My LED Zeppelin

[Chris023]

Welcome to my LED build!

"When forming Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page approached Keith Moon and John Entwistle and asked them to consider joining the new band he was making...Kieth said, 'that would go over like a lead balloon', and John added,'more like a lead zeppelin!'".

I have had read/heard many many people in this hobby say basically the same thing about LEDs. Here's to proving them all wrong (hopefully ;-)...with a little, maybe even a bit corny, tribute to The Mighty Zep.

I have been researching and saving and researching and saving for this build for quite some time now, and it has finally come to a reality. This is my Swan Song.
I have put "A Whole Lotta Love" into this build, and it seems like "Ten Years Gone" since I started.

I did create a prototype a few months back to put over my frag tank to see how the corals would react. Seems to be working out fine, so for the display "The Song Remains The Same" just need to scale it up a bit.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/Fish%20Room/521.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/Fish%20Room/004-Copy.jpg

Well, I don't want to "Ramble On" like a "Fool in the Rain" too much here, so lets "Rock 'n Roll".

I have been running T5s on my 150 gallon (60x24x24) reef pretty successfully for a few years now. Here is a pic of the tank before the build.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/April%202011/FTS_I.jpg


I figured I would need a new canopy to house the LEDs as my original one would only allow me 6" above the water and I didn't want them that close. So I started to build a new canopy.
Here are some real rough guidelines/planes I used (please forgive the use of power point)

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/CanopyDesign.jpg


I wanted a light weight, very accessible tank. I started with a basic frame that would sit on the tank.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/003.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/001.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004.jpg


Ensured it was well glued and screwed.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002.jpg

[Chris023]

Then I added panels to the corners to hold the doors. I also added them to the bottom front and sides to keep the frame from shifting off the tank. Glued and screwed.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/005.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/006.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/007.jpg

In order to keep it light weight, I used plywood for the doors and top. I also added some molding to help keep it's shape.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/009.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/008.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/010.jpg


Fitting test.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/001-Copy.jpg


Some Kilz on the interior and black satin paint.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/003-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004-Copy.jpg

[Chris023]

Attached the doors with hinges and the top will just sit on the top lip for easier removal of the LED rig if needed.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/009-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/006-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/008-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/007-Copy.jpg


With the canopy done.... time to start on the rig!
I got some channel on the larger side to help with cooling. I went with 8 channels of 6063 1/8 inch thick by 1 and 3/4 inch wide by 1 inch tall channel.
It came pretty raw, like it had been "Trampled Under Foot", so I had to run a few different grits of sand paper over it with a palm sander, and hit it with some fine steel wool. Shined up pretty nice, although it did have some nasty scratches in it when delivered, but "Hey Hey What Can I Do".

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/010-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/011.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/012.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/013.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/016.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/014.jpg

[Chris023]

So the plan is to use 96 Cree LEDs, 64 Royal Blue and 32 Neutral White. Driven in 4 parallel strings of 12 by HLG-150H-48B (times 2). My prototype uses Cool Whites, and I have noticed some of the colors seem washed out. Not sure if it is the Cool Whites or some other issue with the frag tank. Anyways I am going with Neutral. Here are a couple more cheesy Power Point diagrams of the layout and spacing.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/LEDDesign.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/SpacingDesign.jpg


Measured and marked the holes using one of the LEDs as a jig.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002-Copy2.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/003-Copy2.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/006-Copy2.jpg


Drilled the 192 holes

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004-Copy2.jpg


Once the holes were drilled, I pre-screwed in the screws to 'thread' them. This was the most horrifying part of this entire build. I used these screws, which didn't get through the 1/8 inch thick channel all that easily.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/005-Copy2.jpg

Many screws were bent, and heads twisted off. I had to do this by hand as a drill was hard on the screws. So after a few hours and one bad ass blister later, I was quite "Dazed And Confused". I probably could have gone about this step better.

[Chris023]

Using these homemade brackets to rest the rig in the canopy. Easy removal if needed.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/011-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/014-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/015-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/012-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/017-Copy.jpg


Pre-tinned the stars

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/007-Copy2.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/008-Copy2.jpg


Screwed the stars

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/009-Copy2.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/010-Copy2.jpg

[Chris023]

Wire stars together

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/018-Copy.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/020.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/021.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/022.jpg


Ran wire to strings)

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/001-Copy3.jpg

Wired power to the drivers

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/003-Copy3.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002-Copy3.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004-Copy3.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/005-Copy3.jpg


Power test... ONLY AFTER DOING CONTINUITY AND SHORT TESTS ON EVERY LED!!!

