LED channel: Blue and whites together?

Should I string the blue and whites on the same ballast? There is a 2:1 ratio of royal blue and neutral whites.

I have 24 diodes:

8 royal blue
4 Neutral white

4 Violet
3 cyan
2 deep red
3 cool blue

My thought was that I wanted to get the maximum amount of color in my spectrum and in order to do so, I would want to run my color LEDS (without optics) at a much higher intensity than I would my royal blue and neutral white. Is there any logic in that, or is the intensity of the colors irrelevant? I know most people white/colors string colors separate from blues. It would be easier if I had a 3rd ballast.

 

The perfect world would have all the blues together on one balast and all the whites together on another balast. Then you could set your overall color temp by changing the ratio of the two. Then by placing the other three colors on a third ballast you would be able to increase the intesity of the other colors. Remember that red runs at a lower amperage (or is it wattage) then the other colors (most of the time). So I would want to keep that one seperate from the main blue/white leds so you can get full power from those. Also remember that when you add the three primary light colors together green, red and blue you get white. So by not using optics on them you will be mixing well and also adding additional "white" coloring to the overall look of the tank. Keeping the blues seperate will allow you to mix the kelvin temp or overall look of the tank.

Will all of that being said and to answer your question. Yes you could wire the leds in the way that you have listed (if your driver allows) but you would lose your ability to make drastic changes to the overall color look of the tank.

I hope this helps and doesn't sound like a bunch of rambling garabge

 

This is beginning to sound more difficult than I thought when I ordered the LEDS. I thought this would be simple + to - soldering and splicing.

I have two Meanwell ELN-60-48D dimmable drivers, running from 0-1300 milliamps.

Cyan typically run 350 mA, 1000 mA max drive
Violet typically run 700 mA, 700 mA max drive
Deep red typically run 700 mA, 700 mA max drive
Cool Blue 1000 mA max drive
Royal blue typically run 350 mA, 1500 mA max drive
Neutral white 1500 mA max drive

Can I not run this together in a string?

 

It's only as complicated as we make it. When we try to max out everything we can and keep it as cheap as we can, that is when we start giving ourselves headaches. Yes you can power any LED at any power lower than their max amperage (with few exceptions that won't matter in this case). The violets and reds have 700 mA max power so make sure they do not receive power beyond that. Set 100% output on the drivers to say 600mA to make sure you do not burn out your red LEDs. Hook it up and see how it looks. DIY means you get to keep playing with it until you get exactly what you want. Plus wiring your own light and putting on your own aqaurium will make you feel like Bill Nye when your all finished.

EDIT: Setting your drivers to 600mA shows that you have more power to deliver to more powerful LEDs like the 1500mA royal blues. This would allow you to get more light output from a lower amount of LEDs. Maximizing efficiency is where things get complicated.

Oh and I haven't wired one of these DIYs up I just did a lot of research before deciding to buy a fixture already made lol. Evolved has a great tutorial on wiring these things up, which you probably have already read.

 

So in my case, with two drivers, would I get the most out of my diodes by running the blues and whites together at the 1300 mA that the meanwell driver pushes and running the colors on another with the amperage adjusted down to 600-700 mA or so?

 

Yep. That would give you the most light output for your current set up. Make sure to post some pictures when you get it hung