Light and tank upgrade

cipher43

cipher43

Member
Ok guys i finally got around to looking into how much it will cost and making this pic of it.
The heatsink is a 4 inch by 4 Foot chunk with 48 lights 24 of each. Also have figured in that i will put 4 drivers that are dimmable and also
the wire. My total for the entire light is $472. Also i have it set up that if i get this all built and the par reading isnt what i want it to be there is
enough space between the lights to put in another 23 bulbs.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
OK have another question for you all on this. The location i want to put the 75 gal has a heat vent under it. Im planning on building a stand for this tank so i was wondering if i had short lift legs if it would be ok for this size of tank so the air can still get out from under it.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Not trying to spam my own thread or anything but i was looking the other day at that loc line stuff and was wondering what size I should have for a tank and what nozzle i would need.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I would do 3/4" loc-line fittings, or possibly get one of those 3/4"x1/2" reducing Wye's and split them.
Tank above a heat source sounds a little sketchy to me. I'm sure it can be done but don't know if I would. Would it be too much trouble to move the duct work over so it's not underneath the stand? If not I would try to insulate the bottom of the stand at least.
Led's look good.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Thanks 2Quills. went and re looked at the area and i think the tank will look good being on the right side of the duct work. Also i see those accelerator tips for the loc line but they dont say a size on them. Would those help or are they not worth it.
Edit: Also forgot to say that its impossible to move the vent because its a concrete floor :)
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///forum/thread/385012/light-and-tank-upgrade/20#post_3377968
Thanks 2Quills. went and re looked at the area and i think the tank will look good being on the right side of the duct work. Also i see those accelerator tips for the loc line but they dont say a size on them. Would those help or are they not worth it.
Edit: Also forgot to say that its impossible to move the vent because its a concrete floor :)
I haven't used the accelerator tips, I hear they do kick out more flow though if you think you need it. Some people put them on the returns and aim them torward the surface to get good surface aggitation. You could get the same effect with regular loc-line nozzles though depending on what you get. I'll have to show you a pic of how I"m planning to set mine up when I get home later.
Nothing is impossible when jackhammers or concrete saws are involved.
Is it a concrete subfloor and an actual slab? I've never heard of ductwork being ran in a poured slab. Concrete subfloors are usually only about an inch thick. Quick work with a saw.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Its a true poured floor and they cut a hole in the cement i guess and put the vent through.
. Not sure why they did that but then again the building is really old.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
OK so i just read somewhere that if you use the ELN-60-48D driver that you can run 1 string of 12 3w leds or 2 strings of 12 (24 total) 3w leds. Is this true or were they crazy.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
You can but in order to run 24 leds you have to hook them up as parallel strings. Equal amount of leds in each string. Guys who are doing it this way also use fuses and resistors at the beginning of each string for protection. When leds are being run in parallel they are sharing a certain amount of current, so if one burns out then the rest end up with more current being pushed through them and you run the risk of frying all of your leds at once. So if one burns out then it's better to just replace a blown fuse than all of your leds.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Ok. That cuts 68 bucks off the build then cause if i only need 2 drivers instead of 4 that will help :). What type/size fuse do i need for that then. Here is the wiring diagram i found online

Do you need fuses on both the red wires and the black return , i was guessing just on the red right?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cipher43 http:///forum/thread/385012/light-and-tank-upgrade/20#post_3378274
Ok. That cuts 68 bucks off the build then cause if i only need 2 drivers instead of 4 that will help :). What type/size fuse do i need for that then. Here is the wiring diagram i found online

Do you need fuses on both the red wires and the black return , i was guessing just on the red right?
Yeah they could go on both of the reds basically. Guys will use terminal blocks and conect them that way for easy replacement. I've skimmed through so many darn led threads I forget where I've seen them all but there was a good one I found not long ago that showed a nice way of doing it. I'll have to see if I can locate it again. You'll have to get the right size fuzes for the different colors since you'll probably be driving them at different currents on seperate drivers.
 
mr btldreef

mr btldreef

Member
nice ...
2quills i didn't even think about running them in parallel. i should have my leds in the next 2 weeks so i might have to see if i am going to run them in parallel or not...
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr btldreef http:///forum/thread/385012/light-and-tank-upgrade/20#post_3378802
nice ...
2quills i didn't even think about running them in parallel. i should have my leds in the next 2 weeks so i might have to see if i am going to run them in parallel or not...
I did a little more digging...
All you need is to run some 1amp/1000mA fuses. The basic cyliner fuses and holders are fine...


Reefledlights sells the 5w-1ohm resistors...these are used for checking the amount of current running to each string ahead of the leds with your multi meter

Also, one thing to keep in mind when running your leds in parallel strings is that each string will have to share the available amount of current. So if your drivers max out pushing 1.3 amps then that means you'll get 650mA going to each string. So that's just something to think about for those of you with deep tanks.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
Ok so quite a HUGE change. Just bought a 120 gal 4'X2'X2' tank so.......... how many bulbs would you suggest now or will 48 work but need optics. Am thinking about adding another 24 bulbs on but not sure if i need it or not.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Optics for sure. I would probably double it by taking your idea that you have above and just make two of them. Or add another 24 leds and throw in a couple of T5's.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
No it is a constant current driver. The 60-48 drivers are dimmable. They just came out with a new one that will drive alot more leds but I'm not sure that its readily available just yet.
 
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