Hey Everybody!
Thinking about a steve's...anyone have input/experience/opinions??
Thanks in Advance!
Thinking about a steve's...anyone have input/experience/opinions??
Thanks in Advance!
Steve's LED's VS any other DIY kit
- Thread starter Mstansbery
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Bumpers
Thanks M@!! Which drives do you use??
Gotcha yeh meanwell seems to be the staple for LED DIY.
Im leaning toward luxeon for a couple reasons. Do you mind posting pics or talking about your DIY with Luxeons?
Im leaning toward luxeon for a couple reasons. Do you mind posting pics or talking about your DIY with Luxeons?
Dave A
Active Member
I really like the Luxeons, they're really nice emitters. I did a couple builds with them and I'm very happy with the results. I just got a few more LEDs yesterday along with my first Steve's driver, I haven't used it yet so I can't comment on it. My previous builds used Mean Well ELN and LDD series drivers. I wasn't that impressed with the ELNs but I love the LDDs. The new build for my nano will start off with the Steve's triple but I am already thinking of replacing it with a few LDDs once I build a controller for the tank.
Oh thats good to hear!! Do you have build threads I could reference? I'd love some links for drivers too if you dont mind! :bigsmile:
Dave A
Active Member
I didn't do a build thread, my builds were done before I joined here. Mean Well's site has spec sheets for all their drivers. I haven't mastered the copy and paste thing on the new tablet, when I try to paste the screen just zooms in. I'll post a link next time I'm on a real computer.
I'll see if I can find pics I took during the build.
I'll see if I can find pics I took during the build.
jedimasterben
Bubble coral sting good
The LEDs are great. Same quality and output (sometimes a bit more) than Cree and less expensive. The drivers are cool, too, but in the grand scheme of things don't really save any money versus the adjustable Meanwell ELN-60 series by the time you add a power supply.
For drivers, though, I would look for Meanwell LDD series. They work like Steve's drivers in that they're DC-DC and PWM controlled, but having a PWM signal is a must. Then grab a 48v power supply from ebay (or anywhere else you can find one) and save a crapton of money. (If you want a controller for PWM signals, the BoostLED Typhon is preprogrammed and is like $60, and you can reprogram it to add in clouds/storms and rise/set times based on, say the Great Barrier Reef.
For drivers, though, I would look for Meanwell LDD series. They work like Steve's drivers in that they're DC-DC and PWM controlled, but having a PWM signal is a must. Then grab a 48v power supply from ebay (or anywhere else you can find one) and save a crapton of money. (If you want a controller for PWM signals, the BoostLED Typhon is preprogrammed and is like $60, and you can reprogram it to add in clouds/storms and rise/set times based on, say the Great Barrier Reef.
firefightered
Active Member
I just built 2 sets of Steve's leds. They are very impressive. I do not have any other leds to compair them to but compaired to my 250 mh.... The leds blow them away. I am using his drivers and have no bad things to say about them. They will do both analog(with an additional part in which he supplies for a $$) or PWM. I'm in the process of building an Arduino for my leds now. His pots are pretty smooth operating as well. He also has great customer service. I will deff buy from him again.
Awesome guys thanks for the feedback!
@ jedimasterben: Im considering a typhon with 3 or 4 LDD's all on a 48v driver gonna run 20 LED's (8 royals + 8 neutrals + 4 violets)
Gonna get the extra parts and moonlight kit from Steve's..His prices are EXTREMELY reasonable!
@ jedimasterben: Im considering a typhon with 3 or 4 LDD's all on a 48v driver gonna run 20 LED's (8 royals + 8 neutrals + 4 violets)
Gonna get the extra parts and moonlight kit from Steve's..His prices are EXTREMELY reasonable!
jedimasterben
Bubble coral sting good
You won't be disappointed. You may want more royal blue though - a 1:2 ratio of NW to RB makes a roughly 12K color. May want to consider some cool blue as well. Flip the NW to 4000k instead of 5000k and run them in a 1 : .75 : 2.3 ratio (NW:CB:RB), that's what seems to look best according to the layouts I've designed for a few people. What size tank is it going over?
Yeh I was thinking a mix is probably necessary..thanks again!! -oh and its going over a 40B frag tank
-Also what do you have to say about the violets? Im hoping to hit both nm ranges with a couple each @ 405 and 430...
-Also what do you have to say about the violets? Im hoping to hit both nm ranges with a couple each @ 405 and 430...
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