chinese led lights

[bhazard451]

@winnipeg

I think I may have gone about the drivers wrong. There are 4 wires connected to one led board from one driver. 2 red and 2 black.

Unless I'm overthinking, that means each driver is a 2 channel driver, which means that unless we re-wired the connection points to the board and driver, 2 drivers wont work.

It also means 4 48v meanwell drivers will work though. I'd have to look closer and follow the traces to confirm.

[pwreef]

You have to remove that white top plate so that you can see the traces on the PCB and where the wires are soldered. Fans in series with LEDs? That's the worst possible design ever! Most likely there are wires that connect the pucks. Each puck has 6 whites and 6 blues. This fixture can be re-wired to use 2 parallel strings of 12 each of white and blue using Meanwell or Inventronics drivers that go up to 1.5A. Add a 12V power supply for fans though to make the reef gods kind to you. :-)

[WEBBERIII]

I have two119pc 2w fixtures. They say that they are 3w turned down to run at 2w. There are three fans,two cords,two stitches and a huge heat sink on both of them. They seem to be really well built (wiring/construction). I dont know where they where made(Craigslist lol...) but I do know they kick *** for growth,heat,compact design,shimmer effect, and I don't burn the back of my arm (tricep) anymore.
I love China lol...
P.S. On the label there is a picture of a dolphin or shark, I cant tell. Does anyone know what company has that logo???

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by pwreef

You have to remove that white top plate so that you can see the traces on the PCB and where the wires are soldered. Fans in series with LEDs? That's the worst possible design ever! Most likely there are wires that connect the pucks. Each puck has 6 whites and 6 blues. This fixture can be re-wired to use 2 parallel strings of 12 each of white and blue using Meanwell or Inventronics drivers that go up to 1.5A. Add a 12V power supply for fans though to make the reef gods kind to you. :-)

It isn't that simple. That white plate is the circuit board, 24 leds per board. There are no exposed solder points when you flip it over, just traces going through the leds. The leds are literally built into the board. You can't rewire unfortunately, as there are no wires. I'll try to take a pic later.

It could possibly mean they are using a 2 channel driver, and I could use 4 meanwells to drive the 12 leds each. Fans would run off a 12v wall wort. Crude, and drives the price up a bit, but effective, and easily doable.


Whatever they did, they didn't do what a standard DIY build would, which is making it much harder for me to figure out with no schematics, docs, or anything.

Plus, I'm trying to set up my new Apex for the first time tonight, so I'm all sorts of confused after a long day of work. lol

[Snausy]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

I think that with no coral you get get away with only using 3 ... I just have one of the d120s and it lights my tank up fully and my tank is 36 long by 18 wide and its 24 tall.

So if it light up my 36" long tank no prob ..3 should easily 3 time the length of my tank which is 108" and you said yours is only 96" so I personally would get 3 and if yo want more add more after ... It'll be easier to order one more laster if ya want another then it would be to return a 4th if 4 was not needed

Can you link me to this "d120" you speak of? I can't seem to find it.

[Travis1787]

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/3178...with-Lens.html

The ratio on this doesn't have tobe that way they can customize it for ya for a little extra

I have mine with 30 blues 21 whites 4 violets. Swict one has 19 blues 4 white 4 uvs and switch 2 has 17 whites 11 blues.... I looove it so far

And makes sure you get 90 lenses if your tank is taller then 24"

Anything over 24" tall 90 degree lenses for better penatration

Anything 24" or under 120 degree lenses for better spread

[WinnipegDragon]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

@winnipeg

I think I may have gone about the drivers wrong. There are 4 wires connected to one led board from one driver. 2 red and 2 black.

Unless I'm overthinking, that means each driver is a 2 channel driver, which means that unless we re-wired the connection points to the board and driver, 2 drivers wont work.

It also means 4 48v meanwell drivers will work though. I'd have to look closer and follow the traces to confirm.

When I looked at mine I assumed it was two serial strings in parallel. But yeah there are four wires from the driver :/

[Travis1787]

Originally Posted by WEBBERIII

I have two119pc 2w fixtures. They say that they are 3w turned down to run at 2w. There are three fans,two cords,two stitches and a huge heat sink on both of them. They seem to be really well built (wiring/construction). I dont know where they where made(Craigslist lol...) but I do know they kick *** for growth,heat,compact design,shimmer effect, and I don't burn the back of my arm (tricep) anymore.
I love China lol...
P.S. On the label there is a picture of a dolphin or shark, I cant tell. Does anyone know what company has that logo???

