# Beamswork Double Hi Lumen 30 (gen4)



## JasterMake

So in the middle of my diy strip light build I came across this: <$50
LED 30" 0.5W 6500K Freshwater Plant Bright LED by Beamworks 4th Generation
110 x 0.5w LEDs. I could not help myself. 

I tested this unit on a kill-a-watt meter. It consumes 56w that includes the power supply. My 4 cfls ran consumed 90w. 

I was originally going to gut it and replace the lights with my own. But after trying it I decided to keep it for a while and see what it can do. As always phone pics don't get across what is actually there. 

Build quality is good. I might be mad if I paid $200 but for $50 I can live happily with it. Small cosmetic scratches on the black led board is all I can complain about. Some of them have been colored in with what looks like marker. I still like it.

6500K seems fair. Comparing it to the a 5000K and 6500K CFL reveals that it is cooler than 5000K cfl and I can't tell if it is warmer or cooler than the 6500K cfl. 

Light intensity seems slightly better than the 4 x 23w cfls. The plants do not seem to mind the new light. They still pearl slightly with the leds. I had 2x5000K and 2x6500K cfls on my tank before this light. Beta and black neon look much better now.

More good news. The leds are mounted on a metal pcb board. This was one of my main concerns as I thought it would be the standard pcb board material. The metal pcb board has direct contact with heat sink. It could be better but it's not getting hot. So that makes it good enough.

The night light is too bright. Way to bright IMO. It has 16 leds on(8w) with the night setting. I will need to customize this as I like it really dim at night. But I'm waiting on parts from Hong Kong.

Overall I have been happy for the 6 hours I have had it on. And if I can build a fully programmable led system for <$100 I will be even happier.




There should be enough room between the led rows to add some rgb strip lights. Or I could remove the night circuit and, or... Or......OR The layout of the pcb makes adding to the board easy for A DIY'er who loves to tinker. And if you do love to tinker this unit runs off of 15V. It has 4 leds in series chains and a resistor. 

One of the parts I ordered off of the bay is a 5 channel fully programmable led controller. I plan on using this with some RGB lights for color control, sunrise, sunset, clouds, moon etc.. If anyone has experience with these please chime in.

Hope this help.
Pictures coming soon as I can't upload right now. 😤. I also don't want to accidentally delete this ... so I'm posting now.


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## h4n

Ive been interested in upgrading my shrimp rack lights to some of there LED but there so many different ones lol.

Which fixture exactly is this one? I get so confused looking through all there different models.

What plants to you grow in this tank???


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## JasterMake

LED 30" 0.5W 6500K Freshwater Plant Bright LED by Beamworks 4th Generation
110 x 0.5w LEDs. 

4 horizontal 23w CfLs









Beamswork 110x0.5w LED









This shows my previous hood. It has 2 x 5000k and 2 x 6500k cfls. 









Adjusted camera so you could see the lights









Night lights


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## FwoGiZ

Are you saying you want to stick some flex strip directly on that fixture? I have been thinking about doing this, but with finnex planted+ along with flex strip current-usa LED+ freshwater.
I was considering the beamworks too tho but opted for more colors with finnex... I haven't bought any fixture yet as I am concerned the strips might peel off because of heat or whatever...
hmm


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## TekWarren

I am a huge fan of Beamswork LED's. A few months ago I upgraded my 40 breeder to 2 of the .5w 6500k units and couldn't be happier. About a month or so ago I replaced 3 13watt CFL brooder lamps on my 20 long with a 30" .5w 6500k Beamswork also very happy with the results so far. 

You must have a different model than I have though, pretty sure all three of my BW fixtures have just 3 long rows of LEDs. They work great, and very cost effective. I don't use the "night lighting" for all night but I switch mine to low light mode at night so when they come on in the morning (before sunrise) the fish don't get blasted with light.


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## Jerzeedevl

Where is this .5 watt led fixture you speak of? I can't find the 30" version of it on the website!!!


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## JasterMake

It's listed under their "pent 0.2w" section.. But it has 0.5 w leds.


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## Jerzeedevl

JasterMake said:


> It's listed under their "pent 0.2w" section.. But it has 0.5 w leds.


Ahhhh ok good. Thanks man. Ordering now! Love me some beamswork. Cheap and quite effective.


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## Jerzeedevl

While we're on the beamswork topic...anyone use their RGB pink light fixture? I'm quite interested in it but I want to see a pic of it in use first.


