DIY Radeon clone?
- Thread starter Kampo
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Looking for someone more experienced with electronics/LEDs to look at my parts list and do a sanity check please.
I decided if I'm going to upgrade from black box lights to the DIY radions, I'm going to want 10 pucks over my 150 gallon display for the best coverage and versatility. That being said, I'm trying to do this on as much of a budget as possible and all said and done am around $850-900 to make the lights if my parts list works. I'm not looking for any fancy controls, no need for ramping or wifi control or anything light that for me. I'm simply looking to get good quality light spectrum, spread, and intensity for my reef and plan on just using outlet timers for the controls to save on cost.
Power supplies (12V)
I plan on getting 3 of these to supply power to the LEDs. Would be lighting my tank with 5 pucks on the right side, and 5 on the left, so due to power limitations, I plan to control the right and left sides of the tank independently and simply adjust each side to the same power on each color channel. So result would be 10 controllable channels if looking at each half of the tank individually. LED pucks to be run in parallel off of these power supplies.
Power Supplies (15V)
For the UV channel that is 14-15V
LED arrays
These are the same arrays others have used. Seems to be a close match to the radions
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Dimmers for each channel
Amazon product
Would get 10 of these to dim each channel
Cooling Fans
One of these for each heat sink. Plan to have 6 heat sinks. Some with 2 LED arrays, some with 1.
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Heat Sink
6 of theseAluminum Heatsink for 8 x 3W / 20 x 1W LED Light - Free Shipping
www.suntekstore.com
Does this set up make sense? I'm planning on using the power supplies with the dimmers in series, then out of the dimmers would be 5 wires in parallel to 5 different LED arrays to power a single color channel. Then the outlet of each array go back to the - side of the power supply. Power on and off would simply be done with an outlet timer for each power supply, so only on/off control. I'll have the fans powered by their own power supply and timer set to run them 30 minutes before until 30 minutes after the lights are on.
Some of your links are all.. err.. busted..
Channel 1 (14-15V 350-1000mA) - 2 semiLED UV 395nm + 2 semiLED UV 415nm
Channel 2 (12V 350-1500mA) - 4 XTE White 6500K
Channel 3 (12V 350-1000mA) - 4 XPE2 Blue 480nm
Channel 4 (12V 350-1500mA) - 4 XTE Royal Blue 455nm
Channel 5 (12V 350-1000mA) - 2x XPE2 Green 530nm + 1x XPE2 Yellow 590nm + 2x XPE Red 660nm
not seeing drivers though..
and w/ out driver choice your power supply choice is indeterminate..
For example if you use LDD drivers your minimum voltage to make sur all channels were working at the chosen current is.. roughly..15V +3 V(driver overhead sort of) = 18V
Second if you do dual pucks and put the channels in series (eliminating 1 driver per channel) you need
14x2 + 3 = 31V
masterofstuff124
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wowza this is exciting.
radeon black boxes ?
ive loved my black box leds. very serviceable, cheap, simple.
had them for years!
im capable of building the designs in this thread much like I was when the black boxes first appeared.
I cant shake the feeling that radeon boxes are likely on the way as others in this thread have mentioned.
heres to hoping this will be a thing and it has accessible pinouts/cable for reefpi.
was there ever a diy equivalent to the cheaply purchased blackboxes on ebay? better housing drivers etc.
radeon black boxes ?
ive loved my black box leds. very serviceable, cheap, simple.
had them for years!
im capable of building the designs in this thread much like I was when the black boxes first appeared.
I cant shake the feeling that radeon boxes are likely on the way as others in this thread have mentioned.
heres to hoping this will be a thing and it has accessible pinouts/cable for reefpi.
was there ever a diy equivalent to the cheaply purchased blackboxes on ebay? better housing drivers etc.
Devil's Advocate..
Why do you want clones?
Most don't use the full power of the radions as is..Therefore you can make it better.
As to Reef pi just get 5VPWM dc/dc drivers and a AC/DC switching power supply to simplify it..
If you "do" Apex (or the like) just get 0-10v AC/DC drivers..
Why do you want clones?
Most don't use the full power of the radions as is..Therefore you can make it better.
As to Reef pi just get 5VPWM dc/dc drivers and a AC/DC switching power supply to simplify it..
