AquaIllumination PAR Measurements

[jcolletteiii]

That is the formula C2 gave me for figuring out par for the original second gen (white), with all 40 degree optics. Just a heads up as well - the new sol whites do not use the same blue emitters as the original 2nd gen modules - the original 2nd gen used 2x XP-G CW and 1 XR-E blue per grouping; the sol white uses 2x XPG CW, and 1 royal blue XR-E. The sol blue uses all three.

Anyone do any puck customization yet?

[CalmSeasQuest]

Originally Posted by jcolletteiii

Anyone do any puck customization yet?

If by customization, you mean replacing emitters on each puck, the pucks do not use stars - The LEDs are hard-wired on the pucks. As such, it might be difficult to swap emitters.


This is a SOL White puck left over from when I upgraded to the Blues.

I'm hoping C2 is working on a puck version including CREE XP-G Neutral or Warm Whites. I'm seeing DIY trends toward the inclusion of warmer whites. Perhaps just swapping out a couple center pucks for with WW/RB/RB with slightly wider optics would provide an improved spectrum.

[jcolletteiii]

I am aware that these modules do not utilize stars, mine have been apart several times switching pucks, then optics. I suspect the emitters are reflow soldered onto the pucks; if this is the case, it should be a relatively simple process to remove and reinstall new bare emitters using a hot plate.

Anyone have leftover or dead pucks they want to donate to a future DIY puck-customization project???

[CalmSeasQuest]

Originally Posted by jcolletteiii

Anyone have leftover or dead pucks they want to donate to a future DIY puck-customization project???

I have 16 Gen 2 white pucks (W/W/B) with only 6 months of use that I would be willing to donate. I'd be very interested in swapping out a couple nuetral or warm white pucks (NW/RB/RB) per unit for testing.

[125mph]

Just got my Apogee MQ-200 par meter!... I drove home to try it out and on the way there I got a speeding ticket. Damn pityful officer put me at 80 on a 65 highway... Well it's only $146 so I guess I will just tack that onto the cost of the Apogee.

Anyway, I took some quick readings with my current settings (60g 24"x24"x24") and wow.. I current have peak intensity set to 27/34/34. I'm running two Sol Blue units hung 12" over the waterline and at 7" below waterline my Par is only around 120-130! I was playing it safe but this is a little too safe.

I have bumped up the intensities to 28/37/37 and will slowly ramp it up weekly by 3% until it gets to more suitable levels.

[moliken]

i honestly think that you can safely go more than 3% a week. i have a 75 and i am 13" above waterline. started at 50 across the colors and within 2 weeks was at a high of 75%. current readings of max 98% for about 5 midday hours. of course, i don't have sps

[jcolletteiii]

Originally Posted by CalmSeasQuest

I have 16 Gen 2 white pucks (W/W/B) with only 6 months of use that I would be willing to donate. I'd be very interested in swapping out a couple nuetral or warm white pucks (NW/RB/RB) per unit for testing.

Am giving a talk at a conference this coming weekend - will pm you next week. I think 3 pucks will be plenty - the first one will likely be a mortality to the learning curve (never reflow soldered before), but should be doable. Thanks - will certainly be an interesting project. Anyone have good any good sources for bare (unstarred) Cree XP-G emitters?

[smadascott]

I have reflow soldered XR-E leds onto stars using a toaster oven lol I am currently reflow soldering XP-G and XP-E led's onto PCB's like the ones that Aquaillumination uses with 3 led's on a single die and also some with 4 led's on a single die. It is pretty easy to do and CREE even has the temp specs on their website for reflow soldering their led's. A good source for led emmiters is LedRise.com . I have looked all over the web and they have the best price even with the currency conversion. Hope this info helps!

[roberto_lopes]

Originally Posted by gbreynol

I ordered 7 of the AI Sol Blue units, but they have been on backorder for 4 weeks. I am trying to build a mounting system for them so I am ready when they arrive.

I know the mounting screws are size 10-32, but does anybody know the distance between them?

Ow yes, the distance is 9.84" (25cm)

[RcToners]

Originally Posted by Maivortex

Acroporaddict- Thanks for the pics! i dont like the canopies for the the same reasons u stated. I plan on having the 300 DD as a room divider, so everyhting will be mainly in the center. Do you think I need 9 Ai sol's for LPS and SPs near the top? What do you think is the minimum amount of lights I need to get rolling?

