Led Lighting

[ben1987]

in effect you use a heatsink on your PC CPU

 

[Morri]

I don't want any dimming, want them to be as easy as possible.

It is recommended to Dim so you can get the right colour if you go with no dimming you could end up with a colour you dont like the cost to add dimming is marginal about £4 on my build and the only extra work is drilling a few holes to put the pots through very easy.

The complexity comes when you start adding in computers for simulated sunrise sunsets which I will refrain from at this stage with simple dimming you can go from 10k to 20k at the touch of a button (not recommended when stocked ofc )

 

[TigerIssey]

I don't want dimming full stop.

I want the system as simple as possible, less to go wrong.

Degsod 6ft tank 24" depth and 18" height, full reef.

EDIT - The reason I don't need any dimming is that I plan to balance out my light with PC's. I still want to run these as actinics, if I need to I have enough PC's to balance white aswell.

I would rather be able to have each set of lights on timers to control the balance of light throughout the day. Yes I know this could be done via computer, BUT, I need to be able to leave the system to tick over for 2-3 weeks at a time, computer controlled would scare the hell out of me, I would not trust it at all. Its my piece of mind that is what concerns me.

This will go for the whole system, It will all be as simple as possible.

 

[rabbut]

You saying you don't trust my programming

Fair enough, so you're just going to be using Blues as Actinics, for strait on and off, over a 6ft by 2ft tank. How much room is there between when the LED's are going to be mounted and the waters surface?

Depending on the distance between the water and LED's you'll want either two strips of 9 3W blues or three strips of 12 3W Blues, with lenses in the latter case, to get the spread you need You'll then need seriously good PC lighting to "overpower" the Blues to get a reasonable colour balance if you aren't dimming them. If you use Black Cat drivers like mine, or Buckpuck drivers like Morri, you can use a single variable resistor across either common ground and the control pin as with my dirvers, or the reference and control pin on Morri's drivers. You adjust the light level by turning the dial soldered onto the driver. Think dimmable room lights type of thing, turn one wheel type thing and it adjusts the light output, no computers to go wrong

All the best
Rabbut

 

[TigerIssey]

You saying you don't trust my programming

Not at all, I don't trust computers full stop, my PC is bad enough ATM.

Fair enough, so you're just going to be using Blues as Actinics, for strait on and off, over a 6ft by 2ft tank. How much room is there between when the LED's are going to be mounted and the waters surface?

Not quite, I want a balance of white and blue, BUT I want the LED's to supplement the PC's, I like the PC bulbs colours from Interpet. Gives a nice glow. I would like some shimmer from the LED's though. I want to be able to just have PC Actinincs on as the last lighting before my moonlight LED's as the Mandarins love this light, I would like to get them to spawn so this is needing to kept.


Depending on the distance between the water and LED's you'll want either two strips of 9 3W blues or three strips of 12 3W Blues, with lenses in the latter case, to get the spread you need You'll then need seriously good PC lighting to "overpower" the Blues to get a reasonable colour balance if you aren't dimming them. If you use Black Cat drivers like mine, or Buckpuck drivers like Morri, you can use a single variable resistor across either common ground and the control pin as with my dirvers, or the reference and control pin on Morri's drivers. You adjust the light level by turning the dial soldered onto the driver. Think dimmable room lights type of thing, turn one wheel type thing and it adjusts the light output, no computers to go wrong

All the best
Rabbut

The hood will be built by Andrew as will the stand, therefore I can put the buls at the best distance, does not matter, except that the PC's will need to be effective at the same height.

 

[rabbut]

OK, I'd probably go with the higher powered option if cash isn't too much of a bind, and set them about 6-8" above the tank's surface with the 25 degree lenses I mention in my DIY LED post If cash is tighter, the lower powered option will need mounting about 3" off the surface. The actuall distance to the hood will depend on the heat sinks and mounting method though, so you'll have to think about how you want to go about that a little...