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## JasterMake

FwoGiZ said:


> Are you saying you want to stick some flex strip directly on that fixture? I have been thinking about doing this, but with finnex planted+ along with flex strip current-usa LED+ freshwater.
> I was considering the beamworks too tho but opted for more colors with finnex... I haven't bought any fixture yet as I am concerned the strips might peel off because of heat or whatever...
> hmm


Yes, I am going to try that. I'll post the results if/when my package makes across the ocean. 


On a side note. I am a little worried that the adhesive on the light strips might pull off the black protective coating on the board if I decide to take them off. I'm trying to think of a way to minimize this.


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## JasterMake

It works. Better than my 4 cfls. Even when the cfls were new I did not see the kind of pearling I see now. 

The dwarf sag. in this picture is rooted 18" below the water line, which is 1" below the light. And the dwarf sag. is 3-4" tall. There is a barrage of pearls coming out once they get going.












I have ordered a variety of plants and hope that shed some light on the PAR of this unit.


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## Jerzeedevl

Could you post a pic of the fixture showing where you placed the led strip. I'm very interested in this. Also, what kind of led strip did you use?


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## JasterMake

Jerzeedevl said:


> Could you post a pic of the fixture showing where you placed the led strip. I'm very interested in this. Also, what kind of led strip did you use?


The light in the posts above is only the Beamswork. I have not added the additional strips yet. They are in transit from China. The RGBs I plan to use are the 5050 strips. I also ordered a strip of 5630 cool whites. 

Things I don't know:
If it will get "too" hot with the additional leds.
If the 5050 RGBs have enough power to make a difference.
And a bunch of other stuff...


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## Jerzeedevl

Ahhhh ok. I thought you already added on the strips. Are these the strips on evilbay I keep seeing? I'm so torn between the 50/50, 5630, and 3528. I'm curious to see how you make out with the leds you ordered.


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## Couesfanatic

Does Beamswork have a website? where can I find what they make? I've only seen them on evilbay and amazon. I have two of the 300 lumen 18 inch lights and I really like them.


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## JasterMake

Couesfanatic said:


> Does Beamswork have a website? where can I find what they make? I've only seen them on evilbay and amazon. I have two of the 300 lumen 18 inch lights and I really like them.


They kind of have a site. If you look in the description of one of their evilbay listings you will be able to look through their "site" if you scroll down far enough.

EDIT!!!

Don't listen to me!!! This is how to get to the e sellers "site"... 

Beamswork has there own site. It's a few posts away..


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## FwoGiZ

I just got one of my LED+ freshwater flex strip from ebay and I think I may understand why they call it evilbay.. the strip is making a horrid high freq noise on certain settings... is that normal? 
you know, it's one of those high pitch noise only certain people and dogs apparently can hear? Well I can hear it and it's unbearable.

I tryed other normal dx.com LED strips and none make noise like that!


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## Stone454

I have a 36 inch beamworks 3rd gen at 7800 lumen, the driver went bad within 3 weeks, the seller replaced it with a green element driver which works much better, but yeah I found out quickly without co2 this is not the light to use and not have BBA, well I could only run it for 8 hours and only 2 hours on the high setting. so yeah I have a nice 3 inch light thats is bright as hell and no home for it........unless I decide to go hi-tech co2 tank


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## Jerzeedevl

Couesfanatic said:


> Does Beamswork have a website? where can I find what they make? I've only seen them on evilbay and amazon. I have two of the 300 lumen 18 inch lights and I really like them.



Yes they do! Look up aquatraders on google and click their website then click LED on the left side of the page.


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## randpost

TopDogSellers agreed to my offer on E---bay and I finally have two of these 30" 110x0.5w fixtures on the way. Trying to cut down on my T5HO wattage. 112w replacing 192w.


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## Jerzeedevl

randpost said:


> TopDogSellers agreed to my offer on E---bay and I finally have two of these 30" 110x0.5w fixtures on the way. Trying to cut down on my T5HO wattage. 112w replacing 192w.


If you don't mind me asking...what was your offer?


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## randpost

Jerzeedevl said:


> If you don't mind me asking...what was your offer?


