my custom led build for 125g tank

[Deep Dive Coral]

hello all...... ive be working on getting a fixture drawn up ... i posted a picture of the array that i think will work.

material so far is going to be 120 leds total.

60 xr-e cool white (trying to find the 10k ones but seem to only find the 6500k)
60 xr-e Royal Blue
12 mean well eln-60-48d drivers
3 heatsinks (could use some advice on the size i should get from heatsink usa. opening is 16w x 21L)
square aluminum tubing for frame
60 degree optics
2 fans ultra wispers
controller........ (still looking into one not really sure what i want. def want solar cycle just dont want to spend another 400$)

attached is a copy of the aray and an idea of how im going to power the leds.... please let me know if im stil all good. also let me know if this cant be done with a controller.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...st&id=83267


all help is appreciated. and none will be over looked.

thanks and hopefully you tag along for the build..

 

[motortrendz]

just tagging along...

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

nice motor thanks for the first tagging

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

is there any way to see the light coverage using google sketchup or another program.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

hey everyone i just ordered my leds 72 cool white cree xre and 72 cree xre royal blue..... got them for an unbelievable 550 shipped. i also ordered my heat sinks from heatsinkusa.com. i will be keeping everyone up to speed now that the ball is rolling a little bit.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

i will be ordering meanwell eln60-48P tomorrow. the first order of 8 will be in about 2-3 weeks. then the last 4 wont be here till october. brutal.... but with it to save like 6$ a driver. maybe ill just order them from another place just to have them but i can at least start wiring them up to the leds to test and make sure they are working. this is going to be a long build with lots of picture.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

i forgot to mention that i will be using an anduino for the controlling or the leds.

 

[qy7400]

There's a good thread on RC with some good Arduino sketches, been playing with a few myself but on a single array of 12 LEDs. Just ordered a RTC chip and display to see what the lights are doing as the code progresses.

Where did you get everything from, I've been thinking of building a 40 breeder with 36 (18 RB/18 CW) with 80 degree optics from RapidLED.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

I found a wholesaler in hong kong throigh ebay for the led and a distributer in boston for the drivers.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Do you mind sending me the link to the rc thread.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Just ordered my drivers this morning. Payed 320 shipped for 12 drivers. Eln60 -48P. They will be here middle of october with the leds and heatsinks. Any recomendations on tapping the heat sink or should I epoxy them.

 

[ming]

Where did you buy the drivers from? I'll need 4 more soon of the D versions.
If you drill, get the self tapping screws. You need to get an exact match between the drill bit and the self tapping screws, otherwise the head of the screw will just pop off if its too tight. You still should use epoxy when tapping, just not the adhesive epoxy. The adhesive will harden up and will be very hard to remove if you ever need to replace or want to swap out LED colors.
Since you have a 125, which standard is 5 foot long with 2 center braces, I would separate it out into 3 fixtures, so 40 bulbs each fixture (You can actually run 13 on each driver so I would probably do 39 bulbs each fixture to save money and time on drivers, 5 rows of 8 LED's with the very center bulb missing)

 

[qy7400]

RC Thread... http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1831741

Another good Arduino controller build http://reefprojects.com/wiki/Main_Page

Order from CDI? Good price but waiting 6 weeks seems long to me but you did save 72 over RapidLED.

Ming I found popping LEDs off not to bad, I cooked one while soldering and popped it off with a screwdriver blade pretty effortlessly; also wasn't worried what happened as the LED was dead anyway.

 

[ming]

cdiweb has them out of stock

I believe the epoxy adhesive gets a lot more solid over time from the heat of the LED's being turned on.

 

[qy7400]

I don't think I've ever seen CDI have them in stock, I think they build up the order and buy in bulk once the hit a quantity. I've read some get lucky and buy in just before the target and others wait 2 months. Clever practice as the order is all profit and no fear of stock collecting dust.

Could be on the Epoxy, I swapped it before any long term use.

I liked the 39 LED grid idea but thought why waste the center, use it for a moon light.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Well I actually am going with 48 total per heat sink. I will go with the self tapping screws. Canyou reccomend,Ny,that are that small. Also what kind of rubber washer to get. Just updated my drivers. The toyal is actually 303. Yhe shipping cost was reduced. I got
them for 24.66 per driver. I will post where all wesites and email address of people who I dealt with when I get home tonight. I also am drawwing up some full layout and will post later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[ming]

screws and nylon washer, the exact ones i used
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FMYC5M/?tag=reefs04-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FMWVC8/?tag=reefs04-20

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Thanks ming. You are the best.

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Screws and washers ordered. Next thing is HD for the frame material

 

[Deep Dive Coral]

Heat sinks will be here for wed the 8th..... I cant wait to start framing out and running all the wire. Ill have the frame and heatsinks mounted by the end of next weekend.