Reef Discussion
I would have come in at almost bang on budget if, if, i didn't have to buy all the tools and mis bits, but now i have them, it means i wont need them again :) so im looking at doing another set, partly to make my skills better, and also so i have a spare in case of a failure or something like that, might add some different colours next time too :)
My suggestion (mostly elaborating on what I think MagicJ was getting at) for those wires heading back to the drivers, would be if possible, to put a couple of holes through the top of your heatsink, and feed the wires through them and back around to the LEDs. Gives you some extra support if something snags those wires and pulls, and helps you get them over the edge of the tank instead of how they're sitting.
Also- you appear to have a fair gap between the wire that's soldered, and the insulation. If you take those wires off to reroute them through the top, I would recommend cutting a heap of that uninsulated wire back and try to keep the insulation as close as you can to the solder joint. If the wire is exposed past the edges of the solder pad on the LED, any pressure that pushes it toward the heatsink (usually when you're trying to clean without taking the lights off the tank, though your gap is a lot bigger than either of mine :D) will cause a short, and that will be expensive.
Sorry - not trying to be a pain in the ass, just trying to help you make sure that you get to make the most out of your investment with the least amount of future problems possible.
I've really enjoyed following this build. I've done two LED builds myself (and probably going to do another one this year - my freshie tanks need some love). Awesome work!
Also- you appear to have a fair gap between the wire that's soldered, and the insulation. If you take those wires off to reroute them through the top, I would recommend cutting a heap of that uninsulated wire back and try to keep the insulation as close as you can to the solder joint. If the wire is exposed past the edges of the solder pad on the LED, any pressure that pushes it toward the heatsink (usually when you're trying to clean without taking the lights off the tank, though your gap is a lot bigger than either of mine :D) will cause a short, and that will be expensive.
Sorry - not trying to be a pain in the ass, just trying to help you make sure that you get to make the most out of your investment with the least amount of future problems possible.
I've really enjoyed following this build. I've done two LED builds myself (and probably going to do another one this year - my freshie tanks need some love). Awesome work!
Spot on DavidS ;)
Thanks guys, well with my new cabinet build i will be doing another set of LED's for it as im not sure how the hood will go at fitting this unit in so the plan was to just make another. So ill keep in mind what you guys have said.
Also please be aware that dad only did one of them to show me how it was done, i did the rest as to why it looks so bad, (my first soldering effort :) ), i have looped the wires that are running to the regulators over the top of the aluminium now, as the blue lights went the other night due to a loose connection, but after fixing that up, i decided to loop the wires over the top.
Cheers guys
Also please be aware that dad only did one of them to show me how it was done, i did the rest as to why it looks so bad, (my first soldering effort :) ), i have looped the wires that are running to the regulators over the top of the aluminium now, as the blue lights went the other night due to a loose connection, but after fixing that up, i decided to loop the wires over the top.
Cheers guys
What current were you using for the red led? And what led were you using?
The idea is that a deep red led (around 660 nm) will assist with the aesthetics, or how the coral etc looks under the led's - as you have found too much and the algae says thanks.
I have a few for my new build and intend to drive them at around 300ma.
The idea is that a deep red led (around 660 nm) will assist with the aesthetics, or how the coral etc looks under the led's - as you have found too much and the algae says thanks.
I have a few for my new build and intend to drive them at around 300ma.
They were the red ones from Aquastyles, it was a 660nm, it blended in quite well, the green of the star polyp under it came out realy well, as did the purple base of the BTA, as i didn't have it on a seperate dimmer i couldnt have a good go and see how well it realy went, when i build my new lights i may grab 3 more perhaps violet ones, and see how they go together.
The dimmer was on at full power as thats where im running my blues at if that helps with the rest of the question.
Cheers
The dimmer was on at full power as thats where im running my blues at if that helps with the rest of the question.
Cheers
When we refer to the current, it usually means how many milliamps the drivers have been adjusted to output to the light circuit. As a rule the drivers have more power than the LEDs on the circuit, so you wind them back. If they're higher than the LEDs can cope with, you can cook them. Eg. the drivers that myself and MagicJ use can output 1.4amps, which is way too much current. The drivers are dropped back to a specific current - whites and blues we use are usually driven at around 700-800mAh when the dimmer is set to 100%. Reds are more like 300mAh, so that's the max current you should be pushing to it. Done this way, it won't matter how high up you've got your dimmer, you can't cook the LEDs.
well, your dimmer doesn't actually do that, your drivers do. If your dimmer is at 100%, and you're getting 680mA through the circuit, then yup, you're driving the LED at twice the current it's rated for (assuming it's rated for 300~mA). I've debated the same issue myself - all of the more non-blue/whites all appear to run at a lot lower current, so if want to add the colours, I really need a dedicated lower current output driver.. which is a new issue. Need to have enough LEDs to cope with the voltage the driver outputs, and then make that entire circuit runs at no more than the lowest max current for the LEDs on that circuit. The drivers I use are 48v, and are generally OK for between 8 and 13 3w LEDs, so adding only 2 or 3 LEDs alone creates a new set of problems (though not major if your setup is large enough that you have a few channels that can be adjusted).
Probably both. Increased current in LEDs increases heat output. If it isn't rated for that current, you may cook it very quickly (or not) - will depend on its tolerance for both excessive current and excess heat. In electronics, both of these can be fatal, but there's no easy way to quantify at what point it goes from working to dead.
The other things you're running aren't really relevant from an electronics view point - the only relevant factor is the circuit that you put the red LEDs on.
Personally, I hate white LEDs, and I tend to run them at almost nothing. If I was doing the same thing, I'd probably whack the reds on the white circuit, wind the driver down to the max current for the red LEDs, then just wind up the channel on the dimmer. White wouldn't be anywhere near as intense as it was before that, but in my case, that wouldn't bother me at all. You could as easily do this with the blue channel or whatever.
Of course, if you like both colours and keeping them balanced, this gets a little harder without a complete circuit reshuffle.
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