chinese led lights

[cdivine]

Originally Posted by jrp1588

My lights use epistar. I won't say they are top quality or anything, but I will say they 100% grow coral. I have seen more growth in my SPS corals in the month I've had these lights than I would see in 2 or 3 months with my ATI sunpower. With the frags I just got a couple weeks ago, you can actually see a small difference in growth day by day, at least around the base where it's encrusting.

This is a good a endorsement for anyone switching from t5s. Have the colors in the SPS changed at all?

[Ianwraab]

To stay on subject I must say I have seen Chinese led systems in action on large and small tanks... They have the Same drawbacks as any led so get what you need for your tank...
However that being said it is very hard to know exactly what you will be getting with these things...
If you have a 30gal or smaller get one it's your BEST option... If you have a 50 get (2) it's your BEST option...
If you have a tank larger, taller, wider, or longer than others you may have a few specifications that the other guys don't have to worry about.
Penitration isn't a guarantee with the Chinese LEDs
Clean whites isn't a guarantee with the Chinese LEDs
Configuration isn't a guarantee with the Chinese LEDs
Dimmer isn't an option on most Chinese LEDs (so you have to move all your coral to the bottom of the tank to avoid sunburn)



So I'm more torn then ever...
I'm in the market for (2) 48-60 - 3w led fixtures
And I thought $900 would be enough to get what I wanted...lol

So in the beginning I was gonna by a nice unit. High power and good looking.

Then after researching and researching the components wavelengths and all the ins and outs of what I need. ( I have an electronics degree so this crap made sense for the most part) I decided damn the man I'm gonna build this myself with what I want and need...

Then to the buying and shipping...

Ok not bad stayed in budget... Still not 100% sure where to get a grooved heats ink that I can mount 48 LEDs on (RapidLED only has them up to 36)
Getting excited this build will be fun...
Then I found some video of what a RapidLED build looks like...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWUK...CCdUPKKjKCfqM=



This thing is going in my living room it will not look getto in anyway....


I want my fixture to look nicer than this...

So now Im lookin a paperwork from troptrae
And the eshines docs Jeramy sent me...


Lookin in to the eshines 48x3w Cree w/ sunrise-sunset controller...
still in budget...

But... I could build it better now that I have spent all this time researching...

So if you know of a place to find a good heatsink or a finishing case idea.. Let me know....

[submersible]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

So if you know of a place to find a good heatsink or a finishing case idea.. Let me know....

Have you tried heatsinkusa.com ?
And for a finished case, gut a old t5/pc/etc fixture and mount the heatsink inside, like cet98 did: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2106687

[Ianwraab]

Nice video, nice tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdwB3...e_gdata_player

[containerman1]

Originally Posted by jg210302

TropTrea,

You are correct about the tank dimensions... I am so stuck now, for the cost should I just build my own fixture???

Thanks again,
Jeremy

I have 8 of the Eshine Leds and they seem to be working well. I have only been using them for a week or 2 so we will have to wait and see.
I am not on this forum very much usually on ARC but it seems like Eshine ask not to post price list on forums

[jrp1588]

Originally Posted by cdivine

This is a good a endorsement for anyone switching from t5s. Have the colors in the SPS changed at all?

Colors are mostly the same, I'd say reds aren't as strong since I used to have a purple plus bulb just for that.

[BigCountry74]

Originally Posted by jrp1588

Colors are mostly the same, I'd say reds aren't as strong since I used to have a purple plus bulb just for that.

x2

thats the only drawback i have noticed from the chinese boxes. reds do not pop that well. but i am reading that's a general problem with led perhaps since most run white and blue only.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by submersible

Have you tried heatsinkusa.com ?
And for a finished case, gut a old t5/pc/etc fixture and mount the heatsink inside, like cet98 did: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2106687

Wow looked at there 10" heat sink and a 10" X 48" heat sink could handle 138 3 Watt LED's without using fans. Unfortunatly it is $147 which per LED adds to the price quickly. And who realy needs that dense of a population of LED's. Just think 2 of those on a 120 gallon tank could give you 800 Watts of LED lighting and you would need sun glass to see your tank. Now if you add fans you could go over 1,000 Watts.

Might be great for someone with a 60" tall tank.

[bezlar]

Originally Posted by ReefJP80

How do the whites look? Are they really 16000k-20000k like the description states? Any pics?

Nice thing is you can turn blue and white up or down and dial in the color your looking for. I think color is great I'll post picture soon. I only have two of them on a 60x24x24. I think I'll order a third so it is more even across tank.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by bezlar

Nice thing is you can turn blue and white up or down and dial in the color your looking for. I think color is great I'll post picture soon. I only have two of them on a 60x24x24. I think I'll order a third so it is more even across tank.

Only keep in mind that when the LED's are turned down it also reduces the PAR. So a fixture that is rated at 120 Watts with the blue turned down to 75% is only giving you about the same PAR as a systen with 95 Watts. But if you tiurn down the whites to 75% it is not as drasic a change but gives you the equivelent to about 110 Watts. I relay should not use the word PAR here as I only mean the PAR usable to corals.

[Browserz]

I'm looking into buying 2 fixtures for my 75g, but there are so many options! Which one would you guys recommend me getting? I plan on mostly softies and LPS. Dimming option would be best but i can live without it.

[jrp1588]

Why does everyone want dimming so bad? The only reason I can see it being useful is during acclimation, and for that you can just raise the fixture or put some screening over the tank. Just seems like one more thing that can break to me.

[Flytech78]

Aquastyleonline.com has good reviews I'll post mine after I have it for a couple months.

