Snake's LED build

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hello all...
I have been wanting to get into LED lighting solutions for a while now. I'm happy to say that I have saved enough money to be comfortable risking a little on a DIY LED build. First, I have to thank Richard (Siptang) for his very informative threads and PM's on LEDs. So, thanks Richard. This light fixture will include moonlights, a specialty light strip, two fans, non-dimmable drivers, and the main control is through my profilux 2 controller which will be programmed for when I want each strip to turn on.
Like him, I will be using a generic driver for a 24w to 36w (8-12) 3w LEDs.
I like about a 10-12 look, so I will have slightly more Blue LEDs than whites.
I will also have a strip of specialty LEDs... reds, greens, and UV/Purple. The reds and greens will have no optics.
So... Here is the list for those of you who like lists...
5x generic non-dimmable drivers 12 x3w LEDs. = 180w of LED light, 60 LED stars total.
6 UV LEDs
3 Red LEDs
3 Green LEDs
-----
12 = 1 Specialty Strip.
24 = Cool White
24 = blue/royal blue
The point of this is to make a cheap LED fixture and show how to make it for a person on a budget. This fixture should have enough PAR to support SPS corals in a 75g tank.
Additional materials needed:
20g AWG wire
Solddering Iron
40/60 Solder
power cords
Moonlight kit
Aluminum U bars from Home Depot.
The game is on...
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I like pictures too... but I can't do anything until I get my LEDs. I guess I could go to home depot this afternoon and get some aluminum U bars and some electrical wire and a multimeter and some solder and soldering iron... LOL
AND some liquid electrical tape!!!! Ive never heard of that stuff before... but it sounds freakin awesome. I just want some to have some, even if it's not for this build. lol
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Sounds good, Seth.
What do you mean when you say "12 = 1 specialty strip" ?
Also, can you shoot us some specs on the leds and drivers? Not terribly concerned about what type you're using but when you're doing something custom you need to make sure your forward voltage requirements are going to jive with what you're trying to accomplish. Power Ratings of drivers in regards to their wattage is usually secondary to your forward voltage requirements.
You're going non dimmable?
A lot of folks these days are opting not to run red and green leds so much anymore. Instead, many are opting to just use neutral white and or some warm white leds to fill in the spectrum and keep things simpler/cheaper. Some say they like this look better if you can believe them. But, If you're not going to have the option to dim than you won't be able to tweak or fine tune the color balance. So in an effort to help save you money then that might be a safer bet for someone looking to accomplish the same thing here as you. But I'm just speculating. I can tell you though is that I ran my neutral whites that I built for my scrubber over top of my 50g tank one night just to see how they would look and I loved the color I got just from the neutral white leds alone. It was a lot cooler than what I was expecting and colors looked nice and crisp. The blue leds that you use are going to make the tank pretty Cool, regardless with a 2:1 ratio.
Just giving you something to think about since I generally like a 10-12k look over a tank, myself. Without having the option to dim, you may end up with something significantly higher in K temp then that.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
What I meant by the specialty strip is the reds, greens and UVs all on one driver.
The leds and drivers that I am using is the same that Richard used for his build. He sent me the links where he bought everything and I am kind of modeling my build after his.
I bought a multimeter and have been researching on how to do DIY LED units on various websites and I STILL don't know what you are talking about as far as forward voltages etc. etc. As far as I know - don't go more than 12 LEDs on a driver, ++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+--, dial back the driver all the way and measure how many mA are going through the string and turn it up until 90% of max is reached... or 700mA per string... Then just put a power cord on the driver and plug it in... lol. That's as far as my knowledge goes. But, I am starting on low first and adjusting up as necessary... if you know what I'm talking about.
Yes, I am going non-dimmable. I don't need all the fancy-shmancy stuff at this point. I have a controller for it, but I feel like I would be happy enough with the way I have always done it.
I've not heard of people using warm whites and neutral whites... this is new to me. I was going to use a ratio of 1:1 CW to RB. I saw this ratio in my LFS and I really liked the 10k look that a 1:1 ratio provided. Now, I could, for the sake of adding spectrum to the unit, use neutral whites in the center aluminum bar to add some reds, oranges, and yellows into the tank.
I'll do a few diagrams tonight to see if you can suggest anything for me. I would really appreciate your input on this project.... I am going to hold off on buying the LED stars until I know what I want to go with...
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
My home depot doesn't have U-bars in aluminum. :( so, I went with L bars instead. I have seen some DIYers use these L bars before. I'll be ventilating the canopy as well.
I'll post pics of what I got this afternoon and post them in a few minutes.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member

