Supplemental Blue LED Build

[projectx]

Recently I purchased two of the Chinese 120w LED fixtures and they just don't have enough blue to them so my colors are looking a little funky.

I decided to try my hand a building an add on setup, using 10watt LEDs off of ebay.
adjustable 50w dimmers and heatsinks the size of your fist so fans are not needed.

Here are the links to the parts that I have been stacking up lol

Heatsinks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10pcs-Silve...ltDomain_0&hash=item19cc8f59b1#ht_3673wt_1014

LEDs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15072940671...NX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3093wt_902

Drivers

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dimmerable-...ultDomain_0&hash=item2c61e1c499#ht_2623wt_840

Ill post picts as I build, and welcome any ideas, I am thinking of doing 4 per housing, hanging them off the side using the 4 screws that hold the housing together and a simple bracket.

let me know your thoughts

 

[Bajamike]

Not to off track this but got to love the word "dimmerable" lol

but I would love to see how this turns out as I have the 120w ebay lights too.

 

[projectx]

LOL yea I thought it was comical when I read it too.

I will probably start working on them tomorrow night I will post picts up as I go

 

[KhensuRa]

So excited you finally posted this up, been chomping at the bit since you decided to go this route. Really want to see a 10watt blue LED in action.

 

[projectx]

They are BRIGHT, had it on for a second and kept blinking squares for 20 minutes lol

 

[dvenson]

To me it looks like that driver will work but it has a 0-1.5a rating and the leds are 1000ma =1a so if you run the driver 100% it may burn out your leds or shorten the life span of them. I could be wrong on this but that is my understanding of the technology.

 

[KhensuRa]

Yeah he is going to toss in some resistors to drop the over all max current.

 

[projectx]

What he said lol ^

 

[reefkoi]

wow 160 degree viewing angle! that should spread a big area, looking forward to seeing pics!

 

[KhensuRa]

I am curious if they will be as blue or bluer, then any of the other LEDS out there.

 

[projectx]

Hard to tell when I did a quick test, they were so bright couldnt look at em for too long. Once I get them mounted to the heat sinks I will see how they compare

 

[projectx]

So I was able to complete the build of one set of these today. In order to get the full power, or close to it, out of them I could only do 3 in a series or they wouldnt turn on until they hit 1.2 amps. Tried to do a series parallel circuit with 4 of them and it made no diff.
here are a few picts of the LEDs heatsinks and how I attached them. I will do a better job of picts on the 2nd set. I was getting a little agitated during the build of these lol .

I used one screw on each side of the housing with an L bracket to attach the heatsink to my existing fixture.
[attachment=60723:name]

I can see a noticible differance in the color from one side of the tank to the other and with the blues in the fixture off on this side compared to the other side they are a deeper blue than what is in the fixtures.
With everything on my corals do seem "brighter" than before. I am hoping to get the other set done soon and then i will take readings with them all on, these off etc to compare the readings.

 

[KhensuRa]

Did it help add more color ro your tank?

 

[dv3]

Did it help add more color ro your tank?

I can see a noticible differance in the color from one side of the tank to the other and with the blues in the fixture off on this side compared to the other side they are a deeper blue than what is in the fixtures.

 

[Tajjo]

Cool idea man.

 

[projectx]

Thanks,
After they were running for a few hours last night I shot them with my temp gun and with out fans the center of the heatsink was 88 deg. I am able to touch the heatsinks and leave my hand there so I dont think I will need to add fans to them.

 

[Bajamike]

so? how are these doing for you? Have a full tank shot?

 

[projectx]

No full tank shot I will have to try, not sure if the diff will show up, but I did get them fully built, i just have to post the rest of the picts.
Its not very noticeable, but I have started to see some better color on my corals that was lacking before.