 

[degsod]

OK, I'd probably go with the higher powered option if cash isn't too much of a bind, and set them about 6-8" above the tank's surface with the 25 degree lenses I mention in my DIY LED post If cash is tighter, the lower powered option will need mounting about 3" off the surface. The actuall distance to the hood will depend on the heat sinks and mounting method though, so you'll have to think about how you want to go about that a little...

Agreed with above, I would look at the higher powered version and would deffo go for the option of dimming, the LED's are very bright and very blue

 

[TigerIssey]

I really will not be dimming. I can alter tones with my PC's which I will be keeping. My Mandarins come first, they like the actinic PC light for their courting, so that is what they will get.


Will go with the high powered ones. I will then taylor the pc bulbs to the colours I get from the LED's. I presume the hood may need to be quite deep then if I am going to use 6-8" from the surface + the heat sinks. Yes, or am I being dumb.

I will use timers on all lights so that I can get the colours as I want them at the times I want them on.. If the LED's are bright, I will counteract that with actinic PC's etc.

How many LED's do I need to be looking at?? My PC's are 2x55w and 4x36w, the 2x36w will be Actinic PC's and then I have the coice of Triplus / Daylight, 50/50 or actinic for 55w and remaining 36W.

 

[rabbut]

The Blues will handle Actinic on their own in the High-power version. The high-power version would use 36 LED's

Yes, you hood will need to be deep once you add the heat sinks and lenses, they will add at least an inch and a half, possibly more depending on the heat sinks, lenses and mounting media allong with the way you impliment your fans for forced cooling, unless you are going to dedicate the entire tank hood-top as a custom heat sink for these things...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[TigerIssey]

Is that to replace my lighting or supplement it Rabutt??

36 LED's is starting to sound alot of money. If I got them for what you paid (unlikely as you got them 1 off), I am lookig at £126 just for the bulbs. Then there is the heat sinks, the reflector thingies, the fans and the driver. Mounting materials plus the cement. Not forgetting the headache of actually wiring everything.

At this rate, I may be cheaper supplementing the PC's with aquarays, I only need to top up the lighting.

 

[rabbut]

Those LED's would replace any actinics. If you want to top-up PC Actinics, feel free to go with the low-power option, which is 18 LED's That's the lowest amount I'd use on your tank though, as less will lead to patchy coverage unless the are mounted a looong way off the surface... On the low power option, you won't need lenses either, and a couple of the smaller PC's would be ample to top-up the LED's over say the Bommies

 

[TigerIssey]

That sounds better.

So the low powered would need to be 3-4" max from the surface.

I had a quick look on This Site

Which LED's would I be looking for and which boards. Would these low powered need a fan and which heat sinks would be best, then which driver would I need. Also what wire do you use for them.

Once I know which ones I am looking for, I can keep a watch out on ebay for the parts I need. May get them a bit cheaper that way.

That would work out well if I could just use the 36w on the tank in conjunction. That would then give me a the 55w for the sea horse refugium (may need to have one 55 on the tank and one on SH ref, then one 36w actinic for SH ref and one on display, just for the timers as they are all dual sets). All I would need then is a light for using on reverse LC for my Chaeto.

That could work out very well.

 

[Morri]

Hi TigerIssey

Because you have chosen not to control the LED`s with dimmers etc. These power supplies would be a better option as it will save you some more money they act just like a ballast in standard T5 lighting you connect one end to the mains and the other to the LEDs. You will need to match the wattage to the bulbs you buy so either 700ma or 1000ma are the standard.

http/www.led-tech.de/en/LED-Controlling/...41_118_119.html

 

[rabbut]

You can get drivers from Ebay from about £6 each... Take a look here You then hook-up up-to three drivers to one of these. The driver Morri links to would be running rigt on the edge of that it can manage, so would get very hot and may fail early, it's better to have a margin of extra power so the supplies and drivers run slightly cooler and hence should last longer

For the LED's, you'd be looking at something like the Cree 1A Royal Blue LED, or the Luxeon 1A Royal Blue

HTH
Rabbut

 

[TigerIssey]

Thanks Rabutt.

You did not mention a fan, would I need one??