Looking for LED DIY sites.

[Poseidon]

OK, starting my research on lighting first. After giving some consideration to the tried and true halide, and my previous favorite T5, I have decided to go LED for this project.

Having been out of the loop for the last year or so, I have lost a list of favorite sites. I know where to get my heatsink, and I am sure I can do the forced air cooling locally, but I am still learning the LEC language. It looks like a ratio of 2 to 1 blue to white is the norm.

With the drivers, can they be connected to a Reefkeeper Lite controller and be made to gradually increase and decrease light intensity? What driver should I be looking at?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am going to do this right the first time!

[EMUreef]

you will need this for your reefkeeper

Digital Aquatics (http://www.digitalaquatics.com/saltwater/ALC)

and these drivers.

Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver (http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-41/Mean-Well-ELN-dsh-60-dsh-48D-dimmable/Detail)

rapidled is where i would recommend. great shipping and service.

[jstan]

I second rapidled great service, although I personally like the TRC drivers that nanotuners offer. Though choice of driver is up to you. Just make sure the LEDs are good, there the backbone of your fixture.

Check out Evils sticky in the ask the experts forum. He also has a bunch of threads another forum. Can't remember which one though. Just do a google search on his screen name and it should pull up a bunch of stuff.


Jason's phone

[Poseidon]

Thank you for links! Now.... how many LED's for a 36x18 footprint? I was thinking of making 2 "pendant" style heat sink blocks, each 10x12 and spaced evenly on each side of the center brace.

[jstan]

That ones beyond me, so far....
Although the dual pendants is a good start. The other thing to keep in mind is your tank depth. If it's a shallow tank like mine(12" deep) you might not need that many. Also your optics , if you use any, can make a big difference as well.
The next led build I'll be working on, is going to be using 90degree to 120degree optics just cause it's so shallow. Although I think most people use 40 to 80degree optics. And again you have to research which ones are best to use.
if your going the diy route, try and find some UV led chips for better penetration.

Also to get even more light outta of your fixture look into 3-up Indus stars that have 3, 3watt crees mounted to the chips.

Though I have to say that having a dimming option is a must have for any fixture. Which is why I like the trc drivers, there pre-wired to accept a dimmer. With out the hassle and added cost some of the other drivers have. My sliding dimmer only cost 4-5 bucks or so, without an additional power supply or fancy controller. Just soldered the wires up and it was good to go. I love simplicity. You should try to make it out to the Ann arbor swap tomorrow if you can. Lots of people will have led fixtures there in use, some diy and some store bought fixtures.


Jason's phone

[EMUreef]

Thank you for links! Now.... how many LED's for a 36x18 footprint? I was thinking of making 2 "pendant" style heat sink blocks, each 10x12 and spaced evenly on each side of the center brace.

maybe 20 on each pendant if you wanna do it right.
than you'd need 3 drivers.
13 RB's
7 NW's which i would recommend, those are neutral whites.

you could run both strings of whites off one driver. and 2 drivers for the blues

[Poseidon]

It doesn't look like it matters where the drivers are located is that true? If I could put the "ballasts" in the stand, that would help with a clean look.

If I wanted to control each completely, then I would need 4 drivers right? (20 LEDS per fixture, 10 per driver.)

[EMUreef]

really depends on how you wanna control the LED's,

you say you want a 2:1 ratio right?

the most common way to do it is to put all the blues on there own drivers and the whites on there own.

since you'll have a total of about 14 whites all the whites can go on 1 driver, you keep the 2:1 ratio and save ur self 34$. Those drivers can only controll between 8-14 LED's so if you wanted the whites to have there own, you'd need 8 whites on each pendant. up to you really.

and yes you can mount the drivers where ever you want.

[Poseidon]

The 3 ups look neat, not really any cheaper, but may make for a cleaner install.

Royal-Blue Cree (http://www.ledsupply.com/creexpe-roy-3.php)

4 blue 3 white per side, and not drive the whites as hard?

[EMUreef]

4 blue 3 white per side, and not drive the whites as hard?

dunno what you mean by this.

[Poseidon]

If I did the 3 ups, would I be able to use 4 blue, and 3 white, for a total of 21 emitters per pendant. But drive the whites at a lower % to get the color I want?

[EMUreef]

If I did the 3 ups, would I be able to use 4 blue, and 3 white, for a total of 21 emitters per pendant. But drive the whites at a lower % to get the color I want?

you dont drive the LED's at a lower % you'd be using the controller to dim the leds to the color you wanna get.

[XSiVE]

If I did the 3 ups, would I be able to use 4 blue, and 3 white, for a total of 21 emitters per pendant. But drive the whites at a lower % to get the color I want?

Yes that is one way to get what you want. Something you will want to consider is # of LEDs a driver can power, this is based on the voltage limit on the driver / power supply, which had to be greater than or equal to the total of all of the Vf of the LEDs you want to use on that specific string.

Choose your LEDs (both number and color of each), your pendant configuration, and let that dictate your driver choice.