Reef Discussion

[Joshwaaaa]

I haven't played with much alum checker plate, but I was under the impression that it is not very flat even on the underside. You would want it to be as flat as possible to stick your LEDs down

just a quick pic I pulled off the net to show what I mean, you can still clearly see the checker marks. But like I said I could be wrong

 

[newbiereef]

SHOULD BE FINE IF U ARE USING ARTIC SILVER GLUE JUST WOULD BE USING MORE damn caps lock or run a sander ofer the back using fine sand paper

 

[Synodontis]

So I'm not the quickest when getting back in to post stuff :confused:

We have been asked to look into building a unit for an aquarium. These are the prices we got for the aluminum......

50x25mm 3mm channel clear coated $12.50 per meter
25x25mm 1.6mm angle clear coated $5.00 per meter
25x10 mm flat bar mill finish $11.50 per meter

Might help someone out :)

 

[macca_75]

i use a sheet of 3mm plate not check and it gets warm but not hot its 1100 x 550 wide

Hey @newbiereef, the dimensions sound like what I think I will go with (well, more like 3 sheets of 630x430) if the checkerplate turns out not to be suitable (the checker plate will be free I suspect as they stock/use so much).

How much was your sheet as well?

Cheers

 

[newbiereef]

Hey @newbiereef, the dimensions sound like what I think I will go with (well, more like 3 sheets of 630x430) if the checkerplate turns out not to be suitable (the checker plate will be free I suspect as they stock/use so much).

How much was your sheet as well?

Cheers

i think from memory was about $50 bucks been awhile. i am looking at modding in the near future and placeing 2 x 12 cm fans on top above some heat sink (can not have enough cooling) but at moment works fine, mine is in an enclosed hood so have 4 pc fans moving the air around to disapate the heat

have a gander at the piccy in my tj shows tghe set up (its rough not store bought quality but it works wonders

 

[macca_75]

Long (very!) but really cool video that explains a lot of this:

@chimaera - Man I really hate you for this (in a good way). The video is kick ass for noobs like myself - now I can see why you love the "cluster" over spreading them out evenly. It also explained a lot of stuff so I (think) I have it clear in my head at last.

Also somewhere in this thread some had linked to this heatsink - http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersled-designer-heatsink-kit-professional-grade/

Whilst a little more expensive (looking at around $300 in total for a 8x2x2 + delivery) it does look very versatile, flexible and easy to use. I'm now thinking of build 3 "modules" (as I have 3 holes in my tank bracing as explained earlier). Each module with have 4 x 6" heatsink kits, drivers, etc all physically joined together.

Each Heat sink will have around 10-12 LED's - looking at the emulation of Radion - http://makersled.com/?page_id=2#recipes - and dropping the greens. (meaning I will need 4 drivers (need to confirm each 1 driver can drive each string) per module.

So far I have (per module - note how each number divides by 4 so it can easily be converted to per heatsink)

12 x Cree XP-G Cool White
12 x Cree XP_E Blue
16 x Cree XP-E Royal Blue
4 x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red

(Just to add confusion I might swap 3 x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red out for some True Violet which adds another driver, another channel to control, etc unless I just swap all the reds out for True Violet)

The controller can then control 3 drivers on each channel (1 per module) so all 4 colors can be controlled seperate to other colors, but consistently across each module.

Geez - I hope that make sense - it's clear in my head.

It's almost time to stop talking and start ordering.

 

[chimaera]

@chimaera - Man I really hate you for this

Join the club :rolleyes

nah glad it is all making sense, it does take a fair bit of reading and watching to get your head around some of this stuff. The new plan sounds great actually, though would you be better with 2x 12" heatsinks rather than 4x 6"? The MakersLED heatsinks appear to be awesome quality, I thought about looking into retailing them but they only sell to existing LED vendors at the moment it seems.

For the colours, you should consider Neutral White rather than Cool White for one - better red-orange spectrum coverage which will help your reds pop more. Which could help if you drop the red LEDs (which I wouldn't recommend on their own without some cyan/turquoise/green to balance anyway) for TV - which I think would be a good move. Also if you are ordering from LED GroupBuy, you should consider the OCW chips - again might mean an extra channel though.

 

[macca_75]

having 6" means I can spread them apart to the 620mm (end to end) I need/want.

I would need to buy a 24" to have the same distance, which doubles the price. Hopefully it will make sense if I ever order the stuff and take some pics.

For now, excuse the dodgy MSPaint pic, but I intend to make 3 of these (they will be physically mounted as 1 unit)

There (at this stage) will be a total of 4 different colors, all 4 heat sinks in 1 module will be wired together so 1 driver will effectively drive all LED's of that color.

Then the, say for example, White driver from each module will be joined and driven off 1 channel of the controller.

Spent way to much time on this today anyway. Time to clear my head a little.

 

[chimaera]

Gotcha - that's a nice looking layout!

 

[macca_75]

Hey Guys,

Merry Xmas to all. Not sure what every else got but I am now cashed up enough to start ordering the bits to make this idea come to life.

