Timfish Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Half a dozen designs, two prototypes, and finally . . . 3000 PAR @ 14" (FYI, 3000 is as high as Apogee's PAR meter reads. ) The heatsink is 12" x 4" and has 3up LED stars with 16° lenses. It's pulling about 250 watts (2 150 power supplies). LED colors are 9 CW stars, 2 NW stars, 8 B & 7 RB stars. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemoon Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 cool deal. Intentions?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 niiiice! how much it cost you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 15 hours ago, Isaac said: niiiice! how much it cost you? Roughly $750 for all the parts. Even if someone went with more colors and channels (I'm only going with 2) and dimmable buck pucks it wouldn't be much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 Here's where it's going. It's one of three that will be lighting up this tank. (The closer fixture in the image is the 2nd prototype to check PAR levels and possible heat issues.) Aquascaping this one was fun as it will be seen from above and behind as well as the end and finally in front as you descend the stairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 And here's some PAR readings from in the tank: This is looking down from the top back: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 very nice.... long long throw. how long are those leds suppose to last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 11, 2017 Author Share Posted February 11, 2017 They're all crees. Whites are XPG2 and blues are XPE2. The heatsink is running ~100° F and I've mounted thermostats on it to turn off the leds if the fans fail so I'd expect a typical life span. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Here's a video: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexMorsePremium Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Love that setup, so cool to be able to look from above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 19, 2017 Author Share Posted April 19, 2017 Yeah, it was really fun figuring out aquascaping that would be seen not only from all directions but with the way light is refracted and reflected from very different angles besides what is typically seen from directly in front or from a side. I was a bit apprehensive designing the lights. They are a long way from the tank and offset from the front. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least, that I got such high PAR levels on the back side of the aquascaping. I'll do another video after the handrail is done on the glass railings. I've got a couple mangorves now on the island. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Nice! So the goal was to have a setup with no visible pumps or lights, just the tank and critters? And the solution was to ceiling-mount the lights a significant distance away? That's awesome! Looks like you had to engineer just the right angle to get the light in over the front glass of the tank. Is it warm when you walk through the light beams in front? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 9 hours ago, mFrame said: . . . just the right angle . . . Requirement was I had to mount the lights flush in a balcony above and in front of the tank as your standing looking at the tank. Lights are offset about 2' so it's roughly a 30° angle. Atypically this makes the bottom front the area with the lowest PAR levels because of a shadow line caused by the front glass. . . . Is it warm when you walk through the light beams in front? Is it warm!? It's d@mn HOT if I'm on a step stool working over the top! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleyGuy Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Hey Tim, That is really impressive, you should sell that design - Tim's RRL's - Remote Reef Lighting. :-) I really like that aquascape as well - very cool. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 13, 2017 Author Share Posted May 13, 2017 Thank You! I should but all the parts are off the shelf except the housing but that can easily be duplicated by any acrylic shop. I should have a new cannon design using Cree XPL chip in a few weeks with build instructions that doesn't need any custom parts. I'll also have PAR charts with a couple different lenses but with the 16° lenses available it can be hung way above a tank. Here's a current video: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Todd Council Posted May 13, 2017 Share Posted May 13, 2017 Stunning! Looks good now that they have finished the rails. The top view is incredible. I love that NO plumbing is visable. No plumbing, no light fixture, pure reef. You are a wizard, Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted May 14, 2017 Author Share Posted May 14, 2017 Thank you! For those wondering the overflow and return lines are under the rock in front of the mangroves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted August 29, 2017 Author Share Posted August 29, 2017 And here's how it looks in sunlight: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post victoly Posted August 30, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted August 30, 2017 On 2/9/2017 at 10:02 PM, Timfish said: 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 Here's a current video from this week: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Dogfish Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 On 5/13/2017 at 8:26 AM, Timfish said: Thank You! I should but all the parts are off the shelf except the housing but that can easily be duplicated by any acrylic shop. I should have a new cannon design using Cree XPL chip in a few weeks with build instructions that doesn't need any custom parts. I'll also have PAR charts with a couple different lenses but with the 16° lenses available it can be hung way above a tank. Sir: did you ever make that new cannon using the crees? I'm lazy and would like the parts list with a power supply. :))))))))))))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 1/11/2018 at 8:15 AM, Dogfish said: Sir: did you ever make that new cannon using the crees? I'm lazy and would like the parts list with a power supply. :))))))))))))) Yes, I'm slow sometimes. We've built 3 cannons using LED stars with the Cree XML2 white LEDs and XPE2 blues and royal blues. 2 of the three failed after roughly 8-10 months, one had an LED chip fry and the 2100ma driver on another failed. The heat sink that fit's 4" PVC unions appears to be no longer available and a replacement that fits 4" unions hasn't been found yet. The fixtures I built in this thread have been using just the XPG2 and XPE3 LEDs and are doing fine for 2 years now with no problems. But here's a parts list with white XPG2 LEDs Stars with XPG2 LEDs https://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xlamp-xpg2-high-power-led Stars with Cree XPE2 LEDs https://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xlamp-xp-e2-color-high-power-led-star Luxdrive Buckpucks https://www.ledsupply.com/led-drivers/buckpuck-dc-led-drivers Carclo lenses https://www.ledsupply.com/cree-xpg2-led-optics There are a variety of heatsinks that can be used, just be sure it's designed to handle the wattage. The Luxdrives will drive 6 LEDs in either parrellel or series but it's important to supply it with the correct DC voltage. If the Luxdrive is supplied with just 12 vdc it can only run 3 LEDs in series so to run 6 LEDs they need to be in two parrellel strings of 3 wired in series. If it has 24 vdc the LEDs can be run in a single string of 6. ****** Be careful using different brands of buckpuck/drivers. The Luxdrive I used here and on other projects can have the power supply ground tied to the led ground. Other brands may be damaged doing this so be sure to research the requirements ********* 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel3443 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Such a cool system. Glad someone bumped it so I could see it lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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