DIY LED FAQ - Where to begin?

[theblondskeleton]

Originally Posted by Invisigoth

here's the build i just finished (larger images available):

I was hoping you'd show us the inside of that one I caught your thread the other day, but it was before you posted pics of the underside retrofitted. Nice work! I'll also link your build in the build threads section.

[Invisigoth]

Originally Posted by theblondskeleton

I was hoping you'd show us the inside of that one I caught your thread the other day, but it was before you posted pics of the underside retrofitted. Nice work! I'll also link your build in the build threads section.

thanx!

i guess it's also a cautionary tale of what can happen if you don't pay attention to the threads you use to do your build. i'm loaded for bear when a pea shooter would have done. in light of hoppy's spreadsheet i've dropped the current and the tank looks more natural. your thread should make life a lot easier for the people who come along later.

[theblondskeleton]

Haha, well that's better than a pea shooter in bear country, eh?

[Invisigoth]

you might also want to add cheiftston's fluval edge build.

[theblondskeleton]

Oh thanks - got it! That is a pretty cool build, actually.

[Anapplesnail]

Feel free to use these 3 (series/parallel/horrible mash) diagrams.

[theblondskeleton]

Groovy, thanks! I'll squeeze them in as I have time

[Anapplesnail]

Originally Posted by theblondskeleton

Groovy, thanks! I'll squeeze them in as I have time

Here is my 4S XM-L array. For instructional purposes:

Forward voltage: 3v
Forward current: 2A

Array voltage: 12v
Array current: 2A

[salmon]

Great thread! Dont know how I missed it before.....

I kinda stopped following up with LEDs since I completed my build, forgot about my build thread to be honest....cool to see it linked here. I'll have to post an update on it's finished look, and resulting plant growth.

One thing I think some of us are still tweaking is getting the right spectrum mix to best promote red plants as that seems to be the only issue with LEDs. I get a bit of color with my mix, but I agree with the most in that somethings missing.

How many of these builds use a plexiglas shield? Anyone ever play around with using different types of it? Ie clear, blue, green tint...

[Hoppy]

Using a acrylic shield as a filter to "fix" the spectrum is interesting. You could use a gel filter from http://www.rosco.com/filters/roscolux.cfm to reduce the yellow-green leaving a higher percentage of the far red to near UV colors. You would need to use brighter LEDs too to make up for the loss. I hope someone experiments with this.

[theblondskeleton]

I am using Cree XT-E's (50/50 cool white and neutral white) and I get great color - however, I have no real red plants. Using the Rosco gels would be great to see! Some of the guys around here are looking at using more warm whites. Jcgd is one, I believe. I'll keep an eye out and link in what I find as I can!

[salmon]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

Using a acrylic shield as a filter to "fix" the spectrum is interesting. You could use a gel filter from http://www.rosco.com/filters/roscolux.cfm to reduce the yellow-green leaving a higher percentage of the far red to near UV colors. You would need to use brighter LEDs too to make up for the loss. I hope someone experiments with this.

That's an even better idea. Might have to give that a whirl, looks like there's a dealer quite close to me. My fixture might be lacking the punch to get the most out of trying this but it's seems like it could be a great idea to play with as far a tweaking my current spectrum goes.

Thanks for the link hoppy.