The Modified Black Box Thread

StatelineReefer · Feb 15, 2020

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/OSRAM-Opto-Semiconductors/LCB-CRBP-JYKZ-3B6B-8E8G?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y0haVN0vvCk83SQn0BjV5I9GPAmQJUEqfw%3D%3D

That's because black boxes have never actually used 3w emitters as full 3 watts. If you have one of these new CBBs, show me a shot of the power supply 'naked'. No cover or label. This gets even better if you have a DMM and can measure output voltage and output amperage.

oreo54 · Feb 15, 2020

AquaRaider44 said:
Links please as I do not see any 3w ones.

Easier to check their mA rating..
most black boxes run constant current at 550mA-ish
As above that means most diodes run at 3.6(average) x .55 = 1.92Watts.
That's electrical watts output conversion is variable.. In other words output "photon watts" is lower..but that's another story.

Measure the voltage across the string and multiply it by the mA output. Sticker is fine enough but a series measurement of it is better.
Multiply it and you get the watts of the string. Divide by # of diodes to get average watts of each diode.
w/ constant current th voltage differences between each diode is sort of irrelevant.

Chrisanthellae · Apr 25, 2020

Hey guys, new here but wanted to share my black box modification. I was inspired by this thread and by Dana's articles on lighting. I started with the 165W Phlizon box from amazon. The stock spectrum was pretty disappointing-- Acans, Acros, Pocillopora quickly lost the colors they had at the LFS. I used an excel sheet to plan my layout and keep track of how many of each diode I had used / left over. If anyone is interested you can download the sheet here.

I went pretty heavy on the UV and Violet LEDs and I gotta say, I love the results. Within two weeks my corals colored back up, some even more than they were at the LFS. Fluorescence on some corals (Lepto, Candycane, Zoas) also improved drastically. Polyp extension nearly DOUBLED for some corals (Hammers, Frogspawn, Bubble). My tank is overall a more pleasing color to look at now.

Before:

After:

Notice I still have tape over the green LEDs... Thought I'd like to keep some green in there but, nope, still ugly. Might try swapping them for IR LEDs just to see how that goes.

Heabel7 · Apr 25, 2020

Chrisanthellae said:
Hey guys, new here but wanted to share my black box modification. I was inspired by this thread and by Dana's articles on lighting. I started with the 165W Phlizon box from amazon. The stock spectrum was pretty disappointing-- Acans, Acros, Pocillopora quickly lost the colors they had at the LFS. I used an excel sheet to plan my layout and keep track of how many of each diode I had used / left over. If anyone is interested you can download the sheet here.

I went pretty heavy on the UV and Violet LEDs and I gotta say, I love the results. Within two weeks my corals colored back up, some even more than they were at the LFS. Fluorescence on some corals (Lepto, Candycane, Zoas) also improved drastically. Polyp extension nearly DOUBLED for some corals (Hammers, Frogspawn, Bubble). My tank is overall a more pleasing color to look at now.

Before:

After:

Notice I still have tape over the green LEDs... Thought I'd like to keep some green in there but, nope, still ugly. Might try swapping them for IR LEDs just to see how that goes.

I think you a little Red heavy. But, being that I have done something similar. The UV LEDs especially those below 420nm will burn out very quickly. They still will emit light but the silicone/acrylic dome will burn a black spot. Effectively killing all good you are getting from that led. The lower you go the faster it will happen. I would redo to keep everything above 400nm so they last at least 3-6months before you have to change them. In addition not all are created equal. The “official” bridglux and epiLED do last a longer and have better output and efficiency. If you bought the cheapest you could find with a small die from China. You will get hosed on performance and longevity. You may have researched all this already but, you can tell which diodes are better, generally, just bye looking at the emitter in the middle. Table salt size bad, kosher salt size good. Believe good is a .45mil.

I personally did my best to match that of an Orphek. Ended up going more royal blue in the white channel to get closer to an AB+ spectrum. It’s great to save the cash at first and have a DIY light your proud of with amazing growth. But when you have to remove your lights, dismantle, resolder burnt out LED, change LEDS to adjust spectrum it really makes you want to just buy a good light and adjust the sliders. Currently I’m on the fence of a DIY black box project again (transformers going and UV burned out on current setup), middle ground on reefBreeders, or going all out on ReeFI.

Dana Riddle · Apr 25, 2020

Chrisanthellae said:
Hey guys, new here but wanted to share my black box modification. I was inspired by this thread and by Dana's articles on lighting. I started with the 165W Phlizon box from amazon. The stock spectrum was pretty disappointing-- Acans, Acros, Pocillopora quickly lost the colors they had at the LFS. I used an excel sheet to plan my layout and keep track of how many of each diode I had used / left over. If anyone is interested you can download the sheet here.

I went pretty heavy on the UV and Violet LEDs and I gotta say, I love the results. Within two weeks my corals colored back up, some even more than they were at the LFS. Fluorescence on some corals (Lepto, Candycane, Zoas) also improved drastically. Polyp extension nearly DOUBLED for some corals (Hammers, Frogspawn, Bubble). My tank is overall a more pleasing color to look at now.

Before:

After:

Notice I still have tape over the green LEDs... Thought I'd like to keep some green in there but, nope, still ugly. Might try swapping them for IR LEDs just to see how that goes.

