LED PENDANT - 60W / 120W, 90° Lens, tons of shimmer. Interested?

[50 cube]

I'm definitley interested, following your test closely.

[SoCalBoo]

Will one cover 24x24?

I grabbed one from Johnny. They are big, but well made. Fin/heat sink is polished aluminum. I put it over my 70g (36x18) and it works great with rectangular reflector. Time will tell coral growth, health and coloration. I don't have an infrared temp gun, but I doesn't feel much more than a little warm after 7+ hours on. Nice unit, and great price when you factor in how much importers are charging (i.e. Ecoexotic, Orphek).

And the shimmer is pronounced. Much more than the 2x120w LED pendants I had on it.

Thanks again Johnny.

[JohnnyAirtime]

I'm definitley interested, following your test closely.

Very cool. It's fun... as I'm in the "design" stage of a new pendant.

I grabbed one from Johnny. They are big, but well made. Fin/heat sink is polished aluminum. I put it over my 70g (36x18) and it works great with rectangular reflector. Time will tell coral growth, health and coloration. I don't have an infrared temp gun, but I doesn't feel much more than a little warm after 7+ hours on. Nice unit, and great price when you factor in how much importers are charging (i.e. Ecoexotic, Orphek).

And the shimmer is pronounced. Much more than the 2x120w LED pendants I had on it.

Thanks again Johnny.

Very good Paul... thanks for the props and the review of your light!!

[JohnnyAirtime]

Right now...

I'm working on designing two different model pendants;
- 80W version, with 3 color multi-chip LED (12,oooK, 460nm, 440nm)
- 160W version, with 3 color multi-chip LED (12,oooK, 460nm, 440nm)

*Dimmable with remote control
*Built in digital timer, with multitude of different setting capabilities.

I'm also trying to work on simulating sunrise-sunset with "percentage dimming" capabilities. But, not too many have done this with a multi-chip LED before, let alone in this kind of wattage. I'm not sure I want to be the bleeding edge of this design. But, I've NOT given up... I'm still working on it.

You'll still need "moon lights" or other means for your night time moon light simulation over the tank. These types of pendants aren't able to ramp down to 5% of their brightness without causing damage over time to the multi-chip or driver. That's a bummer, as I use my (4) 120W dimmable panel fixtures at 7% of their brightness for my tank moonlights, and it works awesome!

... more updates coming!

[hfritz]

Johnny,
so it sounds like the 4 color is out? what do people think about having red - it is appealing to me to replicate daylight, but then again it does not penetrate very far into the water anyway.

also, i have a 5ftx24x24 tank - can i do with two of these?

maybe the panels would to me better?

[JohnnyAirtime]

Johnny,
so it sounds like the 4 color is out? what do people think about having red - it is appealing to me to replicate daylight, but then again it does not penetrate very far into the water anyway.

also, i have a 5ftx24x24 tank - can i do with two of these?

maybe the panels would to me better?

That's correct. No 4 color. 3 color only.

I've tried RED, and liked it... however, it does promote more algae growth.
It also does help give a little more "pop" to the red corals in the tank, but so does a good blue/dark blue LED combination. Too much red, and it'll turn your lighting to almost too much purple (not natural looking). So I'm going to stay with what has been working for me, for over a year now.

Yes, your 5' tank would do great with two with two of these multi-color 80W or 160W cannons.

The (main) difference between a panel LED, and the Cannon style... is amount of shimmer. There's really no comparison in shimmer, and the cannon style lighting puts out a tremendous amount of shimmer when the panel style fixtures are very limited (as I've so found out over the years). Also, the panel style fixtures can give you a little bit more versatility. Meaning, you can order them in 60watt, 120watt... etc.etc. The Cannon style lighting, can only be ordered (from me) in 80W or 160W Cannons. The good thing is, they'll be dimmable... so, you could order two 160watters and turn them up or down to your liking.

The 100W cannons I've tested, are amazing. However, to do a multi-color chip... I'm limited to 80W or 160W.

Also, the cannon pendants do not have fans to cool them. They are virtually silent. A nice touch to keep as much unwanted noise to a minimum.

UPDATE:
I've put in an order for 1 sample of the 160W cannon light.
... it will have a timer inline on the power cord to tell it when to turn on/off for each day of the week.
... it will have a wireless remote control, to adjust the LED output. From 0-100%

It will NOT have;
... the ability to control white or blue LED colors separately
(in short, it cannot dim the white or blues separately. It cannot turn the whites or blues off or on separately).