Ha I love the not burning your tricep part in here sooooo freakin tru hahaha

And the low heat is the best part! Before with my mh my tank would increase a good 2 degrees through out its running period.... Today my tank was at lowest 78. And peaked at 78.6 ... So nice and steady

[Travis1787]

Originally Posted by Chicago

ok.. so i understand i need 90 optics for led for tank that is 92" x 31" x 31". big tank.. how do i want to do the fixtures. two side by side.. or rotate to have them perpendicular to the tank .. in other words give me your thoughts on the unit.. and how to set up... . thanks..

I think being that your tank is so wide id run it not left to right like on a normal size tank like I do but front to back.... Ya get me?

Doing it this way though will mean you'll need 4 for sure maaybe even a 5th... And I only speaking of the. D120s that I have only cause its the cheapest way to go unit wise you could do a4 but ud still need 4 and it would be more money for the same amount of power.

Id say... Get 4 run them long ways front to back evenly spaced apart.... See how it does if ya end up needing another get another... At most with getting 5 units you'll spend around 800 bucks and that's without any customing could be an extra 15 per unit if you decide to customize them so maybe 900 at most? And if you get 4 and your happy then you spent 725 to light a huge @ss tank haha

[geemanaz]

Originally Posted by geemanaz

So I was on Ebay today looking a round came cross a new Chinese led lighting company selling a new Dimmable 120w LED Aquarium Light selling them for $280.00




Descripion:
1)Size:400x212x65mm,Aluminum housing
2)Input voltage:AC85-265V
3)2pcs 60W PWM dimmmable driver,Max Power:120W, Minimum Power:12W
4)30pcs Bridgelux Blue LED :465nm ;25pcs Bridgelux white LED 14000K
5)Life span:50,000 hours
6)2pcs power cords and 2pcs switch
7)Warranty:2 years 8)1 set adjust hang kit
Function:
1.10%~100% Dimmable by controller,This product default power is the most Minimum power,start with 10%.
you can use a timmer to contolle the power.
2.The Contrller Using the LCD screen, it is showing clearly,it's easy to operate
3.the dimmable light have Auto model and Manul model.
4.you can set 5 times for dimming light at Manul model
for example:
8:00 Blue 30%; white 20%
11:00 Blue 80%; white 60%
14:00 Blue 100%; white 100%
17:00 Blue 50%; white 30%
20:00 Blue 10%; white 10%

4. the controller have Perpetual Calendar,clock status display,it also have intelligent and humanized design program
5.one controller can contact 4pcs lights, just use ethernet cable to link them.
6.our dimmable light is the newest technology light,
Intelligent design program,more functions,the dimmer have power-down memory,to ensure it will be automatically inquired working conditions in next power on.It can automatically compare the current clock time.And intelligence to return the work pattern of power lost before,Let consumer reliable.To ensure the light working safety,reliability,and intelligence.
7.Factory Reset：if you want Restore factory defaults，please press the button where is in the back hole
8.Using the RJ45 string port design,the dimmer have 4 ports,can control 4 grow lights separately when it working at the same time.Easy to use and more powerfu

Any input on them
link to them http://www.ebay.com/itm/280882539341...ht_1998wt_1185
i emailed the seller he say you can run them on RK

[david pinder]

Im using chinese leds and can say I like them but buyer beware once your past the 120 days warranty probably worthless has been my experience with chinese leds that they dont honor waranties. Some brands may be better but can vouch eshines will not replace faulty equipment

[Chicago]

product description for the led states "LED Type:Epistar" what are those.. in some other places for products i see they do list "cre"

[Chicago]

why would you get an A8.... over lets say two of these.. is there a benefit to the A8.? the nova?

[Travis1787]

Well all of the nova series are better then the d120s for the following reasons

Better heat control they actually have heatsinks
They are easier to repair part and you can replace a cluster of leds if some gobad where as if some go bad in mine I'm just sol cause I dunno how to do led work lol
Also you can get crees in them I believe
There also modular so if ya get 4 you can link then together and only have 2 power supplies instead of 8

But there more expense.... Being that your tank is so big I still think you would need 3 a8s to cover your tank or 4 a6 or 5 maybe 4 d120s which would be the cheaspest route....

If your tank wasn't so wide it would be diff if it was 18 or 24 and you could run a d120 the normal left to right way and get away with 3 on your tank.... But being its 31 wide you'd have to run it front to back which adds an extra unit

[Chicago]

Thanks for the great info

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

Well all of the nova series are better then the d120s for the following reasons

Better heat control they actually have heatsinks
They are easier to repair part and you can replace a cluster of leds if some gobad where as if some go bad in mine I'm just sol cause I dunno how to do led work lol
Also you can get crees in them I believe
There also modular so if ya get 4 you can link then together and only have 2 power supplies instead of 8

But there more expense.... Being that your tank is so big I still think you would need 3 a8s to cover your tank or 4 a6 or 5 maybe 4 d120s which would be the cheaspest route....