If you "do" Apex (or the like) just get 0-10v AC/DC drivers..
Reefs and Geeks
Well-Known Member
Being new to LEDs, can you please explain in a fairly simple way what the LDD drivers do? From what I can tell, they allow a controller to adjust the power of the LEDs via PWM and happen to have a 3V drop in power across them. I know there's something here that I'm missing.
There are "SB blackbox lights" that are suposedly better quality and spectrum, though I've not used them myself. They also sell parts that you can use to upgrade your existing BB lights. I'm not sure about any other sources to upgrade or do a pure DIY blackbox light.
They raise or lower voltage to the diode strings so they maintain a SET mA draw..
Technically they dim by shutting the diodes off and on i.e at 50% dim diodes are on 50% of the time.. off 50% of the time..
How fast this occurs is set by the controller..commonly 500Hz
Driving LED lamps – some simple design guidelines
LEDs can easily be integrated into a circuit design provided that certain design rules are observed, writes Julian Cooper.
www.ledsmagazine.com
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Reefs and Geeks
Well-Known Member
Thanks. I was thinking they did the opposite, where they maintained the voltage but adjusted the mA draw based on the PWM input.They raise or lower voltage to the diode strings so they maintain a SET mA draw..
Technically they dim by shutting the diodes off and on i.e at 50% dim diodes are on 50% of the time.. off 50% of the time..
How fast this occurs is set by the controller..commonly 500Hz
Driving LED lamps – some simple design guidelines
LEDs can easily be integrated into a circuit design provided that certain design rules are observed, writes Julian Cooper.
I'm not sure exactly how a PWM module works. Meaning what is the signal it outputs to control the driver? is the output signal simply the square wave that makes the LEDs pulse on and off? or something like a 0-10V?
So from an economical standpoint, I'm assuming it would be best to run as many LED modules off of each driver as possible. So for example, the LDD-1000H driver says it has an output up to 52V, so the most 12V arrays I could do in series would be 4 @ 12V each, so 48V desired at the output of the LDD-1000H. So I'd need a 51VDC input to the LDD driver. Then a PWM controller would be used to pulse the circuit on/off at a set rate to control the dimming. So the LDD essentially controls the DC voltage input (that might have some variation?) and also allows the power to be pulsed on/off via PWM which is set via a controller.
For the setup I'd like with 10 arrays, could a single controller be used to control all of the LDD drivers on several LDD boards? Either the storm X or bluefish controller.
Thanks again for helping me with all of these questions.
first, dimming "protocols" can be either 0-10v (1-10v) or PWM (5 or 10V common) or poteniometer .
some drivers do change the mA output for dimming but VERY uncommon nowadays, as far as I can tell.
some drivers may LIST it as .005 -500mA but usually that is an "average" over time..
Like 500mA 1/2 the time is 250mA full err "cycle"..
The input doesn't have to be the same as output.
I.e a 5 V "analog" signal still outputs a PWM voltage.
Ldds though are PWM input.. PWM output to the diodes.
volts add in series..current adds in parallel.
5 series strings of 5 diodes in parallel w/ a V(f) @ "y" current of, say, 3V = 15V per series string and 15V overall regardless of the number of parallel strings.
What would change is say "y" is equal to 700mA
700mA x 5 =3
500mA
So a ps of 15V (pretend zero driver overhead) needs to be capable of outputting 3500mA (or 52.5W.. VxA =W)
THIS is a design for a constant voltage set up. Resistor substitutes for a driver. Ohms change as the supply constant voltage increases from "spec"..
In a constant current array each string will have a driver..well most of the time.
One can "split" the driver but each string (assume 2 for now) will get 1/2 of the rated current of the driver.
Length of string depends on added V(f)'s (AGAIN at your desired current, and the voltage will fluctuate w/ use..i.e heating) and the size of your switching power supply voltage..
for "fun" the guts of a driver..bottom right corner is the MOSFET "switch" that flickers the diodes (5)..
due to the conversion circuitry this driver chip can use both analog (.6-2.5v approx) or PWM(2.6-5.5V PWM) input..
