TOG's new 240 build with DIY LED's and Controller

[that0neguy1126]

Ok so the build officially started today 2/17/11.

I have been researching a lot (like the past 3 days, 5hrs a day, at work of course) on LED lights, and how to control those lights.

For the build I plan to order a 240 gallon, 96" x 24" x 24" with a center trapezoid overflow. Right now I plan on ordering it from here.
http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/240_Gallon_Rectangle_Tenecor.aspx

To light this beast I am planning on using 144 LED's. Still planning exactly what color's but the thought right now is 4 sections, with 36 LED's on each, 18 blue, and 18 white (still debating which whites) or I might run 24 blues and 12 whites per section. I am also building it out so if 144 is not enough, I can scale it up to add 4 more sections for a total of 216 LED's. I will post more later (once the design is 90%), still a few things I need to consider.

To control the tank, I will be building my own controller using Arduino. I order the PCB and all the components tonight, hope to start putting it together in early march.
For anyone interested, I would start by reading through this thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1783536&page=49



Today I went and got a bunch of lumber to start building the stand. I also moved the sump and its stand into the basement.

The sump is a 150gal (tall) that a friend had in his garage for a while. I will be buying some Plexiglas or acrylic this weekend and some weld-on to make some baffles in this thing.

View attachment 1522

To drive the LED's I am looking at a Meanwell HLG-150-24_B. This will run off the 120vAC from the house, and convert it into 24vDC. This power supply also works as a driver as it runs constant current. For those unfamilar with LED's, unlike most devices, like an engine, which run off constant Voltate and when there is a load, they draw more current. LED's work off a set current all the time, and vary the voltage. I plan to set the output current at 700mA to drive the LED's. Each LED drops about 3.7A @ 1A. So even if I drive these LED's at max current, I can run 6 in serries (3.7vDC x 6 = 22.2vDC) which gives me a little buffer. I can also run 6 strings in parallel off each power supply (6 x 1A = 6A) this Power supply can output 6.3A, and since I am not really running 1A I have more than enough. As for wattage (6A x 22.2vDC = 133W) which again, is less than the 150W that this power supply is rated for.

To get my 144 LED's I will have to run 4 power supply, and if I find out the PAR is not what I want, I will add 2 more for 216 LED's.

What I plan to do is build modules with 36 LED's on each with 80 degree optics on them (maybe 60degree on the LED's around the outside edges). Each Power supply will feed 3 strings of the same color from 2 different modules. So If i have 1...2...3...4 over the tank, the blues from 1 and 2 will be on the same power supply, which will allow me to dim them together.


For the controller. It will have PWM outputs that can dim the LED's by pulsing them on and off faster than the human (or fish) eye can detect. Less pulses = less light. It also has a LCD connection, Ethernet connection with a little web server/data base to keep track of parameters. It will also have a PH probe and temp probe. I can also expand it to include relays to turn things off/on and a ORP sensor, and really anything I want.

 

[that0neguy1126]

So made a lot of progress this week. Build the frame of the stand. I am going to cover it with drywall and create a faux wall.

IMAG0320 by that0neguy1126

Here is the frame all finished. It ended up being 100 1/2" long (add 1/2 drywall and it will be 101" (this size of the wall it is going up next to.) And I just noticed it is upside down in this picture. The top where the tank will sit is 2x6's. The braces are 33" in from the edges of the stand. Should be more than enough support for the tank. Each corner is 2 2x4's and a peice of 1x1 post that its tacked to. The center braces are 2 2x4's each.

IMAG0321 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr

After about 10 trips to home depot and lowes (oh and Wirick, I will no longer shop at HD, I will drive the extra 5mins to lowes from now on, much better selection) I finally had all the return plumbing put together (minus the pipe that will go up to the DT). The sump is going to sit in my basement under the DT. For return pumps I bought 2 Panworld NH-200PS pumps The the pumps will have a head height of about 10' to pump up. If you click the link you can see that's about 25 GPM or 1500 GPH from each pump. I also tee'd off the return line to be able to direct water back into the sump if that is to much flow. You can also see the monster SWC skimmer (rated for a heavy bioload on a 300gal tank) thanks to Elite Reef! Need to build a stand for it though to get it higher.

IMAG0322 by that0neguy1126, on Flickr

I also got the heaters in the mail this week, but they accidentally shipped me 300w instead of 400w models. So they are shipping me 3 new ones.
Need to go get some rubber to place under the pumps and drill the hole into the tank. Then I can fill the sump up and start cycling and curing the rest of the rock. Since it wouldn't all fit in a 10gallon sump.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Reserved 2

 

[that0neguy1126]

Reserved 3

 

[that0neguy1126]

Reserved 4

 

[djkms]

This is going to be good, a almost complete DIY build. For the LED's I would reccomend 2 blues (1B, 1 RB) to 1 white. Even with 2 blues on my AI's to 1 white I have to run the blues at a much higher intensity than the white to get the color I want.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Yea I need to read through some of the end of the Big LED thread over at RC. In the begining people were using 1 Royal Blue : 1 Cool White. But people are saying to use the RB and the Warm White instead. And a different combonation.