46 each

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


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## randpost

I received my two 30" Beamswork 110x0.5 LED fixtures today. It is an excellent fixture with brightness on par with that of an Odyssea 30" Quad T5HO fixture. The side screw holes easily accommodated fish hooks:










I love that the power usage is nearly half of what the Quad T5HO fixture is, but the versatility of adding a red bulb is hard to ignore. Colors stand out more with the addition of red; greens are more green etc. I think plants will grow just fine, it's more of the aesthetics for me.

Quad T5HO Fixture with 3x6500k and 1x5000k










110x0.5 LED Fixture (Glosso looks yellow and washed out compared to the previous photo)









This fixture comes with two modes. 16 LED mode or 110 LED mode.
I wish they would have added 16 red LEDS instead of white for the first mode. The first mode would have been far more useful that way as red is pretty nice for a dusk and dawn effect. 

Either way, I will use both fixtures on my upcoming tanks that I plan on doing this summer.


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## jeffkrol

Maybe you could get creative w/ those 16...


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## JasterMake

Jerzeedevl said:


> Could you post a pic of the fixture showing where you placed the led strip. I'm very interested in this. Also, what kind of led strip did you use?


Finally they arrived!
I attached two strips of 5630 white strips
I still need to attach 4 strips of RGB lighting. And get them wired in with this timer dimmer.


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> Finally they arrived!
> I attached two strips of 5630 white strips
> I still need to attach 4 strips of RGB lighting. And get them wired in with this timer dimmer.


I take it D is daylight and n is night .. Pretty nifty little unit..


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## JasterMake

Yea, that's my sticker. Under that it says Ch1. Ch2. etc. I started a new thread on the timer/dimmer unit in the DIY section.

If someone really wanted to they could substitute a few white 5630s for red 5630s. Or just buy a short strip of reds. 

If I ever get my water clear again i will post some pics.

Btw. The additional white led strips were added for color and not to increase intensity. 

peace,


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## randpost

JasterMake said:


> Yea, that's my sticker. Under that it says Ch1. Ch2. etc. I started a new thread on the timer/dimmer unit in the DIY section.
> 
> If someone really wanted to they could substitute a few white 5630s for red 5630s. Or just buy a short strip of reds.
> 
> If I ever get my water clear again i will post some pics.
> 
> Btw. The additional white led strips were added for color and not to increase intensity.
> 
> peace,


I decided to go with an RGB strip of 5050's to add a little bit of color. This fixture is growing glosso quickly, and far faster than my T5HO. Hopefully the 5050 strip will give me enough color.


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## JasterMake

The 5050s worked well. 4 strips is more than enough to turn the tank blood red.


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## randpost

JasterMake said:


> The 5050s worked well. 4 strips is more than enough to turn the tank blood red.


Nice. Video demo!

How much heat is generated when all strips and fixture are running simultaneously compared to the fixture alone?


Here is what I will be doing: two strips for back lighting behind tank against foam board and 3 inside fixture. I'm a little worried about heat.


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## JasterMake

With everything running full power it gets hot. Not so hot that you can't keep your hand on it for a little while but I would not call it warm. However it is way too bright. With all the lights dimmed just a bit like 90% duty cycle it is Luke warms and brighter than normal. 

However,

I am no longer using the 15v 6A power supply that came with the Beamswork. I am using a 12V 10A supply and I still don't run them all full power except 2 hours a day. Most of the time the light is cool to the touch with sufficient lighting.

I may move back to the 15v but I have not calculated the full load of all the lights and the dimmer. Because I am running everything off one power supply.


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## randpost

I wired my lights to the fixture. 4 strips of 5050 RGB's ended up being perfect for me.

pictures of fixture:























































I also finished my back lighting. I still need to apply foam board and frosted tint

pictures of back lighting:


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## JasterMake

I love that back light.. Please post pics when you finish. 

What is behind your tank now?


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> However,
> 
> I am no longer using the 15v 6A power supply that came with the Beamswork. I am using a 12V 10A supply and I still don't run them all full power except 2 hours a day. Most of the time the light is cool to the touch with sufficient lighting.
> 
> I may move back to the 15v but I have not calculated the full load of all the lights and the dimmer. Because I am running everything off one power supply.


so are you saying you changed the Beamswork PS and now run it off the same ps as for the controller..?

and you can now dim the beamswork??

what about the white strips.. you got a lot going on and some things aren't quite clear..


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## randpost

JasterMake said:


> I love that back light.. Please post pics when you finish.
> 
> What is behind your tank now?


