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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
You can get those on ebay?! Lol... for coral tanks they say. Mh "replacements" lol
D
D
People still diy leds?
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Yes when i saw phillips coral grow led.light i was like well their goes the light bizz. Lol
Its a good thing i hope. Big name brand.like that making coral light.
D
Its a good thing i hope. Big name brand.like that making coral light.
D
As far as I' m concerned diy advantage is building it to your exact wants.
No "wasted" channels like dimming 75% of your Red, Green and white ect.
Even if you decide to overstock unnecessary colors you at least get to pick which channel you put them on.
You normally will never beat say a cheap Chinese black box w/ their questionable drivers, cheap optics and thin license plate heat sinks, not to mention fans.. (a love or hate thing most of the time).
Nor is it easy to beat higher end lights just on their, though limited (i.e not making a million lights in a run), purchasing of parts power.
Diodes, even some of the best, are much cheaper in the 100's or 1000's.
Hardest thing isn't cost it's making them look "pretty".
If you run a hood, well who cares then.
Next you can beat the "use as few brands as you can" thing picking the right product for you.
You know a lot of "advancements" in current products came about by the creative mind of DIY-ers.
Or at least I believe so.
Then there is just the fun part.
No, saving money is rarely what is going to happen and, obviously it is not for everyone.
Though I personally do freshwater DIY I think I can still see "mistakes" in most any lighting product.
Don't get me wrong, most are not critical mistakes like the orig cool white/ royal blue boxes but little things.
and you can make things that don't exist.
This is a "plan" using only 2 colors of diodes to emulate an Iwasaki 6500k MH..
6500k whites and Viosys violets.
About $400 for true 350Watts but need to add a controller.
As diy it would be easy to tweak the violet channel.
Note the wide blue spread.
Biggest risk would be is it too much red?
Does the uv matter (ther is plenty of mixed emotions on that one)?
Nobody commercially would probably build it and for a number of good reasons.
Point is try to find a 350W LED for $400..
Cheapest would be 3 "black boxes" and really 4 because you generally dim out 25% of it's potential.
Second point is you can use diodes that nobody really thinks about.. Like the high CRI "fresh fish" (whites w/ supplemental cyan and red phosphors unlike "cheap" white leds) COB's used w/ the above.
Or ones not normally included in a light that has "most" of the other characteristics you want.
Or not using cheap plastic optics for true UV diodes. Or any high power (blue-violet) ones.
PC Amber and Lime (excluding mint though sort of a lime w/ attitude, just less phosphor to let the blue base shine through) are more exotic things not in all lights but have finally found some commercial use
BTW DIY-ers have been using them for as long as they were released.
Nanobox used lime as far back as 2014..
More than likely based on DIY success w/ it.
Nanobox was pretty much DIY gone commercial anyways..
To be honest w/ DIY the 2 most expensive things, not in any particular order is the controller and heat sink (mostly if fanless, can get away w/ a lot of expense by adding fans).
doing just on/off and manual dimmers adds only $7 per channel and one wall timer.
When you get really bored you design your own circuit boards and reflow your own diodes.
Fortunately fw so no big wattage demands..
14W boards..Built at this scale and as an assembled unit cost would come close to an AI prime but w/ better coverage and a better diode choice.
Diodes can be fw or sw centric.. My choice.
Cheap flea bay diodes have, at best only 1/2 the efficiency of name band emitters, can be poorly attached to their star boards causing rapid thermal death, can be mix/matched as to power ratings and spectrums ect ect.
They'll work if you want to rebuild a light every 3 years and be "patching" it here and there.
2.1W w/ 1100mW of photons (Seoul z) for $1 at steves is dirt cheap for quality..
My first fw lights were cheap if you don't include the fact that they were modified 3 times in 2 years making them better sometimes, just different other times. So not really cheap but cheaper than selling/re-buying and STILL not satisfied.
My first warm white 3w diodes.. ALL of them died withing a year or 2. Current ones are going on 5 years.
It's an illness.. and hobbies should be fun.
On a sad note I never found a fw or sw commercial led (any light for that matter) that checked all the boxes in my head.
Some are very close, some close ones err disappeared, some close ones cost more than a small car.
Thinking about that crazy German panel w/ the "1000" zones.
Programming it would drive me crazy.
Needs/wants.. Need to know what they are for you and if you can find them commercially.
DIY helped reefing as did LED "failures"... No doubt about it.
On a fatalistic note.. there is no perfect light.
No "wasted" channels like dimming 75% of your Red, Green and white ect.
