Whats the deal with Aqua Illumination ???

[signal_4]

Been waiting and waiting for them to release an upgrade kit for the Hydra 52 to 52 HD. Everytime I call them and ask its always " Should be next month to a few more months but we dont know what they they will cost yet". Plenty of time has passed since the release of the HD. Anyone else thinks that there will never be an upgrade ?

[shermanator]

Edit - never mind, I didn't see the specific product mentioned and thus my post wasn't totally relevant.

[signal_4]

no worries

[gus6464]

Upgrade kit? The whole Hydra HD gimmick other than the built-in wifi controller is all done through software. Unless the drivers are hitting their max current at 100% on the old version which I highly doubt they are then there is nothing else needed other than a software patch to allow you set more current to a channel.

[gcarroll]

Originally Posted by gus6464

Upgrade kit? The whole Hydra HD gimmick other than the built-in wifi controller is all done through software. Unless the drivers are hitting their max current at 100% on the old version which I highly doubt they are then there is nothing else needed other than a software patch to allow you set more current to a channel.

So you are saying that there is no hardware required to convert a Hydra 26 or 52 to the HD models? Are you sure?

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by gcarroll

So you are saying that there is no hardware required to convert a Hydra 26 or 52 to the HD models? Are you sure?

The hyperdrive thing is basically current limiting via software for each channel/driver. Take a Hydra 52/HD.

Both units are 135W at max power based on the power supply. If you run all the LEDs at 3W you will actually push 156W but in reality it's more because Cree XT-E royal blues are 5W chips. So what the hydra does is put the 5W LEDs on a 1500ma driver, the 3W LEDs on a 1000ma driver, and the violet LEDs even lower most likely on a 500-700ma driver to preserve their life. But all this is further restricted because the power supply can only do 135W total output.

So what does the hyperdrive software do? Say the hard limit on the software is to run the drivers at 75-80% of their max current when every channel is set at 100%. You are hitting the max limit the power supply can handle but you still have room to spare on the drivers current wise. So what the software does is calculate the extra current available to the power supply when you are not running all the channels at 100%. So say I am running the red, green, and blue channels at 30% and the rest at 100%. The power supply still has current in reserve. So then the software calculates how much current is still in reserve and lets you up the current on the channels that are already at 100% since the driver for that channel is no where at it's limit to begin with. So let's say the royal blue driver at 100% all channels driven is set to 700ma, well now because the power supply has more headroom I can push that driver to 1000ma. By doing this you get more output of the royal blue channel but you are still within the max current limit the power supply can handle.

Hardware wise the main components of the Hydra 52 and the HD are the same. The HD adds the wifi chip for the new controller.

LED composition:

Hydra 52
12 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
4 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
4 - Cree XP-E2 Green
12 - Cree XP-E Royal Blue
12 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
4 - SemiLED 415nm Violet
4 - SemiLED 400nm UV

Hydra 52HD
12 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
12 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
12 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
4 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
4 - Cree XP-E2 Green
4 - SemiLED 415nm
4 - SemiLED 400nm

So this was sneaky of the AI. They switched from XP-E to XT-E for the royal blue. By doing this they can now justify selling you an entirely new puck because that one channel is different.

[Mark426]

What gus said.

[moondoggy4]

^^^^ this is what I love about Reef Central, learn something everyday. It is nice when people either through their work or a another hobby can greatly help this hobby. Thanks gus.

[gcarroll]

Yep thanks Gus!

[andrewbram]

They also removed some white correct

[gus6464]

Originally Posted by andrewbram

They also removed some white correct

No, I posted the LED amounts above for both units. All they did was replace Royal Blue Cree XP-E with XT-E. It's the same exact unit with a new wifi controller chip and a changed diode in the puck.

[andrewbram]

No the hydra 52 original had 16 white

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by gus6464

No, I posted the LED amounts above for both units. All they did was replace Royal Blue Cree XP-E with XT-E. It's the same exact unit with a new wifi controller chip and a changed diode in the puck.

Are you sure you have this correct. From what I see on the interwebs.

Hydra 52:

16 Cree XT-E Cool White (>70CRI)
4 OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
4 Cree XP-E Green
12 Cree XT-E Royal Blue
8 OSRAM OSLON Very Deep Blue
4 SemiLED 415nm Violet
4 Edison Opto 400nm UV

Hydra 52HD:

12 - Cree XP-G2 Cool White (> 70 CRI)
12 - Cree XT-E Royal Blue
12 - Cree XP-E2 Blue
4 - OSRAM OSLON Deep Red
4 - Cree XP-E2 Green
4 - SemiLED 415nm
4 - SemiLED 400nm

[gus6464]

Ahh ok I am seeing different sites with different info. AI has pulled the product info for the original 52 from their site.

So they took out 4 cool white which makes sense anyway and gave it 4 cool blue. I looked at the specs for the osram and they are still 3W chips. Cree XT-E/XP-G2 is a 5W chip.

So at the end of the day power still did not increase as the power supply is the same. Main difference is old one had more power in the white channel and they took it away to give it to the blue channel.

So is the new puck config better? Sure if you like more blue? The housing and power supply has stayed the same. The hyperdrive thing has nothing to do with hardware.

If anything the older Hydra 52 on paper has more raw power if it wasn't limited by the power supply because it has more 5W chips.

Max power based on the LEDs

Hydra 52 - 212W
Hydra 52 HD - 204W

[signal_4]

Man thanks for putting that into perspective !!!!!! Now Gus what I need you to do is write the program to where we can all flash our 52's into hd's !!!!! lol

[vikz]

gus thanks for that info, I was considering going all LED and the hd's were my 1st point of call.

might see if i can get a better deal on the normal ones...

thanks