Only a wall behind the tank now. the frosted film should be here tomorrow. will post pics when finished.

Thanks again for starting this thread. I wouldn't own this fixture, and I wouldn't have tried strip lighting if not for this thread.


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## JasterMake

*12v supply*



jeffkrol said:


> so are you saying you changed the Beamswork PS and now run it off the same ps as for the controller..?
> 
> and you can now dim the beamswork??
> 
> what about the white strips.. you got a lot going on and some things aren't quite clear..


Yes, I removed the factory power cord. I installed a cord that has 7, 18gauge wires running in it. 2 of these wires are +. The rest are ground. 3 grounds are for the RGB, one ground is for the white strips, and 1 ground is for the Beamswork. All these go to the controller. The controller is what dims each channel individually. That let's me dim the Beamswork LEDs. 
I like your install it's very clean. I should have purchased some of those RGB connections. 

Please ask if I'm still not making myself clear.


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> Yes, I removed the factory power cord. I installed a cord that has 7, 18gauge wires running in it. 2 of these wires are +. The rest are ground. 3 grounds are for the RGB, one ground is for the white strips, and 1 ground is for the Beamswork. All these go to the controller. The controller is what dims each channel individually. That let's me dim the Beamswork LEDs.


No, perfectly clear. I never had one in hand so had no idea where the powersupply was..Also they have a "timer"









which lead me to believe it "may" not be as straight forward as you have shown it to be.
Well NOW you have to find a Finnex and hack that for dimming (internal, on board, power supplies) and become a hero..  



JasterMake said:


> I like your install it's very clean. I should have purchased some of those RGB connections.


For randpost I suspect.. certainly nobody ever accused me of being neat......


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## JasterMake

jeffkrol said:


> so are you saying you changed the Beamswork PS and now run it off the same ps as for the controller..?
> 
> and you can now dim the beamswork??
> 
> what about the white strips.. you got a lot going on and some things aren't quite clear..


I forgot to mention check out the DIY timer/dimmer thread. That has info on the controller I am using.


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> I forgot to mention check out the DIY timer/dimmer thread. That has info on the controller I am using.


Yes I've seen that one..

Now the "holy grail" for some is hacking this to make it "dimmable"










Finnex guts..


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## randpost

Received my foam board and frosted film.


Pictures:

Frosted film applied on glass and foam board angled to diffuse light, hide wires, hide the HOB and to stop light from escaping and flooding the ceiling. I only want the light shown in my tank and not all over the walls.























































Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYAG3jDlLk0&feature=youtu.be


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## JasterMake

That's Awesome. I like it.


I may do that one day.


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## JasterMake

jeffkrol said:


> Yes I've seen that one..
> 
> Now the "holy grail" for some is hacking this to make it "dimmable"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Finnex guts..


 So that's a step down and constant current driver all in one?


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> So that's a step down and constant current driver all in one?


No clue.. not my board.. I suspected more like a constant voltage power supply spead out on the back of the LEd "strip".. The LED's I believe are resistor terminated.. like strips..

Doesn't even lend itself to a gut and replace option... AFAICT...

The black puck is probably a transformer w/ possibly bridge rectifier.. again just guessing..


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## JasterMake

Just some pics of the unit in action


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## bhazard451

JasterMake said:


> Yea, that's my sticker. Under that it says Ch1. Ch2. etc. I started a new thread on the timer/dimmer unit in the DIY section.
> 
> If someone really wanted to they could substitute a few white 5630s for red 5630s. Or just buy a short strip of reds.
> 
> If I ever get my water clear again i will post some pics.
> 
> Btw. The additional white led strips were added for color and not to increase intensity.
> 
> peace,


Can you link the thread? I searched and couldn't find it. I'm very interested in doing this to my light to make it dimmable.


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## JasterMake

bhazard451 said:


> Can you link the thread? I searched and couldn't find it. I'm very interested in doing this to my light to make it dimmable.


Good you found it..


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## bhazard451

This light is very bright and intense for $45. MUCH brighter than anything you'll find at Petsmart, and much more intense over the Finnex and Current. Looks great.

I can't wait to get the RGB in, and the controller. That controller is very cheap for what it can do.

Could you provide a somewhat easy step by step into removing the original power cord, which 8 strand wire you used, which power supply, which connectors on the strips, where the Beamswork original led channel strand is, etc. I don't wan't to blindly wreck the light or worse.

