DIY LED Project? or not

[aiaman]

I am fixated in getting a LED fixture replacing my 4 lamp T5 VHO, someday.
I have been reading up from various members on their LED canopy projects and I have a question...
The website I saw was www.Reefledlights.com and that gave great info but I don't see any benefit of building a DIY canopy over an available fixture from same site.
I have a small tank and only need 30-36 lamps at best.
Their DIY fixture of 12 lamps is about $299 while their EVOLUTION fixture is the same price with 119 lamps.The fixture would sit on a glass top close to the water and the tank is a mere 408 sq. in surface area.
The fixture has 2 plugs to run blue and/or white lamps, a simple timer on my part and I'm done. 3 fans come w/Evolution & I don't think I need a dimmer for one fixture.
So for same bucks, can someone convince me that I should build?

 

[JohnK]

I think you are comparing 12x 3 watt LED, to 119 1watt LEDs. I don't think it is as simple as comparing number of bulbs or watts.

 

[JohnK]

Also, the dirty little secret about LED fixtures is that any assembled LED fixture has to pay for the right to exist to the ********* who managed to get a patent on any LED fixture used on a fish tank. It was bit lawsuit that essentially put PFO out of business and set back the progress of LEDs and reefing by several years. The summary is some tool managed to patent the concept of using LEDs in anyway for fishtanks, even though said tool had done nothing except to get a good laywer.

DIY LEDs are not covered in the lawsuit, so you can get DIY parts and kits without having to pay for the *******'s patent.

The 1 watt LEDs are older technology and IIRC don't perform anywhere near as well as the newer 3W LEDs.

 

[afboundguy]

John is correct that 3w LED's are much better than 1w LED's. They are by far much more efficient. I'm not saying that that fixture is a POS but there are plenty of pro's and con's about which way you would go...

I plan on building a DIY LED kit to replace my T5's and I'll be purchasing a small order of LED's to see what ratio would yield the best visual results for me in probably the week of X-mas or the week after depending on when I get my bonus check...

 

[kevinpratt823]

On top of all that, even when you compare the different brands of 3W LED's, there is a signifigant difference. I have a fixture similar to the evolution, but it has (119) 3W Bridgelux LED's, my DIY kit on the 72g bow has (72) 3W Cree LED's, and at half throttle, it still blows the Bridgelux fixture away, and covers a larger area as well, all the while still using considerably less electricity.

 

[spamreefnew]

I am in the proses of building a diy led right now. have you looked into rapidled.com? they have retro kits with quality cree led's.

 

[DoctaQ]

119 1w leds being driven at 1w will probably be more output than 12 3w leds no matter how you slice it, its just not a fair comparison of 119w vs maybe 48w

 

[JohnK]

119 old school 1W may put out more light than 12 x 3w newer gen LEDs, but that's kind of missing the point. The 3W LEDs far outperform the 1w LEDs. If you looked at 119x1w next to 39x3w cree you would be just about blind in one eye and it wouldn't be the 1w eye. (If you're not interested in effiency, then why even consider LEDs?)

Comparing watt for watt just doesn't work in this case. It's like comparing a standard incendescent light bulb to a power compact spiral bulb, the Watt for Watt thing goes out the window real fast


Edit, Nevermind, I just re-read your post Doctaq and realized I missed your point in the first place. I think we agree

 

[DoctaQ]

i dont think youd need much more than 24 crees to overpower a 120w 1w led fixtures fwiw

 

[JohnK]

Yea I gottcha. See the edit at the bottom of my post. I missed your point initially, but in the end I think we are saying more or less the same thing.

 

[DoctaQ]

o yeah haha

 

[Bobbofin]

http://www.reefledlights.com/
I built a slick 36 LED 3w LED unit. If you want some insight call me. Send me a PM if interested.

 

[mchartier]

I have been think of it also for a 90 Gal mainly SPS. I started designing it here is what I got so far.
I am planning on XP-G Cool Whites and XP-E Royal Blues

 

[spamreefnew]

I got my order In from rapidled.com 24 cree led's and drivers for about $200 so far I am impressed

 

[aiaman]

Bobofin - great info on those handouts you prepared for the last meeting. Very easy to understand (even for me) and clearly layed out. My DIY project will now be easier than origonally thought. These should be posted somewhere for others to read. thanks again