DIY LED build for dummies…

[lilreefgirl]

also tagging along.
Would like to upgrade my BC14 lighting. this looks like a good thread for references.
Thanks so much!

[coryjac0b]

tagging along also

[homegrownREEFER]

If you put the whites on with the blues you'll be running them at them max of 1000 ma, not like it'll be that noticeable since the max on that driver I believe is 1.3. You will not be able to dim your whites separate from the blues which would be the biggest issue for me. You could do 3 drivers for the blue since its 36 right? And then 2 drivers for the whites, 18 LEDs? Can't comment on the parallel. You'll have to wait for someone that's tried that to give you an answer.

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by Saadatski

Hey guys I just received my meter oaks and I want to get started but there are two things unclear to me. First, what gauge wire and what kind of wire do you use?

Second when I test with my multimeter, do I have to unwire one of the LEDs? Pics of how you measure with the multimeter please, because it maybe difficult to explain

Multimeter 's confuse me so much....check JP's build starting from post 74 there are some pics. when I get there i'll post some too maybe the experts will chime in and help us out.
I also use the AA battery tester that is working for me...

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by homegrownREEFER

If you put the whites on with the blues you'll be running them at them max of 1000 ma, not like it'll be that noticeable since the max on that driver I believe is 1.3. You will not be able to dim your whites separate from the blues which would be the biggest issue for me. You could do 3 drivers for the blue since its 36 right? And then 2 drivers for the whites, 18 LEDs? Can't comment on the parallel. You'll have to wait for someone that's tried that to give you an answer.

yes that was what i was thinking to. the issue of not being able to dim the white all the way down in the evening.
another Question why do we drive the RB @ 1A or 1000Ma and the Cw at 700ish MA??
also don't really want to add another driver as I have 4 right now...5 drives for 48 LED's seam way to much.

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by homegrownREEFER

Devaji, will you be using thermal adhesive or screwing the LEDs in? I think for the drivers you can put 2 drivers on one 3 prong plug so then you'll have just two plugs instead of four. I plan on doing this so I can save some outlets on my Apex and also less plugs to deal with.

Also can some open this up some more? more info would be great! after all this is the dummies thread.

my guess is to connect 2 ACL (brown) and 2 ACN (blue) to one power cord. this is possible b/c the drivers output is only 48V and the incoming power is 120V...
is this right??
after blowing 5 led's for my fuge I am taking it nice and slow....

[homegrownREEFER]

Well I think the maximum you can drive the rb is 1000 ma so you can do that or even less. Some people run them at 800-900 ma so they are not maxed out, I guess the idea is that they will last longer. As far as the whites XP-G's max is 1500 ma. I hear those drivers can be taken all the way up to 1700 ma but they get hot and the problem is keeping them cool. So I would say just hit the whites at the recommended max on these drivers at 1300 ma. Still 200 ma under the max for the led. I'm fairly knew to this so I could be wrong but that's my understanding.

[lighthouze08]

if you are going to drive the royal blue at 700ma forward current in a string of 12, it's possible to do 2 parallel string of 12 each for 1 meanwell 48D driver that you have. At 700ma the forward voltage is around 2.75 for the royal blue that you have i believe (please double check the specs sheet), if you run 12 leds on each string that would give you 23.1 V per string. Running 2 parallel string would give you 46.2V which is in the limit of that meanwell driver. So essentially you can run 24 leds on a single driver at 700ma

[Saadatski]

WHAT IS A PARALLEL STRING!!

I wired all of my LEDs today, got the potentiometer rset up and the the driver set. I plug in the driver, and only 6 out of 12 leds light up. the order was 2 light up, 6 dont, then 4 light in the end. I checked them and they arent burned out, i tested them with a AA battery tester.

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by lighthouze08

if you are going to drive the royal blue at 700ma forward current in a string of 12, it's possible to do 2 parallel string of 12 each for 1 meanwell 48D driver that you have. At 700ma the forward voltage is around 2.75 for the royal blue that you have i believe (please double check the specs sheet), if you run 12 leds on each string that would give you 23.1 V per string. Running 2 parallel string would give you 46.2V which is in the limit of that meanwell driver. So essentially you can run 24 leds on a single driver at 700ma

that would save me a driver for my other project. but getting the whites and RB to mach up so they are dimmable is the issue...2-parallel strings of 12 =24 RB (one driver) now I have another 24 LED's...18 of witch are CW&NW
so 12 on each driver that would still be 4 whites on one string of RB....