I have created my own DIY LED light for my reef before, so I can grasp most of the wiring once provided.


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## jeffkrol

bhazard451 said:


> This light is very bright and intense for $45. MUCH brighter than anything you'll find at Petsmart, and much more intense over the Finnex and Current. Looks great.
> 
> I can't wait to get the RGB in, and the controller. That controller is very cheap for what it can do.
> 
> Could you provide a somewhat easy step by step into removing the original power cord, which 8 strand wire you used, which power supply, which connectors on the strips, where the Beamswork original led channel strand is, etc. I don't wan't to blindly wreck the light or worse.
> 
> I have created my own DIY LED light for my reef before, so I can grasp most of the wiring once provided.


His unit has the .5W SMD LED's not the 1W (3W) that yours has. The boards and design are different..

AS to adding strips.. it would be a separate circuit (at this point) and only those would be dimmable.. 

Verdict is open about "modding" your style but there is nothing wrong w/ "adding" LED strips...


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## bhazard451

jeffkrol said:


> His unit has the .5W SMD LED's not the 1W (3W) that yours has. The boards and design are different..
> 
> AS to adding strips.. it would be a separate circuit (at this point) and only those would be dimmable..
> 
> Verdict is open about "modding" your style but there is nothing wrong w/ "adding" LED strips...


I actually returned the Snakeeyes model and swapped it for the .5 SMD version.

I see no reason why it cannot be easily done with a little bit of guidance. The effect of the whites dimming as well is very much worth the effort, which would just require re-routing a few wires.


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## bhazard451

We could probably use the Current Ramp Timer Pro too on the Beamswork. We would just need to somehow convert the 4 pin plug on the fixture end, and use a power supply at the other. An adapter from the 4pin to dc would make it an easy swap if doable.

http://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Ramp-Timer-Pro-Instructions-V5-Final-1.pdf

This would be more expensive for just whites though, and possibly another channel (or fixture).


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## jeffkrol

bhazard451 said:


> We could probably use the Current Ramp Timer Pro too on the Beamswork. We would just need to somehow convert the 4 pin plug on the fixture end, and use a power supply at the other. An adapter from the 4pin to dc would make it an easy swap if doable.
> 
> http://current-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Ramp-Timer-Pro-Instructions-V5-Final-1.pdf
> 
> This would be more expensive for just whites though, and possibly another channel (or fixture).


current ramp timer is more expensive and has a lower amp rating... 
If you exchanged and got the .5W.. I see no reason you couldn't run the "whites" on 1 or 2 channels (if you split it.. nor seeing a need though)..
alibaba (sp) has literally dozens of these types of "programmers" from wireless to DMX enabled...

Back to the .5W Beamswork:


> Two diodes in parallel at the beginning of the circuit. and a couple of balancing resistors on the night circuit. Common anode. A pwm will dim this unit. But this unit draws 55watts so you need to keep that in mind if you build your own pwm.


Assume ch1 runs around 6A @ 12V
I'm assuming the 2 diodes are just to avoid reverse polarity burn out.. maybe.. you have the board in hand.. I don't...


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## elo500

What size tank did the op use this beamswork on? Looks like a 36g bowfront. Any idea what par on the substrate is?


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## JasterMake

Yea it is a 36 bow. I don't know what the par is but hair grass is growing well 18" below the light.


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## Downhillmonkey

HI all, I've just done this mod and I'm having some issues. Everything works, but I'm using a 12v 6a supply. Sadly the white lights are dimmer than usual.

Is this because I've dropped down to 12v?
If I use the 15v supply that came with the Beamswork will it not burn out the RGB lights as they are now getting 15v instead of 12v?
Also the Beamswork supply is rated at 4a, is this enough to run the whites plus two strips of RGB leds? The strips are about 80 cm each.

Thanks


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## bhazard451

Downhillmonkey said:


> HI all, I've just done this mod and I'm having some issues. Everything works, but I'm using a 12v 6a supply. Sadly the white lights are dimmer than usual.
> 
> Is this because I've dropped down to 12v?
> If I use the 15v supply that came with the Beamswork will it not burn out the RGB lights as they are now getting 15v instead of 12v?
> Also the Beamswork supply is rated at 4a, is this enough to run the whites plus two strips of RGB leds? The strips are about 80 cm each.
> 
> Thanks


I use 12v 10a for the power supply.

