FEELER: LED group buy

[surfer85]

Group Buy Closed.

[egd101]

how many you trying to buy? and what about ballast's?

[NickSDC]

+1 ^. I've been reading up on the led builds but can't find anything that mentions a ballast.

[surfer85]

Check out the link to the thread I posted. It's got everything needed in the first post, step by step instuctions, pics. You don't use ballasts. You use buckpucks. One puck will run 12 leds so for a 24 bulb system you would need two pucks. You will also need two power supplies, one for blue and one for white. I'm going to go through and price out my system I'd like to build and will post the price I come up with.

[superman858mm]

i am in...do u know how many blue or white bulbs do i need for my standard 40 gals? thanks

[surfer85]

Shopping Cart (http://www.ledsupply.com/)
Item Unit Price Qty. Cost
Cree Royal Blue XR-E Star LED
$7.18 x24= $172.32
Cree XR-E Q4 Star LED
$7.18 x24= $172.32
3023-D-E-700 Wired BuckPuck, 700mA Output, DC Powered
$15.98x2= $31.96
3023-D-E-1000 Wired BuckPuck, 1000mA Output, DC Powered
$15.98x2= $31.96

Subtotal: $408.56
Total: $408.56

24V, 6.5A 150W POWER SUPPLY (http://www.mpja.com/)
Item :16032 PS Price : $40.75x2= $81.50
Subtotal:
$81.50
GRAND TOTAL =$490.06 for the electrical side of the system. Heat sinks, wire, hardware or epoxy would still be required.
The prices for the power supllies also drop with the more you get. So basically everything that you need electrically is cheaper when bought in bulk.

[mextli]

From all the research I've done on LED builds, it's better to get 1000mA buck pucks for both blue and white LED's. 700mA is only necessary if you want to run some UV LED's on your Royal Blue line. But most people said that the 700mA isn't bright enough for the Royal Blues. Also the 3023-D-E-1000PmA Wired Buck Puck's will only run 6 3W LED's, not 12. You should look into the Meanwell ELN-60-48D drivers. They can run up to 14 3W LED's and they don't need an external power supply. Plus you can use your Reef Keeper Light w/ALC module to control your led's (i.e. simulated sunrise / sunset). These links have a lot of good info on LED's and builds.Comprehensive DIY LED Project List
Ultimate LED guide

[superman858mm]

thanks for da link...

[Triggler]

Dude screw those Cree LEDs! You can get 10x3W LEDs with 120 lumens for $20 shipped on eBay!

I think we should do an LED group buy + Group Build!! Where we utilize the skills and resources of some of our reefers here and the capital of multiple memebers to do a group buy on electrical components (maybe utilizing the whole sale accounts of some of our electricians here ) and do a group build!

I think we would be among the first to do an actual Group DIY build! Lol!!

[superman858mm]

i am down with that...

[scubajay]

Hey just wanted to point out that the Cree XP-G LEDs are 30% more effiecient, produce a lot more light, and cost less than the Cree XR-E's. Now, the XP-G is currently only available in white, however the XP-E Royal Blue is arguably more efficient than the XR-E royal blue, and again just as cheap I think. You can use all the same buck pucks (or MW's) for driving them, or for the XP-Gs use a stronger drive for that much more intense lighting as they can run as high as 1.5A.
Just a note: I'm not trying to derail this thread, so I apologize if anyone takes it that way. I've just been looking into the DIY LED fixtures for a while now, and when I saw this group buy I thought I should at least share what I know and let you decide what you want to do. The one thing I will say is that LEDsupply.com is Awesome for Lenses! I don't know of another site that has lenses for so cheap. But the LEDs... not so much.

If you are wanting to stick with the XR-E LEDs I might suggest checking Dealextreme.com, they aren't always in stock but when they are you can find Q5 bin (best output) for about $5.36ea, no need for a group buy, star mounted, and free shipping!
>> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2394

OR, if you would like to know where a good site is to get the XP-G's (These would be my suggested LEDs)
>> http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut937

And here's the Royal Blue XP-E's
>> http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut902

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents, I hope it helps more than it hurts. If anybody has any questions they want to shoot me feel free to PM. I don't often run through the group buy section, so I probably wont see any questions posted here. But either way, Happy Reefing and don't forget to share your projects, DIYers Rock!

[superman858mm]

great info and much cheaper led light...thanks

[trave2069]

I dont know much about leds so im most definitely in on a group diy and what do you guys think the total cost of the project would end up being?

[Triggler]

Check out these LEDs off of eBay: White Blue 12000k Blue

[mextli]

The specs on those eBay led's don't seem to great. But they are cheap enough to buy and test for the hell of it. For most decent sized led builds it cost around $300 to $400. I was planning on doing a 24 led build for my aquapod 24g. But I found out that nanotuners will be making a t5vho kit. I read that it falls between cf and LEDs for par output and puts out less heat then cf's. My led set up would have been 12 cool white cree's, 12 royal blue cree's, 2 meanwell 60-48d drivers, 14x7 USA heat sink, reef keeper light w/alc module. I think that set up would run me about $450. LEDs look sick but they sure do cost a lot.