IMO, 9 is over kill. I spoke at length with greg at reef geek and he assured me that most people purchase to many AI units. I currently have a 375 g (96X30X30) and I run only 4 AI sol blue's currently. I have zero shadows in my tank and more then enough light for any thing. I have SPS corals as well as my demanding gigantea carpet and all are doing just fine with the lights only at 50%. My lights are 12 inches off the top of the tank and spread evenly over the 96 inch lenght. I will post pics in a second to give you an idea.

[RcToners]

Here are a couple shots,




This is an older image just to give an idea of the rock work, pay no attention to the over flow.

[moliken]

stunning tank, Rc. rockwork is amazing. great look! i have 3 ai's on my 75

[gimmic]

I've got an oceanic 135 and getting very close to pulling the trigger on some AIs.

Think 3 units would handle a 72L x 24T x 18W?

[JAGreef]

Originally Posted by gimmic

I've got an oceanic 135 and getting very close to pulling the trigger on some AIs.

Think 3 units would handle a 72L x 24T x 18W?

That is the dimensions of my tank and I went with 4 lenth-wise. Love the look.

[NyReefNoob]

ive got 3 sol whites on my 3' tank but and have them about 14" off the water. the sol white is a little whiter then i am use to but thinking of swapping 4 pucks on each unit to the sol blue pucks

[reefsurfing]

Originally Posted by NyReefNoob

ive got 3 sol whites on my 3' tank but and have them about 14" off the water. the sol white is a little whiter then i am use to but thinking of swapping 4 pucks on each unit to the sol blue pucks

Open a ticket with AI and check but I beleive you have to change all the pucks and 1 other piece; its a full conversion or no conversion.

[Ricardo_Jorge]

Originally Posted by NyReefNoob

ive got 3 sol whites on my 3' tank but and have them about 14" off the water. the sol white is a little whiter then i am use to but thinking of swapping 4 pucks on each unit to the sol blue pucks

Hey friend,

you can swap just 4 pucks but you'll cannot control the whites and blues separately anymore! If it's a problem, you'll have to swap all the 8 pucks.


Hug

[NyReefNoob]

Open a ticket with AI and check but I beleive you have to change all the pucks and 1 other piece; its a full conversion or no conversion

hate to drop another 600 to switch all the pucks to the sol blues

Hey friend,

you can swap just 4 pucks but you'll cannot control the whites and blues separately anymore! If it's a problem, you'll have to swap all the 8 pucks.


Hug

with the controller set on sol white it only has 1 setting for white and 1 setting for blue, so if i did switch out half the pucks and switched the controller to sol blue and it allows w-rb-b control i know it would be trying to find the color spectrum i want, but wouldnt i be able to adjust with the sol blue settings ? or is it able to tell which pucks are in, meaning the white control would change the whites and the blues that really should be white ?

[Ricardo_Jorge]

You can ajust collors as well as you like, the only problem is half blue and half white you cannot let JUST the blues ON or JUST the whites ON (i.e.)

[JAGreef]

In reply to a pm, here is the pic:

[NyReefNoob]

You can ajust collors as well as you like, the only problem is half blue and half white you cannot let JUST the blues ON or JUST the whites ON (i.e.)

but the regular blues that are adjustable with the sol whites wouldnt those still be adjustable by them self ? and the other 2 leds in the puck would still be controlled by the white? so i would be adjusting the mix of white and blue together then the adjustment of just the blues ?

[AcroporAddict]

Originally Posted by NyReefNoob

but the regular blues that are adjustable with the sol whites wouldnt those still be adjustable by them self ? and the other 2 leds in the puck would still be controlled by the white? so i would be adjusting the mix of white and blue together then the adjustment of just the blues ?

The above is correct with the standard AI Sol White controller. The Two White LEDs adjust together, and the one blue and two whites adjust separately

[Ricardo_Jorge]

Let's suppose that he wants just the White LEDs turned ON.
With 4 pucks Sol white and 4 pucks Sol Blue, when he turns the BLUE OFF he'll have:

Sol White controller:
Sol White: 2 Whites ON
Sol Blue : 1 White and 1 blue ON


That's what i mean.

[NyReefNoob]

ty guys i ended up calling AI, was a little easier to just explain what i wanted to do or try to do and got my answer lol more then likely will add rapid led's antic bar

[nemosworld]

The sol white controller recognize blue and RB as blue. so you can control the white seperate and the rb/b will be controlled by the blue setting.
I know this because i have a buddy with two sol white units and one sol blue on his 180.
when he adjust the blue setting, he is controlling the rb/b together.

hope that helps!