Ap 24 Led Conversion

[LarryM]

Had so much success on last project decided to convert the AP24 I have putting LED's in the stock hood. Sorry photo intense... may have to have patience for load time.

PARTS:
8- SimiLED 3W Royal blue LED's
12- SimiLED 3W cool white LED's
5 - Sunpark LED drivers
2- 10db 2" exhaust fans (cant even hear these run in a quiet room)


http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020230.jpg


Picked up a peice of blank aluminum at local metal supply for $8

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020222.jpg

Laid out light design for 8 royal Blues and 12 cool whites

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020223.jpg

Drilled holes for #6 SM screws (no tapping needed) and wire runs (chamfered holes)

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020225.jpg

Cut heatsink fins in direction of airflow

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020226.jpg

Attached lamps and wired...

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020227.jpg

MAde a custome plate (deflector) to direct air across heatsink.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020229.jpg

Hood stripped and prepped.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020230.jpg

Heatsink/light assy and deflector installed. this causes air from top vents to be pulled across the heatsinh and then back to exhaust fans. notice original moon lightes mounted to defletor.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020232.jpg

LED drivers laid out.

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020233.jpg

[LarryM]

Divers and fans installed

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020234.jpg

Power on test

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020235.jpg

Shield installed

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020236.jpg

Can you say WOW!!!

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/P1020237.jpg

PAR readings note this is through hazed shield.
3" of water 480
6" of water 330
on top of red rock 180
sand bed 120

What about the nice shimmer effect... LED's can do that

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/th_P1020240.jpg (http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn282/wavesofglass/AP24%20LED%20MOD/?action=view&current=P1020240.flv)

[bpro32]

I want one of those! lol :D

so the imminent question... how much did it cost?

[Batman]

I want one of those! lol :D

so the imminent question... how much did it cost?

+1


I wish I had the patience and knowledge to attempt putting something like that together. VERY IMPRESSIVE!

[Triggler]

SO what is the output comparable to? 70W MH?

[LarryM]

I want one of those! lol :D

so the imminent question... how much did it cost?

Just under $130 for materials. Labor and think time... priceless ;)

[surfer85]

Very cool build!

[sgriffin760]

really thats it you have the part list and web site or store to go to i think im going to try this out just do a moon light one as the stater please

and it looks really good

and what did you make the reflector out of

[LarryM]

really thats it you have the part list and web site or store to go to i think im going to try this out just do a moon light one as the stater please

and it looks really good

and what did you make the reflector out of

No reflector. they have to be mounted to a heatsink as heat will kill a LED emitter. I made this one myself using an aluminum blank. There are heatsinks available through http://www.heatsinkusa.com/. If you want something custom I may be able to work something out.

[willp2]

Looks great Larry! Pretty decent numbers and you could always bump them with optics if you wanted to. How's the heat with those drivers in the hood?

On the reflector question above, LED's are very directional, so all the light points down into the tank. No reflector needed.

[LarryM]

Looks great Larry! Pretty decent numbers and you could always bump them with optics if you wanted to. How's the heat with those drivers in the hood?
.

Thanks Will,
The heat is barely detectable.. That is much because of the deflector design that ensures air comes from the vents, over the heatsink, back to the drivers and out the exhaust fans. I put my hand on the exhaust air and dont feel much heat at all.

[kjsreef]

Nice build, very clean!

[Shrek54]

Bro would you consider trying to do this on 12 gallon Nano Cube?

[LarryM]

sure

Just for reference measured a 28 gal nanocube. with a 150w 14k bulb

PAR readings

65 on bottom
80 at about 8"
240 at about 2"

scroll up and compare..

[willp2]

Wow, That's awsome that these worked out a lot brighter than the 150w.

How are you liking it now that you've had it a while? Any thoughts on coral growth?

