LED - Help !!

[alfani]

I am working on putting together a LED array with the following:
Power Source: 12VCD - 4.16A
Led Driver: 700mA (12vcd - 18vcd)
LED: 1 Watt - 3.2V - 350mA

My question is that since my Led Driver is 700mA and since each 1W LED is 350mA, this would over drive my LED, can I add additional LED to reduce current from the 700mA Driver, how?? The current reading on each LED is at 620mA, I am just afraid this would over drive my LED too much and would not last long. See Pic below

 

[alfani]

do I need to get a 350mA LED driver? does this means the 700mA driver can not be reduce back down to 350mA no matter how the LED are connected

 

[emmanuel]

what type of led are they ?
what is the max current ? if it's 350 then don't exceed that .If you take them to the max use a good heat sink like i do with fans
keep in mind you're heaters will be on a lot more when you switch to leds

 

[alfani]

what type of led are they ?
what is the max current ? if it's 350 then don't exceed that .If you take them to the max use a good heat sink like i do with fans
keep in mind you're heaters will be on a lot more when you switch to leds

they are the prolight 1 watt leds, you can get those for like $2 each. the thing i'm worrying is the longevity of LEDs, if I can use it for 3-5 years instead of 10 years I would be happy, if i over drive it, and it turns out to last only a few months or one year then this would be a problem but still cheaper than replacing bulbs.

any LED guru out there !!

 

[Marteen]

1w LEDs will not give you the kind of PAR you are looking for in a reef tank. You want 3w LEDs preferably cree XR-E or rebels. I prefer the cree since they are single bulbs and are easier to space and mix througout the fixture. Look into getting buckpucks with pots for adjusting. You can drive up to 6 LEDs with each buckpuck. You will need a 24v powersuply to power it as well. Ideally you want to have a spacing of no more than 2" between each LED that's from center to center of course. This will allow for heat displacement and help eliminate banding and spotlighting as well.

Currently the consensus is to use a 50/50 mix of cool white cree XR-E and Royal Blue Cree XR-E. I won't get into light spectrums or anything but this mix will give you a good amount of actinic and white light. With the adjustable pots on the buckpucks you can always adjust the blue and white intensity to suit your needs.

You will want to mount your LEDs on a proper aluminum heatsink. Try heatsinkusa.com they provide quality heatsinks.
As for LEDs give etgtech.com a call, they have the best prices on lenses and LEDs.

You can order buckpucks from LEDsupply.com Both the cool white and Royal blues can be driven at 1000ma. If you go for the cheaper blue LEDs do not run them at 1000ma run them at 700ma instead or you'll burn them out prematurely. The whole array will cost a pretty penny but properly set up it should run at least 10 years at 8 hours a day and use considerably less power than a similiar MH setup.

Check out nano-reef.com in the lighting section we've been doing a lot of work on LEDs over there. Here is a link to the LED guide: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186982

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

If switching LEDs is not an option, you can parallel hook up but watch out if one string of bulbs burn out, the other one will eventually burn out as well.

If you are using Luxdrive buck pucks, 3W LEDs and using 24v AT THE SAME TIME, check the manual CAREFULLY for proper setups, (even though they work)a lot of the DIY hook ups in the web based on the 24V is off spec and thus longivity of the setup is questionable.