The Planted Tank Forum banner

DIY Bridgelux Vero 18 LED build

30K views 66 replies 10 participants last post by  gus6464 
#1 · (Edited)
So a new day, a new LED fixture build. As some of you might remember, a couple of months ago I did a a full spectrum LED cannon build consisting of 9 LEDs but I was never happy with the way it looked and wanted something cleaner.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=388441

This time around I am setting up my CADlights low-iron rimless tank which has the same dimensions as the ADA 90-P. For this tank I wanted to stay with LEDs but wanted something very simple. 6 months ago this would not have been possible but with the arrival of the Bridgelux Vero series things are a lot different.

The Bridgelux Vero series is a new multichip array which is more efficient than the BXRA ES series and offers way more power with increased CRI. CRI is important because it's the reason we go multi-colored LEDs in the first place. Most common stuff today (Rebel ES, Cree XP-G, XT-E, XM-L etc.), all suffer from low CRI (70's) in the cool white range (5500-6500K CCT). This means that all these white LED's suffer from a lack of red and green in their spectra which is why we augment with colored LEDs. The new Vero series is able to put out a rated minimum of 90 CRI in a cool white (5600K CCT) LED with the Vero 18 and 28. This means that we can get a lot closer to a full spectrum LED with a single chip.

This is the data sheet for the Vero 18 I will be using BXRC-56G4000-F-04.
http://www.bridgelux.com/wp-content...x-Vero-18-LED-Array-Data-Sheet-2014.05.23.pdf

As you can see this particular LED can take up to 2A and deliver a whopping 6000 lumens for a very low price of $15 from digikey. I know some people prefer a bluer light on their tanks so if that's the case this is not the LED for you. Also Bridgelux rates the CRI on their chips as minimum and are known to measure higher in real world use. Also you know these emitters are built to last when Bridgelux warranties all Vero series for 10 years.

Another awesome thing about these chips is that they are solderless ready and just require a Molex Pico-EZMate connector which can be purchased here:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0688014227/WM9593-ND/3880993

Parts I will be using:

3x Bridgelux Vero 18 5600K 90CRI bin
3x Bridgelux Vero 18 2700K 97CRI bin
6x Molex Pico EZMate connectors
HeatsinkUSA 32"x5" heatsink
4x Rosewill 120mm fans
6x Ledil Brooke-W 50deg reflectors
3x Meanwell LDD-1000H drivers
3x custom made 1600ma LDD type drivers from O2Surplus
Typhon controller with 8-up LDD board made by O2Surplus
48v 7.2A power supply
 
See less See more
#50 ·
Thanks. I did consider the 29 but that is way too much power for what I need. I only have 3 Vero 18's per color for a total of 6 and they are barely driven hard. I am only pushing 1000ma on the 5600K and 333ma on the 2700K and I get over 100 PAR at the substrate with the light hanging almost 3ft from the substrate. If I had say a 48x24x24 tank I would have gone with 2x Vero 29's per color.
 
#54 ·
Replacement violets are in and installed. Picture at full power which is 700ma.



Looks a lot brighter with the camera. PAR measurement is ~22 at the substrate at full power but that's not accurate because the Apogee meter is ~50% off at this spectrum.



This means that actual PAR reading is double to what it says.

This is a before and after shot but to my eyes it looks more pronounced. The color rendition is more T5HO like now which I am digging.

Before


After


Hard to tell since plants are still growing out but I have a huge order of Buce's coming in next week so I will have better pictures of plants for comparison.
 
#56 ·
I suppose the vero 29's would have been overkill for this application! It seems like you can even get away with 4 vero 18's run at high current for your setup.

Nice layout! Are those Tillandsias? Be careful they don't fall in the tank. Mine fell in for 2 days... I tried to dry it out but it eventually disintegrated after a week.
 
#59 ·
Total maximum watts I can push is as follows:

5600K Vero - 48W ea x 3
2700K Vero - 30W ea x 3
Violets - 9.6W ea x 6

Total: 291.6W

What I am actually running though to get 130 PAR 3ft down is ~120W. The max wattage above is limited by my current drivers. I could get drivers that push max current to the Vero's and then I am looking at ~452W.

My original plan was to go 6x 3ft T5HO but with this I am saving at least $100/year on bulbs.

What I also like about the Ledil reflectors is that the LEDs are putting out a laser beam of light like my old LED system with 3W stars. So for example with 110 PAR at the substrate I get 200 PAR at the top of the tank. With my old setup if I pushed 100 PAR to the substrate the top of my tank would get ~450 PAR.
 
#61 ·
This is my new layout for the inside of the light since my old fans blew. I was hating how loud the power supply fan was when kicking in every 60 seconds but with that bad boy in the middle now I can push all LED's at full power and the fan in the PSU never kicks in. Also my heatsink is now cold to the touch no matter what.

For reference those are 120mm fans on top of the heatsink and the big boy in the middle is 200mm. The big boy not only cools my PSU but also my drivers which would get hot especially the one's from O2Surplus which can push up to 1600ma. That sucker pushes so much air and it's almost silent for $12.

 
#67 ·
Haha yeah I went back to SW. I was never happy with the scape of that tank and then buces died so meh just lost interest. I am now full bore saltwater and obsessed with acropora at the moment. Still tinkering with lights though as even the saltwater stuff isn't perfect. I still have all my planted tank gear so might setup another tank with a modified version of this light. I still have all my vero and even snazzier electronics.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top