48" LED Array - Up and Running...Mostly

[BlueAbyss]

I see what you're all saying. I'm sort of tempted to use a single MC-E as a plant grow light though, I'll bet it will make for some stocky seedlings (like metal halide)... something to explore. But I see what you're saying about having it over a 10 gallon... not enough depth, I suppose you would need a fairly deep tank to make it worth it.

Alright, XR-Es it is! I still want to run them at a lower mA though.

[Ron99]

Have the first row of LEDs wired up:



Here's a close up shot:



And the moment of truth...

The whites fired up:



And blues fired up:



They're bloody bright! Can't look directly at them.

[The Codfather]

Nice.

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

I see what you're all saying. I'm sort of tempted to use a single MC-E as a plant grow light though, I'll bet it will make for some stocky seedlings (like metal halide)... something to explore. But I see what you're saying about having it over a 10 gallon... not enough depth, I suppose you would need a fairly deep tank to make it worth it.

Alright, XR-Es it is! I still want to run them at a lower mA though.

I run XR-Es at 350mA on my 3 gallon pico. So you could run probably 500mA with optics and have enough PAR for SPS in a 10 gallon. I will be borrowing a PAR meter shortly and will measure PAR in the pico running 350mA and no optics for reference.

[StirCrazy]

hey Ron, have you decided how your going to run the maxwell dimming from the andurino? Never mind I see you used the PWM models. but how do you configure the signal from dimming in these ones?


Steve

[Ron99]

Still needs a bit of extra circuitry as the Arduino puts out a 5V PWM signal and the Meanwell needs 10V. So it requires a 12V DC supply, a voltage regulator to get 10V, and a transistor that applies the 5V PWM from the Arduino to the 10V line.

Now I imagine you will ask why not just use a 10V DC supply without the voltage regulator? Most 10V AC/DC converters are not 10V. Some can be less but often they can be more; closer to 12V even. But the Meanwell dimming circuit is very sensitive and anything above something like 10.6 or 10.8 V will fry it so I want to make sure I have a steady 10V for the dimming. I may also use the same 12V converter to supply 5V with a voltage regulator to power the Arduino too rather than have a separate 5V supply for that.

[donlite]

Hi, I own a company Sensa-Light Ltd. We do custom lighting. The LED set up you have looks good, but it looks like you have good heat dissipation from the heat sinks. If you can hook up a "K" probe ( most cheap ohm meters will have or use one) and test the heat you may be able to forget the noisy fans.

I am using 1 watt lumileds in blue and white combination to get about 14,000k
I think I have about 30 LEDS on a 55 gallon tank. The home made unit does not need any fans. Good luck, if I can help let me know, Don

[superduperwesman]

NICE! Want to build me a 6' one?? ahah

[rstar]

Tagging along! Keep up the good work, lookin good!

[Edmonton newbie]

looks great cant wait to see how that works for you, thinking i need something like that for my next tank