DIY actinic bars. Help lol

XavierZ06 · Dec 16, 2011

So I decided that I was going to make some LED actinic bars for my 75...
Started off well, ordered royal blue, blue, turquoise, and green leds. Great.

Then I got 8 feet of U channel aluminum and 3 feet of L channel. Going to use L channel on each end as the holders, and mount the U channel onto it at each end. Making a square that fits Just inside the TEK light I have.

From here I ordered 2 meanwell eln 60-48D sinkable drivers from some electronics site. Also picked up 2x 10k ohm 1/2 Watt pots.

So I soldered Everything together and its all wired right, and (at the time I didn't have the pots) used a 9v battery to test. Worked wonderfully, and I was extremely happy. Aside from having to hold a 9v to it for it to work lol.

So today I went to radioshack and got the pots, and tried to hook one up and nothing happened. I read somewhere about a wallwart 10v or some junk, but I don't know. No where has a straight up wiring guide for this crap and I've never done any sort of electric anything so I'm teaching myself as I go lol.

So finally my question is. what the heck do I need to do buy or hook up for this to work? By the sounds of it I need the wallwarts, but I don't understand why I need a plug for each driver and each wallwart.... so for my 3 sets of 14 leds I need 6 **** plugs?

Please help if I missed something. I will make sure to post pictures this evening.

Thanks in advance.

ReefLEDLights · Dec 16, 2011

The MeanWell D series of drivers require a 1-10VDC control Voltage to work.

You can hook up a 9VDC Battery to the blue and white control inputs like you did. Use the proven Duct Tape. Its required equipment for Astronauts and those who like cruising in white window less vans. Your battery will last a couple of days if you undo it every night.

We've used the Radio Shack Enercell #273-315 with good results. Just snip the ends off and test the polarity.

Also be careful of your LEDs overheating. If they do not have the proper cooling they will not last. If your heatsink is too hot to hold its too hot. C channel works but only if you dont load it up with to many LEDs and most do.

Bill

XavierZ06 · Dec 16, 2011

Appreciate the response, I am running 13x 3 Watt Cree xp-e leds along 47.5" of 1" wide aluminum U channel. Is that too much? I have no problem running less along more strips of U channel.

How do I wire up the power source? And I'm correct in only running 13 leds per driver?

ReefLEDLights · Dec 16, 2011

Ninjaskillzs said:
Appreciate the response, I am running 13x 3 Watt Cree xp-e leds along 47.5" of 1" wide aluminum U channel. Is that too much? I have no problem running less along more strips of U channel.

How do I wire up the power source? And I'm correct in only running 13 leds per driver?

Hard to say. Depends on airflow. If you can hold it tight it should work if its too hot to hold tight attach another or two with self tapping screws and throw a fan on it.

13 LED works here is a info link that may help. Page not found Â« ReefLEDLights | LED Aquarium Lighting ReefLEDLights | LED Aquarium Lightingust cut the end off the power source, test polarity and wirenut the + to the blue wire and the - to the white wire.

Bill

XavierZ06 · Dec 16, 2011

Okay hopefully you have time to reply to this by the time radioshack closes tomorrow lol.

I got the whole enercell thing, and heat isnt bad ive had them running for 2 hours and its easily grabbable, just in case i am rigging up a computer fan array to cool them actively.

Anyway, My questions are
How many drivers can be hooked up to one enercell and one potentiometer? Just one per? or can multiple drivers be controlled through one dimmer and one enercell?
Also, since i will have to run the 13 XP-E's at 750mA, can i then run 2 strings of 12 or 13 leds at 600mA to run the meanwell 60-48D at 1.2mA? That is how i am reading it on the reefledlights website FAQ section.

If so i would like to use my (2) Two meanwell 60-48D drivers to run a total of (4) Four strings (2 parallel sets of 2 strands) of 12-13 LED's driven at 600mA each, in which case i adjust the driver to run at 1.2mA (since the ammount is divided by the strings, 2.

