Upcoming LED Project.
- Thread starter lpsouth1978@msn.com
- Start date
I decided to say "to hell" with the chinese drivers, and ordered a couple of Meanwell drivers today. They cost me another $100, but I think they will be worth the money. They are supposed to ship on Mon., so I should have them by the end of next week. One major added bonus is that the meanwells are dimmable either using a 0-10V potentiometer or using a PWM signal.
I got the HLN-60H-20B. According to the guru's at the evil empire, based on the Vf of the LED's it will produce about 51W @3A. I am banking on the hope that overpowering the LED's by 1W should not be a problem. Just to be safe I plan on dimming the driver slightly, using the internal pot, so that I can't overpower and fry the LED's. Here is to hoping all goes well!
Another driver set back today. I got a call from the company that I ordered the new drivers from and was informed that they are on backorder until May 14. Needless to say, I canceled the order and began the search once again. It seems that no one is keeping meanwell drivers in stock right now (or can't keep them in stock).
After a lot of searching and time, I found some LPF-60D-20 drivers in stock at another online vendor located in Nevada and ordered them. I am hopefull that these will ship quickly and be here in a few days.
After a lot of searching and time, I found some LPF-60D-20 drivers in stock at another online vendor located in Nevada and ordered them. I am hopefull that these will ship quickly and be here in a few days.
Alright!!!! I got the new drivers today and it only took me about 10 minutes to hook them up (since everything was already wired). I LOVE THESE LED'S. I only need 2 of them to light my 4 foot 90 gallon tank. Here is a picture of it on the tank only about an inch above the water surface (sitting on top of the glass covers). I played with the white balance on my camera for a while and this is Very close to the actual color. I would say that it is a good 18-20K, though I am no expert just going on experience. I still need to get PAR readings, but I will post the results as soon as I have that done.
Alright, Some of you have been asking for the numbers and I finally have them for you. Remember that there are only 2 LED's over the tank with NO OPTICS. You can see the spread of each LED represented by the PAR readings. The top left reading is actually only 50, I must have accidentally hit an 8 on the ten key instead of a 5.
That has taken some research to find an answer to. It seems that there is a lot of interest in how much par bulbs produce, but far less on what is needed by various corals. I did however find this over on RC. It is just a general guideline and I kind of view these as minimum values to keep a coral alive, especially clams.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1918643
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1918643
I made a small change to my fixture and am planning a MUCH larger change. I recently added a 30watt blue to one side of my fixture and I REALLY like the color that I got. The problem that I had is that it was giving me a VERY spotlighted effect (both the white and blue LED's). To fix this I raised the tank a few more inches off of the tank. Originally it was sitting on the top of the tank only about an inch off of the water. Now it is hanging about 6 inches off the water and the spread is great. The problem now is that the PAR has dropped significantly! I am now only getting around 200 PAR at the top of the rocks and about 80 at the sand.
To fix this I am looking at adding 24 - 3W crees, 12 blue and 12 white. I plan on using 80 degree optics and will use 2 linear rows of 12 LED's, alternating the color. One will be to the front of the tank and the other to the back. I am hoping that this will increase the light penetration as well as the PAR.
I would like to just add optics to the 50W LED's. however they do not make them for the LED i got. I could change to another style of 50W LED, but because the Vf is different I would have to get new drivers as well. I may have to do another experiment with those at a later date.
To fix this I am looking at adding 24 - 3W crees, 12 blue and 12 white. I plan on using 80 degree optics and will use 2 linear rows of 12 LED's, alternating the color. One will be to the front of the tank and the other to the back. I am hoping that this will increase the light penetration as well as the PAR.
I would like to just add optics to the 50W LED's. however they do not make them for the LED i got. I could change to another style of 50W LED, but because the Vf is different I would have to get new drivers as well. I may have to do another experiment with those at a later date.