My LED Zeppelin

[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.


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.