Jestersix

Rapid LED - should I get them?

HiFidelity said:
mind me asking where you bought the LDD series drivers? and are they dimmable?
Thanks
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Many places sell them, octopart,com is a good general search engine to look if you know the part number ldd1000 or ldd700 etc. however there is a shortage of drivers it seems, I picked up a couple off LedGroupBuy, unfortunately they had exactly 2 of the 1000mA drivers, which I got :D. They are dimmable via PWM. Do note that you need a DC power supply of appropriate voltage for the number of LEDs you're using, as these things only change the DC into a constant current DC output, and you do need some controller to send the PWM signals to dim.
 
Dang, wish those Meanwell LDD drivers existed when I did mine.
I used RECOM RCD-24, which are fairly similar, except they only handle up to 36V, so I needed a lot more.
One advantage to the recom though : They have both analog and PWM dimming.
 
Yeah, Meanwell has a version that only does 36 volts input as well, although looks like the RCD-48 you can throw 60V into it :D

As to the dimming, I've heard people using a device from StevesLEDs to do the conversion.
 
Yeah, those RCD-48 chips did not exist then either.
Neither did the new Violet LEDs ... wish I had those as well.

I would not use above 48V anyway. That is about the limits of being dangerous.

Note: Mouser seems to have some of the Meanwell LDD parts in stock. Might be PCB mount only though.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Yeah, Meanwell has a version that only does 36 volts input as well, although looks like the RCD-48 you can throw 60V into it :D

As to the dimming, I've heard people using a device from StevesLEDs to do the conversion.
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http://shop.stevesleds.com/product.sc;jsessionid=B2FDD4855FEECF3C70BE7A5F7407C7DE.qscstrfrnt05?productId=47&categoryId=1

WOW that is something I'm definitely bookmarking, it seems I can never do enough research before I can say "I've found the ideal LED configuration" haha, I love you guys & this forum let's keep the wonderful info coming, I'm learning something new with every post :D
 
HiFidelity said:
WOW that is something I'm definitely bookmarking, it seems I can never do enough research before I can say "I've found the ideal LED configuration" haha, I love you guys & this forum let's keep the wonderful info coming, I'm learning something new with every post :D
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Well my experience with LEDs is exactly this, very often if you do your research by the time you're done something new will be out or be announced to "just be released", and if you take your time building it after buying the parts because you don't have the time you will definitely be behind the curve when you finally do get around to building it. LEDs are worse than computers in that regard
 
very very true, I've been building PC's since the 90's & I deliberately ignore new releases just to avoid the frustration.

I actually went ahead & bought a MH/T5/LED combination fixture to use temporarily before I have the final plans for my LED setup and I also plan on upgrading tanks in the next 6 months so another reason for me not to rush.

One way I thought about staying with the curve is to make modular fixtures (braced together in some way) simply to have the ability to quickly upgrade, so instead of one long heatsink I plan to run several smaller ones, perhaps 2 or 3. If I find something new after the build I can simply remove one unit and work on it while the others continue running and my tank lighting will never be down for any period of time instead it would be shrunk thus allowing me to easily and conveniently replace LEDS or drivers etc. without hurting the wallet or my tank haha.
 
My original push into the LED area was exactly that, little smaller heatsinks 6"x6" that would hold at most 9 LEDs, some less all passively cooled, with the intention of only wanting to put light where there are corals and not have a uniformly lit tank. The idea is solid, and works on my anemone tank, however the biggest issue I have is finding a way to mount them creatively without it look janky as all hell, which I failed at because I'm absolutely MacGyver level awesome at getting something to work... making it look pretty while doing so, not so much... currently they're just sitting on top of a cover over the anemone tank (that's there mostly to prevent moisture from escaping.

My current design scales up a little, the 20" heat sink isn't ginormous (compared to the size of my tanks), and it has the ability to be held with a Y-hanger from the ceiling. So the idea is I can still have my modular nature (although 48 LEDs vs 9 is a large jump) but it looks somewhat nice and is more practical (I hope :D)....

Upside, mailman just showed up, LDD drivers are here! w00t!
 
Not sure if this can help but Orchard Supply Hardware sells some quality finished aluminum square tubing (& flat pieces as well) I believe in a variety of thicknesses, the finish is satin but they look like they can be polished (if ya wanna be fancy) or painted black to mach heatsinks, they would work great as frames to hold heatsinks uniformly together and from there you can simply attach Y hangers to these aluminum frames which I would imagine could look very clean and elegant.
 
Kind of along the line Fidel mentioned is the Al tubing known as 80/20. It comes as sort of an erector set and is available in black anodized. Since it's modular and has tracks already in it you could easily make a grid that allows easy repositioning of lights as needed.

The least expensive (aka, cheapest) source seems to be the 80/20 store on Ebay.
 
Hmm, that 80/20 stuff is really cool!

I think if you had some way of having a "drop ceiling" in your canopy, and it was full of holes (ie like aluminum pegboard) you could easily mount lights wherever you wanted to by just bolting the lights to the "pegboard" wherever you wanted!

But I'm so lame, I think I need to work on the sump first and then think about lights. Also the stand needs repainting.

Hey, so I've only had the tank/stand/canopy in the garage for 2 years and 6 months ago, I painted primer on the inside of the stand. That counts for something, right?

V

PS. Wifely pressure is starting to increase.
 
Only two years? And you did something to it in the last six months? Well that is officially progress on a project! Can't fault that. Wouldn't want to rush and make a mistake. :)
 
OK, update. I have a friend getting out of the hobby and he has Kessils, two A350s and one A350W covering his 5 foot tank. I can buy those lights for $800, so like $270 per unit. Not sure what A350s sell for, but it might be a good way to just get some lights up on the tank and supplement as needed later.

Wife is getting antsy. With my friend getting out of the hobby this is a good opportunity to pick up some things, including some livestock and more rocks (I have too many rocks probably).

V
 
Not sure it will fully cover the 6 ft tank, but a pretty good deal. Unless you want ability to dim kessil in which case you gotta buy the new a360s.
 
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