Luxdium Replacement LED Pucks for AI Prime & Hydra

[luxdium]

How are the tasty cookies doing? Have they been treated to any toppings yet

Topped with LED chips and baked at 240ºC. (Not for too long!)

The current set is testing like these:

We test each cluster individually in a light fixture representative of the one they'll be installed inside for no less than a day at full brightness. Then we measure PAR and spectrum and finally pack and ship them.

 

[Ste_J]

Topped with LED chips and baked at 240ºC. (Not for too long!)

The current set is testing like these:

We test each cluster individually in a light fixture representative of the one they'll be installed inside for no less than a day at full brightness. Then we measure PAR and spectrum and finally pack and ship them.

Excellent. Hope those chips are full of additives

 

[Mightyhog]

I have an original, non-HD variant Prime (running since 2016..ish) and was planning on using it along with a new Prime 16HD over a new tank. This thread has me really considering a new LUX Engine upgrade in the aging non-HD fixture. I see it's stated in the FAQ that technically the non-HD can be upgraded but what would I actually be in for. Considering how old, my old Prime is, a Lux Engine upgrade HAS to be better...right? lol Way cheaper than another new fixture and would definitely lessen the ol' wife backlash.

 

[FlowGod]

On our Instagram, we have a visual comparison of a Prime HD running LUX Engine Gold:

If you want to see a video of a tank running our pucks for a while (since 2020), then we have this video created by one of our beta testers:


This is an IM 25 Lagoon running 3 Prime HDs upgraded to LUX Engine Gold with the Ultra Blue Preset.

Unfortunately, the 16HD will never get an upgrade path through pucks. For this model, AI took a monolithic design approach where everything's on one board (drivers + LEDs + controls).

Can't exactly say what we have in store, but we'll do something very different for those.

So older models are the Prime HD and the newest generation is the Prime 16 HD? I have the newer model and have had major struggles with the fans. Anyway, can you say what you have in store for the 16 HD?!

 

[Rimsky]

Any idea on when could you be launching something for the 32HD and 64HD?

 

[shakacuz]

Any idea on when could you be launching something for the 32HD and 64HD?

i think they have something in the works for them

 

[Rimsky]

i think they have something in the works for them

I'm interested in improving the UV output of my Hydra 32HD and 64HDs. By that I mean, getting some UV more similar to the UV spectrum obtained in Metal Halides. At least 2 LED diods: 395nm and 365nnm would be ideal!

I'm reading a lot recently about the supposedly positive impact in the overall health of the corals, bacterial reduction, etc.

 

[luxdium]

The amount of UV in a Metal Halide is always up for debate. It depends on the kind of bulb and whether there's UV-absorbing shielding. Late in 2022, we worked with ReefMoonshiner's to measure and quantify the amount of light per spectrum band present in the lamps with some guidance from Dana Riddle.

From our findings, popular 14000K Metal halide bulbs like the Phoenix 14000K bulbs emit ~4-5% of their overall light in the UV spectrum band with a majority in the UV-A range.

Surprisingly, this is not too far from LUX Engine which emits around 3-4% of its light in the UV range. We could go further down the UV, but there are optical limitations and the efficiency of LEDs drop considerably when they emit shorter wavelengths.

Can't officially say what we have in store for future products, but we're focusing on several things. I guess there's your hint.

 

[Rimsky]

Can't officially say what we have in store for future products, but we're focusing on several things. I guess there's your hint.

Will any of those things allow me to get better UV?

 

[luxdium]

Will any of those things allow me to get better UV?

Really itches me to reveal what we have in store but don't want to get ahead of ourselves. However, I'll assure you that a lot of you will be happy with what's coming soon. *fingers crossed*

 

[Reefer45C]

I am in the process of building my new Waterbox Infinia 230.6 and have always used AI Hydras over my tanks... I recently purchased 10 pucks from Luxdium, enough to fit 5 Hydra 26hds over the new tank. I can say customer service was top notch. I emailed them on Easter Sunday (waiting for the in-laws to finish cooking dinner lol) and received an email within an hour from them. Every step their sales/customer service team has been there via email... I'm currently waiting on receiving them, but I am super excited to put Luxdium Hydras over my new build!!!

 

[Mightyhog]

I just got my old Prime (non-HD) on the new tank with the Prime 16HD. Yeah, dialing in the color to blend the two has been a trip. The 16HD has WAY more blue on tap and I would need to dial the 16HD back to get some even blending. That has me giving up PAR to match that old Prime. I'm now considering just buying another 16HD.... or will a Blue Lux Engine bring me closer to that 16HD even though I'll be placing it in a non-HD Prime. I know I won't get the best out of the Lux Engine in the old Prime, but I'm on the fence of whether I should give it a go. @luxdium Any data or info exist on how the upgrades perform in a non-HD Prime in your testing?

