Help with LED custom lighting?

[andrewjardin]

Ohhh, okay well thanks! so black runs power to the leds and red returns it to the driver? And as of how many leds, i fugure a good ammount so that there are no dark spots, over a 60 inch tank, at least 60 i would think, 30 leds per string? If that sounds like a bad idea for that many leds on one string let me know, all of your input is appreciated, and i will take no offense if you call me dumb hahaha!

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewjardin http:///forum/thread/386769/help-with-led-custom-lighting#post_3399778
Ohhh, okay well thanks! so black runs power to the leds and red returns it to the driver? And as of how many leds, i fugure a good ammount so that there are no dark spots, over a 60 inch tank, at least 60 i would think, 30 leds per string? If that sounds like a bad idea for that many leds on one string let me know, all of your input is appreciated, and i will take no offense if you call me dumb hahaha!
The only way you're going to get that many leds on one string is to use a high voltage driver. They can be very dangerous to work with since high amounts of D.C. voltage can kill you a lot easier than A.C. will of the same voltage. D.C. voltage will grab you and not let go. I would not recommend you use these for your first diy project. The way to get more leds on a single driver is to wire them up in parallel strings just as the guy did in the pictures that you posted. This requires balancing of strings which is really not that bad it's just a little bit more time in the initial build process.

 

[andrewjardin]

Okay, so i will have to just put a lot of research into balancing strings because i still have no clue what that means! lol But I do really like the look of the parallel lines much better, and in that case i will probably do more the 60 leds. More along the lines of how many that guy did on his, but his tank was bigger so . . . Thanks!