# My High Power LED Reef Lighting Build



## Walking_Target (Apr 8, 2009)

It's all starting with Nanotuners. I ordered a Small AIO heatsink, 6 Cree XR-E Q5's and 6 Cree XR-E RB. 

Tomorrow I order in my buckpucks, potentiometers and jacks from Digikey. 

This thread will be updated with pictures as the build commences.


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

Are the Crees on stars? What current do you plan on running them at?


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## Walking_Target (Apr 8, 2009)

Yes, the Crees are mounted on stars.

I'm going to be using 24V 1A power supplies running into 1000mA BuckPlus 7023 drivers. 

The 7023 model drivers are also the ones that can do dimming, so I have to get potentiometers on that order as well. I would have just built an Aruduino controller for it, but that's out of my time/money ballpark right now (although it's an easy upgrade down the road)


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

You could probably get away running them at 700-800mA for significantly less heat and approximately the same amount of light. 

I assume you also have some thermal paste ready to mount the stars to the heatsink. 

I dabble with high power LED flashlights and made my own Power LED lighting for my tank so I love following LED projects.


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## Walking_Target (Apr 8, 2009)

The point of using dimmable drivers is just that though, you can reduce the current by turning the potentiometer down. This makes it easy to both adjust your light intensity (especially good for acclimating new corals) and also to adjust your color temperature. 

By running the blue LEDs on one driver and the White LEDs on the other, you can acheive full spectrum control, from 7000K (pure white) to over 24000K (pure royal blue).


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

I'm aware of why you'd use a dimmable driver.
I just meant at using 800mA as a max (designing the amount of required light around 700-800mA drive levels instead of 1A). would be better than using 1A as the level of efficiency at 700-800mA is higher. 

Where did you order your parts from?


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## Walking_Target (Apr 8, 2009)

The heatsink and LEDs came from Nanotuners. (www.nanotuners.com)

The potentiometers, drivers, jacks and a few other things come from www.digikey.ca

I had thought about including trimpots as part of the design, but decided against it in the end.


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

You could get the LEDs cheaper for the R2 bin at the link below. 
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15943

I use them all the time, free shipping but could take up to 3 weeks.

Good thing you decided against the trimpots. Most of them aren't made for a high duty cycle. More for fine out the door adjustments.


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## Walking_Target (Apr 8, 2009)

You can back-to-back a trimpot with a regular potentiometer, so you can set the high threshold. I decided against it for just that reason though, it'd end up being a pain in the butt. 

Also, I wanted the Q5 bin, R2 and other bins are just fine for 'lighting' applications, but I need them to be able to pump out a lot of PAR, and the Q5's seem to have the best PAR rating for the price.

Edit: 

Explanation: The Q5 binning number means it has the highest luminous flux of the XR-E in the Cool White family, combined with the spectrum (WG) it's a clear choice for a reef application. 

the 3.7v LEDs means my lighing will draw a maximum of 44w total (4 watts less than the stock lighting!) yet be able to pump more light into the tank than a 150W Metal Halide. The unique properties of LEDs also mean that I'm going to be generating LESS heat than the stock PC bulbs, so my temerpature will remain more stable. 

Trust me, for a few pennies more, it's worth it to go with the best quality on this application. The fixture should last more than a decade without me having to touch anything.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Nice thread, can't wait to see your results.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

tebore said:


> Are the Crees on stars? What current do you plan on running them at?


Arn't you the guy with the honking sky beamer HID?


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## tebore (Jan 3, 2010)

AquaNeko said:


> Arn't you the guy with the honking sky beamer HID?


Shhh. Yes.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

tebore said:


> Shhh. Yes.


Still going to CPF meets? Hope your back is doing better.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

OP,

Are you planning on using fans to cool the heatsinks or using some CPU watercooling products and running some metal piping so you can recycle that warmed water into say a sump or spare insulated tank filled with some thermomass like bricks or rocks to hold the temp stable for reuse?


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## CLaman (Jan 19, 2010)

Hi..new here, but just wanted to give you another option for sourcing LED components as I am a HUGE LED fanatic. Hopefully I am not too late with this information (about to go and read the whole thread in detail...had the urge to share before I read)

www.luxeonstar.com Their shipping location is in Brantford, Ontario, which is relatively close to the GTA (I am from the Hamilton area), and it saves you on those evil, yet necessary taxes and duties. They carry everything from pre-maded high power LEDs, drivers, and simply LED components

Just thought I'd share.


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