[Acefspds]

I was suprised to see the par reading. I would have thought it would have been much higher. It was my NC28 that he took the readings from. My 150w 20k lights over my 60g gave about the same PAR. The bulb in the NC28 is from SPS. I dont know how good the bulbs are it is the first time using that brand. The bulbs are about 3 months old. I dont know why the readings are so different in the link on the other build thread that I found on google. My splash cover was rather dirty on the NC28 but clean on the 60g so I dont think that would matter too much. Although after cleaning it today it does look brighter but probabley not double.

I do have sps growing on my sand bed so I figure it is enough light for them down there. HQI lights do shimmer which will throw the test a bit but not much. I get ok growth out of the corals in that tank. Most of the soft stuff goes crazy.

After seeing the PAR readings and seeing the readings from the LED's has convenced me to try to build a hood for my NC28. Only thing that I am worring about now is the light being too much for them or the wrong color. The HQI light is pulling ~70 PAR on the sand and the LED is pulling ~120 on the sand. That is almost double the light output of the HQI which is strange to me since all of the reading I have found online are much higher for the HQI. Is the direct light gonna burn or kill my corals? HQI is not so direct which is probabley why it isnt giving the higher PAR.

Is LED's the way to go now days?????????????

[willp2]

I think you know where I stand on LED's; IMO they are the way to go. On the color and over bright problems, I think the answer is to make it so you can dim both colors independently. If you do that you can mix the colors to get the look and brightness you want.

[Acefspds]

I think you know where I stand on LED's; IMO they are the way to go. On the color and over bright problems, I think the answer is to make it so you can dim both colors independently. If you do that you can mix the colors to get the look and brightness you want.

I am more interested in getting the color right. Making them dim is ok if you have a PAR meter on hand so you know your not dimming them too much. We know what bulbs to buy and what not for our HQI's and T5's because we know the bulb is 10,000k-20,000k. We know the Actinic is
100% "actinic blue" which produces a spectrum that peaks at 420nm producing a spectrum that encourages ultimate fluorescence and coral enhancement in capable corals What are the LED's?

I would want to make sure to get the right lights before I drop $200.00 on a DIY build. These may be the right lights I dont know. Only time will tell I guess.

[willp2]

I don't think you need a PAR meter to get your light output right. You just start dim to acclimate then ramp up over time. If you get some coral that starts having trouble due to the light, change the brightness or move the coral or even diffuse or block the light from one or a few LED’s. You can make bright and dim areas of the tank with ease and IMO you can get far more control than any other kind of lighting. So the key is just to take it slow.

These LED's are 420nm for the blues, whites are 6500k.

Honestly I think LED's are far more predictable than HQI and other as the light spectrum and light output is much more exact. Its just that there aren’t nearly as many people using them so there is a bit of a apprehension with many people as it’s a bit unknown, but once you get the amount of control you have, it more than makes up for any perceived downside on these.

[Acefspds]

Its hard to do that with my tank tho. I dont want to lose anything in the tank. It has been going a while now. The blues sound right but I am kinda 50/50 on the 6500k whites. Any way to get those whites to at least 10,000k?

I will have to wait and see how it goes with you guys. Just hope both of you do updates at least bi-weekly so we can all see how the corals react to the lights. Both builds look awesome and I hope in time I can get my NC28 some LED's then get my 60g converted over as well. Some corals I get love the light and some hate it. I dont lose many corals (even wild ones I get from LA) but I do still lose a few. I think it is down to light because I have done just about everything else.

[willp2]

6500k on the whites is pretty standard and is about what you'll see on most DIY builds and just about any LED fixture you'll buy. Google reef LED 6500 and you'll see what I mean.

My corals have positively gone nuts since I switched. I’ve seen more growth in my SPS corals in the last couple of weeks than I had months before. That said, I am coming from PC lighting, so what do you expect.

[Shemp]

willp2; what power sources did you use? how many power sources did you need to use? Did you get 24v power converters?

[willp2]

You can see the details about my build over here: http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68813

[jessegarcia28]

Have you modified a red sea max 130d. If so. LMK. Thanks.