Even if you decide to overstock unnecessary colors you at least get to pick which channel you put them on.
You normally will never beat say a cheap Chinese black box w/ their questionable drivers, cheap optics and thin license plate heat sinks, not to mention fans.. (a love or hate thing most of the time).
Nor is it easy to beat higher end lights just on their, though limited (i.e not making a million lights in a run), purchasing of parts power.
Diodes, even some of the best, are much cheaper in the 100's or 1000's.
Hardest thing isn't cost it's making them look "pretty".
If you run a hood, well who cares then.
Next you can beat the "use as few brands as you can" thing picking the right product for you.
You know a lot of "advancements" in current products came about by the creative mind of DIY-ers.
Or at least I believe so.
Then there is just the fun part.
No, saving money is rarely what is going to happen and, obviously it is not for everyone.
Though I personally do freshwater DIY I think I can still see "mistakes" in most any lighting product.
Don't get me wrong, most are not critical mistakes like the orig cool white/ royal blue boxes but little things.
and you can make things that don't exist.
This is a "plan" using only 2 colors of diodes to emulate an Iwasaki 6500k MH..
6500k whites and Viosys violets.
About $400 for true 350Watts but need to add a controller.
As diy it would be easy to tweak the violet channel.
Note the wide blue spread.
Biggest risk would be is it too much red?
Does the uv matter (ther is plenty of mixed emotions on that one)?
Nobody commercially would probably build it and for a number of good reasons.
Point is try to find a 350W LED for $400..
Cheapest would be 3 "black boxes" and really 4 because you generally dim out 25% of it's potential.
Second point is you can use diodes that nobody really thinks about.. Like the high CRI "fresh fish" (whites w/ supplemental cyan and red phosphors unlike "cheap" white leds) COB's used w/ the above.
Or ones not normally included in a light that has "most" of the other characteristics you want.
Or not using cheap plastic optics for true UV diodes. Or any high power (blue-violet) ones.
PC Amber and Lime (excluding mint though sort of a lime w/ attitude, just less phosphor to let the blue base shine through) are more exotic things not in all lights but have finally found some commercial use
BTW DIY-ers have been using them for as long as they were released.
Nanobox used lime as far back as 2014..
New NanoBox LED Color : Mint
NanoBox is excited to introduce a new color to the NanoBox lineup, Mint. The color was discovered after switching to the Luxeon C LED on the V3.1 array. We have been using Lime for three years and have had incredible success. The mint spectrum nearly mimics lime however has a peak under the 450nm...
www.nano-reef.com
LED Colors, And What They Are Used For
So, I've been seeing a number of requests over time about what the various colors of LEDs do for the tank, and the quality of the light, so I figured I would write up a quick post to go over the high level overview of what each color of LED offers to you. I'm not going to get into the biological ...
www.nano-reef.com
Lime LED's?
So been doing some reading and reading a lot of hype on Lime LEDs. Are they gonna be the "Best" thing since sliced bread. What do you LED guru's here think of all this hype? Are they useful in the reef application, or all hype? Would love to hear any and all opinions on this topic.
www.nano-reef.com
Nanobox was pretty much DIY gone commercial anyways..
To be honest w/ DIY the 2 most expensive things, not in any particular order is the controller and heat sink (mostly if fanless, can get away w/ a lot of expense by adding fans).
doing just on/off and manual dimmers adds only $7 per channel and one wall timer.
When you get really bored you design your own circuit boards and reflow your own diodes.
Fortunately fw so no big wattage demands..
14W boards..Built at this scale and as an assembled unit cost would come close to an AI prime but w/ better coverage and a better diode choice.
Diodes can be fw or sw centric.. My choice.
Cheap flea bay diodes have, at best only 1/2 the efficiency of name band emitters, can be poorly attached to their star boards causing rapid thermal death, can be mix/matched as to power ratings and spectrums ect ect.
They'll work if you want to rebuild a light every 3 years and be "patching" it here and there.
2.1W w/ 1100mW of photons (Seoul z) for $1 at steves is dirt cheap for quality..
My first fw lights were cheap if you don't include the fact that they were modified 3 times in 2 years making them better sometimes, just different other times. So not really cheap but cheaper than selling/re-buying and STILL not satisfied.
My first warm white 3w diodes.. ALL of them died withing a year or 2. Current ones are going on 5 years.
It's an illness..
and hobbies should be fun.On a sad note I never found a fw or sw commercial led (any light for that matter) that checked all the boxes in my head.
Some are very close, some close ones err disappeared, some close ones cost more than a small car.
Thinking about that crazy German panel w/ the "1000" zones.
