poor college kid and this is a project I won't be pursuing...


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Unread 04/03/2009, 10:50 PM   #614
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I recently bought new galileo i-9 fixture for my 10 gal nano tank for about 1/3 of the market price and love it. If something breaks I'll fix it without any problems. It's just LEDs with power supply.
It uses 4W leds. each led has a diffuser on it. It also has a small night blue light led. The build quality of the fixure is great.
I wonder if any of you tried using those 900 lumen LEDs in your custom fixtures???

I only recently joined reefcentral and find it completely idiotic that the website doesn't allow storing and posting as apposed to linking nice resolution pictures. It's like holding some encyclopedia at one library where pictures/illustrations are stored at another one. Huge dependency and value killer considering that the storage is so cheap and you can dedicate some linux image cache server specifically for the job. Reefcental, you hold the knowledge database, make it yours 100%!
sorry for the outburst..

Here are some pics of my nano.






--




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Unread 04/04/2009, 07:49 AM   #615
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Quote:
Originally posted by letik
I recently bought new galileo i-9 fixture for my 10 gal nano tank for about 1/3 of the market price and love it. If something breaks I'll fix it without any problems. It's just LEDs with power supply.
It uses 4W leds. each led has a diffuser on it. It also has a small night blue light led. The build quality of the fixure is great.
I wonder if any of you tried using those 900 lumen LEDs in your custom fixtures???

I only recently joined reefcentral and find it completely idiotic that the website doesn't allow storing and posting as apposed to linking nice resolution pictures. It's like holding some encyclopedia at one library where pictures/illustrations are stored at another one. Huge dependency and value killer considering that the storage is so cheap and you can dedicate some linux image cache server specifically for the job. Reefcental, you hold the knowledge database, make it yours 100%!
sorry for the outburst..

Here are some pics of my nano.






--

I am pretty sure this system you have is basically only good for softies. Still a clean light and tank though


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Unread 04/04/2009, 07:49 AM   #616
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Quote:
Originally posted by letik
I recently bought new galileo i-9 fixture for my 10 gal nano tank for about 1/3 of the market price and love it. If something breaks I'll fix it without any problems. It's just LEDs with power supply.
It uses 4W leds. each led has a diffuser on it. It also has a small night blue light led. The build quality of the fixure is great.
I wonder if any of you tried using those 900 lumen LEDs in your custom fixtures???

I only recently joined reefcentral and find it completely idiotic that the website doesn't allow storing and posting as apposed to linking nice resolution pictures. It's like holding some encyclopedia at one library where pictures/illustrations are stored at another one. Huge dependency and value killer considering that the storage is so cheap and you can dedicate some linux image cache server specifically for the job. Reefcental, you hold the knowledge database, make it yours 100%!
sorry for the outburst..

Here are some pics of my nano.






--

I am pretty sure this system you have is basically only good for softies. Still a clean light and tank though


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Unread 04/04/2009, 09:11 PM   #617
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Thought I would post an update...

The LEDs are still doing great. I lowered them into the canopy to keep the lighting bright since the optics were not of my liking. Since their inception and my re-aquascape, I had a diatom bloom which is starting to fade away. Everything is still growing nicely.




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Unread 04/04/2009, 09:27 PM   #618
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Looks really nice Soundwave!


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Unread 04/04/2009, 11:39 PM   #619
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Great my parts are on the way as I type this. Only difference is that I went with the Xitanium (sp?) driver so I could bypass the 12 power supply. If I can't get it to work, then I'll go back to your original, and tear the PS out of a computer I have in the Garage.

Wish me Luck!
Aaron


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Unread 04/04/2009, 11:43 PM   #620
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I was checking out my Local Walmart and found a coleman flashlight call "MAX". It runs on 3 AAA batteries but it employs a CREE XR-E LED. They state that it will project 65 meters! So you should be fine mounting the lights on the ceiling with an optic. I was tempted to buy the flashlight just to get a preview of what the light will look like when it gets here, but at 24 bucks, I figured I had spent enough, and I can wait until the part get here and see what they look like then.


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Unread 04/05/2009, 01:25 AM   #621
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Quote:
Originally posted by Soundwave
Thought I would post an update...

The LEDs are still doing great. I lowered them into the canopy to keep the lighting bright since the optics were not of my liking. Since their inception and my re-aquascape, I had a diatom bloom which is starting to fade away. Everything is still growing nicely.

Looks Great Soundwave. Keep up the nice work.

I really want to make one now, probably my next project.
I have a 55gal tank and your original design is perfect for me.

And I have a couple questions,
I think i missed where you added the 4 shimmer lights,
I saw the mounting but how did you wire them into the system?
and are they wired into the white side of the system?

do you have moonlights? I have them in my current corallife PC light fixture and I really like them.

also, I'm so tired of moving my light to get in the tank, would 10" to 12" above tank work ok?


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Unread 04/05/2009, 10:19 AM   #622
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The shimmer lights were used when I was running PCs. Long before I went full LEDs. They ran off a single 24v 1a wall wart.

I do have moonlights that are attached to the canopy front panel and shine down at an angle. I just used 10 blue 5mm LEDs on a 12v wall wart. It's the standard led/resistor setup.

As far as mounting height, if you placed the fixture a foot off the tank, par levels would decrease but it will still smoke your PC setup. I decided to lower mine for the added light. I may build a new canopy and put the fixture on a set of rails so I can move it when needed. Right now, it's kind of part of the canopy which limits my ability to do much since it's in the way.


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Unread 04/05/2009, 11:50 AM   #623
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Quote:
Originally posted by Soundwave
I may build a new canopy and put the fixture on a set of rails so I can move it when needed. Right now, it's kind of part of the canopy which limits my ability to do much since it's in the way.
looking at your above pics, i think it would be easy to modify your existing canopy. i am using these 2-way drawer slides (slide forward & backward off center) that should be fairly easy to retrofit into your current setup.

the 3rd post of my build thread shows the beginnings of my mounting them


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Unread 04/05/2009, 02:29 PM   #624
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Could anyone explain how the dimmable buck puck would be controlled? Is it just connected to some sort of rheostat switch? I looked at the diagram on the online data sheet but I'm moderately electronically illiterate


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Unread 04/05/2009, 02:53 PM   #625
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In the datasheet it is a 5k ohm potentiometer. radio shack has them. Once you have the POT, just look at the diagram on the back of the packaging and match it up with the buckpuck datasheet, I think it would be hard to go wrong.

to make it easier on anybody else wanting to answer this question http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/...1-BuckPuck.pdf

With that method you would basically have a dial to turn to change the brightness.

Theres also a method of wiring the POT using a 5v external source as reference... anybody done that?


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