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/009-Copy3.jpg

[Chris023]

Mounted the optics and added a splash shield. I used aquarium silicone to mount the optics. I found this quite difficult to get them on as straight as possible as the opening on the optic is a perfect fit over the LED chip, however there are little solder points that fix the chip to the star, which causes issues for getting the optic to sit nicely.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/265.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/264.jpg


I mounted the drivers, blocks, fuses, & resistors in a plastic aerated drawer tie strapped to egg crate. The egg crate is then tie strapped to the bottom of the drawer. I also used egg crate to close off the top. I used large 'L" braces as makeshift heat sinks for the drivers.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/263.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/260.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/261.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/262.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/012-Copy2.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/013-Copy2.jpg

[Chris023]

After doing a test with the rig in the canopy, I found the channels getting very hot. Even with an open back and such large channels, there seemed to be not enough air movement to keep things cool. As soon as I took the top off, the temp dropped at least 25 degrees. So some fans were in order. I didn't have much room to try to blow air down the channels from one end, so I decided to mount on top and blow down. This actually worked out extremely well. I feel plenty of air flowing down all channels and the rig is quite cool, not even warm.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/005-Copy4.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/001-Copy4.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004-Copy4.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002-Copy4.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/006-Copy4.jpg

[Chris023]

Okay... Let's "Bring it on Home"
I am using a Reef Keeper Lite with a ALC module to ramp up and down.

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/001-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/002-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/004-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/003-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/012-Copy3.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/005-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/006-Copy5.jpg

http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae255/cpschuetze/Aquarium/LED%20Build/008-Copy4.jpg

[ensiferum321]

Holy.....

Your tank, and builds..Never cease to amaze me.

Bravo Chris, bravo.

[LotsaFishies]

wow.

what an amazing, and absolutely gorgeous build. Very well thought out, beautifully executed. Amazing craftsmanship.

How are your corals responding?
Is it brighter than your original lights?
Able to share with us how much it cost to build? :eek:

[uxdesigner]

Awesome build! Did you use the new XP-E's?

[av619]

Id like to know the cost too if you want to throw it out there...
Your tank is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep us posted on your success or dismay!

[UpliftedMoFo]

Very nice...I'm ashamed that I bought a pre made moonlight now

[jessegarcia28]

Wow. Simply amazing Chris. Looks like ur getting a good spread even better than ur t5s.
Lmk when ull start fabricating these bad boys ;)

[prospectclmt]

Nice chris. I wanna come by and check it out whenever your free.

[ensiferum321]

+1...



Nice chris. I wanna come by and check it out whenever your free.

[Nick_Kun]

Beautifully Done!

[rodbuster229]

Insane

[Chris023]

Holy.....

Your tank, and builds..Never seem to amaze me.

Bravo Chris, bravo.

Thanks Brian... Although I hope you mean "cease" to amaze me and not "seem" =).

[davocean]

Seriously impressive!

[H4Rk3R]

how much were the materials to build it?

[Dizzle21]

gotta give us an update on the electric bill savings!

[ensiferum321]

haha :hideeyes:

Hey, it was late. Now I've gotta go edit it!


Thanks Brian... Although I hope you mean "cease" to amaze me and not "seem" =).

[SD-Kid]

WOOOOOOW!!!! i wish i had Skills like that.... How did your corals react to the change???

[bpro32]

So do you not need the dimmable drivers if you have the Reefkeeper ALC?

[Chris023]

wow.

what an amazing, and absolutely gorgeous build. Very well thought out, beautifully executed. Amazing craftsmanship.

How are your corals responding?
Is it brighter than your original lights?
Able to share with us how much it cost to build? :eek:

Thanks!!!
I have only had this up since Friday, but the corals seem to be reacting just fine. Not quite at full power yet. Been ramping up over the week. So I can't quite tell yet if it is brighter than my T5s, but I would say it looks crisper? Colors are popping a bit more. And don't forget the shimmer...my gosh the shimmer...