Are ledgroupbuy.com OK to use for sourcing LED's? I am about to order some heatsink from them so was considering throwing in an order of LED stars for my first "prototype" (and by Prototype I am hoping to get it fairly close to right so it becomes my first of three lighting modules and not an expensive lesson).

@MagicJ - these super doper drivers you mentioned a while back in another thread, cheap as chips, dim to 0%, etc - any further details if they are a go'er? make/model to shop for?

I am hoping each driver is capable of driving (1 driver per line) - will it work?

12 x Cree XP-G Cool White (Driver #1)
12 x Cree XP_E Blue (Driver #2)
16 x Cree XP-E Royal Blue (Driver #3)
4 x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red (Driver #4)


Also whilst on it, I was thinking of starting with a Typhoon controller (unless you convince me there is something better very close around the corner ;)) - correct me if I am wrong but it is capable of doing 4 separate channels, each channel can have 3 drivers? Anyway, back to my point on the Typhoon, if I buy the drivers for this (which I am hoping are the ones you are talking about) are they the same drivers as I need for this Uber Ultra controller you have boiling away in the back garage somewhere?

Cheers guys.

 

[VaultBoy]

IME ledgroupbuy are an excellent source for LEDs. Just about everything I had to buy came from them!

 

[MagicJ]

I have bought quite a few things from LEDGroupBuy with no issues at all.

And, there is 12% of everything today :)

Using coupon code BOX2012 you get 12% off any purchase made at LEDGroupBuy.com

 

[macca_75]

Thanks fro the feedback guys.

@MagicJ - Are all the LED's I have listed available (do they use different names as I can't find them all) - you seem to be the man in the know.

Any changes you would make tot he above list before I put the order in?

Also I couldn't find those other (LDD??) drivers you were talking about in http://www.thereefuge.com.au/board/threads/arduino-controller.4498/page-2 - do I get them and the power supplies from somewhere else?

Sorry to hassle you at anytime, least of all during the holidays but I have cash burning a hole in my pocket and want to get this show rocking.

Basically can you be bribed to "make a shopping list" from LEDGroupbuy that is as complete as possible (I'm already paying shipping for the heatsinks so why not get as much as I can) for me today so I can get the order in. I will add some of the thermal grease and MakersLED heatsinks to the order and place it now. Then I guess I will source what else I need over the next few days.

Does the list of LED's and numbers above make sense or should they be tweak a little to better work will what power a driver can supply (is 16 Royal Blues to much for 1 driver??, is there something missing (happy to add another driver/channel to get a nice balance, etc)

Committing to spending hard earned is the hardest bit for me, and I am 99% there - now to push home.

 

[chimaera]

12 x Cree XP-G Cool White http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-white/ (but they are out of stock of cool white ...)
12 x Cree XP_E Blue (Driver #2) http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xp-e-blue
16 x Cree XP-E Royal Blue (Driver #3) http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-royal-blue/
4 x Osram Oslon SSL Hyper Red (Driver #4) LEDGB doesn't sell these, so I'd guess this is the closest? http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/deep-red-660nm/

edit - should say get someone else to verify this before parting with your hard earned cash!!)

 

[Buddy]

Can the driver handle 16 leds?

 

[macca_75]

Can the driver handle 16 leds?

Thats the bit I still need to figure out - the finer details as it were.../

 

[Buddy]

I wonder how a few of these would go? Not dimmable though.
http://www.rapidled.com/onyx-by-rapid-led/

 

[daveH]

This may or may not be any help to you, but I built an LED unit for my 60cm tank earlier in the year.
I've attached the colour layout I used that worked out really well for that size tank.
I only ran 12 LEDs per driver (on advice), 1 driver had 12 various blues, 1 driver had 10 various whites with the 2 leftover blues, I had another driver just running the 4 UV purples (which was a kit that was available). It's all run by arduino and cycles through morning to daytime to moonlight.
The black spots on the diagram are blank spots that were predrilled on the heatsink I ordered. I'll probably fill them with some exotics on another driver when I get around to it.
The ratio pattern may be of some help, it certainly ended up being a really good lighting effect when finished.
Let me know if I can be of any further help.

 

[macca_75]

OK guys

Here is a pic of my shopping cart based on a discussion with @MagicJ (Thanks again for your time Shane)

Final starting point for each "module" will be
12 Cool White driven at 700mA
4 Neutral White driven at 700mA
12 Blue driven at 700mA
12 Royal Blue driven at 700mA
8 Violet 405-420nm driven at 300/350mA
4 Turquoise and 4 Cyan driven at 500mA

They are out of Stock of Cool White and don't seem to have Cyan.

Any other errors or omissions before I click the "spend up now button"?

 

[chimaera]

I am curious on the Turquoise and Cyan combination as they are practically the same wavelength, so personally I would just get 8 turquoise while you can on the same shipment.

Could go around in circles for a few more days/weeks/months discussing spectrums and combinations, but I reckon go for it, this will make for a fantastic light :D