Hmmm, pic is too small to make out. I tried saving it and zooming in but it went all blurry... unless that's the aftermath of the exploding transformer :razz:

lol.... sounds like Bill Clinton. Tranformer smoked, but I didn't inhale. Why is everything so blurry? :lol:

Nope, didn't inhale. No really... :rolleyes:

Well I had a few minutes tonight so I finished soldering up one proto board and hooked up one of my waterproof temp sensors. After figuring out the address of it, modifying and re-laoding the sketch, all works well :D

Here is my controller

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z13lj3yevz...Controller.jpg

Well, I got a bit of time to fiddle around with my DC/DC step down transformers. And after staring at it for a while and tracing down pathway's I tried risking one and doing some trial and error. Turns out all I needed to do was remove the jumper that I'd originally installed and twin each of the solder points so instead of the 2 separate resistors, I had just the one variable resistor with 2 empty solder points. Everything seems to work and I can reduce the input 36V down to a variable 5.8V-12V
On to the next phase....

So it's looking like my MH bulbs on my existing fixture are coming up for replacement. The 77 gal DT is growing some algae that my 20 gal under LED's is not. Sooo... instead of waiting until the 210 gal upgrade is complete I'm going to build my light fixture with the Jarduino controller and get the MH's off the main DT. With that in mind I wanted to build on the full Jarduino V 1.2 beta release instead of the partial free program that I've been working with so far.
My plan for the 210 is to have 3 - 18" heatsinks. I have 1 built and is running on my 20 gal (it has to be modified and given another LED cluster for the 210) and I bought 2 more heatsinks last fall that have been patiently waiting. Last night I got all the little screws on the heatsinks while the wife watched "Dancing With the Stars, lol.
Here's the result:
http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9e1c72f3.jpg
I'll be downloading the new Jarduino code tonight and start playing with it.

ScubaSteve and Chatouille (and anyone else building this thing): How are your projects coming? Love to hear back about your success and/or frustrations :P

Who/where did you buy your heatsink and end caps from for the LED's?

I'm considering the heatsink from LED group buy but can't justify paying $4 per inch. I'm hoping the one you're using is significantly cheaper.

Thanks!

Dom! It's to finish these lights bud! :razz: I'm doing a a PhD and running a business and I finished back in February :wink:

Just kidding.... :razz:

My LED tank is running great. I have zero filtration in the biocube and I'm growing SPS and a clam like a champ. Helps having a F- ton of light! :wink: The 3-ups are the way to go despite the fact they limit your output. I have zero colour separation which is nice. I wish I had the ability to control the red on the OCW stars separately but the turquoise and green really beef up the colours. My only complaint is the fans. I don't have the options you do to control the fans and have been foiled at other attempts to piggyback them off the existing circuitry. I'll probably have to hack the Typhon and repurpose a pin for the fans. Oh, and I managed to break a couple of fins off one fan so it sounds like a 747 taking off in my living room... Haven't had the time to replace it yet though.

Mine's up and going.... still running ver. 1.1 though. I saw Jamie post that 1.2 final is in the works, so will update when that comes out. Really enjoy the dusk/dawn effect, and the ability to dial in the color. The PWM controlled fan works great... heatsink has never raised above 90 F. (I drilled partially through the heatsink and used thermal adhesive to secure in the DS18B20 sensor) I can’t believe how much cooler these run vs. MH or T5’s.


Overall, I'm pleased with it, but still some tweaking to do. I need to order another ribbon cable to try out, I get random artifacts on my LCD display on occasion. (don't get them if directly plugged into the shield) Everything looks good, but my red's don't *pop* quite as much as I'm used to. (under MH, with T5 supplementation) I used all Luxeon Rebels, (RB, B, NW, WW, 420 nm violets) but just ordered some Cree's from Milad to play with to see if it helps. If I can get the red to really *pop* like everything else, I'll be happy.

Sorry to break it to ya, but ya, these are the LED group buy heatsinks from makersled. Keep in mind that with that price you get all the mounting screws, heatsink, splash guard and cooling fan. It's still on the pricey side, but it's clean and no tapping needed. The top of the heatsink is channeled for a 5/16" nut so hanging is clean and easy. I originally went this way so I could fool around with 1 - 18" fixture, try several things out, and still just loosen off the screws and move the LED's around, change spectrum etc. Then when I had all the bugs worked out duplicate it on 2 more for my 6' tank.

LOL, I know, eh? I run my own business too, and it's been totally crazy. Never fails, feast or famine.
Good to hear you're happy with your rig. I'm running my 3-up's on 2 channels (RB's and NW's) but my OCW's on just one. I'm happy with it so far.

On my 20 gal cube I've got the 425nm TV's as well and I'm pretty happy with them. Can't say they make the red's pop though. On my new lights I got 3 TV per heatsink that go into the 405nm. Not sure that'll make any difference, but I thought I'd try them out.
There's a guy on UKreefs that had issues with his screen doing weird things too with a cable on his screen. I read he had it figured out and was running a 24" cable (I think), but I can't remember how he fixed it. Something to do with his connections not giving a good enough contact or something.

I had a little bit of time tonight and got the LED's of 1 heatsink screwed down and ready for wiring. I might get the other screwed up tomorrow.

http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/...psc771c89c.jpg