Cost:
Cutter – LEDs : $497.33
Rapid LED – Optics & Greese : $149.77
Power Gate – Drivers : $222.04
Mouser – Resistors, Fuses, & Blocks : $76.60 (I got 5x extra resistors and fuses)
Speedy Metals – U Channel : $~70
Bulk Wire – Wire : $56.90 (I definitely got more than needed, wanted many colors.)
Fans - 2x $15 + $30 for a single wall wart to power both of them = ~$60.
Digital Aquatics – ALC Module : ~$80

total = ~$1200

Canopy was probably ~$250 mainly because of all the molding and spray paint. Could have brushed for a whole lot cheaper.

There were probably a couple areas where I could have saved.

[Chris023]

Awesome build! Did you use the new XP-E's?

Thanks!!! I used XP-Es and XP-Gs.

[Chris023]

Id like to know the cost too if you want to throw it out there...
Your tank is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep us posted on your success or dismay!

Thanks!!! see post #27 for cost.

[Chris023]

Very nice...I'm ashamed that I bought a pre made moonlight now

Thanks!!!

[Chris023]

Wow. Simply amazing Chris. Looks like ur getting a good spread even better than ur t5s.
Lmk when ull start fabricating these bad boys ;)

Thanks!!! Don't think I am quite ready to go through that process anytime soon ;-)

[Chris023]

Nice chris. I wanna come by and check it out whenever your free.

Thanks!!! Drop by anytime... BTW, thought you were coming by this Friday to pick up some frags??? =)

[Chris023]

+1...

Anytime man!

[Chris023]

Beautifully Done!

Thanks!!!

[Chris023]

Insane

Totally!!! ;-)

[Chris023]

Seriously impressive!

Thanks!!!

[Chris023]

how much were the materials to build it?

Check out post #27.

[Chris023]

gotta give us an update on the electric bill savings!

Not sure how much I will save, but the old T5s were putting out ~588 watts. The LEDs are ~288 watts. That will probably be a nice savings. Plus not evaporating as much, so saves on top off pump run time.

[Chris023]

WOOOOOOW!!!! i wish i had Skills like that.... How did your corals react to the change???

Thanks!!! So far coral is doing fine. Only been up and running since Friday though.

[Chris023]

So do you not need the dimmable drivers if you have the Reefkeeper ALC?

You still need dimmable drivers. The ALC module just provides the 0-10 volts to the driver for dimming.

[WanaLeime]

MAD SKILLZ !! HATS OFF to you Chris! Thanks for sharing!

[shmoo]

Woweee! Very clean.

[NickSDC]

Can't say anything that hasn't already, very sweet build. I how many drivers are you using?

[bbandu]

great build

[prospectclmt]

funny chris lives right down the street from me and i had a chance to check the led setup yesterday evening and all i can say is http://festoolownersgroup.com/Smileys/default/jawdrop.gif

AWESOME JOB!!

[Chris023]

Thanks everyone!!!
Nick, I am using 2 drivers (Mean Well HLG-150H-48B).

[JohnnyAirtime]

Ya know... that's one of the cleanest DIY LED builds I've ever seen!:bounce:

Excellent work, top notch... you should be overly proud of yourself. Like... to sit and stare at the craftmanship... layout, design, and all the simple yet effective perks. I mean, sit and stare for hours!! ;) I know I do when designing something, let alone when complete and am asking the Mrs. for her input. LoL

... I do have to ask ONE question (elephant in the room); Why not hidden hinges on that canopy?! All that HARD work, money spent, and great craftmanship... and then those hinges. :hideeyes: Sorry man, I hope you don't take it the wrong way. I just had to ask.

[Chris023]

Ya know... that's one of the cleanest DIY LED builds I've ever seen!:bounce:

Excellent work, top notch... you should be overly proud of yourself. Like... to sit and stare at the craftmanship... layout, design, and all the simple yet effective perks. I mean, sit and stare for hours!! ;) I know I do when designing something, let alone when complete and am asking the Mrs. for her input. LoL

... I do have to ask ONE question (elephant in the room); Why not hidden hinges on that canopy?! All that HARD work, money spent, and great craftmanship... and then those hinges. :hideeyes: Sorry man, I hope you don't take it the wrong way. I just had to ask.

Thanks, I really appreciate it!!! I am very proud and do plenty of staring =).

