PVH DIY LED Light Hood for 12 G Nano Cube

[pvh]

that's amazing! Jared was actually telling me about this experiment of yours last night. It's really cool =) good luck with everything!

Thanks Mel.

Peter sweet job... You're def going to need shades for the corals... I had spots in my eyes untill we got to B's that day. It'll be cool to see how it looks with rocks and corals...

LOL...I actually had to wear my sunglasses when I took these pictures. I'll probably start filling it up sometime this weekend.

Great mod, can't wait to see how the corals like it.

Me too.

 

[jbishop]

Peter this is a pretty sweet thing.

After you get PAR reads and if they look good mabe you could do something for a frag tank I plan to set up?

 

[crb]

When are you going to post a parts list Peter?

 

[pvh]

Peter this is a pretty sweet thing.

After you get PAR reads and if they look good mabe you could do something for a frag tank I plan to set up?

Sure Jared. It's going to be a bit pricey. Below is a BOM of what and approximate of how much much it cost.

When are you going to post a parts list Peter?

Here is a quick run down of the BOM and cost.

White LEDs $32
Blue LEDs $19
Power Drivers/Power Supply $40
Driver with Dimmer $15
Power Supply from Radio Shack $40
Power Jack for Power Supply Free
Thermal paste $4
Two Heat Sinks with fans from Pentinum computers I have lying around Free
Tie Wrap Free
Screws Free
AC cable Free
Solder Iron Borrow
Wires Free
Shipping x2= $16
Drill bit for 4-40 Free
Drill Tap bit 4-40 Free

Total Not including labor $166.

Labor (about 4 hours in research, design, assemble, test) I think my company charges $175 for my time. Which I didn't include

I build this with extra precaution. However I think next time I will build my own driver which will be a lot cheaper. My next project will be LED light for my HOB refuge.

 

[jbishop]

Peter, it might be pricey but so is another MH. Plus the cost of running it

 

[Psychographic]

Ver nice!

I have a couple of questions as I would like to try LED's for a SH tank I'm building.

I notice you have them mounted to heatsinks, do the high power LED's generate a lot of heat? Although I've only messed with the normal LED's for moonlights, I've always assumed one of the factors that made LED's so desirable was low heat, is this not true with higher output LED's?

I also see your parts listed as a driver and a power source, can you eloborate about the function of the driver? Also what are the specs on the powersource?

Thanks.

Almost forgot, I did'nt see a link or mention of where you bought all of this, got a link?

 

[pvh]

Peter, it might be pricey but so is another MH. Plus the cost of running it

True. OVer the long run it will save for itself. These LEDS have a run time of 100,000 hours. That's a bit more then 11 years running 24 hours.

Ver nice!

I have a couple of questions as I would like to try LED's for a SH tank I'm building.

I notice you have them mounted to heatsinks, do the high power LED's generate a lot of heat? Although I've only messed with the normal LED's for moonlights, I've always assumed one of the factors that made LED's so desirable was low heat, is this not true with higher output LED's?

I also see your parts listed as a driver and a power source, can you eloborate about the function of the driver? Also what are the specs on the powersource?

Thanks.

Almost forgot, I did'nt see a link or mention of where you bought all of this, got a link?

These high power LEDs generate more heat than the regular LEDs. You really don't need that big of a heatsinklike I did. You could just attach it to a piece of flat aluminum but I didn't have one lying around.

The driver allow you to use any voltage above the LED forward voltage. It also regular the current going to the LEDs. You could alway use high wattage resistor/s but it all depends on how you wire it up. With a driver you don't need to worry about this.

The LEDs I used is from Phillips, Lexuon. There are a few other high power LED manufacturer as well. You can find the links in the first few posting.

 

[pvh]

I just filled the tank. It's still cloudy so I haven't aquascape it yet.

 

[afboundguy]

Can't wait to see it full of zoas!

 

[jbishop]

Cool Peter, when are you getting PAR?

 

[pvh]

Cool Peter, when are you getting PAR?

I'm not sure. The light meter is on it's way to RI. I'm not sure when it will be going up north.

Anyone have their own light meter I can borrow for a day or so?

 

[me2003]

What did you use for a dimmer and where did you order the
parts?



I am working on a similar project for my refugium. I have an order
10 watt led to try it out. I am going to try different circuits.
The least expensive would be an
12 volt laptop power supply 3-4 amp $20
3 LM317 $2 each
3 resistor $2 each
9 3 watt white and blue LEDs $55
I have also order these to add brightness and dimming capabilities.


