General DIY LED thread

[Steven Garland]

Does anyone have any experience with using sub 400nm ? I seen RapidLed started selling 380-390 diodes in a solderless format and was maybe thinking of adding 1 to my array.

I know they will reflect a lot of organics and particulates in the water column,and getting into the range where it becomes dangerous.

What are you guys thoughts ?

 

[TDEcoral]

Does anyone have any experience with using sub 400nm ? I seen RapidLed started selling 380-390 diodes in a solderless format and was maybe thinking of adding 1 to my array.

I know they will reflect a lot of organics and particulates in the water column,and getting into the range where it becomes dangerous.

What are you guys thoughts ?

I thought that there wasn't much reason to go below 400nm, but Theatrus uses 385nm diodes on his arrays so maybe he knows something that I don't.

Edit: Just looked at RapidLED and see it's the Seoul Viosys 385nm which is the same as what's used on the Blueacro arrays.

 

[Steven Garland]

I thought that there wasn't much reason to go below 400nm, but Theatrus uses 385nm diodes on his arrays so maybe he knows something that I don't.

Edit: Just looked at RapidLED and see it's the Seoul Viosys 385nm which is the same as what's used on the Blueacro arrays.

Well I see that @Orphek uses them,and Reefbreeders does as well in the LumenBars,and then BA as you mentioned.

Maybe @Orphek can shime in on specifically in the 380nm range.

 

[oreo54]

Well I see that @Orphek uses them,and Reefbreeders does as well in the LumenBars,and then BA as you mentioned.

Maybe @Orphek can shime in on specifically in the 380nm range.

Just to sort of keep up w/ the Joneses.
Close to one of the mercury spikes in mh' s and t5's .
Besides being useable in photosynthesis it may have some pigment and flourescence stimulation. It's complicated from what I've read.
380's not quite there but...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uv-light-and-coral-colors.452751/

 

[Steven Garland]

So what I am gathering,it would help in the transition of green to red in stony corals,with extra pop. Correct or no ?

Just to sort of keep up w/ the Joneses.
Close to one of the mercury spikes in mh' s and t5's .
Besides being useable in photosynthesis it may have some pigment and flourescence stimulation. It's complicated from what I've read.
380's not quite there but...
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uv-light-and-coral-colors.452751/

 

[oreo54]

So what I am gathering,it would help in the transition of green to red in stony corals,with extra pop. Correct or no ?

Well possibly any coral w/ clade "D".
Note though that those w a specific wavelenghth may have only been tested using that wavelength or a tight emitter.
From the above you can see it would be easy to create a tight 365nm light using Mercury emissions and filters.

Note others have a range..from UV to violet. So 385 is a sort of midpoint anyways.
There may be a tipping point in "intensity" as well.

Coral Pigment Name Activator Transition Pigment Clade
Dendronephthya sp. Dendra Blue Light @ 488nm Green to Red D
Dendronephthya sp. DendFP UV-A at 366nm Green to Red D
Favia favus Kikume UV & Violet (350-420nm) Green to Red D
Lobophyllia hemprichii Eos UV @ 390nm/Violet Light ~400nm Green to Red D
Montastraea annularis UV/Violet Light Green to Red D
Montastraea cavernosa mcavRFP UV/Violet Light Green to Red D

Trachyphyllia geoffroyi Kaede UV - Violet Light (350-410nm) Green to Red D
Here's the info from my data base. Note all are from Clade D fluorescent proteins. I do not have any information on other color transitions in other corals.

Still a crapshoot re: individuals in ones tank I suspect.

 

[TDEcoral]

I was just checking out the reefbreeders website and saw that they're releasing a controller for their lights. It's based on an ESP32 which gave me an idea. If someone got their hands on the firmware, could DIYers then upload that firmware to their own ESP32 and then be able to use the reefbreeders controller app? Alternatively, I don't see why someone couldn't just buy the reefbreeders control module and hook it up to their DIY light.

I'm already working on a schematic for a 6 channel driver PCB with Integrated ESP8266 or ESP32 and I was planning on using/adapting one of the existing programs that's on github, but being able to use the reefbreeders app would probably be a more professional solution (assuming it works well/there's no bugs). I've been hesitant to move forward with design of this all-in-one driver/controller because I'm afraid there wouldn't be much interest in something like this these days and it would be a lot of time/money to develop it just for my own use.

 

[Steven Garland]

Quick question guys,

So I have been having problems with my Storm controller whenever I get home and tinker with my light. So,I have the breakout cable from Coralux.

I have my wires coming from my 3 channels into the terminal blocks on the Coralux 3up board.

Then I have my power supply going to the power and ground terminal blocks.

Then I have my breakout cord plugged into the controller,then here is my question,do you guys know which was side is negative and positive ? Also,I need to ground out on of the channels to the driver board,right ?

The controller is one not dimming and two,won't go to 0. It stays at 3%. I have sent the controller once already to be fixed by Ben at Coralux. So idk if its the controller still messed up or if I just have stuff wired up wrong.

I'd really love to replace my Prime 16HD with this light but cannot get it running right

 

[oreo54]

Quick question guys,

So I have been having problems with my Storm controller whenever I get home and tinker with my light. So,I have the breakout cable from Coralux.

I have my wires coming from my 3 channels into the terminal blocks on the Coralux 3up board.

Then I have my power supply going to the power and ground terminal blocks.

Then I have my breakout cord plugged into the controller,then here is my question,do you guys know which was side is negative and positive ? Also,I need to ground out on of the channels to the driver board,right ?