I know the CW and NW can run higher MA can you do a parallel string of 9 CW & NW on one driver? if so what would be the optimal MA?

so that would be 24 RB on one driver. 18 whites on one driver...but I am short 3 LED's. but save 2 drivers.

I want to keep this as easy as possible...so if I have to use i driver per 12 led's I am ok with that. but don't mind saving a driver too

[Devaji108]

so here is my lay out for each par of 12 LED's totaling 48

from front of tank to back:
1)RB....CW....RB.....RB....CW....RB..MIDDLE...RB....CW....RB...RB....CW....RB
2)RB....CW....RB....NW....RB....CW..MIDDLE..NW....RB....CW...RB....NW....RB
3)RB....RB....CW....RB.....CW....RB..MIDDLE..RB....CW....RB....NW...RB....RB
4)RB....RB....CW....RB....RB....CW..MIDDLE..RE....RB....CW....RB....CW....RB

with this layout there is 18 whites 4 NW & 14 CW
30 RB

[fdonophan]

I wish I'd had this thread a few months ago. I tried 3 times to wire my own LEDs and finally gave up. I had the same problem as Saadatski where I couldn't get them all to light up, and I had to solder and re-solder so many times I fried most of my LEDs permanently. Keep it up, and when I work up the nerve to try again one day I'll have this thread for a resource!

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by fdonophan

I wish I'd had this thread a few months ago. I tried 3 times to wire my own LEDs and finally gave up. I had the same problem as Saadatski where I couldn't get them all to light up, and I had to solder and re-solder so many times I fried most of my LEDs permanently. Keep it up, and when I work up the nerve to try again one day I'll have this thread for a resource!

sorry to hear you had such trouble, I now first hand how frying it can be.
I suspect that there are a few of us out there that have had are having trouble with there builds, and even more out there that want to try it but not sure they can do it...

so hopefully this thread will help out a lot of ppl.

[reefermad619]

Originally Posted by lighthouze08

if you are going to drive the royal blue at 700ma forward current in a string of 12, it's possible to do 2 parallel string of 12 each for 1 meanwell 48D driver that you have. At 700ma the forward voltage is around 2.75 for the royal blue that you have i believe (please double check the specs sheet), if you run 12 leds on each string that would give you 23.1 V per string. Running 2 parallel string would give you 46.2V which is in the limit of that meanwell driver. So essentially you can run 24 leds on a single driver at 700ma

When running parallel strings, each string can go up to the max voltage of the driver. If the driver is 48V, each string can have 48V. The power to each string is determined by the # of stings and the amps of the driver. 48v and 2 amps can give two strings of 48v each string getting one amp of power. Or 4 strings of 48v and each string getting 500ma.

The vf of the RB at 700ma is 3.4 (IIRC). That's why most run a max of 14 per string on the 48Ds. So the 48D will run 2 strings of 14 at 650ma.

[Waddleboy]

Originally Posted by Saadatski

WHAT IS A PARALLEL STRING!!

I wired all of my LEDs today, got the potentiometer rset up and the the driver set. I plug in the driver, and only 6 out of 12 leds light up. the order was 2 light up, 6 dont, then 4 light in the end. I checked them and they arent burned out, i tested them with a AA battery tester.

A parallel string is where the positive from the driver is split to two strings and then at the end of the strings the two negatives come back together to make one string. That one negative string then goes back to the negative of the driver. Basic physics states that a parallel string will maintain voltage but separate amps. Amps drive the lights voltage is just what the lights use... Thats basic if you need more feel free to pm me and i can go more into it. As for your problem a picture would help here, but it sounds like either you have a the wrong voltage or amps wrong. They seemed to be wired correctly because its traveling through but a picture really helps here.

Originally Posted by Devaji108

sorry to hear you had such trouble, I now first hand how frying it can be.
I suspect that there are a few of us out there that have had are having trouble with there builds, and even more out there that want to try it but not sure they can do it...

so hopefully this thread will help out a lot of ppl.

I dont know if this will help you but this is from what i did with my leds.





There are two rows per driver. And each strip has a combo of rb, cw, nw, b, and there is two red leds. It may or may not help but they work and look nice at least i think but its my first sw tank so who knows?

Not the best pic but this is them lit up. Once my bacterial bloom dies i can get another one for you

[Devaji108]

Originally Posted by reefermad619

When running parallel strings, each string can go up to the max voltage of the driver. If the driver is 48V, each string can have 48V. The power to each string is determined by the # of stings and the amps of the driver. 48v and 2 amps can give two strings of 48v each string getting one amp of power. Or 4 strings of 48v and each string getting 500ma.

