Widmer's Cree LED Sump Light

widmer · 02/20/2010, 01:41 AM

Tonight I made a new sump light out of 3 of the Cree XR-E cool white (Q5 WG) LEDs. It took me about a half hour.

Here's a parts layout:

3x Cree LEDs @ $4.36 ea
1x random used computer heatsink @ $2
1x dimmable buck puck @ $20
1x laptop charger @ was free (they're $9 on ebay though)

Total cost to me: <$40
If I had used nondimmable buck puck, ~$30

Here's a shot of the parts 1/2 hour later:

A different view:

Fun fact: it's barely warm to touch while running full speed ahead.

Here's a picture of it being held ~4" off the counter, the same height as an absolutely brand new 15w CFL. The LED system only uses ~11w. While the CFL is rated at 720 lumens and the LED system should be ~700 lumens, the reason the LED is much brighter is of course because I can actually have all that light aimed where I want it to be, rather than scattering like the CFL does:

The reason for this thread is mainly to describe the LED fixture that I will be using when I put up a thread which will document my adventure of putting the LED and CFL side-by-side in an experiment to see which works better for an algae turf scrubber setup. Hope you enjoy

kcress · 02/20/2010, 05:33 AM

Nice!
You left out the optics and holders. $$?

widmer · 02/20/2010, 07:44 AM

Oops they're Carlco 16 FWHM ripple lenses from ledsupply.com @ $2/ea..

der_wille_zur_macht · 02/20/2010, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by widmer

The reason for this thread is mainly to describe the LED fixture that I will be using when I put up a thread which will document my adventure of putting the LED and CFL side-by-side in an experiment to see which works better for an algae turf scrubber setup.

YES PLEASE!

Will you be trying other LEDs or just that rig? I'm curious to see how "sensitive" turf scrubbers are to spectrum.

widmer · 02/20/2010, 08:30 AM

Actually what I'd really like to do is the warm white XP-G's since probably as far as anyone could predict, they would be the top contenders. Alas, I already had the cool white XR-E's laying around, and I'm a poor professional student. But if the ATS idea works out for me, you can bet I'll be making an elegant countertop ATS display, and trying the XP-G's on that. Actually the big motivation behind this experiement is not to see if the LED's will work, which I'm assuming they will, but to see if the ATS idea will work for me as a last-ditch effort before I start my tank from scratch. More on this later..

csa dad · 02/20/2010, 08:36 AM

thats pretty cool i might have to try that when i get some money

vbsaltydog · 02/20/2010, 10:24 AM

Is there one place to go to get all of the parts (except for the laptop charger) ?
What wattage is the laptop charger? Does it matter?

I am looking to do this because I have a small sump and the light for my macroalgae is causing algae growth in my skimmer body. Directional light would fix this problem.

stugray · 02/20/2010, 10:48 AM

Widmer nice job and nice find with the heatsink. It looks custom made just for this effort.
I look forward to your experiment.

vbsaltydog

"I am looking to do this because I have a small sump and the light for my macro algae is causing algae growth in my skimmer body. "

I did exactly what widmer did. My sump light has 6 CREE XR-Es on a heatsinkusa 5X7 heatsink with acrylic lens cover. It is driven by a meanwell @ 700mA.

I am growing Macro better than before under 36W of PC AND .... only the Macro grows. I do NOT have the massive algae problems I had before since I am not illuminating the entire sump.

Stu

salty joe · 02/20/2010, 10:50 AM

Have you seen this? http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/134/m134p207.pdf ?

It suggests that a photoperiod of 6 hr. on, 6 hr. off would acheive the best use of electricity, for Chaeto anyway. Maybe it's true for marine algae in general.

Is that CF a flood?

Do you know what the spectral graph of the LEDs you're using looks like? It'd be nice to find red LEDs and blue LEDs that produced only PAR and fine tune the mix for algae.