15v on the rgb would be too much for them

If the BW supply is 15v, yes 12v will be a little dimmer.


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## Downhillmonkey

Unfortunately it's too much of a drop. Could I use a voltage drop circuit inline with the RGB circuit?


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## jeffkrol

Downhillmonkey said:


> Unfortunately it's too much of a drop. Could I use a voltage drop circuit inline with the RGB circuit?


Pm'd but you could use an adj voltage drop between the Beamswork and dimmer.. That would llow you to decrease the voltage . Some even have a neat little LED display of in and out voltage.. I believe they have an innate voltage drop of 1-2volts so you'd never get 15V out..Mor like 14 or less to begin w/..
Which I believe , w/ proper thermal management is doable for the strips.. ie. overdrive the rgb underdrive the Beamswork..

Setting the global dimming of the RGB channel to say 50% will "generally" allow the LEd's to handle the current increase created by the 15v -ish..
sorry, mostly theoretical.. but I see no problems.. The strips are not driven at the LED's maximum (and mostly in the range of 30% max current) so ther is headroom.. Except for the mounting.. If surface mounted to an aluminum strip it is much less of a problem the the metalized plastic tube type..

Some of this will depend on the exact SMD5050 used..
http://www.snowdragonledhk.com/images/2011/i133/smd-5050-led-cool-white-14-16lm.pdf
V(f) is 3-3.4V @60mA w/ a "pulse current" of 150mA.. In other words it can handle a pulsed current 2x it's rated current..

OPP's unfortunately those voltage dropper are listed at 2V minimum... so they may not work well 15-2 = 13 volts but more likely 12.5-ish..

If you have any extra (a "set" of three.. ) you just run it in free air w/ 15v ps.. as a test.. see how hot it gets..
Others math.........


> Common led strips take about ~18mA at 12V per segment (typically 3 LED). They are used in Automotive 12V rails, which is 12V nominal, but can go to 14V regularly, with larger spikes.
> 
> If you look at a segment, you will notice it has three LEDs and one resistor. Based on the color of the led and ohms law, you can figure out it's current at any given voltage.
> 
> I=Vs−VfR
> 
> Assuming a white or blue led with ~3.2V forward voltage drop, which is typically paired with a 120Ω resistor:
> 
> ≈18mA=12V−(≈3.2V×3)120Ω
> 
> At 14V, you get:
> 
> ≈36mA=14V−(≈3.2V×3)120Ω
> 
> This isn't exact. The higher the source voltage and current goes, and the LEDs forward voltage drop does change a bit. At ~36mA the LEDs are being over driven, shortening their life some, so you won't get 1000~5000 hours that they should give at 20mA. But its normal to overdrive them. And they will be brighter to boot, so you might even need less LED segments.
> 
> But now lets change the source voltage to 16V:
> 
> ≈53mA=16V−(≈3.2V×3)120Ω
> 
> 53mA continuous is almost 300% of the typical recommended current of 20mA. But at 53mA, the forward voltage drop goes up as well, making the math tricky. The life of the leds will be much shorter, and they will warm up considerably.
> 
> Solution: As others have mentioned, you can use Silicon Diodes to drop the source voltage. You can use from 3 to 9 (Dropping 2.1V to 6.3V), depending on how bright you want the leds, how much current the strip should pull, your batteries voltage range (A 4S Lipo is 14V Nominal, 16.5V at max safe charge, 11.5V at lowest safe discharged voltage).
> 
> Best thing to do, is take one or two segments of the led strip and TEST THEM. Connect one directly at the charged 16V and see how long it lasts or how hot they run


.
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/122989/powering-12v-led-strip-from-16v-dc

After reading that, the use of power supply diodes as a voltage dropper on the dimmer outputs "may" be possible..Not sure how they would respond to a pulsed voltage output though..