 

[Cake_Boss]

Sweet, can't wait until the reserved turns into actual pics.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Haha me either. Was hoping to have the stand build this weekend... but we will see.

 

[Zooid]

oops

 

[Zooid]

Is there some kind of current limiting function on each parallel branch?
I ask because if you set the current for for 6 Amps to run six parallel branches and you lose one led in a branch, that extra amp will have to
be distributed between the other branches. You might survive one bad LED but if you have multiple branches lose an LED, you may blow a bunch of LED's.

There's a new driver out that can drive about 30 LED's in series but I don't know if it can use PWM dimming. I know it can dim with a 0-10VDC signal. I'll try to find the link.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Yes, There will be a quick blow 1A fuse on each string, that way if one shorts open, the extra current to the rest will blow the fuse before it blows the LED's.

the nice thing with the controller I plan to build, I can modify it to have a 0-10vDC signal instead of PWM.

 

[Zooid]

Yeah, I like the Arduino concept.....I just don't have the patience to try one yet

 

[that0neguy1126]

Yea. I think its a great idea. And the functionality you get out of it is better than any off the shelf controller. I know enough about programing to stumble my way through for anything the other guys haven't figured out already, or anything custom I want to do. And luckily my father in law is an EE that can help with the design of any of the hardware.

 

[Zooid]

Do you plan on using XR-E's?
or XP-G's and XP-E's?

 

[Crit21]

I've built a couple of LED systems for my 150 and have some "lessons learned" to share.

From what I've learned about all of the 3W LEDs, most people overkill with white. Sure, you can use fewer whites if you go with XPGs, but then you can end up with the spotlight effect due to fewer LEDs. Compounding the issue is the fact that most people dim the whites because they wash out the blues if your white:blue ratio is 1:1 or even 1:2. That means using even fewer whites if you want to run them at full power, but that also leads to the spotlight effect problem. You end up wasting money by using more LEDs and running them at lower intensity.

So the point I'm making is that you don't need the highest-output 3W whites to get the effect that you want. You could get away with 1W whites to get the even coverage and intensity you want.

It seems that most people accept Cree as the best LEDs on the market. This isn't necessarily true. It happens to be the best known, and when it comes to the whites, the brightest. Sure, the XP-Gs have the highest output, but you've read my opinion on that. There are several manufacturers of high-output, high-reliability LEDs, like Bridgelux, Seoul Semiconductor and Samsung. I have a mix of Cree and Bridgelux, and I really don't notice a difference between them.

 

[Crit21]

Can you post your circuit design? My background includes electronics. I could let you know where any problems could occur.

I like the Arduino idea. I'm planning on a Mega in the future to monitor and control most of the system. The nice thing is that the code is all available for free on the Arduino community site. I like the idea of using PWM to fade the LEDs in each circuit on and off each day.

 

[Crit21]

To light this beast I am planning on using 144 LED's. Still planning exactly what color's but the thought right now is 4 sections, with 36 LED's on each, 18 blue, and 18 white (still debating which whites) or I might run 24 blues and 12 whites per section.

I'd advise putting the whites, blues and royal blues on separate circuits. If they're mixed on single circuits, you're locked in to the aesthetics because you lose the ability to adjust each color independently.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Yep. Was planning on hooking up each color to its on PWM dimming circuit from the Arduino.

Because I have not locked into a specific Power supply, still debating designs. Right now I am looking at the HLG-185-24_B x4. I need to go download one of the free circuit design programs.

But right now the plan would be 6 LED's in series. and 6 strings per PS. Each series would have a resistor and quick blow 1A fuse on it in case of shorts. The Power Supply driver has a 10v PWM input to pulse all the LED's driven off it (that would be why 1 color per power supply). The Arduino only outputs a 5v PWM signal, but one of the guys on RC built a shield for it to convert it to 10v.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Do you plan on using XR-E's?
or XP-G's and XP-E's?

Still debating. Like crit said, there are a lot of other LED manufacturers. Cost and availability will probably be the deciding factor. If I remember right, the XP-G's are very hard to find optics for (need to verify that, it may be a different model).

also as far as the White : Blue. I planned on 1:1, and the white would be dimmed a lot. Like we talked about at the meeting, a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 seems to give a better kelvin rating, the problem is how do you do a layout with those ratio's and not cause spot effects. I realize running the whites at 30% is a huge waste of money... but if I use less, how do I solve the spotlight problem?