General DIY LED thread

[theatrus]

New Cree colors.

Bridgelux EB constant current strips that don't require a heat sink.
Bridgelux high CRI COBs
More violet vase emitters like Seoul sun like
Violets/UV that don't die after 5000 hours. ( Suspected)
Luxeon horticulture " purple" ( like the cheap " full spectrum" LEDs that had blue plus broad red phosphors) and hort white

The boost/ buck meanwell ldd drivers.

Some aren't exactly neew, some are " advances" that aren't easily implemente

Still a shortage of high cri 6500k chips in singles.
No problem if you want 100-200 of them.

I'm still waiting to see a PC Mango available. The part number exists, and if I want to order a whole reel I could probably have it, just not well publicized. Might have been a special order for one customer.

The Seoul Viosys violets seem to handle the power much better, as does Lumileds C Violets. Not cheap though. The unknown-brand Chinese emitters were particularly trash in this area.

 

[JArnold]

New Cree colors.

Bridgelux EB constant current strips that don't require a heat sink.
Bridgelux high CRI COBs
More violet vase emitters like Seoul sun like
Violets/UV that don't die after 5000 hours. ( Suspected)
Luxeon horticulture " purple" ( like the cheap " full spectrum" LEDs that had blue plus broad red phosphors) and hort white

The boost/ buck meanwell ldd drivers.

Some aren't exactly neew, some are " advances" that aren't easily implemente

Still a shortage of high cri 6500k chips in singles.
No problem if you want 100-200 of them.

Whoa! Thanks for the update!

Where is everyone purchasing their LED's and parts from? I just placed an order of test lenses from LEDSupply.com to see if I liked the spread and frost.

 

[JArnold]

Is there a thread of people showing off their builds? What are most people using for controllers? I am currently running a Blue Fish mini on mine but I am in the process of building a Reefpi and plan to test out those features. I am extremely pleased with the Bluefish mini.

 

[Steven Garland]

I'm still waiting to see a PC Mango available. The part number exists, and if I want to order a whole reel I could probably have it, just not well publicized. Might have been a special order for one customer.

The Seoul Viosys violets seem to handle the power much better, as does Lumileds C Violets. Not cheap though. The unknown-brand Chinese emitters were particularly trash in this area.

The Viosys is a beast. I use them in my build. Have about 8 in total.

Is there a thread of people showing off their builds? What are most people using for controllers? I am currently running a Blue Fish mini on mine but I am in the process of building a Reefpi and plan to test out those features. I am extremely pleased with the Bluefish mini.

I have always used Coralux Storm's or the StevesLed Hurricane X. I just have a Storm at the moment. I always had problem with my BF Mini. Between connection issues and just messing up mg schedule. I would contact Spencer on NR get it fixed and a few months later same thing.

 

[oreo54]

I went from a BF mini to a custom driver/controller made by this person:

Tindie is a marketplace for maker made products.

Tindie is a marketplace for maker made products. From Raspberry Pi to Arduino to drones, Tindie's goal is to bring innovation to the masses faster than ever before.

www.tindie.com

 

[theatrus]

Swapping to my own ESP32 board:

LEDBrick - DIY LED Pendant with Pucks

Can correlate coloration upticks in euphyillia from fluorescence in my experiments. It’s worth dumping a lot of energy into this area of the spectrum even if it’s inefficient and costly. Ive had some interesting long term tweaks from even higher energies on some SPS corals as well, but it’s not...

www.reef2reef.com

The -S3 is nice as with the MCPWM you can drive a lot of PWMs. There isn't an ESPHome component for that yet but the esp-idf code is trivial.

(I've simplified my life by just doing everything with esphome, which means projects actually get done)

 

[firechild]

Is there a thread of people showing off their builds? What are most people using for controllers? I am currently running a Blue Fish mini on mine but I am in the process of building a Reefpi and plan to test out those features. I am extremely pleased with the Bluefish mini.