Hinges...I know. I definitely spent plenty of time contemplating how to mount the doors. The thing is that in order to keep the entire canopy on the light side, I used mostly just plywood and molding on the doors, and 1 inch thick wood on the frame. The hinges would have required a thicker area to mount to the inside of the doors/frame. I also wanted as little of a gap between the frame and the doors so light wouldn't be visible through any seems. I would have had to recess the hinges into the frame and door in order to make it fit really snug, and I did't plan for that nor have the proper tools to carve out areas for the hinge plates. The front doors are very long and these large hinges were the best ones I could find that I felt confident in holding the doors up.
The tank room isn't all that bright, and I think it is an acceptable bulky hinge look. Anyways most people are just too amazed at the tank contents and barely look at the canopy anyways ;-)

[JohnnyAirtime]

.........
The tank room isn't all that bright, and I think it is an acceptable bulky hinge look. Anyways most people are just too amazed at the tank contents and barely look at the canopy anyways ;-)

I hear ya... I'm sure it looks great in person.
And I too hate light when it escapes through (between doors or what have ya). For this, I usually back the seam with a small piece of wood or 1/4" masonite. That way your seam can be a bit larger yet still no light escapes.

And no kidding. I could have my tank on Cinder Blocks... nobody would even notice!!!!

[RussM]

Sweet build!

How is the temperature of the aluminum channels?

[Chris023]

Sweet build!

How is the temperature of the aluminum channels?

Thanks!
With the fans on the temp is just warm to touch. Because they are enclosed in the canopy they get quite hot without fans, even though the back of the canopy is open. I think they are just too close to the top of the canopy. If I remove the canopy top and turn off the fans, it is very cool to touch. I may need to drill a bunch of small holes in the top of the canopy to give the heat a better way to escape, in case of fan failure.

[JohnnyAirtime]

............ I may need to drill a bunch of small holes in the top of the canopy to give the heat a better way to escape, in case of fan failure.

How about doing what N2REEFS did?
http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=638521&postcount=2

... large hole cut and eggcrate counter sunk in the top of the canopy. Once painted to match, looks pretty cool/industrial.

[Chris023]

How about doing what N2REEFS did?
http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=638521&postcount=2

... large hole cut and eggcrate counter sunk in the top of the canopy. Once painted to match, looks pretty cool/industrial.

Definitely a possibility...

[SamDiego]

amazing! great job

[Chris023]

amazing! great job

Thanks!!!

[naso tang]

wow, chris, I missed this thread until now, haven't seen you since you were drilling the heatsink. How's everybody doing? The B/W blend seems quite good to me if I trust the photos...I heard LED can be challenging to photograph...can't wait to see it!

[AJ858]

Damn that was awesome. You got some skills! Thanks for posting this thread. I hope to see this tank in person some day!

How did the corals take to the change? Did you ever measure and compare the par rating between the t5s and leds?

[whatever]

Incredible build. I'm outside, let me in so we can start on my build.

[Chris023]

wow, chris, I missed this thread until now, haven't seen you since you were drilling the heatsink. How's everybody doing? The B/W blend seems quite good to me if I trust the photos...I heard LED can be challenging to photograph...can't wait to see it!

Thanks... Selling frags (cut on demand) at the moment, you are welcome come by and check it out.

http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83141

[Chris023]

Damn that was awesome. You got some skills! Thanks for posting this thread. I hope to see this tank in person some day!

How did the corals take to the change? Did you ever measure and compare the par rating between the t5s and leds?

Thanks...
Corals adapted very well. I did have a small adjustment period (like 2 weeks) where I slowly increased the intensity.

[Chris023]

Incredible build. I'm outside, let me in so we can start on my build.

Thanks...
Not sure I will ever be ready to do that build again =)

[egd101]

great job!

[specvjeff]

Amazing tank and set up man!

[SDguy]

Fantastic thread! Thanks for all the info and pics!

[Chris023]

Thanks everyone!!!

[Batman]

Do you have a pic of the tank with the fixture ramped all the way up?

[Acefspds]

Do you think a 24v 5A 120w power supply would be enough to power 40 led's or would I have to go with like a 48v or higher?

I have the Cree XR-E

Spec of the LED......
Forward Voltage
typ. 3.3V (max.3.7V)
Recom. forward current
typ. 350mA (max.1000mA)

[unbereefable]

That driver will handle, at max Vf, 6 leds/string. If driving each string to 1 amp, max of led, that gives 5 strings of 6. If you run each string at 350ma, you could do 14 strings of 7.

