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04/01/2012, 12:20 PM | #1026 | |
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Quote:
Thanks your advice has been priceless. So if I add the 4th row, I will have 4 rows of 12 for a total of 48 LED's. With 40 deg lenses on row 1, 60 deg on row two, and 80 deg on rows three and four. I currently have 38 leds on hand (36 in use): 24 Royal Blue XTE's 2 Green XPE 6 Cool white XPG 6 Neutral White XPG What would you recommend I purchase to get to 48? And how would you arrange them? I'm ok making some minor substitutions if needed but I don't want to spend a huge amount replacing the majority of what I have. Thanks again! |
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04/01/2012, 07:36 PM | #1027 | |
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On 48 LED's I would go with 8 Neutral Whites 4 Cyan (Philips) 18 Blues 18 Royal Blues But remember there is a lot of personal color choice in this. Some like it whiter others like it bluer. If your looking to mininize your new LED's I'd go with 12 Blues and 2 Neutral Whites. Then when you see the color from these you can decide what you want to do afrter running. 24 Royal Blues 12 Blues 12 8 Neutral Whites If you want it Whiter simply replace some of the Royals with Cool Whites If you want to get it less pink replace some Royal Blues with your greens If you want it Bluer cut back on 2 Neutral Whites and replace them with more Blues.
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Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/08/2012, 05:53 PM | #1028 |
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Need some new pics of your tank Katchupoy!!
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04/09/2012, 09:51 AM | #1029 |
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Last February, I had a major tank crash. My kalk reactor malfunctioned, 5 days after i re-introduced it to my tank. Lost a lot of LPS, a colony of hammer and a colony of candy cane. So to people who are thinking about using Kalkwasser. Please be very careful and double or triple check everything. Murphy's law.
Here is the tank after the crash. 16 months of 36 x Cree LEDs. Link to my website. |
04/09/2012, 01:46 PM | #1030 | |
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But this is a light tread so we should get back to lighting here.
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Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/09/2012, 01:49 PM | #1031 |
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Question, I posted a picture but i dont see it now... am i the only one?
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04/09/2012, 01:51 PM | #1032 |
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Thats weird. On my firefox it does not show, but on my chrome it shows...
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04/26/2012, 04:45 AM | #1033 |
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Hi Ceasar, Dennis,
One more question from end... what would be the ideal size of the Aluminium channel.. in terms of thickness and width.. Thank you, SWF |
04/26/2012, 08:24 AM | #1034 | |
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Quote:
But remember you need at least 1/2" space between rails for air flow otherwide you loose some of the cooling effect. If you use narrower Channeling it is not a problem as long as you spread the LED's further apart or use a bunch of cooling fans. With 2" channeling you can actualy creat a gid of LED's 2.5" X 3" and on a 120 gallon tank give you a total of 112 LED's which would be way over kill without using any noisey fans.
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Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons Last edited by TropTrea; 04/26/2012 at 09:06 AM. |
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04/26/2012, 08:27 AM | #1035 |
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SWF
At least 1 inch wider. If you want your leds close together, closer then 2.5 inches then go wider. You need as much material in there to serve as heatsink.. Or if not wider then taller like a You channel instead of C channel. That's the idea. |
04/27/2012, 05:02 AM | #1036 |
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Thank you Dennis and Ceasar.
What do you think of a " H " channel.. the horizontal section of the channel is 1 inch and the vertical legs 2 inch... will this be a reasonable choice. |
04/27/2012, 09:20 AM | #1037 |
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If you mounted on the 2 inch section. I think the 1 inch would have the legs blocking the LED (unless you are using lenses).
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Click my home page for Thread Summaries Current Tank Info: 75 gallon lps and fish |
04/27/2012, 09:42 AM | #1038 |
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i prefer the 2 inch side... you will trap heat air inside that H if you install it on the 1 inch side.. Use the two inch side... wider material to attach to....
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04/27/2012, 11:28 AM | #1039 |
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Am planning to use it something like this. Will this be okay ? Also, how thick should be the aluminum channel.
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04/27/2012, 11:53 AM | #1040 |
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Yes that is correct. Thickness not sure. The thickest that you can afford i guess
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04/27/2012, 12:05 PM | #1041 |
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I am not a thermodynamic person but as I understand.
You want lots of surface area to get rid of the heat to the air. The Aluminum only needs to be thick enough to move the heat through the channel. Since fins on a CPU heat sink are pretty thin I expect 1/10 - 1/8 would be fine.
