another LED build

[GR808]

Ok I've decided to take the leap and go from my 6-T5s to LEDs.. My par readings on the T5s wasn't hardly what I needed for a successful tank. My par range at the top of the water would run 125-170. Don't know why such a range but I needed more..
After reading all the pros and cons about LEDs (mostly pros), I've decided to go with the DIY kit because of cost, flexibility, energy savings, and so on.. I went with Bill(great guy) at ReefLEDlights. I also got help and tips from Vic, snoopie, and Troylee.. Thanks guys. :bigsmile:
Here we go:
I have a 120G long so I went with 2-30" heatsinks with 48 leds per heatsink.. I chose the 30 RB to 18 CW combo.. Beauty of DIY is I can change LEDs later if I should so choose... I decided to use the 24 string lights per 60-48D because I wanted to mount all the hardware on one side of my DIY tank stand.

Layout?? because my T5s weren't spread evenly for my 72" long tank(dark ends), I needed to distribute the LEDs evenly as much as possible to get equal light spread.. I also had to take into consideration how I would mount the heatsinks and make it easy for maintenance.. I would use 3/4"x3/4" aluminum angle iron to mount on my modified hood. You'll see later in completed pics.

thermal adhesive and wiring

 

[GR808]

needed to drill through the ends for wires going to fuses. on a 24 string it's best to isolate 12 string with a 1a fuse to prevent blowing out all your leds if one should fail.. I would mount the fuses on the fan brackets for east access...

 

[GR808]

ready to test fire..
Don't ask me why i chose the lighting scheme???
CW and some RB mix on one driver

just the RBs on the other driver

all on

dialed each driver to 1.3a

 

[GR808]

I went with the RKL instead of Apex because I just needed to control lights and cost.. gotta keep the cost down
mounted hardware this way and the 4 drivers fit well.

 

[GR808]

And I'd say I'm almost done...

the 3/4" angle aluminum allows me to move the heatsinks left or right, back and forth for easy access of tank.

 

[snoopie]

Looks great man love it nice and clean. Glad u like it. I have to update a growth thread soon.

Sent from Sprint EVO using TapATalk

 

[Troylee]

awesome man looks super clean....1smile1

 

[Captain Nemo]

WOW!!! SUper DIY'er like Troylee!!! Great job!

 

[swannyson7]

Great looking DIY!

 

[GR808]

Thanks all....
Im always ooen for suggestion should anyone have any ideas..

 

[GR808]

WOW!!! SUper DIY'er like Troylee!!! Great job!

Thanks, but I could never come close to Troylees DIY skills..

 

[secretreefer]

Nice build bro!

 

[GR808]

Nice build bro!

Thanks bro.. Anytime ur ready for yours....

 

[reeferdale]

Hi, nice build there. I sent you a PM, but if anyone else wants to throw some info my way I would appreciate it.
I am going to build the same fixture you did, but I have a 72" x 36" foot print. I was going to run 30" fixtures front to back and I figured I would need 5 of them. Was wondering if you could share with me how you were able to run 24 LEDs off a 60-48? I assume parallel wiring? I need to do something similar and I could do serial wiring if I wanted to use about 18 drivers (13 LEDs serial per driver). I would really rather wire them parallel but I am seeing a lot of conflicting info on how to balance the strings. I plan to put 48 LEDs on each 30 x 8 fixture. If I could run 24 LEDs on each 60-48, even at ~650 mA then I would only need 10 of them.

thanks for any info you can share

 

[GR808]

hey Dale,
I pm'd you some of my thoughts and yes I did go with a 24 LED string. 1 60-48D would run 24 LEDs with the + going to the first LED and then in series + -+ -+ -+ -. Do that for 12 LEDs with the - going back to a 1a fuse then back to the driver. So basically you'll have 2+ and 2- going to each 12 string and 1 of each going to driver via a splice of some sort. Just make sure your fuse is going from your last 12 string and then back to driver. With 24 string LED you would want to dial your driver into 1.3a and not more because you'll compromise the life to the driver. I think the 24 string would work good for you because of the size of your tank. I hope you will have a controller for that. Bill at reefledlights has a DIY also explaining how to wire that 24 string.
Feel free to ask whatever you may need on this build. You won't regret the upgrade..

 

[wld1783]

Just wanted to say great job with your build and build thread!

I shared it on our wall for others to see.

 

[eltemeble]

so waht did you get this project down to in cost?

 

[RaeRae]

Good idea to seperate wire color.I wished I would have thought of that .

 

[GR808]

Just wanted to say great job with your build and build thread!

I shared it on our wall for others to see.

Thanks Bill. You can attribute that to the help you've given me as well.

Let me know if I can provide you with any other info or pics.
I may hit you up in the future to mix and match LEDs... lol

 

[GR808]

so waht did you get this project down to in cost?

Without the controller I got it just under $900. I was happy with that. Talk to Bill and he'll work you out a great deal..