100W LED Multi Chip

[mr.wilson]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I had my 10w emitters turned way down and still burned some of my corals until they adapted to LEDs. I can't imagine trying to light my tank with 100w emitters. They'd have to be dimmed almost off at first and the corals right underneath would really take a beating I think. (I talked about 100w emitters with my LED buddy & he is of the same opinion that they'd be too powerful for our application).

Lots of people thought I was a little crazy going with 10 watters and now they're going with 100w emitters?

I would also ask the manufacturer what kind of warranty is on those since they are well over $100 each. At least with the 3 to 10w, you're looking at only a few dollars per, so if one burns out early, it doesn't hurt.

According to the thread, they recommend one 100w emitter per 2' x 2' area. For 10w emitters, I use roughly 7 so 70w at full power. The advantage is that if one of mine burns out, the light from neighbouring emitters covers for it. With these 100w emitters, using only 3 over a 6' x 2' tank, if one burns out, a third of my tank is dark.

Just something to think about. With less than 20 out of the needed 50 emitters ordered, I doubt that this gb will actually take place anyways.

Does anybody have a link to a reef tank that is actually using 100w emitters? I think hearing someone's personal experience with using 100w emitters over their corals will be the best info for this new technology.

Cheers,

Anthony

What kind of PAR where you getting with the 10w emitters. I find 50w multichips are not bright enough for most tanks and I can't see 10w chips working for even a nano tank. The bleaching was probably due to spectrum (quality) not PAR (intensity).

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by mr.wilson

What kind of PAR where you getting with the 10w emitters. I find 50w multichips are not bright enough for most tanks and I can't see 10w chips working for even a nano tank. The bleaching was probably due to spectrum (quality) not PAR (intensity).

While I realize the 3 watt Cree emitters so popular today are more efficient than most multichips, your statement about not even 50 watt multichips being enough for some tanks might have the Cree diy'ers & even folks with Radions that use single chip discrete LEDs wondering?

My build uses 27 of the 10 watt multichip emitters (3 rows of 9) and hanging 6 & 1/2 inches above the water without optics they do just fine (4 foot, 77 gallon Hagen tank). I don't have a par meter & not an sps heavy system, but the coral I have (incl. montipora) is doing as well or better than under my previous MH/T5HO set up. BTAs are looking better than ever as well. Come to think of it, for months I've been underdriving my 10 watt LEDs since it's a somewhat unconventional build using constant voltage power supplies controlled by manual dimming. After doing some current measurements recently, I've cranked up the voltage but still below the 9-12 volt specified forward voltage for the emitters I'm using.

IMO it really depends on density (number of emitters), spacing, spectrum, height above water, optics etc. as to whether a certain set up is going to work well for any given tank. That could be 1 watt, 3 watt discrete LEDs or multichips of pretty much any size. The smd LEDs used to make a 10 watt multichip are essentially the same as those used to make the larger multichips. The big boys simply have more of them packed on to the substrate. Your pendants are mounted high with optics, my build is closer to the water surface with no optics.

Before embarking on my 10 watt build I also had a look at the larger multichips but was a bit nervous about how the emitters are crammed on to the larger chips. Obviously heat management is key or one of these is going to cook in short order & you're out a few $$$s. The 10 watt multis look to me to be well spaced with only 3 rows of 3 chips in a series/parallel arrangement. Seems to me that they are less likely to self destruct due to a momentary overheat issue, but that's just an opinion, although my set up has been running since April with no failures. A downside to the smaller chips is more wiring, a few hours with the soldering iron getting them all hooked up. Pros/cons either way, but as mentioned there are plenty of ways to make different LED configs work these days with even more on the horizon.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by mike31154

While I realize the 3 watt Cree emitters so popular today are more efficient than most multichips, your statement about not even 50 watt multichips being enough for some tanks might have the Cree diy'ers & even folks with Radions that use single chip discrete LEDs wondering?

Mike I think he was referring to the 10W and 50W emitters as standalone without multiples in an array.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Mike I think he was referring to the 10W and 50W emitters as standalone without multiples in an array.

Hmm, yeah, I guess that makes sense then. Egg on my face. I assumed since he was quoting seahorse's build that multiple emitters were a given.

[smokinreefer]

can 3 of these be retro-fitted into a coralife aqualight pro fixture?

[BobFish]

The group buy closes nov 12th, and there will be 50w and 100w chips, these are all 5 channel chips.

[reefermadness]

Hmm... I want to but Im so scared to mess with my reef. Seems like a very cool project that will make a quality light.

[smokinreefer]

Originally Posted by BobFish

The group buy closes nov 12th, and there will be 50w and 100w chips, these are all 5 channel chips.

i'd be interested in 3.
not sure 50w or 100w.
what are the prices?
and what else do i need to get these up and running?
you can PM me the info if you like.