So to summarize.
To run the above setup (4 strings w/ 12-13 leds each, totalling 48-52)
I will need :
TWO Enercell 300mA Ac Adapters
TWO Potentiometers
TWO Meanwell eln-60-48D Drivers (adjusted to 1.2mA then divided into two strings at 600mA each)

XavierZ06 · Dec 17, 2011

Also thank you so much for taking the time to help a confused kid

ReefLEDLights · Dec 17, 2011

Ninjaskillzs said:
Okay hopefully you have time to reply to this by the time radioshack closes tomorrow lol.

I got the whole enercell thing, and heat isnt bad ive had them running for 2 hours and its easily grabbable, just in case i am rigging up a computer fan array to cool them actively.

Anyway, My questions are
How many drivers can be hooked up to one enercell and one potentiometer? Just one per? or can multiple drivers be controlled through one dimmer and one enercell?
Also, since i will have to run the 13 XP-E's at 750mA, can i then run 2 strings of 12 or 13 leds at 600mA to run the meanwell 60-48D at 1.2mA? That is how i am reading it on the reefledlights website FAQ section.

If so i would like to use my (2) Two meanwell 60-48D drivers to run a total of (4) Four strings (2 parallel sets of 2 strands) of 12-13 LED's driven at 600mA each, in which case i adjust the driver to run at 1.2mA (since the ammount is divided by the strings, 2.

So to summarize.
To run the above setup (4 strings w/ 12-13 leds each, totalling 48-52)
I will need :
TWO Enercell 300mA Ac Adapters
TWO Potentiometers
TWO Meanwell eln-60-48D Drivers (adjusted to 1.2mA then divided into two strings at 600mA each)

Skip the POTs they need a power supply. Or a driver that has a 10Vdc included (Inventronics or Similar). If you use the Enercell you dont need them!

Four strings of 12 with two 48Ds is efficient but the driver must be adjusted. Fuses and Resistors are recommended in this type of set up.

We measured an un-adjusted 60-48D at 1.8mA which is bad. The Mean Wells Need to be adjusted...Adjusting them to 1.3A for two parallel strings works well.

300mA should be enough to control 3 drivers. Most go with one for the Blue and one for the White.

Bill

XavierZ06 · Dec 17, 2011

ok so no pots. good. they were agravating me. I dont really care about the dimmage. just an actinic suplement for now. I plan to get an apex unit by the summer when i switch to full LED lighting, so ill use an ALC module or whatever for the dimming control. For now though, i have the two drivers and 40 LEDS total, i will be ordering more however.

but your saying i can use the single 300mA enercell to control up to three drivers (as long as they are going to be run at the same voltage)
Using "We highly recommend using 1000mA fuses when employing parallel strings. The use of resistors is primarily used for monitoring current through a parallel string of LEDs" from your website FAQ section, what would i really need to buy...

The exact setup will be, when the rest of my order comes in, 48 LEDS run in 4 sets of 12 parallel as you stated. at 600mA each.
I can run all of the 48 leds, across 2 drivers, with the one enercell 300ma adapter.

so tomorrow i will be going to radioshack and picking up one of the enercell's along with a voltmeter. any specific size?

and for the time being i am just running the single bar i made so far (14 leds)

But what fuses and resistors will i eventually need to run the full 48 leds?

THANK YOU so much again by the way lol

XavierZ06 · Dec 18, 2011

Okay well, after spending the last 2 hours on this project (only time i get to myself is past midnight lol) i have finally completed the hard part. all 3 sets of leds are wired up and firing.

They are configured a little whacky for now but it works atleast lol. i can pry em off and change em later if i feel like it.

First bar is driven at 750mA by 1 meanwell eln 60-48d. this contains 14x 3w CREE XP-E Royal Blue (450-460nm)

Second bar contains 12 Leds total. 6x 3w CREE XP-E Blue (465nm-485nm) 2x 3w Bridgelux? Green (530nm) 2x 3w Bridgelux? Turquoise (495nm) and 2x 3w CREE XP-E Royal Blue
Third bar contains 12x 3w CREE XP-E Royal Blue

The second and third bar will be run parallel at 600mA each using a single meanwell eln 60-48d, once I get the fuses and such together. Hopefully tomorrow I can make my final trip to radioshack lol. I fired each string individually and all leds work great. the second bar has an interesting color, and the green definitely overpowers the other colors on that strand. im hoping that once the rest are running it wont be as noticable. But if not i have a few spare royal blues

I am going to be mounting the aluminum U channel to Aluminum L channel that i just picked up, and rigging it up inside my TEK t5 light that i am running. Hoping to eliminate a few of the t5's, and play with the color scheme a bit using the combination.

