Little shimmer video. While it doesn't shimmer quite as well as a single point source (MH), it does shimmer (multiple point sources). Later I may try using less emmitters at a higher current. http://webfiles.uci.edu/algomez/K2/P1010001.avi
NOTE: while testing out the lights, I only run them at work to make sure there is no electrical/thermal issues (which there isn't thus far). ..so this tank has no light on the weekends!!!
For what reason did you chose these very high priced LEDs over the standard 2 prong bulb styles?
I assume you have higher asperations then just making a moonlight out of them.
the K2 is the new generation of luxeon LEDs. Think of the III emitter, only better interms of efficiency, upperlimit current handling and their color is now 6700k on average instead of ~5k.
I hooked up 3 star III emitters to get a feel for things and it leaves me with high hopes for the 12xK2 that I'll be using.
WOW! Ok yes much better then moonlighting as I was thinking. Thanks for the link to the old thread. clears things right up! Very impressive work and research you've done on the subject.
Best of luck with this endevor. I have seen LED lighting systems like you are making offered by one company once.. Sadly I cannot remember what company it was but the whole array was quite expensive. IIRC more so then an equivilant PC set up. But the scale that these arrays were for large tanks 48" and 60" IIRC. based on the 11 bucks per even at the now price of 3 bucks per led I can see where the cost comes in. Much more feasable and cost effective on the nano and smaller tanks where only a few units are needed.
I will deff be keeping an eye on this topic to see how things progress.
Tony, any guess as to the equivalence in watts for these vs. PC lights? I assume a lot less wattage would be needed since these have little waste heat.
And, of course, what is the wattage of each LED?
LEDs DO put out a lot of heat. That is a big falicy. The thing with LEds is they tend to seem very bright but are fucused compared to bulbs which emmitt in all directions
Here is the first step...12xK2's thermal-epoxied to some extra heatsink. I'll solder them up and hopefully wire up the powersupply tomorrow.
TEST PICTURES
Yes, these are crappy pictures, but I don't feel like re-shooting, so they will have to do.
Eventually (next week?) these will be retrofit into a fixture.
First impressions: BRIGHT!!
They light up the room quite well. No they are not as bright as the 2x13W AH setup, but they are close. It really is like a mini metal halide setup.
The photos below are taking with ALL camera settings the same, so you can use it for relative comparisons.
1x13watt AH (deluxe kit with reflectors)
2x13watt AH (deluxe kit with reflectors)
12x 700mA K2 emmitters (I might try driving at 1amp to see how bright they go)
This is a terrible photo for a tank shot (too low, off to the side, equipment in, floating plants, newly planted etc) LOL...but that is ok. THe intention is purely the lights.
Top= 12x700mA K2
Bottom=1x13watt Finnex (it has a really good reflector equivilent to the AHSupply kit)
Camera setting identical. Color is fairly accurate
That does look like a mini metal halide light. They must get pretty hot since such a small area is putting out so much light. But on average this should be less than the total heat from a fluorescent tube to put out the same amount of light.
I took a look at the PDF file. Do you think the white LEDs needs some Red LEDs added for better plant growth?
If you have the success I think you will have, I might have to pull my soldering iron out of storage.
expenses are relative because when I decided to do this project, I already had everything except the actual LED and those set me back ~ $45. The whole project however is probably in the $100-120 range if I had to get everything from scratch.
Keep us updated on this, I'm very interested in how well these will work in the long run. When I was researching LED's the main problem I found people to have was the quality of the light as well as the intensity seemed to drop dramatically during the first six months or so. But none of those set-ups were the same type of LED you have, so it'll be nice if those were just quality issues with their brands.
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