Guerry
Well-known member
Ok I just took these readings, they are during midday light cycle
LED's
- Thread starter mojoreef
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tat2z_21
tat2z_21
So here are the numbers with a single 100w 20k LED chip. Readings were with the apogee, results are not as good as I hoped they would be. Definately a super bright LED chip with what I believe to be a good color rendering. Just not the juice it needs behind it. But that is what this is for. Start with something tweek it and get it to where it needs to be. So though I am back to the drawing board, I do believe that a few quality pieces here and there will drastically improve the light out put.
6" below the light read 240
12" below the light read 200
18" below the light read 180
24" below the light read 90
6" below the light read 240
12" below the light read 200
18" below the light read 180
24" below the light read 90
tat2z_21
tat2z_21
Optics would increase the par. However, that would also give the spot light effect which I was trying to go away from. I am going to try a reflector first and try to focus the wasted side light and bring that in a little bit. Also the driver I have is not the most efficient or cleanest DC producing transformer there is, I am positive that has a lot to do with it.
Floyd you have to add 23% to that as I used a different setting on the par meter and it doesnt compensate to higher par readings. In saying that I dont think the 20K are the bulb of choice for this, to violet which lends me to believe its going to have to many wave below the 400 level. I just thik your going to get good par out of it. The 12k bulbs are designed for street lights and thus meet the minimium requirements for that light output, here is where I believe we are going to see that pop in par. The fact the spectral wave happens to meet what we are looking for in coral is the bonus.
Guerry sorry to keep asking questions. So you have a 144 leds, what is the wattage per led?? I am looking for how many watts in total ou are running over the tank. Also on the appogee which setting are you using to take those measures?? electric or sun?
Mojo
Guerry sorry to keep asking questions. So you have a 144 leds, what is the wattage per led?? I am looking for how many watts in total ou are running over the tank. Also on the appogee which setting are you using to take those measures?? electric or sun?
Mojo
Why not try the meanwell driver used for the ecoxotic cannons? They can be had for 75$ and are god clean drivers. The reflector will somewhat channel the lights, but a 100* optic or so would do the same thing while increasing par. You just have to calculate the heigth to spread you need.
Yea the meanwells look good but they are 7 weeks out from what I have sourced, so if the tests go well them we can go with them as a add on. I am not sure how the optics increase par though, unless you are refering them to the same thing a reflector does?
Mojo
Mojo
I know where the meanwells are in stock for 77$. Also a reflector will focus light that would escape by pushing it back. An optic lens never let's the light escape.
There is more to this thought but I am on my phone.
Guerry
Well-known member
mine are 3watt Cree XP-G emitters and par meter is set to elec. in the pic's with par reading my controller is 45% royal blue, 29% coolwhite and 17% XP-G R5 I have bleeched a coral in less than 5 minutes at full power testing par, If you'd like I can post pic's of fixture build. I'm building a fixture for my frag system now which I'm using 96 3watt emitters on a HeatSinkUSA.com heatsink 36"x10"
Guerry
Well-known member
I'll do it
Hmm, in reference to the graph with it's y axis in "counts", I am not surprised to see the term used this way. I operate a 21 Megawatt Nd Glass LASER at work that I calibrate using a calorimeter whose output is in 'counts'. I am under the impression then, that "counts" are a function of heat, area and time, regardless of wavelength.
One option for you Tat2z, is a simple boost DC driver supplied by any big 12VDC power supply (like a PC supply). The one I use supplies a clean 32VDC, has a nice big choke and caps (in addition to the relatively clean DC from the PC supply), cost me $12 on fleabay and all I had to do to make it dimmable was to pull a 10k trimpot off the board and put a bigger one on a whip so I could mount it where I wanted. Just sayin. $75 on a driver is ridiculous to me. Everyone talks about how sensitive LEDs are to amperage; thus necessitating the purchase of a big dollar current regulated power supply. It's a whole lot cheaper to use more diodes, cool them well, and run them from a simple supply at less amperage. In my pendant, I use:
(1) 7000k 100w
(4) 450nm 10w
(1) 10w red
(1) 10w green
and 3 3w 390nm near-UV's.
