PFO's LED lighting -- a good read

[Ping]

I may just have to invest in a 60 inch set of these . According to their online calculator it would take about 17 months of use to reach a cost benefit for me.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/review2

[Bill S]

Well, my cost benefit is 37 months. Of course, that's NOT taking into consideration what you folks might give me for my current setup! If I load in say $600 for 4x400W MH, 3 of 4 new electronic ballasts (2 used in decent cond), new VHO ballast, 2x72" VHO Actinic... I come down to 30 months...

[hobogato]

mine came out to 32 months if i got the 4' set and the 3' set to span the almost the length of my tank.

[klondike4001]

I'm going to try the 14in model on a 5.5 gal, I'll keep you guys posted on how it works out. Have any of you guys tried building one yourselves?

[jesserettele]

I talked with the guys at PFO and they said that they are coming out with a five watt LED model. Could be out already. Then I talked with an LED company in California and they told me the reason for the expense on the hoods. The 3 watt LED's are about 2-3$ a piece. Ping's link was a good read and seems to be non bias;good control group with consistent results. Hope that the price comes down soon. Less heat, less energy, total digital control. I bet the kelvins could also be adjustable.

[klondike4001]

If you get a chance, check out ebay, if you buy the lights directly from hong kong, they are dirt cheap, pennies a piece. I'm going to attempt one for a custom build hood, anyone interested in the process?

[seamonkey2]

I'm Jonathan, I may try it in the 240 and 215

Jose

[BIGBIRD123]

What's the ebay link? or how's it listed?

Steve

[urban79]

I was thinking of that. Just get bunch of blue and white leds and make a hood. The only thing would be that you wouldnt have the time of day settings. But I guess you could just have a timer for each row of lights.

[klondike4001]

For the White LED's I go here, http://cgi.ebay.com/1-PC-3W-PROLIGHT-STAR-HIGH-POWER-WHITE-LED-80-Lumens_W0QQitemZ220015936028QQihZ012QQcategoryZ669 54QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem
I've bought from him before and he sends great products, that link is for the 'Full Spectrum White' & 'Full Spectrum White Night' running lights.

These are the 'Actinic Blue Daylight' & 'Actinic Blue Night Light' http://cgi.ebay.com/1-PC-3W-PROLIGHT-STAR-HIGH-POWER-BLUE-LED-25-Lumens_W0QQitemZ220013571024QQihZ012QQcategoryZ669 48QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

For the fans I'm going to use 40-60mm evercools, I've got a friend who works with aluminum and I'm going to have him build be a heatsink/reflector. The acrylic splash shield I'll get at home depot.

With regards to the LCD display controller, I'm still working on it, but I'll find a way around it.

Total cost minus LCD display is approx. 300, less than half what they charge, it'll be in a hood so I'm not to worried about appearance yet.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[klondike4001]

I have a 5.5 gallon nano that I built that I think I'm going to do some experimentation on.
I'm going to use a 5 watt PROLIGHT STAR HIGH POWER WHITE LED that produces 120 Lumens, that's 40 more Lumens than the lights used in the PFO's Solaris LED System, using that as my center piece, I'm going to add two 3 watt PROLIGHT STAR HIGH POWER BLUE LED that produces 25 Lumens , as my actinics (the daytime actinics used for the Solaris use 30 lumens). I plan to cool this with a 60mm Evercool fan, mounted into the canopy to be used whenever the LED's are on. This is going to be used with my current PC lighting. Any thoughts on this?

The cost of the lights should come to about $35 ($19.99(5W white) + $8.99 ea. (3W blue) + ~$8.00 shipping) and the evercool fan around $4.50 plus shipping. I'll try it cheap before I try it expensive.

Thanks,
Jonathan
I'll be away from the computer most of the day today, call me with questions or ideas, 713-409-2749

[TexasTodd]

Hmm, 15 months for me.

I'm going to wait and see.

TT

[urban79]

http://www.finchsociety.org/cfa/dimmer/dimmer.htm

I was looking around for a timer and found this.. this might work.

http://www.finchsociety.org/cfa/dimmer/dimmer.htm

[klondike4001]

Any idea on a cost? I like the idea.

[urban79]

I think you just write them... cause what it seems to be a home business thing.

[klondike4001]

I should only need 3 timers with my setup, one for the 5W daylight, 3W actinics, and 1W moonlights, good thing I've got a squid.

[klondike4001]

Here's the info on the ongoing project...
www.jmastreptiles.com/LEDUpgrade.html

Depending on how this goes will be the deciding factor on whether or not I use something like this on my 24G NC

[seamonkey2]

tagging alone

Jose

[LoneStar]

I'm tagging along on this too Jonathan. Please post your progress on your prototype.

[AlexKilpatrick]

I started on one of these as well. I ordered 4 of the Luxeon K2 lights (> 140 lumens) and a buck puck driver. I am just planning to experiment with heat sinks and wiring and whatnot, just to see how hot they get. These LEDs are only $5 or so from Luxeon. I couldn't find them on eBay in white.

PFO uses 25 of the 3W version to be equivalent to a 250 W metal halide. The LED they use puts out about 1/2 the light of the K2s. Theoretically, you can use 1/2 as many of the K2s. So, $5x13 = $65. I think that even with the rest of the stuff you could get in under $120 for a single "fixture" That's roughly the price of a replacement bulb for me. I could recover my costs in a month. :)

Also, I have a lot of experience with microcontrollers from a previous job. You could use one of those to do all the dimming stuff.

Let's keep this thread going. We can compare notes. I'm not interested in all in doing this commercially, but if we get it all figured out it might be fun to have a MAAST LED light assembly party.

[urban79]

I would be up for it...

[AlexKilpatrick]

I created a new thread just for the DIY topic in the equipment forum:

http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=201522#20 1522

[klondike4001]

I've done some homework and updated. www.jmastreptiles.com/LEDUpgrade.html