Are these LED's any good?

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SCSInet http:///t/392534/are-these-leds-any-good#post_3486211
Be wary of these knock-off Chinese imported systems.
Time was that you could identify them on that famous site where you bid on stuff from their location, but now they've got US based sellers that are distributing their products to give some the idea that they are made in the US. Many of them are manufacturing products to look exactly the same as other commercial products. I'm not saying that is what is going on here, but in the LED world, if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Aquarium applications drive the LEDs hard, at near AMR (Absolute Maximum Ratings), and for hours per day. Sorry to say, but if the LEDs are not made by Cree or Luxeon, they are likely to suffer an early failure. On the Chinese imported systems, you also have to be aware of factory seconds being marked as "new" LEDs. I've made this mistake enough times to be ashamed of myself, and I've gotten burned every single time.
Thanks man. I was curious about your experiences with Chinese units... Now I won't have to PM you.
So you would definitely go with either CREE or Luxeon LEDs in a quality fixture or even build your own DIY?
What is your thoughts about white and blue fixture vs. full spectrum LED fixtures?

 

[verojeremy]

OK, I am probably going to go DIY from Rapid. I would like to go solderless, a heatsink that is already Drilled/Tapped and a dimmable driver but have no idea where to start to make a parts list.
I would like to get uv, red, green, white, and blue solderless LED's but see that there isn't a solderless UV. Is UV that important?
So my questions are what driver should I get?
How long and wide of a heatsink do I need for a standard 75 gallon tank?
Are UV LED's that important or do they make a solderless version?
How Many of each LED should I get? Should I get fans?
Should I use optics and what kind?
If I am missing anything let me know please.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by verojeremy http:///t/392534/are-these-leds-any-good/20#post_3486224
OK, I am probably going to go DIY from Rapid. I would like to go solderless, a heatsink that is already Drilled/Tapped and a dimmable driver but have no idea where to start to make a parts list.
I would like to get uv, red, green, white, and blue solderless LED's but see that there isn't a solderless UV. Is UV that important?
So my questions are what driver should I get?
How long and wide of a heatsink do I need for a standard 75 gallon tank?
Are UV LED's that important or do they make a solderless version?
How Many of each LED should I get? Should I get fans?
Should I use optics and what kind?
If I am missing anything let me know please.
I think at this point, you might need to start researching DIY LED fixtures on the internet and come up with some ideas of what you personally want.
The last time I read something on them is that 26 3w CREE LEDs is equivalent to 250w metal halide bulb and 36 to 48 is equal to a 400 watt metal halide bulb.
You're going to have to solder any LED bulbs that you get in a DIY LED fixture... I believe... (???)
The higher the optic value, the wider the lense - the more spread out your light will be. So, a 20 degree optic LED puts out a really narrow beam, whereas an 80 degree optic led puts out a much wider beam.
I would like it if you also started your own DIY LED build... and post pictures of your progress and your materials list. I'm sure some of us can answer questions you have about it. I think this thread is kinda over with ... as it pertains to what actual "fixture" to get... now that you made the choice to go with DIY. Right?

 

[1guydude]

hey wat about epistars or bridglux?
+1 u need to take a step back and do some more research. Both on color and spectrum for the corals u want to keep and on the LED part itself and maybe wat others are doing.
@snake. I love the idea of the puter case....boy why didnt i think of that, i swear if mankind could just pull their heads out of their butts and get togther like ants kinda....we'd be a great species!!!

 

[verojeremy]

LOL 1guydude OK I will make another guide and I agree this one is done. I am not in the picture stage yet lol.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///t/392534/are-these-leds-any-good/20#post_3486244
hey wat about epistars or bridglux?
+1 u need to take a step back and do some more research. Both on color and spectrum for the corals u want to keep and on the LED part itself and maybe wat others are doing.
@snake. I love the idea of the puter case....boy why didnt i think of that, i swear if mankind could just pull their heads out of their butts and get togther like ants kinda....we'd be a great species!!!

Humans have tried that ... I believe it was called Communism... I don't think it worked long term.

We kind of already have bridged the gap in communication... most of the worlds common language is now English... and the internet has done amazing things to be able to exchange ideas and information as such a rapid pace... The internet is kind of like a world wide communities connection to one another. In a way, we are already ants.

 

[1guydude]

no no no not ants! humans who destroy themselves and just about everything around them.... wat do we give back? We recycle things to use them again... make it, destroy it, re make it, re destroy it. Kinda a cycle...
im not to into politics...so its hard to comment on that.
Spanish is the up comming common language! Dont u believe the charts, graphs, gov, and such!

 

[1guydude]

sry for hijacking btw...kinda got into it their for a sec lol... maybe save that one for another thread

 

[verojeremy]

Yeah I dont care im moving my questions to my DIY LED thread

 

[scsinet]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392534/are-these-leds-any-good#post_3486213
Thanks man. I was curious about your experiences with Chinese units... Now I won't have to PM you.
So you would definitely go with either CREE or Luxeon LEDs in a quality fixture or even build your own DIY?
What is your thoughts about white and blue fixture vs. full spectrum LED fixtures?
Well to detail my experiences a little... I've used higher power LEDs for a number of projects. I've done moonlights in several systems, as well as several low-voltage lighting setups for our deer camp where we can run off batteries for long periods of time. For these projects, I've ordered several batches of LEDs for what seemed at the time like astoundingly cheap prices.
Every single LED from those batches has failed after a couple hundred hours of operation.
What I've subsequently found out through research is that the counterfeit electronics market in Asia is thriving. Many of the sellers of these products are actually taking one product and remarking it as others. In the case of LEDs, what seems to be common is the selling of factory second LEDs as new. In many cases, these subpar compoents find their way into finished products that are just as failure prone.
So, I've grown very leery of LEDs that seem suspicously cheap. I now only aquire high powered LEDs from reputable vendors that guarantee their product and give you a way to reach them if something goes wrong.
That's my big caution to LED DIYers. The presence of LEDs from these sellers on that famous site where you bid on stuff may make a system look artificially affordable. When pricing a build, one should be sure to price LEDs from reputable vendors. The same goes for the driver modules and power supplies.
Cree and Luxeon are the two top-of-the-line manufacturers out there. There are probably others, so I can't say with certainty that these are the only two brands to consider, but when building a system where you do not have the luxury of vetting the compoents through thorough burn-in testing, you might as well just get good parts to be assured of success.