The controller is one not dimming and two,won't go to 0. It stays at 3%. I have sent the controller once already to be fixed by Ben at Coralux. So idk if its the controller still messed up or if I just have stuff wired up wrong.

I'd really love to replace my Prime 16HD with this light but cannot get it running right

Wiring is pretty simple..
As to the breakout cable .. black is ground, rest are PWM +

You'll notice that there are two wire bundles, one for the top row of pins (PWM) and one for the bottom row (GND). The leads are individually color coded for clarity.

Check your 3 up board for solder bridges or weak solders.

 

[Steven Garland]

Ahhh,I think where I messed up,is I have the black not as ground. I have it as a dimming channel. I'll put my money as that that is the issue. So the "negative" portion (the bottom row of wires) on the break out all need to go to the ground port as well,correct ? Its been so long since I have wired a storm up I cannot remember for the life of me lol.

As you can see in the pic,my white channel comes on as full brightness,and the violet and royal channels are basically at 1%.

As for the controller not going to 0% but 3% instead,I'll have to get with Ben about. When I sent it in last time,it would go no lower than 15,which I think is about 5%.

 

[oreo54]

Measure voltage out of the pwm wire when not hooked to the driver.

Most meters average soooo at 100% 5v
At 50% 2.5v. ect.

Pwm wire plus and ground.

 

[Steven Garland]

I put all the negative wires on the break out cord in the ground slot,and got the controller to dim but no less than 3 out of 255 on the controller. So idk,I sent Ben and email in regards to this.

I lied,1 channel will go to 0 but thats its. The other 2 only go as low as 3.

 

[TDEcoral]

Alright I did some shopping for LEDs to change up my "white" channel or the overall layout in general. Here's what I've bought after looking at what BlueAcro, Orphek, CoralCare, and Radion are doing:

12 Rebel ES lime
18 Luxeon C PC Amber
6 Luxeon C Blue
6 Luxeon C Mint
6 SunPlus Cool White
6 x 3-up with 2 Rebel ES Cool Blue and 1 Rebel ES Cyan

Any recommendations on how I should adjust my layout? I probably bought a little more than is necessary, but I wanted some wiggle room and I also have three lights, each light has two separate clusters on it. Here is what each light has right now. I want to get rid of all the CLU048-1212 so I'll have two channels to work with. I think I've already decided that the new Cool Blue/Cyan 3-ups will be added to channel 6.

Channel 1: CLU048-1212 (36v ea.)
Channel 2: CLU048-1212
Channel 3: One K16 (~44v ea.)
Channel 4: One K16
Channel 5: Two 400-430nm violet 3-ups
Channel 6: Two cool blue/cyan/cyan 3-ups

 

[badstraw]

I've been trying to connect a bluefish mini with a LDD-H 5 channel board, it seems that it supports 5 boards in total, or 25 drivers without any problem. As soon as I add 6-8 boards some leds start to flicker.

Do you guys know if that’s the limit for the controller? I already connected both grounds from the controller to the power supply.

I would really appreciate any help.

 

[oreo54]

I've been trying to connect a bluefish mini with a LDD-H 5 channel board, it seems that it supports 5 boards in total, or 25 drivers without any problem. As soon as I add 6-8 boards some leds start to flicker.

Do you guys know if that’s the limit for the controller? I already connected both grounds from the controller to the power supply.

I would really appreciate any help.

Hmmm... possibly
Most Aduino like units gave very limited
current (limited to around 40mA) on the single output
You have 6.6 mA available to 6.

Though the Ldds don' t require a lot of current to function it does increase over the dim range.

At one point in time people thought you could put dozens of Ldds per dim channel but that may just be "on paper"

 

[Steven Garland]

I am having problems with my Storm as well. Out of 3 channels,only 1 I can get to shut all the way down. The other 2 will go to 1% and at 0% go back to 100% brightness in manual mode.

 

[Steven Garland]

Also,does anyone know anybody hiding some Luxeon M Royal's ? I know LGB has some but does anyone ekse have ant or some old ones they don't need ? I'm looking for at least 2.

 

[badstraw]

Hmmm... possibly
Most Aduino like units gave very limited
current (limited to around 40mA) on the single output
You have 6.6 mA available to 6.

Though the Ldds don' t require a lot of current to function it does increase over the dim range.

At one point in time people thought you could put dozens of Ldds per dim channel but that may just be "on paper"

So do you think that’s the limit for that controller? I thought I could add at least 40 drivers in total

 

[oreo54]

So do you think that’s the limit for that controller? I thought I could add at least 40 drivers in total

Sounds or acts like it.
There have been multiple discussions in the past on this.
And it gets messy.
Only "spec" is that the PWM wire max current draw (on "off" w/ 24V ps) is 1mA.

Many stated lower and meanwell only give a max.. BUT if memory serves me well current draw increases w/ err "use.
So depending on the current availability on the Bluefish (my guess is 20mA via resistor) 20 would be the meanwell max per pwm channel when "off".

Now MY understanding of this is very limited so bear w/ any possible stupidity.

Then again sometimes it is just grounding issues..
https://forum.arduino.cc/t/solved-pwm-pins-and-ldd-700h-drivers/350425

 

[oreo54]

Also,does anyone know anybody hiding some Luxeon M Royal's ? I know LGB has some but does anyone ekse have ant or some old ones they don't need ? I'm looking for at least 2.

Next best thing..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1234493083...415abe1fc2fe99c85d7c|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524
M16's.. ;)