Multimeter - $5
Soldering iron - $1.50
Solder - $4.50
20 AWG wire - ~$5

Aluminum bars a
Aluminum L bars cut to fit. 46 1/4"x 1" wide x 1/8" thick. the fixture will be 8" in width. Each LED star is 3/4" in diameter so I went with a 1" wide bar.
I'm hopefully going to get to drill the bars tonight to put them together. Even if I get that done... I still won't have the drivers, leds, thermal adhesive etc. to get the build underway. So, I need to make a decision on what LEDs I am officially going with tomorrow so that I can put in an order. It will take anywhere from 1 week to 20 days to get them in anyways. The sooner I order, the better.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member


I just put it together with some bolts.. nothing fancy. It will allow me to mix and match and change things in the future. At first, I thought of using a TIG welder, but then I thought about it,... and decided not to.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/393132/snakes-led-build#post_3495075
What I meant by the specialty strip is the reds, greens and UVs all on one driver.
The leds and drivers that I am using is the same that Richard used for his build. He sent me the links where he bought everything and I am kind of modeling my build after his.
I bought a multimeter and have been researching on how to do DIY LED units on various websites and I STILL don't know what you are talking about as far as forward voltages etc. etc. As far as I know - don't go more than 12 LEDs on a driver, ++-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+--, dial back the driver all the way and measure how many mA are going through the string and turn it up until 90% of max is reached... or 700mA per string... Then just put a power cord on the driver and plug it in... lol. That's as far as my knowledge goes. But, I am starting on low first and adjusting up as necessary... if you know what I'm talking about.
Yes, I am going non-dimmable. I don't need all the fancy-shmancy stuff at this point. I have a controller for it, but I feel like I would be happy enough with the way I have always done it.
I've not heard of people using warm whites and neutral whites... this is new to me. I was going to use a ratio of 1:1 CW to RB. I saw this ratio in my LFS and I really liked the 10k look that a 1:1 ratio provided. Now, I could, for the sake of adding spectrum to the unit, use neutral whites in the center aluminum bar to add some reds, oranges, and yellows into the tank.
I'll do a few diagrams tonight to see if you can suggest anything for me. I would really appreciate your input on this project.... I am going to hold off on buying the LED stars until I know what I want to go with...
As long as you're modeling a working set up then I guess It's all good.

When I mention forward voltage (vF) I'm speaking about the specific amount of voltage that is required by a given number of leds in a circuit. A particular cool white led for instance might require 3.3 volts of power at 700mA (milliamps). 12 leds x 3.3 = 39,6 volts.
A particular red led might only require 2.3 volts and a particular green led might require 3.5 volts when being driven at the same current. So you can see that when you start mixing different colors around you have to look closely at what your forward voltage requirements are and why it's important to make sure you're selecting the correct drivers.
There's nothing worse then trying to do something on the cheap only to have it cost ya more in the long run lol.
Just fact checkin ya, bud.
Since when did potentiometers become fancy?
You're the one running a profilux to switching the things on and off lol.
You're probably about right on with the 10-12k look with that ratio. Guys going with neutral and warm white leds vs adding reds and greens is nothing new. It's been going on in other necks of the woods for a while now.
Last time that I was seriously looking at leds was when I caught wind of the bridgelux (decor series) leds. They are white leds that are supposed to produce higher color rendering index rating than that of even most of the popular halides or fluorescents out there. But that's another story for another time. Just consider me a casual observer. I'm gonna shut up and whatch the build now.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/393132/snakes-led-build#post_3495099
As long as you're modeling a working set up then I guess It's all good.

When I mention forward voltage (vF) I'm speaking about the specific amount of voltage that is required by a given number of leds in a circuit. A particular cool white led for instance might require 3.3 volts of power at 700mA (milliamps). 12 leds x 3.3 = 39,6 volts.
A particular red led might only require 2.3 volts and a particular green led might require 3.5 volts when being driven at the same current. So you can see that when you start mixing different colors around you have to look closely at what your forward voltage requirements are and why it's important to make sure you're selecting the correct drivers.
There's nothing worse then trying to do something on the cheap only to have it cost ya more in the long run lol.
Just fact checkin ya, bud.
Since when did potentiometers become fancy?
You're the one running a profilux to switching the things on and off lol.
You're probably about right on with the 10-12k look with that ratio. Guys going with neutral and warm white leds vs adding reds and greens is nothing new. It's been going on in other necks of the woods for a while now.
Last time that I was seriously looking at leds was when I caught wind of the bridgelux (decor series) leds. They are white leds that are supposed to produce higher color rendering index rating than that of even most of the popular halides or fluorescents out there. But that's another story for another time. Just consider me a casual observer. I'm gonna shut up and whatch the build now.

