Diy Led layout and build

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SeymourDuncan

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Ok so I've got a light to build for a guy..the tank is an acrylic 70g that has a 47x9.5 opening and a 14 inch depth.

He wants it dimmable and around 14K (like stock reef breeders value fixture).

He also wants it fairly cheap. (Of course). I have an empty fixture body to donate to the build, so I can save him money on making something.

RapidLed is one option I'm considering.
Any specific layouts that would be suitable for this tank? I can solder, so I can also save him a little dough there. Pretty much he is going to come up with a price range, if I can build it for less then I get the extra $$$$....any help would greatly impact my wallet :D
 
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Alright, so here's what I've got lined up
12 whites
12 whiter whites
12 rrrrrrooooyyyyaaall blue
The base plates (60 since they come in 30 packs)
120 optics (since the tank is shallow)

Here's where I'm still looking...the sites have so much goodness I don't know where to begin?!
The rest of it. Haha.
I am not sure what wires
I'll need 3? Drivers?
Power?
And dimming capabilities which are on drivers that dim right?
 
I would do the opposite of what you listed. You will want more blue than white. I can help you out more when I get home, sorry I can't elaborate more.
 
WWC
My first recommendation is to stay away from anything on eBay and buy high-quality chips from the get-go. You'll have less power consumption, need many less LEDs (which means less investment in drivers, as well), and reduce the overall complexity.

A Bridgelux BXRA-40E950-B 4000K white LED costs less than $10 for the LED and reflector, and emits over 2000 lumens at 1000mA (around 22 watts). You would need TWENTY of the eBay LEDs to do that (which costs more, not including lenses) which would use around 50 watts of power, need a driver that outputs 72 volts (versus the Bridgelux's 22v) and would look like absolute garbage. Neutral white LEDs are an absolute requirement unless you're only keeping fluorescent green corals, eBay LEDs are notorious for being nothing like their listing, and cover almost no spectrum other than royal blue.

A Luxeon M royal blue costs less than $14 for the LED and reflector, and emits over 6200mW at 1000mA (11.4 watts). You would need over TWELVE of the eBay LEDs (if you're lucky, ebay royals are garbage for output), which costs a bit less minus lenses, and would use around 30 watts of power, and use 43 volts (versus the M's 11.4v).

One Bridgelux 950-B surrounded by three Luxeon M RB at 1000mA, using a 50° Ledil Brooke and three 63° Ledil Minnie, will put out around 300 PAR across a 24"x24" area at 28" away from the LEDs, I've measured this myself. This handily beats any eBay chips in efficiency, looks, and complexity.



You get what you pay for with lighting, and especially with LEDs. Would you rather get LEDs that have an L70 rating of 50,000 hours at very high temperatures (70-135°C) and keep their efficiency, or something that has no warranty, low output, and low efficiency?

If your friend is going to cheap out, then have them get the Reefbreeders value fixture and call it a day. $179 with the best mix of LEDs I could come up with at the time, has a two year warranty (expect it to last around that, maybe a bit longer), and is US-based in case of issues.
 
Jedimasterben: that's totally a good idea, and the reefbreeders are definitely worth the money on a budget...
So lay me out a plan buddy. I think the DIY route will be more fun :)
 
Tell ya what...this may be on hold. He saw my extra t5 fixture....he was eyeballing it ... Lets keep this plan going though just in case :D
 
So 47" x 9" x 14"? Hmm. That's actually probably best to use '3w' LEDs. The Bridgelux and Luxeon M are really meant for covering wider areas.

In that case, you're still saving tons overall by using Luxeon Rebel ES for the LEDs.

6x Rebel ES 4000K
12x Rebel ES RB
4x Rebel blue
3x Rebel cyan
8x hyper violet


Run all but the cyan with 60 degree optics, don't run any on the cyan. Run all but the violet on 1000mA LDD drivers, the violet needs to be 700mA. Use a 48v power supply to power the LDD, needs to be at least 3.7A in output and with adjustable voltage (so most power supplies). You can get the LEDs from Steve's LEDs, and the LDD and power supply from LEDGroupBuy (their violets are also better, so if you're ordering from them, then order their hyper violet). You can use pretty much any heatsink, you can sorta distribute the light and it will still look good, but group the NW and RB chips together. Use a Typhon or similar controller to dim the LDD. If you don't want a controller, you'll need to use something like Inventronics, which are $30-33 each (you could get away with three of them).
 
BRS
Reefing Madness said:
Anything wrong with these Jedi?
http://www.satistronics.com/3w-high...-455460nm-3040lm-for-reef-aquarium_p3182.html
Click to expand...

Royal blue LEDs can't be measured in lumens - only in milliwatts of radiance. This means that they are not royal blue, which is considered 440-460nm. Most Chinese royal/blue LEDs are all around 470nm.


EDIT: Also, I'm the Queen of England if those white LEDs can emit more than 100-110 lumens, ESPECIALLY in warm white. Treat those just like any eBay LEDs, as they're more than likely all made in the same or similar factories, and they just call the LEDs whatever sells the best.
 
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I would make sure to get dimmable drivers and a control unit too, LED's run at 100% are a heck of a lot brighter than expected, I run mine at around 60% using a mixture of Cree 3w LED's. Rapid Led made it pretty easy for me to decide what would suit me the best, I'm very happy with my set up!
 
c_healy said:
I would do the opposite of what you listed. You will want more blue than white. I can help you out more when I get home, sorry I can't elaborate more.
Click to expand...

+1 on 2:1 blue to white ratio. Also I'd recommend staying away from eBay. Go with Cree from rapid.
 
+1 on the 2:1 also I forgot to mention that, I went with a 1:1 and now I don't even run half of my whites, turned the driver off, was too much white.
 
Ok that sounds like a good lineup Jedi...I'll go check it all out and see what he says. RapidLED was one of my first thoughts too...
Waiting on an email from them too.
Now this is a question to be a cheap skate.

Can I use a metal fixture body as the heat sink like if I fastened the bulbs to the metal? He asked and I said probably not a great idea
 
What kind of metal fixture? A heat sink is there to do just that, draw the heat away from the LED and provide surface area for the air to come and take away the heat, thus the multiple fins on a heatsink. I'v seen some done with aluminum railing, cant recall the thread though.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Its an old t5 fixture body that has been gutted. Aluminum it looks like? It has a glass cover still too, so it would look nice from the outside and have feet, which isn't common with many LEDs out there
 

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