Author Topic: Project LED (Read 15031 times)

CoralBeauties · « **on:** July 09, 2010, 22:47:52 »

With some of the new funds from the swap and sale of one of my halides (thanks Kenn) I have started to build my second diy led light. My first light has been working real well for a couple of months now. I put 24 leds onto a heat sink that is 10" by 14" with room to add more if I chose to. I went with the cree leds. 12 are white and 12 are blue. The color after getting it running is almost exactly to one of my 20k halide lights. I had it checked with a lumens meter and it tested exactly like my 250 watt 20k bulb. the pics are of my first light.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #1 on:** July 09, 2010, 23:00:02 »

here is my second build step by step. I went with alittle smaller heat sink this time and am going to put 35 leds on it. the sink is 8.46" by 14". The leds are glued on by a heat transferable epoxy. The most important part of a high powered led is to keep them cool. That is the reason for the heat sink and a fan. Another important part was planning the routing of the wires and placement of the leds themselves. Take you time with this part. Once they are glued down it is hard to remove them without possibly damaging them.

HUNGER · « **Reply #2 on:** July 09, 2010, 23:01:00 »

wow looks good

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #3 on:** July 09, 2010, 23:08:07 »

Next you can see the led as they come to you. You break off each led of the holders and keep track of which ones are the blues and the whites. They are also polarity sensitive with a plus on one side and a minus on the other. the leds are glued onto the sink in a staggered order with a white following a blue. leds have drivers that are basically the same as a ballast. Each driver will power approx. 12 leds thus it takes 2 drivers for a 24 led light. one driver for the whites and one for the blues. You can use just the blues for dawn and dusk lighting.

bkvreef · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2010, 02:38:29 »

Ok, I'm sure you have mentioned this somewhere, but I'll ask again anyway.

How much would you say a diy l.e.d. light (the size you are making now) would cost?

Also I am interested but while I am capable of sawing and nailing wood, electrical things scare me. How difficult is the wiring and setup?

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2010, 08:30:14 »

Which optics are you using?

Why did you decide to go to 35 LED's?

What size is your tank again?

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2010, 11:16:34 »

The light in the picture that is equal to a 20k halide is right at $300 just for the leds and the heat sink. Most diy led packages run about $110 for 12 leds with the driver and optics. the wiring and soldering can be a bit overwhelming but a quick lesson from someone who knows how and it isnt all that bad. Actually since I changed over to a different heat sink I would sell the one in the first picture for what I have into it in parts. I can be alittle bit anal about having all 3 that match.
My original light has 24 leds and I decided to add more leds to try to get in the 400 watt range of strength. the reason I went with 35 leds was just a matter of putting 5 rows of 7 leds that would fit nicely on my size of heat sink. I hope to be in the range of a 400 watt bulb with a fraction of the electrical cost.
Even though the initial cost might seem high it should pay for itself within no time. The leds should last for almost 10years without having to replace or with the strength of the lights decreasing. So no more bulb replacements at every 8 month at $70 a bulb and the electrical cost should be almost a third of the cost.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2010, 11:26:00 »

I soldered up the leds at work the other day. I just ordered the remaining 6 leds to finish out the light so I should have it up and running by the end of next week.
As the pics show you run the positive wire from the driver to the first led's positive side. From there on out you run a wire from positive to negative of the next led until you have all 12 leds wired up. the reason for the crisscross pattern is because of the leds being staggered between the whites and the blues. The leds are staggered to blend the colors together so there isnt a blue spots and white spots in the tank.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2010, 11:35:53 »

The leds I have come with what is called optics. They are basically reflectors for the light. You can purchase several different optics that are in different degrees of reflection. The smaller angle being more like a spotlight and the larger angle spreading out the light more. I am mounting my lights fairly close to the water and decided to have 3 separate lights instead of one large heat sink running the length of the tank. Because of this I went with 80 degree optics which should blend all the lights together well. My tank is a 72inch 180 gallon tank. My total cost will be about $900 for the 3 lights but I would guess I have over $600 in my halides with the bulbs, reflectors, and ballasts. So it just made sense for me in the long run.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2010, 11:55:57 »

I forgot to mention another very important factor in using the leds. Less HEAT. I am lucky in that my tank is in my basement and my tank never gets above 80 degrees. If you have heat issues the leds would help greatly. They do radiate some heat but nothing like the halides.

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2010, 12:37:43 »

I plan on running somewhere around 30-35 per fixture too. Let me know how your PAR works out. Are you still using a 50/50 mix between White and Royal Blue XR-E's?

How warm does the heat sink get.......are you putting a fan on it?