Each spectrum (4) has a dimmer to tailor the overall color output and intensity. Don't ask how my corals are doing yet, I'm just finishing this fixture. My previous fixture has been great, but bulky. It uses 6 10w 7000k's and 6 10w 450nm blues. All are driven at 12VDC from a free PC power supply without issue.
(1) 7000k 100w
(4) 450nm 10w
(1) 10w red
(1) 10w green
and 3 3w 390nm near-UV's.
Each spectrum (4) has a dimmer to tailor the overall color output and intensity. Don't ask how my corals are doing yet, I'm just finishing this fixture. My previous fixture has been great, but bulky. It uses 6 10w 7000k's and 6 10w 450nm blues. All are driven at 12VDC from a free PC power supply without issue.
Ok smarty electronics guy 
How would i take said driver and make it dimmable via a neptune Apex's 0-10vdc Variable dimming module port. It uses two wires which on the Mean well you just solder to the two wires named dimming.
(Hopes to get answer via taunting)
How would i take said driver and make it dimmable via a neptune Apex's 0-10vdc Variable dimming module port. It uses two wires which on the Mean well you just solder to the two wires named dimming.
(Hopes to get answer via taunting)
tat2z_21
tat2z_21
I have no doubt that a PC power supply could in fact create the power required for this set up. With the use of diodes and resistor's. However I feel that is adding more area to fault and thus creating a greater possibility of failure. I have seen the other set ups using this same type of systems, not necessarily for aquarium usage, I just like simple and less chance of a diode blowing causing catastrophic failure or even fire. Not saying that it can not be done, just in order to do it cleanly and enclosed, I see it costing more then buying a transformer.
tat2z_21
tat2z_21
And MOJO, I have called several times to the LED guy and no response. So the tracking is only showing that it was shipped
Without knowing more about the controller, I'm at a loss. I can't find any documentation on the device, but I'm guessing that it's a low voltage output for controlling a PWM device. For example; my kit built fan controller on my pendant I built is PWM and dialed in by a standard pot. The IC chip is also capable of being driven by a voltage swing of 0-5VDC from a remote controller such as an Arduino programmable processor. I don't know if the 'Apex variable dimming module' puts out a very low amperage control signal 0-10vdc, or if the output is intended to power lights. I am guessing the former is the case and brings up another multitude of questions. Not the least of which is: what's 'wide open' voltage? 0vdc or 10vdc? If it ramps voltage up to dim, then it's a little more complicated, but if the lights ramp up with a higher voltage signal from the controller, it's just a matter of matching the output to the input with another boost circuit.
I'm looking into a controller as well, but will be building an Arduino. It's more work, but I'm cheap and like to learn as I go. Anybody here program C++?
I'm looking into a controller as well, but will be building an Arduino. It's more work, but I'm cheap and like to learn as I go. Anybody here program C++?
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Hey Tat2z. You're gonna do what you want, but "with the use of diodes and resistors" left me a little confused, as did "diode blowing". I'm not sure what diodes you're talking about, but a Meanwell 350 has 19 of 'em in it. It doesn't have the benefit of an open chassis and big ol' cooling fan for them like a PC supply, either. The MeanWells are pretty efficient, (%83) but that means at full output (~36VDC) they are turning 1.7 amps into heat.......In a little plastic box. For an idea how much heat that is, grab two 3 watt Crees tight in your hand and run them full bright until you can't stand it anymore. If a PC supply is too "ghetto" for ya, you could paint it black and stuff it on a shelf somewhere. The leads I put on mine are 15' long. I'm not just blowin' smoke here, or calling you a dummy. I have years of practical knowledge and am willing to help you with whatever you need help with. I'm local too. To give you an idea about me: I operate and maintain a huge (fills a semi trailer) LASER for a living and build fancy guitar amplifiers for fun. Same goes for anyone here. I love to help.
Mr. Limpid
Active member
Very good thread, learned allot. To put in laymen terms LED produce much more intense light then MH or T5 and the corals need time to adjust, so slowly raising the levels of the LED will do this. My only question is that I have never seen a PAR reading for MH or T5 fixtures to compare LED to. The reason I ask is that I'm running for the past 6 months a marineland 1w fixture it has a par reading of 130 at 12" and 64 at 24", I have only LPS and all are doing fine. Everyone I talked to claims that this fixture will not support SPS or clams.