The actual bracket will be similar to this:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/q5FOUKDfvEYk2RB-iuJ-80GwvVygLUjeaAK_hyYqfGU?feat=embedwebsite

I believe that a combination of T5 and LED will produce the best balanced spectrum and lead to the best growth and coloration, based on the many tanks i have seen with both different types, and the few i have seen that utilize both.

I will take the best pictures i can possibly take tomorrow night, and anyone interested when everything is all said and done is more than welcome to come by and check em out. Price of admission is one frag

haha

XavierZ06 · Dec 21, 2011

Okay well ive decided to turn the fixture into the only light source for my tank eventually. I was wondering what i would need WHITE led wise to make it work and support the tank.

As a standard 75 gallon, its not terribly deep, only about 17" so power to the bottom isnt an issue. Moreso the spread, of 48" while only being that deep.

So how many LEDS of what type with which optics would you guys recommend? my buddy has 2 AI sol blues over his 83g with roughly the same dimentions and that only usses what, 16x 3w white LEDS? so how many of which type do i need with what optics?

SPS, LPS, and zoas/palys.

thanks for the input

Troylee · Dec 21, 2011

2 strings of whites or bars I should say will work fine... The normal ratio is 2 blue to 1 white... That's around a 20k look..As for optics depends on the spread you want but 70's have the highest par iirc./

XavierZ06 · Dec 21, 2011

Yeah i was figuring doing 2 sets of 12 whites, Im not sure what is best though, should i just go with Cool whites? or throw in 3-4 neutral / warm?

and which version of the cree whites as well. Im running XP-E royal blues and blues

Troylee · Dec 21, 2011

I used all cool white xre on mine.. it wouldn't hurt to throw maybe 2 warm whites in the there or something... The cool whites are pretty yellow I can't imagine a warm white lol... I know bill uses the warm whites just for High noon blast../

XavierZ06 · Dec 30, 2011

Well my 24 XML cool whites came today: ) hope to have a full running setup by tonight

XavierZ06 · Jan 2, 2012

Alright, well. I got the entire fixture up and running. Consists of:
24x Cree XM-L Cool White
28x Cree XP-E Royal Blue
6x Cree XP-E Blue
2x Bridgelux Green
2x Bridgelux Turquoise

I am running only 12 of the Cool whites right now because they really really overpower the rest of the LEDS. Driven at almost twice the mA, I actually only need 12 for the entire tank. So i spent an extra like $100 lol. Oh well. Better to have em and not use em then not have enough.

My thoughts on the combo i am running now are that there is a definite lack of some parts of the spectrum... I really like the color from my T5's a LOT better than the overall color of these LED's. I am not sure what is missing, but i am ordering some other types of LEDs to throw into the mix to see if there is anything i can do to bring out the parts i feel are lacking.

Specifically; Yellows, Deep Reds, Pinks, Cream colors, and purples. Sometimes even blues like on SPS specifically. I just dont really see them at all with this light. I am not happy. There are some parts that really just WOW stand out, and so many others that just are not there at all. Looks like a completely different tank than with the T5 fixture.

For reference, my bulb combo is
ATI blue plus
Ati Blue Plus
Ati blue plus
KZ fiji pink
ATI Ab Special
ati blue plus
ati blue plus
uvl super actinic

I feel that this bulb combo produces a lot "truer" color than the LEDS. The leds feels kid of sterile. I dont know. any opinions? anyone nearby wanna stop by and check em out? Ill throw up pictures sometime when i feel like it, but my camera doesnt really get what i am trying to show