 

[luxdium]

I just got my old Prime (non-HD) on the new tank with the Prime 16HD. Yeah, dialing in the color to blend the two has been a trip. The 16HD has WAY more blue on tap and I would need to dial the 16HD back to get some even blending. That has me giving up PAR to match that old Prime. I'm now considering just buying another 16HD.... or will a Blue Lux Engine bring me closer to that 16HD even though I'll be placing it in a non-HD Prime. I know I won't get the best out of the Lux Engine in the old Prime, but I'm on the fence of whether I should give it a go. @luxdium Any data or info exist on how the upgrades perform in a non-HD Prime in your testing?

I believe we have some data on the 16HD. I'll get that posted soon. Just so we're on the same wavelength, by Non-HD, I presume you're talking about the ones that have 4 white LEDs?

An easy way to tell would be to look at the LEDs when they're off. The whites of a non-HD form an imaginary rectangle that spans the outer edges of the cluster while the whites of an HD form a triangle.

The thing with matching lights is unless they were made directly after each other they will have visual differences even if they're the same model. Most lighting manufacturers have their employees visually inspect them independently from each other. The human eye, coupled with memory is not the best at comparing colors so you can have lights that have various shades of blue and green. Sometimes within the same fixture.

If you get LUX Engine, you'll notice we serialize every cluster. This number pairs with the second that the clusters were made and is also associated with a spectrometer test of the cluster. Even though the variances are minimal, when you order multiple clusters, we make every effort to match their output.

 

[Mightyhog]

I believe we have some data on the 16HD. I'll get that posted soon. Just so we're on the same wavelength, by Non-HD, I presume you're talking about the ones that have 4 white LEDs?

An easy way to tell would be to look at the LEDs when they're off. The whites of a non-HD form an imaginary rectangle that spans the outer edges of the cluster while the whites of an HD form a triangle.

The thing with matching lights is unless they were made directly after each other they will have visual differences even if they're the same model. Most lighting manufacturers have their employees visually inspect them independently from each other. The human eye, coupled with memory is not the best at comparing colors so you can have lights that have various shades of blue and green. Sometimes within the same fixture.

If you get LUX Engine, you'll notice we serialize every cluster. This number pairs with the second that the clusters were made and is also associated with a spectrometer test of the cluster. Even though the variances are minimal, when you order multiple clusters, we make every effort to match their output.

I have the original, gen 1 Prime. No HD function. I'm just looking to get something, color-wise, that would be closer to the 16HD I just bought as well. I'm fine with having to tune a bit, but this old Prime is super white when compared to the 16HD. I'm curious, seeing how I can't go beyond 100% on colors, how a Lux upgrade may pan out in the original Prime. I mainly keep LPS and maybe a Birdsnest/Monti here or there, so uber PAR isn't really a concern.

 

[jonbar1]

I'm interested in the Blue model but had a couple questions.
What are the wavelenths of the Violet and Indigo LEDs? I've always wished my Hydras and Primes used 430nm diodes instead of 400 and 415.

 

[luxdium]

I have the original, gen 1 Prime. No HD function. I'm just looking to get something, color-wise, that would be closer to the 16HD I just bought as well. I'm fine with having to tune a bit, but this old Prime is super white when compared to the 16HD. I'm curious, seeing how I can't go beyond 100% on colors, how a Lux upgrade may pan out in the original Prime. I mainly keep LPS and maybe a Birdsnest/Monti here or there, so uber PAR isn't really a concern.

Could you PM me your schedule? I could approximate what the spectrum would look like and make a recommendation on which model would be visually similar. Have a non-HD ready to test.

 

[luxdium]

I'm interested in the Blue model but had a couple questions.
What are the wavelenths of the Violet and Indigo LEDs? I've always wished my Hydras and Primes used 430nm diodes instead of 400 and 415.

If you like 430nm, then you're going to love what we do with the indigo channels!

Indigo as a color, is a range right between Violet and Royal Blue.

One cool feature all LED clusters have is they can run versions of AB+ when they're driven equally.
(everything set to the same %)

For reference, here's LUX Engine Blue in a Prime running AB+ along with an overlay of AB+ as output by the current generation of Radions. As you can see, there's substantial representation in the indigo band.

 

[jonbar1]

So the LEDs used are proprietary then I'm guessing?

 

[luxdium]

So the LEDs used are proprietary then I'm guessing?

The chips are made by leading LED manufacturers to our specs (eg. custom bins).

 

[Mightyhog]

Could you PM me your schedule? I could approximate what the spectrum would look like and make a recommendation on which model would be visually similar. Have a non-HD ready to test.

PM sent and thank you for doing this.