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Ahanix 
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 Topic: 14g Biocube LED Build 2.0 - Finally Finished
Posted: May 24 2010 at 11:42pm |
So tomorrow I am going to hopefully order my LED's here is the list of things I am planning to buy
CREE XR-E Q5 WG - 6500k White x 6 CREE XR-E Q5 RB - Royal Blue x6 Nanotuners Small Heatsink For All In Ones Meanwell LPC-35-700w Driver (non dimmable)
Does anyone think I should change any of this up, or see a problem of not using dimmable drivers? I will reduce my photoperiod substantially for the next few weeks, and move all my low light corals to the bottom of my tank. But I still have this haunting feeling that it may not be enough?
Thanks!
Edited by Ahanix - June 03 2010 at 8:48pm
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thefu
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 7:34am |
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Go dimmable on blue and white separately. You will be glad you did. There isn't much of a cost difference and it really allows you to tune the light to your lighting or just show off the fluorescent corals at >20k light from time to time. PM me and I can refer you to an article I wrote or just google Utah DIY LED.
Edited by thefu - May 25 2010 at 7:38am
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 12:17pm |
Thanks for the info Terrence
I decided after speaking to a few people that have done the biocube mod, that I will go with non dimming for my setup.
Here's my product list so far
| Remove | Product(s) | Qty. | Price Per. | Total |
| | 1 | $39.95 | $39.95 |
| | 1 | $19.95 | $19.95 |
| | 6 | $6.29 | $37.74 |
| | 6 | $6.29 | $37.74 |
| | 12 | $0.49 | $5.88 |
|  | Total: $141.26
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Edited by Ahanix - May 25 2010 at 12:18pm
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 12:20pm |
Or I could spend $15 more and get
12 Ultra Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit KitPrice: $120.00 This kit comes with CREE's newest XP-G R5 Cool White LEDs! Get a discount for buying everything at once! (Please email us if you would like a different ratio of royal blue/cool white LEDs) - 6 Cree XR-E Lenses (Choose from either 40, 60 or 80 degree white or black lenses!)
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SGH360
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 12:26pm |
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If it makes life simpler for $15 more, i would get that retrofit kit
Edited by SGH360 - May 25 2010 at 12:26pm
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 12:28pm |
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Well, it doesn't really make anything simpler, the only difference is that I will get 6 XPG's instead of XRE's, not sure if they are worth $2 more per LED though, and there isnt much information on them that I could find.
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 2:11pm |
My sister has a 14 gal with led's. Pretty easy to do... and maybe even cheaper... to just buy the stunner strips
Something to think about.
Adam
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 25 2010 at 2:22pm |
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Thanks for that post Adam. I think I got everything ironed out. I called the guys at Nanotuners today, I am going to get the first setup that I had posted, but go with two meanwell drivers istead of one so I can power the daylight and actinics seperately
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 26 2010 at 11:22am |
I got everything ordered this morning from nanotuners, I spent 20 mins on the phone with Nick. They are really helpful.
Here's what I ended up going with
6x Cree XRE 6500k White 6x Cree XRE Royal Blue Thermal Pads (so I don't have to drill and tap) 2x Meanwell LPC-35-700 1x Nanotuners Small Heatsink for Biocube 14 (this is pre-drilled to match the hole patterns in the hood, so all I need to do now is cut my hood and install the fan.
From what they said, this should get here by Friday or Saturday, i'll fully document this build thread for anyone interested in doing something like this. Thanks by the way for your posts Chad, your information has helped out a lot.
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Chad
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Posted: May 26 2010 at 11:27am |
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Those guys are awesome to deal with!
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What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing!
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 1:54am |
Well here we go, here is my hood. tested all my connections and got light! i'll post the pictures of my ballast box as soon as I am done with it in about an hour!
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 4:06am |
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So, now I am worried. I tried hooking the blues back up, and they were hooked to the power switch, I made the mistake of trying to flip the hood switch to on to give power to the Cree's they flashed and now wont turn on. i'm hoping that I just blew the first led and not the entire strand, but I honestly have no idea at the moment.
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thefu
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 7:17am |
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If you connect the strand (complete the loop) to an energized mean well, it may be bad news. The meanwell senses the load on power up and quickly adjusts. If there is no load it goes wide open an when you con ect the strand you get the worlds most expensive flashbulb. I hope this is not what you effectively did. I have read (and warned Chad) about this very thing as it is common when people are using a meter inthe loop to fine tune the current intheir mean well and then take it out of the loop and connect back the wires without powering down the meanwell driver.
Edit: I just looked closer at the wiring in first photo. It does seem you have a switch on the loop for each LED string. Bad idea with a mean well. Sorry man, this looks like it may be a $40 learning experience. The bright side is that it is only 6 LED.
If You or anyone else needs my help on these builds, let me know, I am here.
Edited by thefu - May 29 2010 at 7:27am
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 2:00pm |
Thanks for that information, nice to know at least what happened.
I went ahead and ordered 6 more RB Stars, they will be here Wednesday probably, wish I didn't have to wait, but I guess thats the lesson need to learn 
Can I run the 6500k's over my tank until Wednesday, or do i need actinic supplementation for my corals?
thanks
Edited by Ahanix - May 29 2010 at 2:00pm
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fishoutawater
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 3:47pm |
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That stinks! Thanks for posting so hopefully others won't have to learn the same way.
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Some day, when I grow up,...
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Chad
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 5:38pm |
Are you using one mean well driver and trying to use a separate switch for the whites and blues? That won't work if you are using one driver.
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What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing!
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 29 2010 at 5:48pm |
I was using two switches on two meanwell drivers. My fault though now that I look at everything, as the on and off switches were after the meanwell sent power, instead of right before the power source. So essentially, I was cutting off the positive feed to the LED's rather than to the meanwell.
I pulled all my Royal Blue's out, have my driver box complete with the quick disconnects. I am currently testing my white led's and the fan that I installed in my hood, so far its working out great. When the RB's come on Wednesday i'll get them installed and over my tank so I can start keeping a growth journal on the forums.
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Ahanix
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Posted: May 30 2010 at 12:04am |
Edited by Ahanix - July 02 2010 at 12:49am
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Nick801
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Posted: May 30 2010 at 12:59am |
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that looks sweet wish I would have put quick disconnects on mine =)
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thefu
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Posted: May 30 2010 at 8:40am |
Quick-disconnects on the upstream (wall) side of a meanwell are fine, but it is best to steer clear of them on the downstream side for the exact reason Ahanix blew out his blues. If you were to connect to "box" in the wrong order...poof. If you accidentally unplugged the LED and were not thinking and just plugged them back in...poof!
I recommend hardwiring the LED to the driver for this very reason.
If you want to have a PC-style power cord on the wall side, great, good idea...just do not do it on the LED side.
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