Programming it would drive me crazy.
Needs/wants.. Need to know what they are for you and if you can find them commercially.
DIY helped reefing as did LED "failures"... No doubt about it.
On a fatalistic note.. there is no perfect light.
Attachments
Somehow my section on Luxeon crisp whites wasn't included in the "exotic" section.
This is a specialty warm white COB made to encourage fluorescence in paper and cloth.
Warm white with an "attitude".
Seems pretty photosynthetic friendly huh..
This is a specialty warm white COB made to encourage fluorescence in paper and cloth.
Warm white with an "attitude".
Seems pretty photosynthetic friendly huh..
BradB
Well-Known Member
Where are you getting your numbers?
In my experience, diodes got a lot better in the beginning but have been flat for the past 5 years, and almost flat the 5 before. So if there was a big step up in efficiency from 2008 to 2021, almost all of it was from 2008 to 2013 and the rest was from 2013 to 2018. I don't think many people were using LEDs (DIY or otherwise) on tanks in 2008.
I've never seen whites spec'd as bad as 34% or blues as good as 65%. Usually RB is the best around 60%, Violet/UV, then whites around 55% and blues around 50%. I don't currently have any cyans, but I had them before and feel they add a lot - except efficiency is crap (maybe 20%) and cost is very high.
These numbers are all diode losses. If you have lenses, that is a significant loss on top, and then ballasts are another big chunk. This is another cost advantage of DIY - a Radion's ballasts and optics might be comparable to a good DIY setup, but a VIPARSPECTRA is nowhere close. I have a 4'x4' tank so I don't need any optics, but Radion can't market a light for a 4'x4' tank and different optics for a 4'x2' tank. I've also thought of using a larger, more efficient ballast off a 220 line - again something with a small enough market we will never see commercialized.
Crunching some # 's @ Steves Seoul z4 rb 1100mW @ 2.1A
52% diode conversion.
Biggest advancement lately seems in thermal stability and the rise of flip chips.
52% diode conversion.
Biggest advancement lately seems in thermal stability and the rise of flip chips.
Naso110
Active Member
Naso110
Active Member
Using the exact same one s. Only I use (2) 100w 10k on my 110g. Also T5 for actinic blues. Great drivers. Super cheap, replace the LEDs every 18 months. At $12 each why wouldn't I. Just my opinion
BradB
Well-Known Member
I've used those before, as well as the 460nm-470nm Blues. I'm not sure if "why wouldn't I" was rhetorical but you are far better spending the $14 up front to run each at 50W over 3 years. At 100w these degrade or burn out for me in a year or two. At 50w they seem good as new years later.
Stigigemla
Well-Known Member
Yes the blue leds are usually specified at around 60%. But if You underdrive them and choose a bin with low forward voltage they reach the 65%. Leds are cheap now so if your electricity bill is high You can double or triple the amount of them to get a higher efficiency and lifespan.
In 2013 there where whites of 100 lumen per watt. They are better now.
In 2013 there where whites of 100 lumen per watt. They are better now.
Asmolupers
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Leds get extremely hot. I’d be surprised if they run for 60 seconds with hot glue before being destroyed. You need thermal grease. They also make thermal epoxy that can be used.
Asmolupers
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I’m using the same quick connect leds. Been using them for over a year now and they are fantastic. And so easy to setup and replace if/when you need to.
Asmolupers
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That’s very nice for the price.
Rounding out the possibilities of thermal "glues".
They have thermal tape.
And thermal silicone i.e. "heatsink plaster" and asst silicone based products.
And of course 2 part epoxies.
Yea hot melt glue is a BAD idea.
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
We will see if the thermal pads i got will hold the leds and optics... idk. I got a fancy heat sink too. Lol
D
D
Asmolupers
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I have used thermal tape and it was pretty terrible. Not sure about thermal pads. Its cheaper to DIY a light but still not really cheap. I abandoned the tape for thermal grease and screws. If you ever need to replace an led you're going to hate that pad due to the fact that it'll need to be scraped off. Hopefully they will work well enough that you won't have to worry about that.
Asmolupers
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Which thermal pads and heat sink did you get?
dhnguyen
Well-Known Member
I used to DIY a lot of stuff (LEDs, skimmers, even wave makers/propeller pumps and what have you.) But the prices of the commercially available stuff have gone way down (the law of supply and demand) that it just doesn't make a lot of sense to DIY anymore.
I still love the shimmer from my DIY LEDs on the old tank though
I still love the shimmer from my DIY LEDs on the old tank though
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
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