LEDBrick - DIY LED Pendant with Pucks

[Kampo]

how hard would it be to add a channel? splitting up cyan/blue would be advantageous. for those that want to save the channel they could always recombine it by wiring them up that way.

Something like

CH1 5x RB
CH2 5x V/UV spectrum
CH3 2x Mint
CH4 2x White + Cyan
Ch5 2x Blue

 

[dantimdad]

how hard would it be to add a channel? splitting up cyan/blue would be advantagous. for those that want to save the channel they could always recombine it by wiring them up that way

In my studies of the spectrum my array covers, I found that blue/cyan almost always get used in the same %. Yes, a lot of times it helps to break up into color channels, but, in this case I don't think it will matter much. I could be dead wrong once I get this in my hands for testing. We will see.

 

[Kampo]

In my studies of the spectrum my array covers, I found that blue/cyan almost always get used in the same %. Yes, a lot of times it helps to break up into color channels, but, in this case I don't think it will matter much. I could be dead wrong once I get this in my hands for testing. We will see.

this may be true. I don't have my array setup that way. I know there is a good amount that run blue more than cyan. and people like me and a lot in this thread that don't care for blue much.

 

[dantimdad]

I actually don't like Windex blue at all. The issue here is that it fills a gap and since no whites are used, it's needed for the visual coverage.

I have the K7 set at a simulation of AB+ and think it has too much of that blue and will be adjusting accordingly now that I have figured out what the heck I was doing wrong thanks to @MSB123

 

[Steven Garland]

I have mint running on my white and blue channel at the moment and the only place I don't like mint is on my blue channel. It brightens it up WAY too much. Even with 8 royals and 4 regular blues its super bright. But makes a huge difference on my white channel where there is 4 neutral whites,4 warm whites and 2 cyans.

But I run a diffuser right now and everything blends amazingly and looks like the tank is lit by T5's. I'm just not 110% happy with my lay out. If mint was a Rebel ES diode,I would have a bunch reflowed into the array and switch some stuff around.

 

[dantimdad]

I have mint running on my white and blue channel at the moment and the only place I don't like mint is on my blue channel. It brightens it up WAY too much. Even with 8 royals and 4 regular blues its super bright. But makes a huge difference on my white channel where there is 4 neutral whites,4 warm whites and 2 cyans.

But I run a diffuser right now and everything blends amazingly and looks like the tank is lit by T5's. I'm just not 110% happy with my lay out. If mint was a Rebel ES diode,I would have a bunch reflowed into the array and switch some stuff around.

Nice! What diffusers are you using? Power loss?

 

[Steven Garland]

Nice! What diffusers are you using? Power loss?

For right now its just parchment paper,until I can get some frosted acrylic. No idea on loss in par,I haven't gotten a par meter from my lfs yet. I cant imagine it being a drastic loss seeming its just paper at this point. Maybe sub 8-10% loss in par ?

 

[dantimdad]

For right now its just parchment paper,until I can get some frosted acrylic. No idea on loss in par,I haven't gotten a par meter from my lfs yet. I cant imagine it being a drastic loss seeming its just paper at this point. Maybe sub 8-10% loss in par ?

Thanks for the info.

I hadn't thought of parchment. Interesting.

Evidently, it's used pretty extensively in photography as a quick and dirty filter to reduce shadowing. It's losses are between 15-20% varies by manufacturer and lot.

So that is a just a tiny bit higher than other diffusers but not greatly so.

 

[Steven Garland]

Thanks for the info.

I hadn't thought of parchment. Interesting.

Evidently, it's used pretty extensively in photography as a quick and dirty filter to reduce shadowing. It's losses are between 15-20% varies by manufacturer and lot.

So that is a just a tiny bit higher than other diffusers but not greatly so.

Me neither until I was testing all the water levels ect ect and my girl pulled it out to bake and I snagged a piece and taped it to the acrylic cover on the bottom of the light.