Outstanding project! Running a reef using the absolute minimum of watts is my goal. I'll be using algae filtration, so I'm excited for your experiment.

widmer · 02/20/2010, 10:57 AM

Basically everything but the laptop charger and heat sink can be found at www.ledsupply.com The LEDs are a couple bucks more apiece there than what I paid, but hey, at least they're available in warm white which is what I would encourage others to buy. Here's a parts list if you want to do something similar:

Warm White XRE Stars: http://ledsupply.com/creexre-ww.php
Buck Puck 1000 mA driver, non dimming: http://ledsupply.com/03023-d-n-1000.php
16 FWHM optics: http://ledsupply.com/10210.php
Optics brackets: http://ledsupply.com/10425.php
Arctic Silver epoxy (if you want to be lazy and just epoxy them on like me, rather than tap and screw them on): http://ledsupply.com/asta-7g.php
Laptop charger (this is what I used, you could probably go a few bucks cheaper if you search, but it must be approximately 20v, 2A) http://cgi.ebay.com/Home-Travel-Wall...item3a5640e3a6

Then all you need is the heatsink, which you should purchase used at your local used computer place. There's TONS of heatsinks out there from computers which are outdated. TONS and TONS, which should only cost a dollar or two. Don't spend fifteen dollars on a brand new one.

With the above parts and an appropriately-sized heatsink, you can run up to 5 XRE LEDs. This is just limited by the fact that it's a 20V laptop charger. If you can find one that's 24v, 1.5+ amps, then you could go up to 6 LEDs. Three of them are PLENTY bright for my purposes.

widmer · 02/20/2010, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stugray

Widmer nice job and nice find with the heatsink. It looks custom made just for this effort.
I look forward to your experiment.

Thanks for your comments. I just went to the surplus computer place down the road and the guy laid out like a dozen random heatsinks for me to choose from, each just a dollar or two. It is pretty fun that the heatsink does in fact look custom. When my sump lighting tastes change, I'm going to go ahead and use it on top of my little 4 gallon planted freshwater tank...

vbsaltydog · 02/20/2010, 12:16 PM

Just FYI. There are computer CPU heat sinks that have a fan mounted on top with "swing arms" to pull the fan down on the heat sink. You would need the seat for the fan bracket from the computer's motherboard but with a small amount of effort disassembling some trashed computers, this might be a perfect heat sink/12v fan combo to mount 1 or 2 leds to and be ready for wiring. I have one that I could take a picture of but my mini usb cable is missing so I cant get the pics off of my camera. ehhhh.

Thanks for the info on the parts list.

02/20/2010, 01:41 AM	#1
widmer Drug Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 2,958	Widmer's Cree LED Sump Light Tonight I made a new sump light out of 3 of the Cree XR-E cool white (Q5 WG) LEDs. It took me about a half hour. Here's a parts layout: 3x Cree LEDs @ $4.36 ea 1x random used computer heatsink @ $2 1x dimmable buck puck @ $20 1x laptop charger @ was free (they're $9 on ebay though) Total cost to me: <$40 If I had used nondimmable buck puck, ~$30 Here's a shot of the parts 1/2 hour later: A different view: Fun fact: it's barely warm to touch while running full speed ahead. Here's a picture of it being held ~4" off the counter, the same height as an absolutely brand new 15w CFL. The LED system only uses ~11w. While the CFL is rated at 720 lumens and the LED system should be ~700 lumens, the reason the LED is much brighter is of course because I can actually have all that light aimed where I want it to be, rather than scattering like the CFL does: The reason for this thread is mainly to describe the LED fixture that I will be using when I put up a thread which will document my adventure of putting the LED and CFL side-by-side in an experiment to see which works better for an algae turf scrubber setup. Hope you enjoy

02/20/2010, 10:48 AM	#8
stugray Premium Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Longmont, Co Posts: 4,566	Widmer nice job and nice find with the heatsink. It looks custom made just for this effort. I look forward to your experiment. vbsaltydog "I am looking to do this because I have a small sump and the light for my macro algae is causing algae growth in my skimmer body. " I did exactly what widmer did. My sump light has 6 CREE XR-Es on a heatsinkusa 5X7 heatsink with acrylic lens cover. It is driven by a meanwell @ 700mA. I am growing Macro better than before under 36W of PC AND .... only the Macro grows. I do NOT have the massive algae problems I had before since I am not illuminating the entire sump. Stu __________________ Some people think that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. They just dont understand that........ Hey! Look a chicken! Well, We KNOW GOD exists, but for US to exist without a GOD is preposterous….Umm wait a minute…. Sounds a bit circular to me… Current Tank Info: 125 Gal. display w/80 gal mud/caulerpa sump. Basement sump w/ LED Grow Light,Gravity fed Reeflo200 skimmer w/ ORCA Recirc, DIY calc reactor & kalk stirrer. Inline plumbed 75 Gal frag/settling tank.