High Brightness 10W 450lm White Lumen LED & Heat sink
http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Brightness...66954QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
3W LED Driver for Luxeon White Green Blue $7.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/3W-LED-Driver-f...36323QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262



Design Info
http://www.instructables.com/id/Circuits-for-using-High-Power-LED_s/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Night-Vision-Headlamp---500+-lumens-with-/

Resistor design

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=BARS

LM317 circuit
http://led.linear1.org/a-cheap-current-regulated-luxeon-star-driver-design/
LED information
http://led.linear1.org/category/led-basics/?offset=1

http://led.linear1.org/why-do-i-need-a-resistor-with-an-led/

Design Info
http://www.instructables.com/id/Circuits-for-using-High-Power-LED_s/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultimate-Night-Vision-Headlamp---500+-lumens-with-/

Where I bought my LEDs
http://search.stores.ebay.com/Light-of-Victory-Led-Store-lvehk_led_W0QQsaselZ209416610QQsofpZ0
The specs on 1/2 led
http://cgi.ebay.com/30p-8mm-Multi-C...66954QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262
The blue LED
http://cgi.ebay.com/5pcs-3W-STAR-HI...QQcategoryZ66954QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713

 

[pvh]

Great links.

The driver I used has a dimmer build in it. However if you want you can use a potentiometer to vary the current as well.
http://www.luxeonstar.com/buckpuck-700ma-dc-led-driver-pcb-mount-p-31.php

You can find a bunch of LEDs in the link above but I used the Luxeon Star Rebel and III.

 

[pvh]

Here are a couple of photos with some corals in it. I tried to put mostly fluorescent color corals in the tank. There are SPS, LPS, and of course zoas/palys in my nano. We'll see how it do in a few months.

 

[dp28688]

wow thats awesome tank.

 

[me2003]

Endor Rebel - Cool White, Tri-Emitter, 435 Lumens @ 700mA

I like the choice of the Luxeon Star Rebel III . It is 9 watts total
but I believe the separation of the LEDs is better for dispersion
than the 10 watt. I think the Luxeons are higher quality also.

I had a question about drivers. I think you used two types of supplies.
The first one may have been capable of powering all of your LEds
Why 2 systems? Also what voltage on the power supply to the Driver with Dimmer?
1. Driver with Dimmer $15 with $40 power supply.
2. Xitanium ballast $28


I had to check the 120W-150W MH between 12k-14k color.
12 3 watt LEDs = 26 watts
According to this review, 25 3 watt LEDs = ~250 watts
After reading this
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2#h4

I think the estimate is accurate.
I think the ideal design would be

2 Driver with Dimmer $15 ea so you could dim blue and white Leds separately

Separate components for drivers may be less expensive
adding dimming, heat sinks ... the cost increases quickly.

A future challenge is for ~ $35 or $20 you can add a microcontroller
to create sunrise,sunset and moon cycles.
http://www.makershed.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=43

 

[pvh]

Yes, the Rebel but I only used the one tri-emittter star. However after buying one to test I did noticed that using single LED will give it better dispersement. That's why if you noticed I singled to single LEDs on 2 of the 3 Stars. Also the tri-emitter Star produces much greater concentration of heat so you will definitely need a bigger heat sink as compare to the single-emitter star where you can just use a flat piece of aluminum plate.

Yes, Luxeon is a higher quality. However I did noticed another manufacturer CREE which I want to give a try later on. Their price is a bit cheaper and lumens is much better.

The reason why I used 2 separate power supplies was to give me separate control of the white and blue LEDs. Also if you look at the spec for the $40 driver/power supply it can only power 5 LEDs in series. So for the white LEDs it was at it's max with 1 tri-emitter Star (3 LEDs) and 2 single Stars (2 LEDs). As for the blue LEDs I used a 12 V PS this way I can also use it to power the fans. This one I had the dimmer on. I did think about using the tri-color Star and being about to controller each color but it would require 3 separate PS and dimmers which will run the cost much higher. Maybe if I sell more frags I will build my next light where I can adjust the color.

I also thought about the microcontroller but again I will need 2 of them. I figured it's much cheaper to just use 2 timers I had lying around.

Endor Rebel - Cool White, Tri-Emitter, 435 Lumens @ 700mA

I like the choice of the Luxeon Star Rebel III . It is 9 watts total
but I believe the separation of the LEDs is better for dispersion
than the 10 watt. I think the Luxeons are higher quality also.

I had a question about drivers. I think you used two types of supplies.
The first one may have been capable of powering all of your LEds
Why 2 systems? Also what voltage on the power supply to the Driver with Dimmer?
1. Driver with Dimmer $15 with $40 power supply.
2. Xitanium ballast $28


I had to check the 120W-150W MH between 12k-14k color.
12 3 watt LEDs = 26 watts
According to this review, 25 3 watt LEDs = ~250 watts
After reading this
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2#h4

I think the estimate is accurate.
I think the ideal design would be

2 Driver with Dimmer $15 ea so you could dim blue and white Leds separately

Separate components for drivers may be less expensive
adding dimming, heat sinks ... the cost increases quickly.

A future challenge is for ~ $35 or $20 you can add a microcontroller
to create sunrise,sunset and moon cycles.
http://www.makershed.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=43

 

[jbishop]

Thanks for the pictures Peter. They look awesome. Cant wait to see some PAR values

 

[trajik ink]

looks great!!! great job....

 

[cujo6984]

looks great. i have always wanted to try it maybe now i will lol