Help me build a small LED Fixture

[TimberTDI]

I want to build a small led fixture for my six gallon nano. I kind of have everything figured out, just some small minor details I need to work out.

If I use the following six leds
3 Royal Blue Cree? XR-E Star
Features:
425mW Flux @ 350mA
1000mA - Max Drive Current
3.3Vf - Typ. Forward Voltage @ 350mA
450nm - Wavelength
Lambertian Radiation Pattern
Cree Part# XREROY-L1-0000-00A01

and

3 White Cree Q5 XR-E Star
Features:
107 lm @ 350mA
1000mA - Max Drive Current
3.3Vf - Typ. Forward Voltage @ 350mA
6500K - Color Temperature
Lambertian Radiation Pattern
Cree Part# XREWHT-L1-0000-00D02

What will be my total amperage? Will one 1,000ma buckpuck be enough? Will a 24v 2A power supply be enough? Will I be able to run a cooling fan off of the power supply? If so how?


Steven

 

[ZANYMASTER]

Wingo or Emanuel is your guy.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

If you check out the manual of buckpuck, there is a diagram that tells you NOT to use it over 4 pcs of 3W LEDs even though mods of another forum, that deals with smaller tanks, suggested that you can drive more. Driving more than 3pcs of 3W is out of their spec and thus void the warranty. But will the manufacturer care and refuse your return? I guess not. Most return dept won't care nor do they even know how it's burnt, so you will still get a replacement anyway.

 

[Widdy]

Is your buckpuck by Luxdrives like the ones here? http://ledsupply.com/wired-buckpuck.php

You'll be able to drive 6 3w on them... within manufacturer's warranty specifications.

 

[TimberTDI]

That's the buckpuck I plan on using.

 

[emmanuel]

you could drive 6 of one buck puck .
total amperage will be 1 if you use 1 buck puck and 2amps if you use 2 buckpucks (like if you wanted to control the white separate from the blue bulbs to adjust color)
24 volts will be the smallest power supply you can use i would go a little bigger cause the buck pucks use a tiny bit of power also but 24 would work
I dont think you can run a fan of that power supply unless you can find a 24v fan I set up 2 12vfans of a 24v supply connected in series +to-to+to-that makes 2 12v fans into 24 volts but then you have to add the amperage of ONE of those fans to the amount needed from the power supply so if lights are 1 amp and each fan is 500ma then you have a total of 1.5 amps you can get a bigger power supply like a 2 amp 32 volt it wont hurt anything I have an extra if you cant find one
personally I think 3 xr5 is going to make it too white In my 125gallon tank I used 1/2 xre4 white (not as bright as xr5) and 1/2 royal blue and the whites are running at 1/2 the power to get a 20k look and 3/4 power to get 10-14k look
If you want to check out my setup send me a pm

 

[Widdy]

Awesome advice, Emmanuel. Unlike people that resort to disparaging others that encourage DIY.

2 Buckpucks, each with a pot like Emmanuel mentioned is a great idea if you would like to control your color temperature and/or control the intensity.

Any thoughts of the newer XP-G LEDs by Cree? I've read the new Aqua Illuminations will be using the XP-G. http://glassbox-design.com/2009/aqua-illumination-cree-xp-g/ I've been using the XR-E and have switched over to the Meanwell drivers, which is capable of driving 13 LEDs, but making it dimmable is a bit of work due to it requiring a PWM circuit.

 

[TimberTDI]

Emmanuel, sorry for the late reply but trying to make sense of it while reading it on Blackberry wasn't too fun.

Are you suggesting:

• I use 4 royal blues and 2 whites? Or should I be using more leds over the 6 gallons? Perhaps use 6 blues and 4 whites?
• should I just use the cree Q4s?
• I should use two buckpucks w/pots?
• a 32v power supply greater than 2A? How should I wire the fans then? I originally intended to wire them in series, can I do this w/32v?
• The buckpucks w/ the pots include the potentiometer built in?

I'm really using this project as a springboard for a bigger project on my 180. So for now I would like to keep it as simple as possible. If it goes off without too much of hitch I would like to invest the time and money into doing a big DIY.

 

[TimberTDI]

Also how do you guys protect the leds from salt spray? I tried using one a couple of MR16 replacement leds and one of them already bit the dust after one months of being exposed to saltwater.

 

[emmanuel]

Emmanuel, sorry for the late reply but trying to make sense of it while reading it on Blackberry wasn't too fun.


Are you suggesting:

• I use 4 royal blues and 2 whites? Or should I be using more leds over the 6 gallons? Perhaps use 6 blues and 4 whites?
• should I just use the cree Q4s?
• I should use two buckpucks w/pots?
• a 32v power supply greater than 2A? How should I wire the fans then? I originally intended to wire them in series, can I do this w/32v?
• The buckpucks w/ the pots include the potentiometer built in?

I'm really using this project as a springboard for a bigger project on my 180. So for now I would like to keep it as simple as possible. If it goes off without too much of hitch I would like to invest the time and money into doing a big DIY.

I would do 4 blue and 2 white if using xre4 this will give you the same color as 20k if you use 3 blue 3 white it will look like a 14k color
If you use 2 buckpucks one for white one for blue then i would use 4 blue and 4 white leds if you have the room you could then adjust the color and intensity and youll know you have enough light
with a 32 volt ps you would need a separate 12v ps for fan(s)if you go with 24 volt it should be ok for 6 bulbs but it would be pushing it the worst that could happen is the ps burns out
the pots are potentiometers be careful with them the wires on the pots snap easy