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Click my home page for Thread Summaries Current Tank Info: 75 gallon lps and fish |
04/27/2012, 10:06 PM | #1042 | |
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Quote:
__________________
Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/27/2012, 10:14 PM | #1043 | |
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Quote:
__________________
Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/27/2012, 10:20 PM | #1044 | |
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Quote:
__________________
Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/29/2012, 10:00 AM | #1045 |
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Hi Dennis, Ceasar,
Thank you so much for your inputs. I actually managed to get hands on some heatsinks... 1.5 inch x .5 Inch with 5 fins. That gives me 1.5 x 2.5 inches of surface. These are 4 feet in length. My plan is to have 6 channels with 12 led's on each channel. Each channel is 48 inches in lenght. The tank is 48 inches long with 2 inches euro braces on the ends and a 2 inch brace in the center. The 2 braces at the end will reduce the lighting area by 4 inches length wise. That will give me 44 inches of open space on the surface of the tank lenght wise. With the above details following are my questiosn : 1) Is it advisable to cut the heatsinks to 44 inches since the reduction lenght will reduce the total weight. 2) What would be the ideal spacing between two LEDS. 3) Is it possible to mix blue and white leds.. have six blue and six white on a single channel driven by a single driver... the LED's I am going to use are XP-G R5 LEDs CW and XP-E RB. i will be back with more questions.... Thanks again for all your help ! |
04/29/2012, 10:07 AM | #1046 |
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Hi Ceasar,
I need a favor from you.. Will it be possible for you to put together a sketch up model for me. I tried to download your sketchup model and tried to learn a bit from sketchup training vidoes and update your model to my requeirement .. i tried but it looks like i need to practice sketch up a lot. If you have sometime .. could you please customize your model for me ... My tank size is 48Lx24Hx30D with 2 inch euro brach at the ends and one 2 inch brace at the center. I am planning for 6 channels with 12 LED's on each channel. I hope you get sometime for me .. I would really appreciate your help. I am so far only because of this thread of yours. Thanks again for all your help all this while. Regards, SWF |
04/29/2012, 11:07 AM | #1047 |
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Katchupoy,
I don't know if you are still doing the designs, but I was hoping that you could help me with my 90 gallon build. I am mainly indeed of help determining if my heats ink will work. I have a 48x18x24 tank and built my my heat sink at 44x12. I am going to use 72 LEDs. My LEDs will be spaced 2.5" apart and 4"center to center of the braces. I will have 4 braces. Do you think this will give me good coverage. I will probably order 80 degree optics and have the light 8" of the water. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Dan Current Tank: Innovative Marine Fusion 40, Custom Built Stand, Ecotech XR15w Pro, Ecotech Vortech MP10wes, Ecotech Reef Link, Custom Built Media Caddy, IM Fuge Light, Ghost Skimmer. |
04/29/2012, 06:16 PM | #1048 | |
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Quote:
Now if you purchased a comerciual Allumnium heat sink that is 44 X 12 you would need to look at the specs on it. Some of those will give you 5,000 square inches of cooling surface so with 70 LED's you would have over 70 square inches per LED which would be more than enough for 5 watt LED's without the need for any fans or cooling.
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Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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04/29/2012, 06:22 PM | #1049 |
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Sorry about that, i am using 3/4" c channel. I know that the heat sink will disperse the heat correctly I am worried about the spread of the LEDs. At the current distances will I have enough coverage to have no dark spots or shadowing. Also with the fixture 8" above the water will 80 degree optics be ok.
Thanks,
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Dan Current Tank: Innovative Marine Fusion 40, Custom Built Stand, Ecotech XR15w Pro, Ecotech Vortech MP10wes, Ecotech Reef Link, Custom Built Media Caddy, IM Fuge Light, Ghost Skimmer. |
04/29/2012, 07:57 PM | #1050 | |
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Quote:
I would leave the strips 48" long and start your LED's 3.5 inches from each end. I would then space them 3" apart which would give you roughly 24 square inches of cooling per LED. You would be leaving the bigger gap in the center of roughly 5". With the 3'5" on the end you can run an aLunium channel between the strips to hold them together and another simular on through the center. Make sure you have 1/2 minimum spacing between your strips for air circulation, and you should not need a fan for cooling. I'm not sure how wide your tank is and if you have 2" Eurobracing on the Width as well. But your fixture with 6 rails of LED';s would have to be at least 11.5" wide. If your openings are more than 14.5" you can simply put more spacing between the Rails. When mixing types OF LED's on a singly driver chain you need to watch there rated voltage. In the case of mixong Cree XP-E Royal Blues and Any of the XP-G whites the voltage at the sme current is close enough not to give you an issue. I actualy have several runs of 2 XP-G Neutral Whites, 6 XP-E Blues, and 4 XP-E Royal Blues. On a personlal color taste note I do not like running all Royal Blues but mixing them with Blues so the tank not take on that blue purple tint. I also prefer using Neutral Whites over Cool Whites because they are brighter and you can use a higer ratio of blues to the number of Whites to a get simular overall look. I run roughly 3 or 4 Blues to 1 neutral White. But if I was using Cool whites I'd use more of a 1 to 2 Blue to 1 Cool white ratio. Remember this is personal taste and everyones eye preference is different.
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Dennis B. Current Tank Info: Main tank 120 Gallon, 432 Watts T-5's plus 30 Watts of LED's, Frag 40 Gallon tank 234 Watts T-5's, 3 Frag tanks all 40 Gallon with LED lighting between 60 and 84 Watts. All LEDs are DIY Oh and then there is fresh water tanks 270 gallons |
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