xandrew25xs DIY led build

xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
Sounds cool, I sent them an email and they said they will be back in stock in the next 1-2 weeks.
I think i'm going to order my leds today
48 total
30 royal blues
6 regular blues
6 neutral whites
6 cool whites
I got the outside of the frame assembled, need to do a little grinding for it to fit all snug and perfect the way I want it, my original idea was to just set the strips in place so they would be easily moveable, I was recommended to fasten them somehow, but now that my frame is together, I see that there is no possibly way for them to fall out accidentally.
They are cut so precise that they barley just fit into place, meaning the only way they could possibly come out is if I picked them up. Then again, how hard would it be to drill a while and run a zip tie around it :p
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by xandrew245x http:///t/390400/xandrew25xs-diy-led-build/100#post_3461224
Bump, what do you guys think on my led color selection?
Andrew, how are you planning to run your leds. How many of each color on which drivers? I'm looking at your led count for colors and the number don't seem to be meshing with me. Could you give a little more detail, which type of emitters are you going to use? I figure XP-G for your whites, XPE for your regular blue's and probably XT-E for your royal blues.
The XT-E's are the latest and most efficient royal blue leds out right now. So they're a little more powerful than their predecessors. With your current count I think you might be a little to heavy in blue going with a 3:1 ratio.
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
XP-G R5 for cool whites, XP-G neutral whites, XP-E blues, and XP-E royal blues
I'm getting 4 drivers, 1 to run the whites and the rest for the blues
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
I was told by a couple people to do a 3:1 ratio, but that seems like a whole lot of royal blue and not very much white
How about a 2:1 ratio, if i do this, i will need an extra driver
34 blues to 16 whites
or what about splitting the blues and the whites
24 blues, 24 whites
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I'd look into getting the XT-E royal blue's instead of XP-E royal blue and go with a 2:1 ratio of blue to white.
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
I would, but I'm buying the retrofit kit, so they only have the CP-E, unless they would put the XT-E in for me, I could only ask, they seem pretty cool about it.
If i do 2:1 I'll either have to put a couple blues and whites on the same driver, which really isn't to big of a deal, or buy another driver.
I read that 3:1 is excessive, but the royal blues are what give the par, I want to be able to keep anything I want, so I don't want to skimp
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Actually im pretty sure blues give off lower par values. Par meters have a hard time measuring blue light. Youll get higher numbers from whites but par is not as relevant as pur or actual useable radiation. But yeah id email them because usually they dont have a problem switching out led types for folks.
 
cipher43

cipher43

Member
If you do the 2:1 ratio then you could run 2 strings of 8 on the whites one driver and then split the blues up on the other drivers still.
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
By what I understood resistor weren't needed if you using drivers if running in a series, if I were to run parallel I could see how resistors would be needed. How many led can be put onto one driver wiring it with parallel?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by xandrew245x http:///t/390400/xandrew25xs-diy-led-build/100#post_3461460
I looked into parallel wiring, do I need to user resistors then, because thats what I kinda understood from what I read.
You'd want fuses and resistors to run parallel strings. They need to be ran in series (in line) at the head or beginning of each string. Fuse first, Resistor and then Led's.
You can see how I ran mine. Pretty much the same way everyone else does. The bottom driver in the picture runs two parallel strings of 12 leds. The top driver runs 1 string of 12 leds in a single series string. 2 drivers = 36 leds. But it's important to remember that if you're going to run parallel strings that the total amount of current (amps) that your driver puts out gets divided and split between however many strings you're running in parallel. For instance a 1.3 amp driver running two parallel strings would equate to 650mA (milliamps) max per string that you can drive your leds at.

There is also a Resistor at the head of my single series string of white leds. The reason the resistors are there is so that I can take a voltage measurement to determine the amount of current (amps) at any given time I want to without having to open up one of my strings to take an actual amperage reading. To do that you have to place your meter in series (in line) with your actual string which is not very convenient.
Although the fuses and resistors are optional, they are pretty much a must have when running parallel strings. If one led burns out in a parallel string then that whole string goes dark and all remaining current (amps) ends up going through the only string left. In most cases on smaller builds only running two strings it's not always a death sentence for your leds if this happens. But larger builds using much higher currents across multiple strings...a led shorting out can and will destroy multiple strings of led's in an instant if you don't use fuses to protect them.
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/390400/xandrew25xs-diy-led-build/100#post_3461479
You'd want fuses and resistors to run parallel strings. They need to be ran in series (in line) at the head or beginning of each string. Fuse first, Resistor and then Led's.
You can see how I ran mine. Pretty much the same way everyone else does. The bottom driver in the picture runs two parallel strings of 12 leds. The top driver runs 1 string of 12 leds in a single series string. 2 drivers = 36 leds. But it's important to remember that if you're going to run parallel strings that the total amount of current (amps) that your driver puts out gets divided and split between however many strings you're running in parallel. For instance a 1.3 amp driver running two parallel strings would equate to 650mA (milliamps) max per string that you can drive your leds at.

There is also a Resistor at the head of my single series string of white leds. The reason the resistors are there is so that I can take a voltage measurement to determine the amount of current (amps) at any given time I want to without having to open up one of my strings to take an actual amperage reading. To do that you have to place your meter in series (in line) with your actual string which is not very convenient.
Although the fuses and resistors are optional, they are pretty much a must have when running parallel strings. If one led burns out in a parallel string then that whole string goes dark and all remaining current (amps) ends up going through the only string left. In most cases on smaller builds only running two strings it's not always a death sentence for your leds if this happens. But larger builds using much higher currents across multiple strings...a led shorting out can and will destroy multiple strings of led's in an instant if you don't use fuses to protect them.
Thank corey, it seems pretty simple, and i'm sure resistor and fuses won't break the bank

Worth it for how much money I could lose due to one led going out.
 
xandrew245x

xandrew245x

Member
I'm planning on adding a splash guard on my light, how far away would it need to be from lights? I was going to just bolt it to the bottom side of the frame, which would put it about a quarter of an inch away from the lights.
 
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