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New Tank / Building a Scrubber

Discussion in 'Algae Scrubber DIY' started by BlueMeanie, Jan 28, 2016.

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  1. Jan 28, 2016 #1
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    I am going to set up my reef tank after 20 years of it sitting in the garage. Scrubbers seems to be the wave of the future. I decided to build an upflow hang on glass scrubber with LED's. I ordered 6 Philips Luxeon ES Deep Red 3 Watt LEDs; and a 6" Makers slim heatsink. Still getting more information. I understand many people use the food containers for the lights, but with the Slim Heatsink it would appear I will not have to do that. Just attach the magnets to the Heat sink. I wanted to know it I need to make the lights adjustable?
     
  2. Jan 28, 2016 #2
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    The heat sink has some weight to it, enough that magnets will probably not work. You can probably make a bracket that holds in in place though. You might still use a food container on the inside and hold that to the glass with magnets, perhaps mounted in the heat sink. But that won't be strong enough to hold the heat sink suspended, that's all
     
  3. Jan 28, 2016 #3
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    Do I need to make the LED intensity adjustable?
     
  4. Jan 28, 2016 #4
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    IMO it helps, because you can over-light the screen initially, but if you can dim the array, you can run the LEDs for a long photoperiod at low intensity, and I feel that this helps to make the screen get through the initial growth stages faster.
     
  5. Feb 1, 2016 #5
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    I got most of the parts ready for the build and the plan sorted out. I am getting a bit confused by the issue of the power supply and driver. I was looking at the Steve's LED Single- Dimming LED Driver and wanted a recommendation for a power supply to go w/ it. However, the recommendation I got back was to go w/ LRS-75-24 paired with a LDD-700H. Will this pairing enable me to dim the lights, or will I still need other parts. Can I use the LRS-75-24 w/ the Steve's LED Single-Dimming LED Driver?
     
  6. Feb 2, 2016 #6
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    I don't have much familiarity with the LDD drivers, but I'm wondering if there was a miscommunication here. The single dimming LED driver board comes with a potentiometer so I'm pretty sure that you don't need an LDD all you need is a straight up 24V power supply, and Meanwell makes these, these are new ones that are constant voltage 24V at varying power output levels

    http://www.onlinecomponents.com/mean-well-lpv3524.html?p=11952243
    http://www.onlinecomponents.com/mean-well-lpv6024.html?p=11952251

    Maybe he was saying that your other option, besides the Steve's driver, as the LRS+LDD option??
     
  7. Feb 3, 2016 #7
    Chema

    Chema New Member

    17
    2
    Spain
    If you use the LDD drivers you may use a regular power supply, not one with incorporated driver, but still you need something to dim the LEDs. The best way to do that is to use a PWM-based controller, as LDDs are regulated by a PWM signal. Something like the Typhoon, Bluefish or Storm controllers. You can also build a DIY controller if you have some experience and knowledge of Arduino.
     
  8. Feb 3, 2016 #8
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    @Chema nailed it. Probably more complicated than you need. The Steve's drivers have PWM input built in and a analog dimmer knob input as well, so you just need to supply it 24V power and turn the knob to dim.

    Steve's designed my dimming 3-channel driver and it's exactly like this, so I'm pretty sure that there was just a miscommunication. You shouldn't need the Steve's driver + LDD + power supply, and not that power supply you linked to...
     
  9. Feb 6, 2016 #9
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    I ended up order the Steve's LEDs Single- Dimming LED Driver and a Switching Power Supply 75w, 24V @ 3.0A. The told me I had to have a minimum of 7 LEDs so I ordered an additional LED. I will configure it to run 2/3/2 in three verticle rows. Hopefully I will learn enough from this project to start my next project of building my LED reef lights.
     
  10. Feb 7, 2016 #10
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 7, 2016
  11. Feb 7, 2016 #11
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    I got one of those to work for you, was there more than one link? You need to paste in the IMG code, or you can copy the HTML and then click the photo icon on the toolbar and paste the link there, that works also
     
  12. Feb 7, 2016 #12
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    Thanks. I didn't realize it was so large. Anyway, thoughts on the layout? There will be one more Deep Red LED in the middle. I was hoping to place the driver in the in heat sink as well. But it does not look like there will be enough room. So I will be placing it on the back. w/ the fan. I have been having trouble finding copper solid 24 gauge wire. Any recommendations?
     
  13. Feb 7, 2016 #13
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
  14. Feb 14, 2016 #14
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
  15. Feb 14, 2016 #15
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    I got my light hooked up and ready to go. Next step is to create the internal tank portion w/ the screen. These lights are bright. REAL BRIGHT! The dimmer only knocks them down a little bit. My only issue now is hooking up the fan for the heat sink. This may be a dumb question, but how can I hook it up using the current power supply? Or do I need a separate one?
     
  16. Feb 14, 2016 #16
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    Fans are usually a 12V DC source, so yes, different. You may not need one though, I believe the Makers Slim heat sink can dissipate 7 deep reds @700 mA without a fan. Run them for a few hours and put you hand on the back of the heat sink every once in a while. As long as you can hold your hand on there without it getting really uncomfortable, you're good. But a fan never hurts. Also any convection at all will cause dissipation at a magnitude of order greater that even black anodizing can do. That means you can get a cheap clip on fan and place it in the sump cabinet and point it in the general direction of the heat sink and that will keep it plenty cool.
     
  17. Feb 16, 2016 #17
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    I have a bit of a problem. When I designed my up flow scrubber I did it based on two 6 x 8 inch food container. Unfortunately someone in my house has taken them and they are no longer available. I thought I would be able to go by a Chinese restaurant and just buy two more. I went to a couple and none have the 6x8's I have been looking for. Any suggestions on where to find 6x8's without having to buy in large quantities.
     
  18. Feb 17, 2016 #18
    Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    2,907
    156
    Iowa (United States)
    What about places like the Cheesecake Factory or Applebees? I seem to recall getting plastic take-home containers in places like that...
     
  19. Feb 17, 2016 #19
    BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie Member

    33
    3
    Duluth, Georgia
    Thanks, I will look into those places tomorrow. I want to complete my scrubber by this weekend so I can start working on the Protein Skimmer.
     
  20. Feb 17, 2016 #20
    d0lph1n

    d0lph1n Member

    51
    9
    Irvine, California
    Why are you planning to install a skimmer for?
     
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