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2010, 14:51:45 »

i will be using just one more white then blue due to just the uneven number count of leds. I have been running supplemental t5s right now but when I get the full 35 leds running I might not need them. If you like the color of 20k then go with the 50/50 mix as long as they are the xr-e led. I have been using 10k halides lately so the 20k color is allittle hard to get use to so I might end up with an actinic white t5 bulb to fill in the shadows from the leds. I need to thank Eric (marinelife) from saltgeek.com for the help and encouragement. here is where I purchased my different components.
I dont think the heat is a huge issue with the proper heatsink. The 10in sink I think would work without a fan. I havent fired up the 35 leds with the smaller sink (8.46) to comment on.

www.reefledlights.com Bill is a great guy to deal with who will personally answer each email and any question you might ask. I wouldnt buy from anyone else after dealing from him.
www.heatsinkusa.com they have a wide variety of sinks in size and can be cut as long or short as you request.
www.quietpcusa.com Is where I got my fans. They havent come in yet for me to comment on.

chromiumlux · « **Reply #12 on:** July 11, 2010, 22:34:56 »

Nice writeup and pics Jeff. I too will be using led's on the 150 build. I have been talking extensively with Eric for some time now. I did not beleive the difference until i saw it in person. His tank is gorgeous and the corals are growing like wildfire. Marinelife really has it together on the led build. I hope to get over again and see how your tank looks once converted over to all led's. maybe we can get out there soon. You also have a beautiful reef. Please post some updates as you go along.

lazylivin · « **Reply #13 on:** July 11, 2010, 23:54:37 »

It was only 900$ for 2 heat sinks, ballasts and 59 LED's? I did not know they were that affordable now. Heck I just blew $750 on two 400w MH, guess I could have been there for another $150 and had a ROI in 6 months.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2010, 06:15:41 »

Marinelife's build was my motivation for doing my light.
when pricing these lights a good estimate would be $50 for each heat sink with shipping and cut fee. On the leds a good average would be about $110 for each 12 leds (includes leds, drivers, and optics.) A 24 led light would be close to a 250 watt halide. To get to the 400 watt strength you will need a min. of 36 leds.

cyberwollf · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2010, 06:49:47 »

Did you ever get them checked with a PAR meter? I know you asked me several times, and I have been out of town and whatnot

granted I don't have any first hand experience with the build, but seems like the stuff I read, people were requiring narrower optics 40degree etc, to get 400w MH type results on a tank as deep as yours.

As luck would have it, the guy with my PAR meter is also out of town this week

I promise to try to get back with you soon

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2010, 09:50:48 »

I just ordered my LED's and stuff. 96leds, optics, and 3 heatsinks.

I'm building lights for my 90gal tank. And also a smaller one for my Frag tank. I'll have about $1100 spent on this, but I have $200 in drivers, as I'm doing a full dimable setup with my Apex Controller. You can spend much less on drivers for the setup.

Oh and reefledlights carries USAheatsinks, precut, with no extra cut fee.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2010, 18:34:46 »

Wall
What angle of optics did you order?

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2010, 18:53:44 »

I went with 80deg optics. I looked at the intensity distribution, I was worried that the 70's and 60's would be too spot-lighty.

harleyrider · « **Reply #19 on:** July 12, 2010, 20:19:05 »

Jeff, my leds from a depth of 23 inchs span a solid 18 + inchs at the bottom of tank, with all leds spaced at 2 inchs i still get the spotlight effect at the very top of tank maybe an inch or so down from top, but from there down you dont. best investment i think ive ever made the color, shimmer, and growth is outstanding.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #20 on:** July 12, 2010, 20:53:16 »

I wasnt able to get a par reading on my leds but I did get a lux reading on the 24 led light. with the lux meter they were identical to my 250 watt 20k halide.
harley, what angle optics did you go with?
Jeff

harleyrider · « **Reply #21 on:** July 12, 2010, 20:58:55 »

Dont really remember, thats what im trying to find now, ill let you know when i find it, but i will tell ya the only time i get that spotlight look is when ive got the blues on by themeselves, such as moonlighting.

harleyrider · « **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2010, 21:32:55 »

Jeff from what im finding i beleive mine are 70, but they are on a controller from 50 to 100%

Wall_Tank · « **Reply #23 on:** July 13, 2010, 21:12:56 »

Quote from: Wall_Tank on July 12, 2010, 09:50:48

Oh and reefledlights carries USAheatsinks, precut, with no extra cut fee.

Just for the curious....reefledlights ships out of Illinois. Shipped the same day I ordered...1 day ground shipping. Nice UPS Quantum view emails.

The Heatsinks drop ship direct from USAHeatSink, which so far doesn't handle the shipping as nice.

CoralBeauties · « **Reply #24 on:** July 14, 2010, 20:23:16 »

Light i done and ready to hang. I have to install some reinforcement wood in my hood so that I can screw my hanger brackets into. man these things are amazing how bright one little led can be. Now once it is installed if I can get wes to bring out his par meter to do some testing and comparing to the halides.
jeff

2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

Author Topic: Project LED (Read 15031 times)