I may just take the light to my lfs and test it there and save $20 lol and having to drive a boat load. I plan on keeping the light pretty low to the tank,so I'm not too worried about a HUGE loss in par. I really just love the no shimmer look

 

[Kampo]

@Steven Garland what led arrays are those? they look kinda cool have not seen before

 

[dantimdad]

@Steven Garland what led arrays are those? they look kinda cool have not seen before

What he said

 

[Steven Garland]

@Steven Garland what led arrays are those? they look kinda cool have not seen before

They are V1 NanoBox 11up array's. They are pretty dang small. I will have to re-measure but they are under 2". They are pretty old,but supposedly they were "lightly" used. For $20 for both arrays I didn't complain.

 

[dantimdad]

They are V1 NanoBox 11up array's. They are pretty dang small. I will have to re-measure but they are under 2"

I should've guessed that.

 

[Steven Garland]

They just work well,that's why I love them. Really just add some violets and your good. But like I said I wished the leds I want to add were ES size,but of course not lol.

 

[Kampo]

I thought they looked like nanobox arrays, but i've only ever saw the newer ones.

 

[Steven Garland]

Yeah these are maybe from 2013-14ish if I had to guess ? I didn't like the array with lime and the newer ones (V3.1) I haven't messed with.

 

[theatrus]

Alongside the new 4 channel board, I'm prototyping with this, the new Link driver:

Its a 4 channel all in one driver like the AcroIQ MicroDriver, with some twists:

• Its designed to butt-up against a compatible LED board using the AVX Co-planar board-to-board connectors. No wires, just push together.
• Each channel has digital control over current level from 350mA to 1000mA
• Each channel also has full PWM dimming at high frequencies (50kHz) - no more camera rolling shutter issues.
• The RJ45 connectors take in up to 48V, as well as a CAN bus signal. On-board is a cheap ATSAMD10 microcontroller which both sets the dimming and current level of each channel.
• The RJ45 connectors can be daisy chained several units deep, current limit of the connector being the main limit.

What feeds the RJ45? I'm looking at making a Reef-Pi compatible "injector" which will allow full control from any Reef-Pi system (plugs in with USB), giving control over all of the channels individually, as well as providing some overall system safety like current limits and being able to cut power to the bus.

I'm looking at providing at least fan on/off, maybe tach+pwm control, on each board. You'll have to use a fan matching the bus voltage (24V, 48V) most likely, as the DC/DC blocks would add to the cost quite a bit.

The board is a small 1.9 x 1.7 inches right now.

 

[Kampo]

i like this concept, one thing i see as an issue it would cost a lot for one driver per puck. maybe set them up with zif ribbon cabled like this reefl does? as far as fan power, you can pull 5v right off the Pi over the 23awg cat5 cable I used for my light

 

[theatrus]

i like this concept, one thing i see as an issue it would cost a lot for one driver per puck. maybe set them up with zif ribbon cabled like this reefl does? as far as fan power, you can pull 5v right off the Pi over the 23awg cat5 cable I used for my light

The ReefLL Beam is a pretty neat idea using FPC cable - they however only have one series LED per channel per puck. However, for several smaller pucks I may still borrow this idea, but for larger pucks needing 24-48Vf per channel, the driver cost is not huge and the installation simplicity may be a good reason to spend a few dollars more

 

[Kampo]

The ReefLL Beam is a pretty neat idea using FPC cable - they however only have one series LED per channel per puck. However, for several smaller pucks I may still borrow this idea, but for larger pucks needing 24-48Vf per channel, the driver cost is not huge and the installation simplicity may be a good reason to spend a few dollars more

Very true .if my math is right on leds. you should be able to run 3 pucs in series if your using the same specs as your drivers you have made previously. limiting factor being the RB channel. but 2.9V (most they should ever see according to datasheet) x15 = 43.5 I think that is perfectly fine with 48V supply.