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Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro


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  1. #1
    CR Member
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Canton, MI
    Posts
    11
    First Name
    Lohitha

    Default Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Well.. I am relatively a new reefer (around 7 months) with a small simple 14 gallon biocube. Just like every other reefer, I too wanted to get into LED to get better color, lower power consumption, long life and better control. This is the summary of my LED build.

    Plan....
    • 3 Cool White Cree XP-G
    • 2 Natural White Cree XP-G
    • 5 Royal Blue XP-E
    • 1000mA dimmable buckpucks with PWM input.
    • 5.75"x9" Heat sink with longitudinal fins
    • Cooled by Stock fans
    • Dawn to dusk light control with Arduino
    • Entire system turned on with a simple wall timer
    • Use power supplies hanging around. Laptop charger for LED, small 9v power supplies to arduino, and 12v power supply to fans.


    Basic logic is that timer will turn on arduino and fans simultaneously. Arduino will start internal clock and take control of the lights until until dusk followed by system shut off by the timer. Future plan to replace the timer with RTC module.

    Schematic...
    LEDProject - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Got my LEDs from ledgroupbuy real cheap. Around $5 for whites and $4 for RB. Arduino from eBay. Buckpucks from rapidLED. Thermal paste also from ledgroupbuy. Screws and nylon washers from Ace hardware.

    P1000294 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Drilled and tapped the heat sink for #4-40 screws. I wanted to keep the white and blue as pairs to reduce color shadowing. Drilling and tapping is real easy and you dont really need a bench drill. My handheld drill did the job without breaking a single drill bit.
    P1000289 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Soldered the LEDs into two circuits. Bought a aluminum strip from LOWES to make two simple brackets to attach the heatsink to the hood. Here is the finished product mounted in the BC14 hood. What you see below the heat sink is a little plastic baffle to force air through the fins instead of taking a short cut.
    P1000317 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Sorry couldnt snap photos in between. Next is to program the arduino. I had little trouble getting the driver installed. Everything else is super easy if you have little background in C programming.

    Hooked up everything to test the setup.
    P1000295 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Worked like a charm.. I can ramp up and down blues and whites independently. Blue light made my clowns go blonkers and finally settled with both white and blue ramp up and down together. Will fine tune later. This is my current schedule.

    • 30 mins lights ramp up to 2%. This happens around 1 pm
    • Next 2 hrs lights ramp up to 50%
    • Continue 50% intensity for 6.5 hrs (day time)
    • Ramp down to 2% over 2 hrs
    • Ramp down to 0% over last 30 mins


    And this is the final product..
    P1000298 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Now I am ready for SPS.
    P1000297 - Dewey's BC14 LED DIY retro

    Total cost around $150 which include Arduino controller and shipping. Of course I didnt have to buy power supplies.

    Future plan is to add an LCD display to show the reef clock, light intensity and perhaps tank temperature.

    Comments and questions welcome.

  2. #2
    jolson10450 - Reefkeeper
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Flat Rock
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    2,032
    First Name
    Justin
    Awards Grow Out King Monthly Giveaway Winner Monthly Giveaway Winner

    Default

    lookin good!

  3. #3
    BK's Reef - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Grand Rapids,MI
    Posts
    299

    Default

    Great Crisp look!
    "reefing sure takes up your money...but it is the best money ive ever spent!"

    http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/marine-fish/bks-90-fowlr-8632/
    ^^^90 Fowlr thread

  4. #4
    Mr. Microscope - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Feb 2011
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    Evanson, IL
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    256
    Awards Tank of the Month - August 2012 Tank of the Month

    Default

    The FTS looks clean, but I'm wondering. Are you getting spotlighting and color shadowing from the LEDs being spaced so far apart? Also, what do you think of the overall color? What percentages do you have your LEDs dimmed at when they're all on in the middle of the light cycle?

  5. #5
    CR Member
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    May 2010
    Location
    Canton, MI
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    11
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    Lohitha

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Microscope View Post
    The FTS looks clean, but I'm wondering. Are you getting spotlighting and color shadowing from the LEDs being spaced so far apart? Also, what do you think of the overall color? What percentages do you have your LEDs dimmed at when they're all on in the middle of the light cycle?
    If you notice, I placed blue and white leds together as pairs. I do not get huge color shadows. But, I can still see thin blue shadows through the thin cracks of the rockwork and little bit on the shimmer on the floor. (BTW, I love the shimmer with LEDs). I did not use any optics. Perhaps adding optics should solve it. I think you will get thicker bands of color shadow if you use whites and blues far apart.

    I am okay with the overall color. I would have preferred more pop on reds. I started 35% (mid-day) for first few days and now I am upto 50%. I think color is getting better. I plan to increase it further.

  6. #6
    Mr. Microscope - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Feb 2011
    Location
    Evanson, IL
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    256
    Awards Tank of the Month - August 2012 Tank of the Month

    Default

    Right?! The shimmer from LEDs is amazing! Especially if you have some wave action going in there. I've seen LEDs in combo with an MP10 and the tank really looked like it was under the ocean.

    You'll get better show from your reds and other warmer colors if you swap out your cool whites for neutral white. But you need to compensate with extra blues. About 2:1 Royal Blue:Neutral White is the gosple I'm spreading. Using one cool blue at a very low drive current will also help with the reds.

    However, that's just me. I prefer more of a 20,000K look.

  7. #7
    Corvette Reefer - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Dexter, Michigan
    Posts
    421

    Default

    looks really nice! cant wait to get moe bulbs for my led light to get it working, from what i saw my running with 2 warm whites 4 cool whites and 6 blues, it was amazing color and it would probably really show off the reds alot more. so try maybe adding a warm white the the center and see. Im curious about this "arduino" what is that? and what does it do? iv never heard of that.
    The names Vette, Corvette. . .

  8. #8
    SaltyDog - Reefkeeper CR Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Colorado Springs,CO USA
    Posts
    48
    First Name
    Martin

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Corvette Reefer View Post
    looks really nice! cant wait to get moe bulbs for my led light to get it working, from what i saw my running with 2 warm whites 4 cool whites and 6 blues, it was amazing color and it would probably really show off the reds alot more. so try maybe adding a warm white the the center and see. Im curious about this "arduino" what is that? and what does it do? iv never heard of that.
    The arduino is a micro-controller that uses C++ as it's programming language which once understood is fairly simple.It provides a 0-5v PWM output for being able to dim a buckpuck or CAT4101 LED driver.For Meanwells you would have to add a spare 10v 500mA wallwart and 2n222 transistor to the 0-5vPWM signal off the arduino.The pic I have attached is a controller that uses an I2C lcd/keypad backpack attached to a 20x4 LCD.At current time this setup allows for user input to set time of the RTC as well as selecting a feed mode and water-change mode which suspends the pumps within the tank for a predetermined amount of time...5min for feeding and 20min for water-change.
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    Got ink????Go big or go home......

  9. #9
    larryandlaura - Reefkeeper
    Team CR

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    Larry
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    Default

    Sweet setup
    Hi my name is Larry and I'm a coral addict!

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