The vf of the RB at 700ma is 3.4 (IIRC). That's why most run a max of 14 per string on the 48Ds. So the 48D will run 2 strings of 14 at 650ma.

sounds good! that will save me a driver. but what about the whites?
can i run 2 strings of 9? to get my 18? the total amount of whites for my build? and if so what Ma should they be (the driver ) set @?

[Devaji108]

waddleboy,
looking good yes we would love to see more of your setup. now you are running 14LED's in a sires per driver right?

[Devaji108]

ok after rereading your post looks like you did 2- 14 parallel strings. so you only have one driver for each heatsink or 28 LEd's in that correct?

[Devaji108]

some progress,
the C channel and angle I got from speedy metals was deff. not show quality. but it will do. lots of cuts and scraps.
I ordered 2x 12" angle and one was 1/4" off

oh well I make it work...

drilled holes in the angle to attach the C channel.

attached them with nuts and bolts. maybe self tapping screws might have been easier, and it was a PITA the line up the hole in the channel and the angle.

and this it kinda the idea of the lay out.

[Waddleboy]

Originally Posted by Devaji108

ok after rereading your post looks like you did 2- 14 parallel strings. so you only have one driver for each heatsink or 28 LEd's in that correct?

Actually you had it right the first time. Its 4 single drivers with a 14 string led in series per driver. It works well and I did this for expansion later on if i choose. And ill get you more pictures as soon as the tank clears up

[lighthouze08]

Originally Posted by reefermad619

When running parallel strings, each string can go up to the max voltage of the driver. If the driver is 48V, each string can have 48V. The power to each string is determined by the # of stings and the amps of the driver. 48v and 2 amps can give two strings of 48v each string getting one amp of power. Or 4 strings of 48v and each string getting 500ma.

The vf of the RB at 700ma is 3.4 (IIRC). That's why most run a max of 14 per string on the 48Ds. So the 48D will run 2 strings of 14 at 650ma.

right on, thx for the correction

[Saadatski]

Hey thanks for the explanation on parallel strings. I found out the reason why only half of them were lighting, and that was just due to poor soldering on my part. I redid the wiring on the fixture and now they all light up. I adjusted the driver to give about 750 ma and my LEDs are working fine now!!

Thanks for all your help guys.

Also, potentiometers, they are not as good As I thought. Sure they dim the LEDs, but not as precise as I would like them to be. Anyone having the same opinion? I got mine from rapidled

[lighthouze08]

Originally Posted by Saadatski

Hey thanks for the explanation on parallel strings. I found out the reason why only half of them were lighting, and that was just due to poor soldering on my part. I redid the wiring on the fixture and now they all light up. I adjusted the driver to give about 750 ma and my LEDs are working fine now!!

Thanks for all your help guys.

Also, potentiometers, they are not as good As I thought. Sure they dim the LEDs, but not as precise as I would like them to be. Anyone having the same opinion? I got mine from rapidled

i think it's more of the driver, the driver can't dim below a certain voltage, you have to turn the knob on the pot at least 1/4 of the way before it will lit up correct?

[Waddleboy]

Originally Posted by lighthouze08

i think it's more of the driver, the driver can't dim below a certain voltage, you have to turn the knob on the pot at least 1/4 of the way before it will lit up correct?

Yes they are correct. But turning the knob sets the max amperage the driver is supposed to put out at 10v. The potentiometer allows for dimminer. So after you set the max voltage with the driver knob you have then can dim it below that with the potentiometer. Controllers do the same thing as a potentiometer.

[Devaji108]

OK so now it's time to attach the LED's:
here is a great quote form Katchupoy's thread that I found help and worth repeating:

"Here are some of my suggestions.

1) Make sure that the aluminum surface (heat sink) is very clean. I cleaned mine with alcohol and cotton balls.

2) When you mix Part A and B, make it on small batches. Maybe a 1/4" diameter of part A and 1/4" diameter of Part B. You only have 5 minutes to work on the mix before it starts to harden.

3) On that 1/4" diameter A & B, mix it in a circular motion by the included spatula.

4) On that same mix, maybe you can divide it to 4-6 LEDs. You only need small amount, enough that when you press the LED on the heatsink, you will see some oozing out on the sides.

5) Push and then twist. I did a push then twist it slowly 360 degrees while pushing. this will evenly spread the adhesive and squeeze the extra on the sides.

Remember, it is suppose to just fill up the imperfections of both sides, the LED and the heatsink.

6) It is very important that you arrange it in such a way that all polarities are oriented the same way. So that when you start soldering, you just connect left then right, left then right, etc. or + then -, + then -, etc."