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## jeffkrol

Diode method:


> Silicon Diodes
> diode circuit
> 
> Semiconductor junctions always drop some voltage, and diodes are no exception. A 1N4001 silicon diode drops about 0.75V at typical fan currents (100-350mA), so one or more diodes in series with the load can be used to take the edge off a noisy fan. Two diodes will reduce the fan voltage to about 10.5V.
> 
> (The voltage drop does rise with current, but not by much – the specification's maximum drop for a 1N400x (1A) or 1N540x (3A) diode is below 1.1V at the full rated current. And the minimum drop is over 0.6V at very low currents.)
> 
> One advantage is that no circuit board is needed – a few diodes can be soldered into the fan leads, or to a 2-way switch to give a high/low option.
> diodes in series with fan
> 
> The diode band (the cathode end) should point to 0V (black) on the supply (or to the red lead's terminal on the fan). Cover the joints with heat-shrink tubing to prevent shorting.
> 
> A few major plusses for diodes are,
> 
> they can be used with a wide range of fans and still drop near enough 0.75V per diode,
> they can carry respectable currents with no need for extra heat-sinking,
> they're cheap and readily available.


http://www.pcsilencioso.com/cpemma/diodes.html


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## austin1

Not clear on how you are dimming the strip and the beamswork off of that controller, thought it was a common anode controller. Can you clear this up for me, I really want to do this.

Thanks!


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## jeffkrol

austin1 said:


> Not clear on how you are dimming the strip and the beamswork off of that controller, thought it was a common anode controller. Can you clear this up for me, I really want to do this.
> 
> Thanks!


I'm not following your question. Part of the above was just to drop the voltage if using the Beamswork 15V ps and running "strips" @ 12V..

The controller will just "chop" the voltage (PWM ) but it will peak at whatever the voltage of the ps is..

Using diodes and their natural voltage drop will prevent 15v from going to the 12v strips..
in theory...


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## austin1

I am under the impression that you are running the added strips and stock leds off of the dimmer/controller with full dimming and controller programming capabilities for all of the led's. Sorry if I am not being clear, I trying my best. If that's what you are doing I do not understand how. I thought that controller was for common anode setups.

Bump: I am under the impression that you are running the added strips and stock leds off of the dimmer/controller with full dimming and controller programming capabilities for all of the led's. Sorry if I am not being clear, I trying my best. If that's what you are doing I do not understand how. I thought that controller was for common anode setups.


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## jeffkrol

austin1 said:


> I am under the impression that you are running the added strips and stock leds off of the dimmer/controller with full dimming and controller programming capabilities for all of the led's. Sorry if I am not being clear, I trying my best. If that's what you are doing I do not understand how. I thought that controller was for common anode setups.


I'm not sure the diode thing works w/ this. It was a suggestion to try. 

most people who did strips/Beamswork generally just dropped the PS to 12V and lived w/ a dimmer Beamswork. Works just fine that way.

Second option is an adj. voltage ps which you can tweak up the voltage till you find a sweet spot for both.

Strips can handle up to 14V w/ out too much problem (except possibly a shorter lifespan due to poor heat sinking..)


Point is if you don't want to use 2 programmers and have one power supply there are "compromises" but it works fine..Whether you pulse the anode or cathode makes no difference w/ Beamswork or strips.. AFAICT

The diodes just act as "resistors" to whatever circuit you put them on.


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## austin1

Could you please post a diagram? Please?


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## jeffkrol

austin1 said:


> Could you please post a diagram? Please?


Just follow polarity..










For input plus/minus ps of your choice..
Strip and Beamwork ganged on out plus..
each channel negative then goes to each ind. output..

If using a resistor or diodes to drop the voltage then each 12V "line" needs one


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## austin1

So that would supply your output in parallel? At half the total amps?


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## jeffkrol

austin1 said:


> So that would supply your output in parallel? At half the total amps?


After doing this diagram I realized the diodes could just go on the common (+) side not the negative.. Saving diodes of course..
As to current, yes there would be less available per channel..

LEd's are current driven but "passive" They won't really draw power. They may be dimmer though..


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## austin1

Can you elaborate a little please...

"After doing this diagram I realized the diodes could just go on the common (+) side not the negative.. Saving diodes of course"

"LEd's are current driven but "passive" They won't really draw power. They may be dimmer though"


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## jeffkrol

austin1 said:


> Can you elaborate a little please...
> 
> "After doing this diagram I realized the diodes could just go on the common (+) side not the negative.. Saving diodes of course"
> 
> "LEd's are current driven but "passive" They won't really draw power. They may be dimmer though"


First:








A 5W 3.3Ohm resistor may work as well. This has to be determined in an actual circuit .
as the circuit "potential" increases the current that will pass increases BUT if the current isn't there.. it won't tax the system..