02/20/2010, 10:50 AM	#9
salty joe Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: medina, ohio Posts: 2,419	Have you seen this? http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/134/m134p207.pdf ? It suggests that a photoperiod of 6 hr. on, 6 hr. off would acheive the best use of electricity, for Chaeto anyway. Maybe it's true for marine algae in general. Is that CF a flood? Do you know what the spectral graph of the LEDs you're using looks like? It'd be nice to find red LEDs and blue LEDs that produced only PAR and fine tune the mix for algae. Outstanding project! Running a reef using the absolute minimum of watts is my goal. I'll be using algae filtration, so I'm excited for your experiment. __________________ Time to roll the dice.

02/20/2010, 12:16 PM	#12
vbsaltydog Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Melbourne Beach, FL. Posts: 603	Just FYI. There are computer CPU heat sinks that have a fan mounted on top with "swing arms" to pull the fan down on the heat sink. You would need the seat for the fan bracket from the computer's motherboard but with a small amount of effort disassembling some trashed computers, this might be a perfect heat sink/12v fan combo to mount 1 or 2 leds to and be ready for wiring. I have one that I could take a picture of but my mini usb cable is missing so I cant get the pics off of my camera. ehhhh. Thanks for the info on the parts list. Last edited by vbsaltydog; 02/20/2010 at 12:32 PM.

02/20/2010, 05:33 AM	#2
kcress Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Central California Coast. Posts: 5,383	Nice! You left out the optics and holders. $$?

02/20/2010, 07:44 AM	#3
widmer Drug Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 2,958	Oops they're Carlco 16 FWHM ripple lenses from ledsupply.com @ $2/ea..

02/20/2010, 08:30 AM	#5
widmer Drug Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 2,958	Actually what I'd really like to do is the warm white XP-G's since probably as far as anyone could predict, they would be the top contenders. Alas, I already had the cool white XR-E's laying around, and I'm a poor professional student. But if the ATS idea works out for me, you can bet I'll be making an elegant countertop ATS display, and trying the XP-G's on that. Actually the big motivation behind this experiement is not to see if the LED's will work, which I'm assuming they will, but to see if the ATS idea will work for me as a last-ditch effort before I start my tank from scratch. More on this later..

02/20/2010, 08:36 AM	#6
csa dad Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: evington ,va Posts: 131	thats pretty cool i might have to try that when i get some money

02/20/2010, 10:24 AM	#7
vbsaltydog Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Melbourne Beach, FL. Posts: 603	Is there one place to go to get all of the parts (except for the laptop charger) ? What wattage is the laptop charger? Does it matter? I am looking to do this because I have a small sump and the light for my macroalgae is causing algae growth in my skimmer body. Directional light would fix this problem.

02/20/2010, 10:57 AM	#10
widmer Drug Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 2,958	Basically everything but the laptop charger and heat sink can be found at www.ledsupply.com The LEDs are a couple bucks more apiece there than what I paid, but hey, at least they're available in warm white which is what I would encourage others to buy. Here's a parts list if you want to do something similar: Warm White XRE Stars: http://ledsupply.com/creexre-ww.php Buck Puck 1000 mA driver, non dimming: http://ledsupply.com/03023-d-n-1000.php 16 FWHM optics: http://ledsupply.com/10210.php Optics brackets: http://ledsupply.com/10425.php Arctic Silver epoxy (if you want to be lazy and just epoxy them on like me, rather than tap and screw them on): http://ledsupply.com/asta-7g.php Laptop charger (this is what I used, you could probably go a few bucks cheaper if you search, but it must be approximately 20v, 2A) http://cgi.ebay.com/Home-Travel-Wall...item3a5640e3a6 Then all you need is the heatsink, which you should purchase used at your local used computer place. There's TONS of heatsinks out there from computers which are outdated. TONS and TONS, which should only cost a dollar or two. Don't spend fifteen dollars on a brand new one. With the above parts and an appropriately-sized heatsink, you can run up to 5 XRE LEDs. This is just limited by the fact that it's a 20V laptop charger. If you can find one that's 24v, 1.5+ amps, then you could go up to 6 LEDs. Three of them are PLENTY bright for my purposes.