DIY "LED" build "Linear Design"

[Katchupoy]

Here is a shot with blue only LED's. Note: not the same settings anymore since everything will be so dark... but this is what kind of blue im looking for that I found on old school VHO's and not on T5's...

 

[Katchupoy]

My current LED setup right now is similar to what I used to have. 2 x 250 watt metal halide.... but more even and not only on spots (or hot burns)

Here is the all cool white....

I know, I know, that is not white, that is green. I need activated carbon very bad, lol....

Seriously, I was disappointed when I saw this color on my tank. Im guessing that since they are selling cool whites, that it should look like similar to at least Ushio 10k... This one looks like 65k Iwasaki's... I dont know if thats bad or good... because some people are changing their cool whites to warm whites since their LED combo 1:1 is too blue....

One think I noticed though is that being blue is true when they order both blue and cool white and XR-E. And since my XP-G are overpowering my blue (bigtime) I might need to order another set of 12 blues...

 

[Katchupoy]

And the shimmer.... Oh my! Oh my! I really missed this shimmer. Whats amazing is the blue shimmer... can you do that on actinics? hahaha... Just this alone, made me so very very happy.

If you have questions... now this is the time to ask....
Thank you for listening.

 

[Katchupoy]

This is the shimmer im talking about...







compared to my previous light setup.

 

[pyton]

this is amazing shimmer with led i never thought they would get shimmer like this. now i really want led for my lights

 

[tat2z_21]

Your lights look amazing. I would double check the current rating for those telephone jack adaptors. They typically are rated for 1 amp, I have seen them rated for as high as 1.5 but even with that it is 22-24 gauge wire.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Awesome write up Cesar! Thank you so much for sharing. Its given me courage to try this.

 

[psb]

This is a great build with many good pictures. Have you considered shooting some video for the hard to explain parts?

As an fyi. Like mike said i also have built christmas light led moonlights. And they work just fine.

 

[psb]

Nicely done. Looks awesome.

Could you also make like a parts list or a summary post of parts, costs, etc? This build was so well done. Congrats. Maybe you and our other Lighting people could do a psas workshop? Sorry bout the comment above about video. I read the first 3 pages when i put that in then i saw the video.

Other than more blues would you do anything different?

 

[TJL]

Hey Cesar, what a great build looks amazing and thank you so much for sharing. I cannot wait to start my LED build and will definitely utilize this thread to assist me.

Todd

 

[Katchupoy]

I apologize for pictures not showing up. I am doing an annual cleaning of my servers... Will be back soon...

Thank you for all your kind words.

 

[Skimmy]

excellent job!!
i agree, i think u need another strip of blues...
i made the same choice with my little nano, there is more than twice as many blue as white LEDs

 

[Somethings Fishy]

thats insane! nice work. Just a little more hard core than the one i made haha!

 

[Katchupoy]

Your lights look amazing. I would double check the current rating for those telephone jack adaptors. They typically are rated for 1 amp, I have seen them rated for as high as 1.5 but even with that it is 22-24 gauge wire.

Thanks Tat for your caution. I double checked my cable and it says 24. Based on this calculator I have 3 amps for each wire. And since I used two wires for each positive and negative, then I should be fine (I think).

 

[Katchupoy]

Could you also make like a parts list or a summary post of parts, costs, etc?

PCB, Too bad that I cant edit the first page and update it. But dont worry, I will make a summary of what happened at the very end of this thread so its going to be a synopsis together with part lists.

 

[Katchupoy]

Could you also make like a parts list or a summary post of parts, costs, etc?

Here are the parts list.

24 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers
12 - Cool White Cree XP-G R5 LEDs (Rapidled)
12 - Royal Blue Cree XR-E LEDs (Rapidled)
12 - Cree XR-E Lenses (60 degree white lenses!) (Rapidled)
2 - Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable drivers (Rapidled)
1 - Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive or 1 tube of Thermal Grease (Rapidled)
4 - Water resistant wire nuts (Rapidled)
2 - Power cords (US orders only) (Rapidled)
23 - Pieces of pre-cut wire (Rapidled)

1 - 8' aluminum 1" square tube (McLendon) $20

2 - 1 ohm 2 watt resistor (Frys) $1
2 - 5K potentiometers (Frys) $8
2 - Knobs for potentiometers (Frys) $4
1 - Screw terminal block 10-141-p (Frys) $4
1 - Soldering wire (Frys) $1
1 - 25' #18 wire red (Frys) $4
1 - 25' #18 wire black (Frys) $4
2 - 14' RJ11 extension chords (Frys) $4

1 - Plastic shoe box (Target) $2

1 - Regulated 9 volts Power Supply (RE-PC) $1



Tools needed
Wire cutter
Soldering Gun
Steel saw (to cut aluminum)
Digital Tester $3 @ Harbor Freight

 

[tat2z_21]

I love this build and have just ordered my kits from rapid led. You have done an awesome job

 

[Katchupoy]

I love this build and have just ordered my kits from rapid led. You have done an awesome job

Tat, Im excited about your order.

Actually, this 24 LED can be divided into 3x8. I mean 3 strips of 8 LED. You just need to order 3 drivers, 16 RB's and 8 CW's. The problem i am having is the spread of 60 degree optics. I could have ordered 80 or even 90's if they have one. I believe that the 12 per strip on a 4 foot lenght tank is too much. I might order another driver to make it so.

 

[Katchupoy]

Other than more blues would you do anything different?

I will choose black phone chord. I will probably redo the spacings and will do 3x8's. I mean 8 LED's per strip x 3. Also choose 80 degree or wider, so I can lower my lights.

 

[Katchupoy]

I removed the video on the shimmer sample. But I made a better one... sorry for the confusion.



@0:50 - turned down the whites to 50%
@1:20 - turned off the whites
@2:30 - my (wild caught) clowns danced on my elegance. Thats the only reason I bought the wild against ORA. I assumed that they will dance on my RBTA, on all 8 of them... My assumption was wrong.