If your tank wasn't so wide it would be diff if it was 18 or 24 and you could run a d120 the normal left to right way and get away with 3 on your tank.... But being its 31 wide you'd have to run it front to back which adds an extra unit

Unless you plan on modifying the light extensively in the future, there really is not much difference aside from the heatsinks and driver/AC wires on quick connects for the nova. You can save quite a bit of money going with the black boxes overall.

[Chicago]

Great. Thank u also

[pwreef]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

It isn't that simple. That white plate is the circuit board, 24 leds per board.

The only way I could imagine that this white piece is the PCB is if they actually soldered the LEDs to the board from underside and put the lenses through the holes. The bottom of the LEDs is then pressed against the heatsink, you can confirm that by removing the million screws that are holding that board. By doing so you will break the contact with the heatsink. If they used glue, then forget about it. You are never removing it without physically breaking all of your fixture at which point it will be useless. If they used thermal paste, then there is no issue, but you will have to clean and re-apply new paste when you assemble them back together. Also your findings confirm two things:
1. These units are NOT modular and they would be very hard to repair. Forget about 'upgrading' them. Might as well buy a whole new unit.
2. There is no way you could put Cree LEDs in there. They simply do not come in that kind of packaging.
You could test whats going on with these wires by using a multimeter and some pins to puncture the insulation. Careful though. Like you said 100VDC can give you some jolt.

[Chicago]

No hear sinks but do have fans?

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by pwreef

The only way I could imagine that this white piece is the PCB is if they actually soldered the LEDs to the board from underside and put the lenses through the holes. The bottom of the LEDs is then pressed against the heatsink, you can confirm that by removing the million screws that are holding that board. By doing so you will break the contact with the heatsink. If they used glue, then forget about it. You are never removing it without physically breaking all of your fixture at which point it will be useless. If they used thermal paste, then there is no issue, but you will have to clean and re-apply new paste when you assemble them back together. Also your findings confirm two things:
1. These units are NOT modular and they would be very hard to repair. Forget about 'upgrading' them. Might as well buy a whole new unit.
2. There is no way you could put Cree LEDs in there. They simply do not come in that kind of packaging.
You could test whats going on with these wires by using a multimeter and some pins to puncture the insulation. Careful though. Like you said 100VDC can give you some jolt.

Nope, no solder, no contact points. It isn't a hole, each led is literally built into the board. The + and - solder points you would normally see, are sandwiched inside so you cannot see or get to them from the top or bottom of the board. I removed the screws and separated the board from the heatsink. There is no thermal grease applied. All you can see are the traces on the bottom, no contact points. If one led goes, the whole board needs to be replaced, which sucks. The only solder points you can get to, are on the outside of the boards connecting the end of the leds to the driver. It's a well engineered solution, that was never meant for someone to modify it unfortunately.

You could throw away the led boards completely, and wire in your own DIY Crees in the future onto the heatsinks, but this is no different than DIY. You're right, it would basically be like buying a whole new unit. You do get a nice shell, tapped heatsinks, and optics to use though, with a nice quick connect wiring solution to build off of I will absolutely be doing this in the future.

[pwreef]

Originally Posted by bhazard451

... There is no thermal grease applied..... wire in your own DIY Crees in the future onto the heatsinks...

LOL. You might be doing that real soon. Does not look like the holes will match the common 20mm LED stars, but I suppose that can be fixed. I prefer glue though, drilling and tapping aluminum is not fun for me.

[Ezpleazur]

Wow, very nice thread about these lights... 77 pages later, I am sold!

I do want to get the Nova series for my tank and I do want 3 boxes. However, not sure if I can get away with 3 sets of the A4 model or actually need 3 sets of A6 model. My tank is ~210g and is split by 2 dividers on top into 3 23"x23" sections (see ridiculously awesome sketch) and has a 26" depth to top of sand (27.5" to glass bottom).

I want all types of coral to be able to thrive. Please let me know what model will suffice.

Also, after all the reading, it seems 90 degree lenses are best for over 24" depth, correct?

[tankaddict]

Just got my A6 today... I'm disappointed... Not what I ordered.. I wanted 6 violets but they all were blues. Let's see how they will resolve this problem.

[Ianwraab]

Growth is up...
I'm lovin these black boxes...

[bhazard451]

Originally Posted by tankaddict

Just got my A6 today... I'm disappointed... Not what I ordered.. I wanted 6 violets but they all were blues. Let's see how they will resolve this problem.

Easiest/cheapest way would be to get a credit back to what the standard ratio would cost. Would cost quite a bit to ship the unit back and forth, and you can't replace the leds on your own unless they ship you new led boards and you feel like cracking open your box.