[submersible]

Originally Posted by jrp1588

Why does everyone want dimming so bad? The only reason I can see it being useful is during acclimation, and for that you can just raise the fixture or put some screening over the tank. Just seems like one more thing that can break to me.

I'm with you, just raise or lower the fixture to get the right intensity. I'm not too picky about spectrum, but I think the others may want to dim to get the blue/white mixture they like.

[SimonSKL]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

Then after researching and researching the components wavelengths and all the ins and outs of what I need. ( I have an electronics degree so this crap made sense for the most part) I decided damn the man I'm gonna build this myself with what I want and need...

Then to the buying and shipping...

Ok not bad stayed in budget... Still not 100% sure where to get a grooved heats ink that I can mount 48 LEDs on (RapidLED only has them up to 36)
Getting excited this build will be fun...
Then I found some video of what a RapidLED build looks like...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWUK...CCdUPKKjKCfqM=



This thing is going in my living room it will not look getto in anyway....


I want my fixture to look nicer than this...

But... I could build it better now that I have spent all this time researching...

So if you know of a place to find a good heatsink or a finishing case idea.. Let me know....

Forget about the ugly looking and standard heatsink for your DIY build. Take a look at this DIY build and the materials he used. Very clean and professional.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1975251

[SimonSKL]

A couple pictures of my two eshine 48x3W CREE with 4 RB replaced with red in my 125 gallon tank which just finished cycling.

10% white and 30% RB/red. The 4 red LEDs in the left unit were covered by blue masking tape to reduce its intensity. Only 2 red were covered by blue masking tape in the right fixture. Which side do you like?


40% white and 60% RB/red.

[bruce 1]

I just ordered 8 total for 2 tanks, they are dimmable for use with a reefkeeper or apex they are nice. And have 3 UV leds added to each unit. There is a group buy going on at another site.

[Malign Reefer]

My new supplier for all things LED's is www.aquastyleonline.com

I have had many types of LED's and even sold a Radion a few months ago I had on my frag tank in leu of these. Same PAR ratings and almost the same control functions when hooked up to a Apex.

[Malign Reefer]

Originally Posted by Flytech78

Aquastyleonline.com has good reviews I'll post mine after I have it for a couple months.

Quality stuff, you will like it.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Malign Reefer

My new supplier for all things LED's is www.aquastyleonline.com

I have had many types of LED's and even sold a Radion a few months ago I had on my frag tank in leu of these. Same PAR ratings and almost the same control functions when hooked up to a Apex.

There prices are nice however they sell mainly Bridglux LED's rather than CREE. Bridgelux is probably the number two rated LED brand and only slightly behind Cree in some respects compared to most of the rest. Yes you can build a nice fixture with the Bridglux LED's but do not over drive them above 750 ma and make sure you have large enough of a heat sink and/or cooling fans.

[cdivine]

How do you know which LED system will work with an Apex or other controller? Is it only the DIY leds that come with dimmable drivers?

Will the Ebay leds with dimmers on them work with an Apex?

[bruce 1]

Originally Posted by cdivine

How do you know which LED system will work with an Apex or other controller? Is it only the DIY leds that come with dimmable drivers?

Will the Ebay leds with dimmers on them work with an Apex?

There are only a few units out there that will work with Apex or Reefkeeper. I just ordered 8 that will work with either. They are nice with sun rise and sun set. There is another reef site that a group buy is taking place at. $235.00 each. With 3 uv leds in each and fuses for each led. Any 0 to 10v controller will work. I would post the link but I think RC rules will not let me.

[bruce 1]

I have not seen the ebay units work with A Apex.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by cdivine

How do you know which LED system will work with an Apex or other controller? Is it only the DIY leds that come with dimmable drivers?

Will the Ebay leds with dimmers on them work with an Apex?

Some might others might not? Unless the specificly say they will work with any specific controler your realy gambling. There are basicly three different types of drivers that work with different controling signals.

D series which work DC filtered signal to control them with 10 Volts being full power and lower voltages on the control circuit resulting in lower driver output. An example would be 9 volte = 90%, 8 volts = 80% etc.

P series Drivers work on pulse width modulation. Basicly your running a DC power source at 10 Volts but your rapidly turning it on and off at a frequency of between 100 and 3,000 times per second. The intensity of the LED's is determined by the time the voltage is at 10V compared to the time the voltage is at 0 Volts.

Then there are the most expensive Type D Drivers which can be wired to either the type D or P standards as well as simply using a 0 to 100,000K resistor to control the dimming. While thes are the most universal you also pay big bucks for this adaptability.

On a DIY driver with rougly the same range the cost difference per driver is
none adjustable =$26
Type D= $34
Type P= $34
Type B= $115.

If they are truely running 3 Watts on the LED's chances are they are using one driver for 12 or less LED's. So when you get into a fixture using 60 LED's you are talking about 5 Drivers. With an average cost of $4.00 per LED look at the comparitive cost.

none adjustable $370
Type D or P $410
Type B = $815

They save cost by using less expensive LED's as well as there wholesale price break from buying in large quantities. However the difference in there cost is still proportunate to the type of Driver they use. A top of the line high bucks system might use B drvers but the lower cost systems cannot use them at there price range.

Also keep in mind some can say they are adjustable dimming but not even be compatable with any controlers. There adjustable dimming may be a simple pair pot where can adjust the intensity of the White or Blues.

If the literature does not specificly say they can be controled by a specific type of controler you have a 50/50 chance it will work with that controler.

If I were to use a controler It would be either a Rockwell or a Seimens controler since that is what I'm used to working with. However there not inexpensive which is why I probably will never run one.

[Vince]

Bruce,
Can you PM me the link please?
Thanks