WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH DIY LEDs?

[firechild]

This is one of the lights I'm currently using. Each PCB has 25 Cree/SemiLed LEDs, blue, royal blue, UV, red, green, neutral white and warm white for a total of 100 emitters.

 

[Shon]

Years back when I had.. plants. CXA3070 still have a few new ones. My glass diffusers and pin-sinks are somewhere.



This is a mod420 that a forum member made and sold.



Currently have Growdaddyled strips (96x Samsung LM301H) for a light bar build.. I have 4x 6500k to use with the MW HLG driver. But now I'm thinking it might be too much and drop 2 strips and use a MW ODLV driver. Or maybe get 2x 450nm strips and another MW ODLV. Drivers have 10v dim for Apex VDM control and control white intensity.

And combine with aquaticlife t5 hybrid.



This is to go above a 40b.

 

[Shon]

Double. Deleted

 

[Shon]

Cant edit, double post and 2 images didn't load. Phone is being screwey so I'll try again when at home on wifi.

 

[caddnima_reef]

Wrong thread. Sorry.

 

[Koh23]

Well everytime i see some diy product, no matter is it t5, led light or some crazy hybrid, i think how retail product dont come even close to results that people have with their diy's.....

Simply nothing out of box cannot come close to offer that level of customization, every setup is different, and even best and most custobizable light unit will always be inferior to diy, if nothing, in that term of "made to fit needs"…...

It may not look great, it may not have gazilion of options, channels, mumbo jumbo, but, it provide exactly what one want based on his tank needs/preferences.....

 

[Lingwendil]

I had a nice long development thread going on my own PCB designs, and was ultimately very happy with the outcome. I have been using two of the PCBs (one 8up lDD-H board, One 4up LDD-L board) for over two years without a single issue on two different builds, and there are several dozen of my driver boards in use throughout the SF bay area in various projects. They have been 100% trouble free to all I have set them up for.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/some-pcb-design-ideas-for-diy-ldd-l-driver-based-builds.545966/
https://github.com/Lingwendil/LDD-L-driver-PCBs-for-Aquarium-LED-lighting

I really wish the LDD-L series drivers would have caught on more in the DIY community- they are so handy and versatile for smaller or moderately complex builds, but there was zero support from LED vendors for them PCB or accessory wise. I still have way more PCBs than I will ever use, as very few people actually wanted to buy any. If you're interested in some let me know. 4up LDD-L, 8up LDD-L and LD-H versions available.

I have had this fixture going for the entire time over my 40 breeder- Very nice with the Luxeon K16 16up LEDs.

Formerly I also had a nice little freshwater rig going too, since replaced by a different tank but still LED and same driver board-

When I eventually used the same setup as a reef the BlueAcro boards and my PCB for the drivers made a super clean setup in a MakersLED 6" fixture-

 

[danielch2008]

Built my own lights because I enjoy projects like this. Definitely wasn't cost effective, but my corals are happy and if there are any problems I can easily fix the lights myself. In general though, the DIY LED scene is pretty much dead.

What are equipament you used? What board eletronic is this?

 

[Reign1]

I still do.

Both home and office tanks run on diy leds.

(Some details on the led build Post in thread '15g Office nano tank - natural sea water' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/15g-office-nano-tank-natural-sea-water.820995/post-8825471 )


I think you can save money if you know what you are doing and if you accept some compromises.
My home led cost less then 400usd (probability around 300) and give me even par of around 300 in the middle of the tank using about 140w. Tank is 4 feet long, with very litle shadowing as the led are distributed over an area of approximately 100cm by 30cm.

If you really want to get fancy you can have your own pcb made so you can have multiple chanels for control

The office leds are just on and off (although they can be easily modified for dimming) while the home ones are controlled by the ghl.

Cheers

I have built a few DIY Leds for older systems (been since 11') so familiar with them. Back then did meanwell drivers and 3w Cree . I know I did not have a good color ratio. Please let me know what LED's you used on your larger system and the ratio. TIA

 

[KimG]

I have built a few DIY Leds for older systems (been since 11') so familiar with them. Back then did meanwell drivers and 3w Cree . I know I did not have a good color ratio. Please let me know what LED's you used on your larger system and the ratio. TIA

Hi Reign.
They are a mix of (supposedly) epileds, bridglux and a lot of cheap 3w led from ebay. Can't really confirm the origin, but while they were sold has such I suspect most are cheap chinese leds. Having sait that, the lights have been going for 3 years and apart from replacing the uvs (they burn out easely), it has been fantastic.
The couler mix is about 13 whites, 3 warm whites, 8 to 10 around 400nm to 410 and the remaining (58) are mainly royal blues with some different shades of blue in the mixe.
There used to be below 400nm but they keep burning out, so I replaced them with 400 and 410nm from ebay.

Current state of the tank

Cheers

 

[Reign1]

Hi Reign.
They are a mix of (supposedly) epileds, bridglux and a lot of cheap 3w led from ebay. Can't really confirm the origin, but while they were sold has such I suspect most are cheap chinese leds. Having sait that, the lights have been going for 3 years and apart from replacing the uvs (they burn out easely), it has been fantastic.
The couler mix is about 13 whites, 3 warm whites, 8 to 10 around 400nm to 410 and the remaining (58) are mainly royal blues with some different shades of blue in the mixe.
There used to be below 400nm but they keep burning out, so I replaced them with 400 and 410nm from ebay.

Current state of the tank

Cheers

what wattage are each LED?

 

[KimG]

what wattage are each LED?

3w but ran at less then 2w each

 

[Steven Garland]

I'm still thugging it out on DIY leds,10+ years.

My most current DIY

 

[Reign1]

I'm still thugging it out on DIY leds,10+ years.

My most current DIY

Thuggish ruggish ...

 

[Steven Garland]

Thuggish ruggish ...

Don't bring Bone Thugs into this,they didn't do anything

 

[Sixdinnersquid]

Lingwendil, just confirming: do your boards fit between the aluminum and the splashguard when populated with LED drivers?

 

[theatrus]

Still running my old LEDBricks. Drivers and controllers are original. I replaced the emitter boards after about 5 years running.

LEDBrick - DIY LED Pendant with Pucks

8 year update: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/ledbrick-diy-led-pendant-with-pucks.243746/page-12#post-10936553 New design underway ------------------------------------------- (This is my summary of a project I did over the past ~ year, in condensed form, for others to be inspired by across...

www.reef2reef.com

Still building GleamRails

GleamRail, the successor to LEDBrick

Status: Heatsink with machining work (alternate) received. First driver/LED pair build and tested. PCB layout and design continues. Hi everyone! You may remember me from past threads including LEDBrick (LEDS! In Brick form! With no actual bricks!) and a few bad attempts at getting another...

www.reef2reef.com

Just started planning replacing the aquarium that runs the LEDBricks, so that will get a supersized variant of the GleamRail.

 

[Screwgunner]

I ordered the kit from China $300 for 120 leds 2 drivers potentiometer x2 1 for blues and one for whites. Apoxy and lenses and wire. You have to make a cover and a heat sink . I used a 3/16 inch piece of alluminum 18 inched deep and 65 inches wide. Only thing I would change is adding a few uv leds.

 

[Steven Garland]

@theatrus so is BA putting anymore arrays products into production or is the whole thing dead now ?

 

[theatrus]

@theatrus so is BA putting anymore arrays products into production or is the whole thing dead now ?

Working on filling some of the easier to make gaps: controllers and drivers.

LEDs right now are on-comission basis.