[Acefspds]

Cool. I am doing 2 rectangle shaped retro fits. Each retro will have only 20 led's. 4 strings of 5. I was planning on using a driver for each panel. Since I can probably run all 40 at 350mA that is what I will do to start. I am sure at 350mA I will still get enough light since as of right now the tank is SPS free. If going for max power I would need 2 power supplies. One for each panel. I am hopin this will be enough light for my 55g all in one tank. Thanks Unbereefable for the info.

[unbereefable]

No prob. Also depending on the driver, I've found it's sometimes cheaper to use several smaller drivers. But that only applies if you dont want to dim them. I was going to use a big mean well, HLG, but I don't want to dim. Then I realized I could use several smaller mean wells which were cheaper than 1 big power mean well. Your driver is dimmable right? Sorry for the thread high jack Chris.

[Chris023]

Do you have a pic of the tank with the fixture ramped all the way up?

Sorry no. I do run them at 90%, so 100% isn't that much brighter.


Do you think a 24v 5A 120w power supply would be enough to power 40 led's or would I have to go with like a 48v or higher?

I have the Cree XR-E

Spec of the LED......
Forward Voltage
typ. 3.3V (max.3.7V)
Recom. forward current
typ. 350mA (max.1000mA)

It has been a while since I had to run the math for this stuff, but it does depend a bit on how you plan on configuring the build. How many parallel strings on the driver? How many LEDs per string? How hot do you want to run them (e.g. 700mA)?
With my drivers, my calculations were like this:
2.8 amps spread over 4 strings of 12 LEDs being run in parallel is 700ma per string. 4 string of 12 at 48 volts: 48V (driver voltage) / 3.3Vf (froward voltage per LED) = 14.5 LEDs per string (I am going with 12).

Your driver has twice to amperage and half the voltage. I would guess that equates to more strings with fewer LEDs per string.
5 amps spread over 7 strings is around 700ma per string. 24v / 3.3 = 7.2 LEDs per string.
So, looks like the driver would work, just might be more work for you making more strings. I have always heard of people using the 48v drivers. Not sure of any other issues with running with that amperage and voltage. You may want to do some more research on it.

[Chris023]

Do you have a pic of the tank with the fixture ramped all the way up?


No prob. Also depending on the driver, I've found it's sometimes cheaper to use several smaller drivers. But that only applies if you dont want to dim them. I was going to use a big mean well, HLG, but I don't want to dim. Then I realized I could use several smaller mean wells which were cheaper than 1 big power mean well. Your driver is dimmable right? Sorry for the thread high jack Chris.

No worries... Feel free to hijack.

[Acefspds]

I actually have them wired in series. Should they be wired in parallel? Or should I say does it matter? I am only having 5 led's per string. Having more strings does not really bother me if thats what has to be done but like I said I only have 5 led's per string as of right now. Also using a power supply for each panel is not a problem either. These power supplies are super cheap comin from china.

Here are the specs of the driver / power supply:

Input Voltage: 200V~240V/100V~120V ±20%
Output Voltage: 24V DC
Output Current: 0~5.0A
Shell Material: Metal case / Aluminum base
Protection: Shortage Protection, Overload Protection, Over Voltage Protection
Widely used in Industrial automation, LED display, communications, etc.
Safety Compliance: CCC/ FCC / CE
Working Temperature: 0~40℃
Storage Temperature: -20~60℃
Ambient Humidity: 0~95% Non-Condensation


I am not really planning on dimming them. I have a setup that allows me to raise the light as high as it needs to go. The supply does not have a PWM source but it does allow you to adjust the volts (I think its volts). So in a way I guess the driver does dim.

Here is a pic of the power supply. Yes straight from China.
35219

I did a rebuild on my 14g BioCube today using 8 of Willp2's led's and the 60w 5A 12V Power Supply. I have 4 led's in each string (Blue x 4 White x 4) which gives me more power to each led then the Sure Electronic High power 3w drivers used in his DIY. Using 4 led's I get .15 A using the Sure Electronics Drivers at full power and with the China power supply I can get .17-.18A out of a string of 4. I have it turned down a bit so its running at right around 21w @ .27A for the light as a whole. Would like to get a PAR reading on it but I do not have a meter.