Ah, I think I understand some of that. Basically - the amperage may be the same ( ex. 700mA) but the voltage required by different LEDs (like red and green) are different... which causes problems. (I don't know what kind of problems, but problems.)
You can't run a dimmer / potentiometer on a non-dimmable driver, right???
I'm considering NOT using my profilux power base for anything. I'm mainly running it for temp and pH at the moment, but there are other, easier ways to do that. Right now, I don't know what I am going to do with the controller in the long run. I may set it up on a different tank in the future. I have no clue. The reason I keep mentioning the Profilux 2 controller is because it was a gift from a friend, and I hate not using it.
Is it possible to run warm whites and super actinics on the same driver? If so, what driver? I really appreciate the information that you give me, Corey.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/393132/snakes-led-build#post_3495102
Ah, I think I understand some of that. Basically - the amperage may be the same ( ex. 700mA) but the voltage required by different LEDs (like red and green) are different... which causes problems. (I don't know what kind of problems, but problems.)
You can't run a dimmer / potentiometer on a non-dimmable driver, right???
I'm considering NOT using my profilux power base for anything. I'm mainly running it for temp and pH at the moment, but there are other, easier ways to do that. Right now, I don't know what I am going to do with the controller in the long run. I may set it up on a different tank in the future. I have no clue. The reason I keep mentioning the Profilux 2 controller is because it was a gift from a friend, and I hate not using it.
Is it possible to run warm whites and super actinics on the same driver? If so, what driver? I really appreciate the information that you give me, Corey.
Yep, I know about the controller. Was just bustin your chops.
I think you got the general idea. Basically a driver has a minimum and a maximum load requirement. You just need to make sure that you're led counts fall in line with those requirements. Different drivers and different leds have different needs. In your first post you said something about needing a driver for a 24-36 watt load. so that's why I questioned which drivers you're looking at and which led voltages of your choice. The ever curious creature that I am.
Simple formula for figuring watts.... voltage x current = watts
12 white led each using 3.3 volts = 39,6 volts. So you'd need a driver that is capable of putting out at least 40 volts (not hard to find).
39.6 volts x 0.7 amps = 27.72 watts. So you'd need that driver to have a power rating of at least 28 watts (also not hard to find).
Yes you can mix match different leds in the same string. Again, as long as you stay within the lines.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I freakin' swear... I shouldn't stay up late searching the internet.
I found a 72 x 3w bridgelux dimmable KIT for $189. Doesn't have the heatsinks with it, but a heat sink is $30 each for the ones that I want. The heat sinks will fit perfectly within my aluminum structure that I built this evening.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
So, from research....
Cree is more efficient, but you have to dial down your lights anyway to not burn your corals. They also cost anywhere from 40-70% more than Bridgelux.
Bridgelux is 10-25% less efficient than CREE LEDs requiring more LEDs to meet the same amount of PAR value as CREE LEDs would. But, the benefit is that they are one half to one third the cost.
The way I see it,... LED fixtures will come WAY down in price in the next two to three years... and if I get a Bridgelux DIY kit now then in three years I can upgrade (and most likely will anyways) to a better, more efficient unit.
What is the benefit of LEDs anyways??? less heat, more energy efficient, shimmer effect without the heat and energy cost... and don't have to replace bulbs on a yearly basis... For the cost of one 250w metal halide ballast, I could buy an entire 72 x 3w bridgelux dimmable kit...
I think I am talking myself into bridgelux...
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Naw man. I like diy projects. I just get confused and change my mind a few times before i commit to anything. Always been that way. Lol.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I'm the same way when it comes to certain thing. That's why I've made it my job to make sure that Seth is really, really, really sure about what he's doing and that he has thought it all through. I understand the confusion. And sometimes I even find amusement in bringing it to the table.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I found a dimmable 72 led star kit from bridgelux for $189. That's 36 leds per 2 ft. Moonlights for it are also cheap. I can add heat sinks for an extra $60 if i want. Though, i think the bars will be fine. I already have the money for this system, and it is upgradeable as well so i think i sm going with this. :)
 
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