Love this sort of post! Like your UV layout. If you go with IR, try one or two that peak at 730 nm or so.

Chrisanthellae · Apr 25, 2020

Heabel7 said:
I think you a little Red heavy. But, being that I have done something similar. The UV LEDs especially those below 420nm will burn out very quickly. They still will emit light but the silicone/acrylic dome will burn a black spot. Effectively killing all good you are getting from that led. The lower you go the faster it will happen. I would redo to keep everything above 400nm so they last at least 3-6months before you have to change them. In addition not all are created equal. The “official” bridglux and epiLED do last a longer and have better output and efficiency. If you bought the cheapest you could find with a small die from China. You will get hosed on performance and longevity. You may have researched all this already but, you can tell which diodes are better, generally, just bye looking at the emitter in the middle. Table salt size bad, kosher salt size good. Believe good is a .45mil.

I personally did my best to match that of an Orphek. Ended up going more royal blue in the white channel to get closer to an AB+ spectrum. It’s great to save the cash at first and have a DIY light your proud of with amazing growth. But when you have to remove your lights, dismantle, resolder burnt out LED, change LEDS to adjust spectrum it really makes you want to just buy a good light and adjust the sliders. Currently I’m on the fence of a DIY black box project again (transformers going and UV burned out on current setup), middle ground on reefBreeders, or going all out on ReeFI.

They are the .45mil bridgelux LEDs. Wasn't aware though that they burn out like that. I only run mine at about 50% so maybe that'll help? Do you run yours full power?

Heabel7 · Apr 25, 2020

Chrisanthellae said:
They are the .45mil bridgelux LEDs. Wasn't aware though that they burn out like that. I only run mine at about 50% so maybe that'll help? Do you run yours full power?

Yes 100%. SBreeflights also mentions this, as he has a proprietary 395nm LED with a silica lens that last longer in his lights. Not sure if it’s a marketing gimmick. But mine all burn in time. Some faster than others. It’s just the limitations on the lense the LEDs use. I have also seen it brown the extra lens as well (the one that snaps on the LED diode)

Heabel7 · Apr 25, 2020

Chrisanthellae said:
They are the .45mil bridgelux LEDs. Wasn't aware though that they burn out like that. I only run mine at about 50% so maybe that'll help? Do you run yours full power?

The LED on the right bottom is a burnt (405nm). The one on the high left installed same day is a royal blue

Chrisanthellae · Apr 26, 2020

Just went back and skimmed the whole thread. Lots of great info that I missed out on by only reading the first 2 pages before doing my mod... Lucky accident-- I'm a PC nerd and happened to have some arctic silver lying around that I used when installing the new LEDs. Glad to see that this is what others use as well.

Also would like to add that the Phlizon black box still uses the old style LEDs so it's an easy one to work with.

@reeferfoxx Did you ever get results on the longevity of your UV diodes with the outer lens/cap removed?

rmiles54 · May 7, 2020

I need some help!! I had a Wifi box at the house and decided to try and change the spectrum a bit based on all the info I’ve read here. Since the box was old I replaced all leds. After install I have 1 row of the white channel that does not light up. I’ve checked the connections as well as just swapping those specific led’s for new and everything seems to be good. Does anyone have any idea what could be my problem??

First pic is beginning setup( preciously modded to replace a few whites with blue from another box)

Second is new layout. I added some 20k, UV, Cyan, and 450nm Blue. Excited about how it looks just hope I didn’t ruin it.

3rd pic shows board, led’s without lenses are the issue.

AbjectMaelstroM · May 7, 2020

rmiles54 said:
I need some help!! I had a Wifi box at the house and decided to try and change the spectrum a bit based on all the info I’ve read here. Since the box was old I replaced all leds. After install I have 1 row of the white channel that does not light up. I’ve checked the connections as well as just swapping those specific led’s for new and everything seems to be good. Does anyone have any idea what could be my problem??
First pic is beginning setup( preciously modded to replace a few whites with blue from another box)
Second is new layout. I added some 20k, UV, Cyan, and 450nm Blue. Excited about how it looks just hope I didn’t ruin it.

Definitely looks like there's a bad connection somewhere or possibly a broken trace somewhere in the chain that was damaged during removal of the original LEDs.

Also might be worth checking to make sure the polarity is correct on all the LEDs in that row.

rmiles54 · May 7, 2020

Polarity is good. Any idea on how to check the chain? There is no clear visible damage.

AbjectMaelstroM · May 7, 2020

rmiles54 said:
Polarity is good. Any idea on how to check the chain? There is no clear visible damage.

If you have a multimeter check for continuity between each of the white channel LEDs in that row.

rmiles54 · May 7, 2020

Thanks. Unfortunately I do not have one. If I were to get one do you know if this is something that’s correctable or just burnt. If I’m not able to get them to come back on, would this be unsafe to run as is? They run back to here. No visible damage either.

AbjectMaelstroM · May 7, 2020

I've never seen aboard like that so hopefully someone else can chime in.

As to the dangers, hard to say. If there is a short somewhere then there's potential fire hazard. Though if it were a short I'd imagine the entire light or channel would not function. As it stands looks like only one row is affected which may not be a huge impact overall as white channel is barely used on these lights.

Hopefully someone with more electronics knowledge can chime in.