DIY LED questions

Do you have a plan yet on how you're going to drive the LEDs from the arduino? It sounds like you're not going to use a plain digital driver.


This has been on my "really want to do, someday" list and I'll be interested to see your results.

 

wildblue? What?lol

Christ, just when i think i have a handle on my system, someone has to pipe in and confuse me again!lol

 

Gah, sorry! ;D

 

no worries, someone was gonna do it

Ok, here's my plan, gonna buy a DIY kit either 72x3 watt bridgelux system. or a 48-60x3watt Cree plug and play system! i'm gonna attach those to a heatsink, wire them to 2 meanwell dimmable drivers, and either a controller , or potentiometers, then attach some fans plug it in and hope!lol
any more questions? lol sorry studying up on this till i'm blue in the face! Then you had to throw in a fancy word! Why do i need one of those?
Thanks
Ryan

 

good stuff to read:
LED My TANK! « « ReefLEDLights | LED Aquarium Lighting ReefLEDLights | LED Aquarium Lighting

 

Heres a gist of what it says for us! In a 55 gallon 20-24" deep the equivalent to MH is:

for a 24x24" area: 175wMH 250MH 400wMh
you need: 18leds 24leds 36leds

So my take on this would be for Cree leds, if your gonna stick with softies, basic lps, the 18 leds per side of your aquarium or 36 should be fine, if you're gonna get corals that have heavier light needs prob amp up to 48 leds!

if you go bridgelux, i'd say add 10 and 20 respectively per side! That being said Crees run $5-11 per led and bridgelux $1-3!

do the math and bridgelux wins, listen to your inner voice and it screams wait a few weeks save some cash and drop it on the Cree's and Meanwell dimmable drivers with controller! About $200 to $300 more than the bridge/maxwell combo!

Still waiting on vendors to return messages! kinda thinking the first one that calls with a decent offer will win!

 

reefworks is gonna win!

details to follow!

 

Reefwerks won! Granted well above my intial budget but i'm sick of buying something for now and then realize i needed to buy more for the future!

this thing is gonna be around the same set up as the Eclipse by UniqueLED or be a little better than the AI Sol!

Gonna be a 48 led Cree system of about 70% blue variations and 30% whites! coming with fans housing, dimmers, etc etc etc! Plug and play!

Gave him a budget and he gave me a system, then i gave him a budget and plan for the future and he gave me another system! We tweaked it over a few days and then i said thats $100 more than if i built it myself and it wouldnt look near as nice! So i'm paying more than i wanted, but for the next 10 years I will burn 75% less energy and save $100 a year in bulbs and how many ballasts! And BTW to build this from prefab piecesm after you add all the extras your at $1000 easy! Save the cash and let them do it for it! or if you're electronically inclined, tell them what you need and they'll get it to you!