DIY LED Build

[lilrobb]

Can you point me to where you found them?
Tried Google - but only find specs, not where to buy...

 

[vanished88]

http://www.wattsupply.com">www.wattsupply.com</a>

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]Crew;639305 wrote:[/B] [IMG]http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1952442">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1952442</a>
[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1987110&highlight=diy+led+controller">http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1987110&highlight=diy+led+controller</a>

these are the thread's I have been using for reference, very helpful. He doesn't have any dark spots[/QUOTE]

If he doesn't have any dark sport with his spacing, then I defiantly shouldn't have an lol.

I am just trying to decide now on optics. I cant decide between 40, 60 or a mix of the two.

 

[crew]

well 40 will be stronger light, but less spread.. Im thinking spread won't be an issue for you with the shear mass of LED's you will have in your fixture. Have you drawn it out on paper with a protractor? That will tell you what you are dealing with.

Im thinking with that many LED's you have 2 ways of looking at it.

60 - You have so many lights that the numbers will outweigh the lack of penetration of a this optic
40 - You have so many lights that the spread issues will be covered by how close together the lights are.

I would go with 60

 

[roundman]

Why did you pick the HLG over the ELN drivers?

 

[crew]

HLG = more LED's

 

[vanished88]

roundman;639403 wrote: Why did you pick the HLG over the ELN drivers?

It is cheaper to use the HLG drivers. Since the HLG drivers will run more leds i only need 6 of them. Even though they are $100 each, mailto:6@$100">6@$100</a> is cheaper than [IMG]mailto:24@$34">24@$34</a>. Plus its less mess to try and keep untangled.

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]Crew;639387 wrote:[/B] well 40 will be stronger light, but less spread.. Im thinking spread won't be an issue for you with the shear mass of LED's you will have in your fixture. Have you drawn it out on paper with a protractor? That will tell you what you are dealing with.

Im thinking with that many LED's you have 2 ways of looking at it.

60 - You have so many lights that the numbers will outweigh the lack of penetration of a this optic
40 - You have so many lights that the spread issues will be covered by how close together the lights are.

I would go with 60[/QUOTE]

I have not drawn it out but I have used simple trig to determine the hight I would have to hang the leds to have complete coverage. The largest distance that must be covered be an led is 5 inches in one direction (front to back of tank). The heatsinks will be placed only 3 inches apart so coverage between them is not an issue considering that this distance will be spread between 2 leds. Given that, if I use the half angle of the optic to determine the area covered in one direction, my lights would have to be hung 8 inches above the water with 60deg optics or 13 inches above the water using 40deg optics. Using these mounting hights will give me complete front to back coverage by the time I hit the water level. Since complete coverage at the waters surface is not completly nessessary, either optic hang around 10-12 inches above the water should be fine. this being said, I assume that If I use 40 deg optics @ 12" above water level that I should be able to run them at a very low current. I was thinking about using 40deg optics on the leds around the perimeter of the heatsinks and 60deg optics on the leds in the middle, this would cut down on the light spilling out of the tank. I am afraid that If I use all 40deg optics It would create too much par and bleach everything in the tank, even at low current.

 

[crew]

That makes sense.. who would have thought high school trig would have ever been useful in the aquarium hobby haha

 

[vanished88]

I took the time today to draw up a 3D model of the lighting using 40 degree optics, Let me know what you think. I will do another with 60 degree optics another day when I get a little time. The leds in these pics are mounted 10" above the waterline.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

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class="gc-images" title="40 deg 2.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="40 deg 3.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="40 deg.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[vanished88]

Here is a model of the 40 degree optics leds mounted 12 inches off water (first two pictures in this post)

Edit: Lastly here is the model with the 60 degree optics mounted 10" off the water. (last three pictures in this post)

Edit: After looking at the models I think I am liking the look of the 40 degree optics mounted 12 inches off the water. I am completly new to saltwater so you guys can let me know what you think. The 60 degree optics seem to spill alot of light out of the tank. The 40 degree optics seem to give good coverage at 10"-12" without leaving darkspots/spilling light out of the tank. My canopy is suppost to be 14" tall so I will have to determine exact mounting hight once I get the canopy, but I assume that I should be able to mount the leds at 10"-12" and still have room to fit some fans on top of the heatsinks.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

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class="gc-images" title="40 deg 12 inches 2.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="40 deg 12 inches.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="60 deg 1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="60 deg 2.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="60 deg 3.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[lilrobb]

The light "spill" is neglectable inside the tank, the glass will act very much like a mirror...
Overspill over the rim is what you need to worry...

 

[vanished88]

Here is the last configuration that I cam up with. 40 degree optics around the perimeter of heatsink, and 60 degree optics in the center of each heatsink. Heatsinks mounted at 10" above tank.

Let me know which setup you guys think will work best.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

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class="gc-images" title="40 & 60 deg 1.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

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class="gc-images" title="40 & 60 deg 2.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>