Quote:
Originally Posted by roblarss
Well I did mine about 2 years ago and have had an expensive learning curve.
With the knowledge out there now that can be reduced significantly. I paid about 4 bucks an led and the drivers - meanwell CLG-150-24A - were about 250 dollars for both. I made my own custom heatsink since I couldn't find one in canada and heatsinkusa was to much for shipping - i was trying to be a cheap bugger.
Within months of running one test panel - around 60 LEds i had the entire panel failed due to heat - lost most of the leds. Redesigned the heatsink with fans and now have not lost a single LED in almost 2 years.
The failure was the result of not having a splash shield - acrylic plate - between the water and the LEDs and not having any fans running.
Now I swear by LEDs. Cost me a bit more than a Metal halide setup but I have zero heat issues in the tank and only 300 watts power consumption - probably less with the drivers running only 75%.
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did you end up putting a clear acrylic splash shield on the leds? what height are they above your water?