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Reefs and Geeks
Well-Known Member
Thank you again for the detailed explanation! I've read through a few times and think I'm getting it now. Will have to read a few more times lol. I'll revisit my plan and see what changes I need to make.first, dimming "protocols" can be either 0-10v (1-10v) or PWM (5 or 10V common) or poteniometer .
some drivers do change the mA output for dimming but VERY uncommon nowadays, as far as I can tell.
some drivers may LIST it as .005 -500mA but usually that is an "average" over time..
Like 500mA 1/2 the time is 250mA full err "cycle"..
The input doesn't have to be the same as output.
I.e a 5 V "analog" signal still outputs a PWM voltage.
Ldds though are PWM input.. PWM output to the diodes.
volts add in series..current adds in parallel.
5 series strings of 5 diodes in parallel w/ a V(f) @ "y" current of, say, 3V = 15V per series string and 15V overall regardless of the number of parallel strings.
What would change is say "y" is equal to 700mA
700mA x 5 =3
500mA
So a ps of 15V (pretend zero driver overhead) needs to be capable of outputting 3500mA (or 52.5W.. VxA =W)
THIS is a design for a constant voltage set up. Resistor substitutes for a driver. Ohms change as the supply constant voltage increases from "spec"..
In a constant current array each string will have a driver..well most of the time.
One can "split" the driver but each string (assume 2 for now) will get 1/2 of the rated current of the driver.
Length of string depends on added V(f)'s (AGAIN at your desired current, and the voltage will fluctuate w/ use..i.e heating) and the size of your switching power supply voltage..
for "fun" the guts of a driver..bottom right corner is the MOSFET "switch" that flickers the diodes (5)..
due to the conversion circuitry this driver chip can use both analog (.6-2.5v approx) or PWM(2.6-5.5V PWM) input..
Phildago
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, so I got completely screwed by Dave over at nanobox. He sold me a fixture with a busted array and dodged my emails so I guess it'll never be addressed...
Since I have a busted array I'm thinking of keeping my good array in the center and adding a radion clone array on each side.
What are you guys using these days?
Since I have a busted array I'm thinking of keeping my good array in the center and adding a radion clone array on each side.
What are you guys using these days?
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Phildago
Well-Known Member
I finally got in touch with dave and just wanted to give an update that he will actually be honoring my warranty. I didn't want to leave a bad comment out here on the internet without acknowledging that he did the right thing.
Since I was looking around looking at the radion clone arrays and found some for 30 bucks, I figured I'd put an order in and check them out. My tank could definitely use some supplemental LEDS and the radion clone arrays will probably take a few weeks to get in.
jvswan
Community Member
What are y’all using for lenses? Are y’all adding 13mm lenses to the pucks? I’m going to build four lights for my 120 that is 28” deep. I’m wondering if I need the additional lenses to get good light penetration.
reefslope
New Member
Some good info right here. Explaining how the drivers work and are wired.
and here:
www.rapidled.com
and here:
Instructions
Affordable LED Lighting for Growers and Makers. Build your own high quality LED lights using name brand parts at an affordable price. Minimal knowledge required, let us show you how!
Has anyone seen this yet?
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I found a few LED blanks looking around for some 8 channel pucks. The one I linked is 5 channel but I saw a 3 or 4 channel one as well. Has anyone had the idea to make their own puck to achieve their own spectrum? Anyone know where to get LED's to fit this?
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de.aliexpress.com
I found a few LED blanks looking around for some 8 channel pucks. The one I linked is 5 channel but I saw a 3 or 4 channel one as well. Has anyone had the idea to make their own puck to achieve their own spectrum? Anyone know where to get LED's to fit this?
Well I was actually able to easily find the LED diodes that fit that board in each spectrum you'd want for a reef tank. I see that they are all rated for 700ma at 3 watts. I'm thinking that may be a fun route to explore. Essentially create a XR30 G4 Pro with less white and more usable blue. Price wise it will be about the same as ordering a puck with LED's attached already.
What is the cumulative V(f) of each channel?Hey guys, I am thinking about trying this out. Do you think this layout will work?
Any pointers are greatly appreciated!!!!
Normally one can't run 4 "puck channel" in series off 48V's (48-3V for the LDD's= 45V) even w/ some adj in the ps ..though it, at times,it is close.
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