I'm currently using the GHL Profilux 0-10V outputs (only using 0-5V) into an arduino as an analogue to digital converter. However I just received a Tuya/Zigbee PWM controller similar to this that I'm going to start playing with to integrate it with Home Assistant. It has PWM on the cathode so I will be using mosfets to send the PWM signal to Meanwell drivers. The light has been running for about 3 years, it's just time to change the controls.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

4xRB (ch1)
2x410 (ch2)
2x420 (ch2)
1x395 (ch2)
2xmint (ch3)
1xcyan (ch4)
1xblue (ch4)

But, I want to forgo the 395

Hi can you make this spectrum using these

I am following this tutorial and the persone on it said '' if you swap out the reds leds to royal blues it makes a good reef light. also tell me what led driver i can use

 

[shoedy]

I’m considering replacing my tunze eco chic led with a custom solution controllable through HA with esphome. Any recommendations for which leds/wavelengths I should use in the refugium? My macro algae is barely growing atm

 

[firechild]

I’m considering replacing my tunze eco chic led with a custom solution controllable through HA with esphome. Any recommendations for which leds/wavelengths I should use in the refugium? My macro algae is barely growing atm

Specific wavelengths aren't as important in a refugium. I'd just go with a mix of red, blue and royal blue. 660nm is needed for corals but the more prevalent 630nm emitters will be fine for macro algae.

 

[shoedy]

Specific wavelengths aren't as important in a refugium. I'd just go with a mix of red, blue and royal blue. 660nm is needed for corals but the more prevalent 630nm emitters will be fine for macro algae.

Thanks, sounds good. So no violets?

Are there any open source schematics that you recommend I can start designing from?

 

[firechild]

Thanks, sounds good. So no violets?

Are there any open source schematics that you recommend I can start designing from?

Nah, no violets required for a refugium. As for schematics, I'd suggest using a meanwell ldd driver (or 2 if you want separate control for red and blue) in which case there are loads of schematics around, probably even in this thread. I'm just on my way to work now but I'll have a look later and post something.

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

Nah, no violets required for a refugium. As for schematics, I'd suggest using a meanwell ldd driver (or 2 if you want separate control for red and blue) in which case there are loads of schematics around, probably even in this thread. I'm just on my way to work now but I'll have a look later and post something.

what about for corals, how do i know if i have a goog scepctrum

 

[skyrne_isk]

Can anyone recommend a good egg type (no PCB) 3w LED in violet? I’ve ordered a couple off ebay but they look too much like a black light and not a deep purple. The ones I have ordered look to eye like a 460 (so very blue) but with a UV/ black light like glow. Not sure if they are just bad bins or something. But what I am looking for would be similar to actinic purple T5 looking color…

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

these

try these

 

[oreo54]

Can anyone recommend a good egg type (no PCB) 3w LED in violet? I’ve ordered a couple off ebay but they look too much like a black light and not a deep purple. The ones I have ordered look to eye like a 460 (so very blue) but with a UV/ black light like glow. Not sure if they are just bad bins or something. But what I am looking for would be similar to actinic purple T5 looking color…

The " true actnic" t5's ect are usually peaking around 425- ish.

Exact nm is unlikely for eBay LEDs.
The little bit of green and amber in t5 actinics make color matching w/ LEDs difficult

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

I mean which colors of LEDs do I have to use to make full spectrum, like the link I shared @oreo54

 

[skyrne_isk]

The " true actnic" t5's ect are usually peaking around 425- ish.

Exact nm is unlikely for eBay LEDs.
The little bit of green and amber in t5 actinics make color matching w/ LEDs difficult

I’m with you. I bought 420-430 from this link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195704481747

which were more blue than purple.

One their thumbnail, they also list a “full spectrum” 380-800nm led that looks more correct to the eye, but am worried I don’t need any spectrum that low in wavelength. I also picked up 410-415nm to try (on their way) but it feels like I am just shooting in the dark here.

 

[oreo54]

I’m with you. I bought 420-430 from this link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195704481747

which were more blue than purple.

One their thumbnail, they also list a “full spectrum” 380-800nm led that looks more correct to the eye, but am worried I don’t need any spectrum that low in wavelength. I also picked up 410-415nm to try (on their way) but it feels like I am just shooting in the dark here.

The " full spectrum" is a royal blue led with abroad red phosphors pack.
Not what you want really.

Why blue looks purple...see the red bump..

Human Color Vision

 

[Steven Garland]

Now would adding a PC Amber or Amber and or a few Mints not be good enough to almost replicate that ?