$100 DIY Cree LED XR-E - Actinic Supplement 48" Light Strip

rapidled.com

and meanwells are very reputable and can drive up to 12 Cree LEDs at a time as compared to 6 LEDs from a buckpuck driver or even less from some "no-name" drivers

 

I like the meanwell drivers over the buckpack for 2 reasons. meanwell you can run up to 12 per unit. buckpack I think is 6 max per unit. meanwell is plug and play, just wire a power cord to it. buckpack needs a additional power supply (more$) to work.

I didnt get the kit, but close too. I bought all supplies from www.rapidled.com (thanks dingo)

I'll will know for sure on the aluminum strip heat dissipating capablilities. within next day or two. I really think its the MH bulbs giving off a little heat.. small cpu heatsinks could be thermal compound pasted/screwed on if need as well.

 

I was going to use the quadpuck interface and 4 dimmable pucks for the dmx 6 channel controller. Thanks for the link Dingo.

 

Okay - so I don't know a whole lot about electronics but I did go through a few of these DIY Cree LED builds. I know one of the originals that popped up on RC mentioned wiring the LEDs in series so that should one of the LED's burn out, the entire string didn't get over driven resulting in losing the whole string. However, the build was using an external power supply and a few buckpucks.

Does using a Meanwell driver alleviate these concerns? Meaning will the driver only supply the power the string needs or if the string is wired in parallel will it still over drive the rest of the good LEDs?

Also, nice job on the build!

 

Ok, here's some pictures.. I'll fill in the details a little later.. corals do glow like Ive never seen before. camera doesnt show these as good as you can see in person.. enjoy!


also note: if using 6-32 screws to mount LEDs to heat sink make sure to space holes a little wider since that size screw doesn't fit exactly in the allocated slots on starboards. You can use smaller 4-40 screws to get a exact fit. I also recommend using thin nylon washers on any screws to help eliminate metal to metal contact with the board. If you don't feel like drilling and tapping holes, then the easiest way is to get a thermal compound glue and exopy them down. only draw back is that, this way is permanent.

above: remember to use thermal compound behind each led when mounting. when tightening down leds you should see compound come out the sides. becareful not to over tighten screws.


above: solder leds is a little tricky. I definitly wont be doing soldering for a living. lol , the soldering area is sooo tight/small. you need to be careful not to get the soldering gun/pen to close to the lens of the leds.. this process did take me a while, but once I got on a roll, it started to go easier. be sure your wire leads are only like 1/8" exposed. any more could cause a problem. only problem I burnt my finger but hey that a battle wound for this diy.

 

Per Magnus, He Requested this shot.
above: just one led on above. pretty powerful light beam. led is 2' ft away from stand.

 

Note Above ^^^^ location of white box which is mounted outside of canopy for heat and possible water damage.











above: with all lights on.
lefttank: 2x175w hamilton 10k mh,8x3w cree leds, moonlights.
rightank: 4x65w PC UVL 14k/454,2x54w UVL 12k/ATI blue+, moonlights


above: with all actinics/leds on.
lefttank: 8x3w cree leds, moonlights.
rightank: 2x65w PC UVL 454, moonlights


above: with all actinics/leds on.
lefttank: 8x3w cree leds, moonlights.
rightank: 2x65w PC UVL 454, moonlights

 

Definitely blue. Looks good.

 

before pics with 10k MH lights on. little yellow





after pics with 10k MH lights & 8 cree leds on. = less yellow,I'd say its now 12k-14k. IMHO

 

Nice work, Night-Rida!