"Lets take an example of a luxeon with a Vf of 3.3V at 350mA. If you supply it with 3.3V, then 350mA will flow through the device. Supply it with 3.6V, and about 700mA will likely flow through the device. Supply it with 3.0V, and about 100mA will flow through the device. In fact, the turn-on voltage for a luxeon is around 2.4-2.5V. In that range, the luxeon starts to produce a dull glow, increasing in brightness with increasing voltage/current. So an LED will produce light with less voltage than its rated Vf."

sorry not a real good explanation.. 
I've "underpowered" (rated 12v 1A for 5m RGB LED's) our porch LED's for years..no ps failure yet..


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## austin1

Thanks for all of your help, time, and explanations! It was a big help


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## pwu_1

I received the 36" Beamswork Pent light last night. It came with a 15Volt 6amp power supply. Hooking up the light to my watt meter from my RC airplane hobby days, the light draws 45 watts(3amp) at 15 volts. The light is not as bright as I was hoping but at least now I'm sure I can use it with the TC420 without issues. I'm going to start by adding 2 strips of RGB 5050 LEDs and 4 strips of 5630 cool white LEDs to the fixture and see if I can boost the output a bit. I'm thinking I'm going to need the fan kit for it once all the LEDs are added


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## HerezJohnny

where did you get the Beamswork HI-LUMEN 120 RGB Miracle Aquarium Colour LED Light


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## JasterMake

Ultra long term update. 

Still going strong. All LEDs working. I have used this unit with a TC420 and run it at 90% for five hours a day and then fading on and off around 10-20% for another 4ish hours a day. 

@pwu1,
Did you get the cool white LEDs? I think the cool whites really make the unit feel brighter. However I never had problems with light levels using only the Pent5. It is on the warm side but plants pearled just fine.


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## JasterMake

Super Mega Ultra long term update!

5 1/2 years still and all is still working just fine.


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> Super Mega Ultra long term update!
> 
> 5 1/2 years still and all is still working just fine.



yea!!..


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## JasterMake

Hi all, 
Lol. It’s been a while. Thelight is still going but led groups are starting to go out rapidly. On lower power modes 5+ sets are out. They light up at full power but I don’t expect much more from this bad boy.. 



So it’s back to plan A. Flip the PCB over and diy a light. I have a good idea in mind, and parts waiting in customs. LEDs have only gotten better and choices are amazing. 

Oh and The tc420 seems to be working without any issues. That thing is a silent workhorse.


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## jeffkrol

JasterMake said:


> Hi all,
> Lol. It’s been a while. Thelight is still going but led groups are starting to go out rapidly. On lower power modes 5+ sets are out. They light up at full power but I don’t expect much more from this bad boy..
> 
> 
> 
> So it’s back to plan A. Flip the PCB over and diy a light. I have a good idea in mind, and parts waiting in customs. LEDs have only gotten better and choices are amazing.
> 
> Oh and The tc420 seems to be working without any issues. That thing is a silent workhorse.


So 7 plus years, sounds pretty good!


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## JasterMake

jeffkrol said:


> So 7 plus years, sounds pretty good!


10+ hours a day, 365 days, 7 years

25,000 hours. Not bad at all. 


And

New LED strips from China have arrived. And i guess they invented a new 5630. One that uses 0.2W.  

So not “true” 5630s, but the power specs they listed were correct. Unfortunately I didn’t do the math until they were hooked up to my multimeter. 


Since these are less powerful than the 0.5W Beamswork LEDs I will need to use a lot more. I’m thinking 4 strips of 72 LEDs. For a total of 144 cool white, and 144 very warm LEDs. Using an estimated total of 57ish watts. Now I just hope the usable PAR from this monstrosity is good enough. There will also be RGB and a special moon light. So hopefully I will start a new build thread soon. 










US $11.47 15％ Off | 10pcs Super Bright LED Hard Bar light DC12V 24V 50cm 72 led SMD 5630 Aluminum Alloy Led Strip light For Cabinet

R.I.P.


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## jeffkrol

That's probably the " class" thing. .5W class run at .2W.

Just use more voltage. 
Like 12.5V




__





LED Strip Light Internal Schematic and Voltage Information | Waveform Lighting


Wondering how 12V and 24V LED strips are designed, and what determines their voltage? Read our in-depth guide to find out.



www.waveformlighting.com













Strips will rarely be run at their max voltage.

As is can you get the voltage across a single diode?


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## JasterMake

That will remain an option. But after a brief brightness check over the aquarium I think there is enough light.


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