Reef Discussion
So while we're talking about driver verses LED. The Violet UV 'kit' that I use has 4 x 3w LEDs run by a Meanwell non-dimming LPC-35-700 driver.
I would presume that these would now be OK to run off one of the LDD 600 drivers. (to keep it under max).
My blues and whites are all XP-E's and XP-G's and I would put them on LDD 700's (seeing as how they are only currently turned up to 650).
Is this correct?
I would presume that these would now be OK to run off one of the LDD 600 drivers. (to keep it under max).
My blues and whites are all XP-E's and XP-G's and I would put them on LDD 700's (seeing as how they are only currently turned up to 650).
Is this correct?
Sounds good @daveH,
Whites & Blues will be fine on a LDD700, they will be a little brighter as you run yours at 650mA, but I doubt you'd be able to pick it.
Because our tank is 2.5 deep, that is why we are looking for the LDD-1000H. Our ELN drivers are set to 800mA now so would rather go up then down on the whites & Royals. :)
Whites & Blues will be fine on a LDD700, they will be a little brighter as you run yours at 650mA, but I doubt you'd be able to pick it.
Because our tank is 2.5 deep, that is why we are looking for the LDD-1000H. Our ELN drivers are set to 800mA now so would rather go up then down on the whites & Royals. :)
@daveH most violets/UV have much lower maximum current restrictions than other colours - I wouldn't use more than 500mA, and 350mA is probably better. They tend to burnout at higher currents - the lens discolours first.
Not sure what led's your have but from ledgroupbuy "Max Drive Current: 500mA"
Not sure what led's your have but from ledgroupbuy "Max Drive Current: 500mA"
Haven't looked yet - I will persevere a bit longer.
Edit - reading this again in the cool light of day :) This question from @daveH, and my response, I thought related to another thread, but I was wrong :p
In relation to the power supplies I have purchased one from China, but I haven't done any real testing with it yet. The 'calculator' should be done today so we can then see what specifications are required.
The calculator to determine the power supply specifications for LDD drivers has been completed :)
Example screenshot
Instructions:
Please note that the LDD drivers will output from 2v to 52v, depending on the power supply - in theory this means that you can operate 1 led off a 48v power supply. I say in theory, as this is not something you necessarily want to do for 2 reasons:
You probably don't want to be running less than 4 or 5 off a 48v supply. Thus, as with any type of constant current driver, you need to match the power supply to the number of leds to achieve the greatest efficiency.
One final note in relation to power supplies. There is an inverse relationship between the volts and amps of a PS - to achieve higher volts AND higher amps requires a larger supply, which could be more expensive. It may be possible to use some old laptop power supplies i.e. 18v or 24v just by increasing the number of LDD's and reducing the number of led's on each string. The best bet is to have a play around with the calculator to see what works best.
Cheers
Example screenshot
Instructions:
- in the first column, select the type of LDD from the drop down list - options are 300, 350, 500, 600, 700 and 1000mA versions. Use one line for each LDD to be connected to the power supply.
- in the second column, enter the numbers of led's to be connected to each LDD.
- in the third column, enter the forward voltage of each led. A default of 3.5v is built into the calculator and will be acceptable for the majority of members.
Please note that the LDD drivers will output from 2v to 52v, depending on the power supply - in theory this means that you can operate 1 led off a 48v power supply. I say in theory, as this is not something you necessarily want to do for 2 reasons:
- the excess voltage needs to go somewhere - in this case it will be converted to heat which will need to be dealt with somehow. I plan on running a test on the weekend to see just how much heat is generated.
- the efficiency of the driver is reduced considerably as shown by the following graph taken from the driver specifications
You probably don't want to be running less than 4 or 5 off a 48v supply. Thus, as with any type of constant current driver, you need to match the power supply to the number of leds to achieve the greatest efficiency.
One final note in relation to power supplies. There is an inverse relationship between the volts and amps of a PS - to achieve higher volts AND higher amps requires a larger supply, which could be more expensive. It may be possible to use some old laptop power supplies i.e. 18v or 24v just by increasing the number of LDD's and reducing the number of led's on each string. The best bet is to have a play around with the calculator to see what works best.
Cheers
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@MagicJ you're a champ :worship