In all the LED lighting fixtures I've used over the past 24 months, I've noticed that my corals don't care if the lights come on slowly (via dimming) or all at once. I've noticed the fish don't act any different either. The electronic dimming cycle of the LEDs I currently have is a COOL feature, but something that I believe is only necessary for us humans. AS it is just that... "cool". I've also noticed that as long as I maintain a PAR level that is relatively similar in all my lighting, that the corals are all happy, maintaining color and growing. I've also noticed that the cool factor wears off over time, and once you find the correct lighting level/output... you don't touch them ever again. Unless that is, a new friend comes over and wants a "demo" of your LEDs... And what's up with the "storm mode"?! It's to freak out the fish... or what?! Not something I'd ever use...!! Leave 'storm mode' to the power heads, where it's most beneficial.

[hfritz]

good deal. i like the idea of the pendants due to their appearance. i think a pendant just looks better. i am not in a hurry, so will wait until all your evaluations are done and i can see what features for what prices.

FWIW I agree on the dimming. personally i just turn on blue 15-30 minutes before the white, both on all day, turn off the white 15-30 before the blue. so i guess i will be partial to one that can have the bluw and white on a separate line/timer.

thx for all the info and exploration!

[JohnnyAirtime]

good deal. i like the idea of the pendants due to their appearance. i think a pendant just looks better. i am not in a hurry, so will wait until all your evaluations are done and i can see what features for what prices.

FWIW I agree on the dimming. personally i just turn on blue 15-30 minutes before the white, both on all day, turn off the white 15-30 before the blue. so i guess i will be partial to one that can have the bluw and white on a separate line/timer.

thx for all the info and exploration!

Sadly, there won't be an option to adjust (dim) the blue separately from the white. The entire multi-chip will dim, which has all 3 colors integrated into the chip. In fact, I'm not sure there's any multi-chips made that allow dimming of their colors independently. It sure would be nice if they did.

I'm sure this is the reason some people would go with one blue pendant and one white pendant, just as I have done for testing of the initial pendants. However, I prefer all in one given the limitations of dimming individual colors on a multi-chip.

[sjames]

Sounds like another nice choice for people looking for something different at an affordable price. Way to hook people up Johnny.

[ReefingN619]

Pixs

[hfritz]

got it re: blue vs white. my only issue with a dual (vs combined) blue and white setup is i would then need 4 to cover my tank and am doubling my cost. can't see doing that, and my wife (especially) will not see that!

so i guess it will depend upon pricing and the different options, unless it is going to be one style only to get the decent pricing.

thx.

[JohnnyAirtime]

Pixs

The latest and greatest will look JUST LIKE these already posted;
http://www.sandiegoreefs.com/forums/...963#post729963
http://www.sandiegoreefs.com/forums/...848#post736848

...yet, will have an elect.timer inline on the power cord and a small remote control to dim the light. AND, will put out 160W of power!

[JohnnyAirtime]

got it re: blue vs white. my only issue with a dual (vs combined) blue and white setup is i would then need 4 to cover my tank and am doubling my cost. can't see doing that, and my wife (especially) will not see that!

so i guess it will depend upon pricing and the different options, unless it is going to be one style only to get the decent pricing.

thx.

Ya... I'm still working hard on getting the ability to dim the whites VS the blues (in one 160W pendant)... but, more then likely it won't happen.

However, I can order the light with less white... or more blue... or more red... they are completely customizable as far as coloring goes. So, if you want more blue... or you don't like my coloring... it's easy to change when it's being manufactured.

I've also since found out, that once measured... some of the claimed 100W multi-color multi-chip pendants, are only putting out between 80 and 85 watts. So they are not truly selling a multi-color 100W pendant. I'll be testing the 160W pendant with PAR and meters to see just where we sit.... I'm eager!

[DaveMorris]

So what I would like is a multi-color version that is dimmable, but set up so I can do the dimming with an external, 0v - 10v controller. My tank is 96" x 24" so I am guessing that I would want four of them. I love the multichip pendants because all of the setups I have seen with multiple pendants have offset shadows that look unnatural.

[JohnnyAirtime]

So what I would like is a multi-color version that is dimmable, but set up so I can do the dimming with an external, 0v - 10v controller. ........

Since I've never used an external controller of any type... what kind of inputs (terminals, connections, wiring) does the controller use to "control" the light itself? A picture or schematic would help me with this one. Or, you can email it to me so we can go into further discussion... and I can report back here with what I find. (my email is my user name here on SDReefs at gmail.com)

At this time... I'm not sure I've ever seen one high wattage pendant with what your asking for. I hope it's doable.

Hopefully it's an easy customization (meaning; affordable) to the current pendant setup I've configured. As that would also eliminate the inline electronic timer being the 'controller' would turn on/off the pendant on it's own.