# Beamswork Razor 6500K 30" PAR



## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

The EA80 arrived yesterday and I couldn't resist the urge to pull all my 30" lights and get a few lineup shots. I also set it up and took some PAR readings.

The Razor makes the Stingray look tiny. The Razor has 54x0.5watt 6500K LEDs. Rated for 2700 Lumens. It's not as nice in fit and finish as the Stingray but you get what you pay for. The electrical cord was LONG! The Finnex ones are just barely manageable, and my older RAY2 is stupid short.

Here are the PAR Readings. I kinda have a thing for 30" fixtures. The setup was an empty Seaclear Acrylic tank, light sitting on provided feet (as it would sit on the rim of your tank) a ruler on the back to measure height, and a BioTech BT3000 PAR meter. Height measurements are accurate to 1/8" and all numbers are listed as they appeared on the screen, no additional conversions listed.

30" Beamswork Razor 6500K (EA80): 
Center-----6" off center
1” - 250
4” - 84 
6” - 71
8” - 54 ----- 31
14” - 31 ----- 24
16” - 27 ----- 24
18" - 24 ----- 22
20” - 21	

30" Finnex Stingray: 
Center------ 6” off center
2”	166 ----- 10
6” 72 ----- 37
10” 42 ----- 31
12” 35 ----- 27
14” 27 ----- 25
16” 25 ----- 22
19” 18 ----- 17

30" Finnex Ray2: (24" LED) 

1”	700
2”	430
4” 250
6”	168
12”	80
14”	64
16”	53
18”	47
19”	43

30" Finnex FugeRay Planted+: (not 24/7)

1”	525
2”	400
3”	260
4”	192
6”	145
8”	112
10”	89
12”	83
14”	69
16”	58
18”	53
19”	49

30" Finnex Fugeray: 

1”	468
2”	246
3”	206
4”	178
6”	116
8”	85
10”	76
12”	62
14”	50
16”	43
18”	37
19”	34


The pictures show the rest pretty well.


















































































That's a lot of fixtures on that 36G Bowfront. ;-)


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Thanks for this! I love to see flat out information like this. The light seems to be a great low light/low tech light for a 55 or 75 gallon tank. Anything in that neighborhood of 18" to substrate. Definitely a long cord too!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks.. The Razor is unexpectedly low in PAR...
Best guess is the ind. diodes are set to only output 150mA

Out of curiosity can you see the resistor number on the RayII and the ps voltage?

The 2 tight rows vs 3 spread rows makes more of a difference than I would have thought..


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

That's great stuff... 

1) I'm surprised the Razor isn't a little higher PAR.. With 54 .5w leds, that is theoretically 27w, which is more than the Planted+ consumes, and I would have expected it to be around the same range PAR wise. Perhaps they're under-driving those LEDs quite a lot (which is good news lifespan wise, but not so much brightness wise).

3) your numbers on the Planted+ vs Ray2 confirm my long-standing suspicion that for the 30" models, the Planted+ ends up being near or even slightly higher PAR, if only because the Ray2 is only a 24" fixture... Looking at your data, the Ray2 is more powerful below 12", which also makes sense. Once you start getting very close, lights far off to the side start falling out-of-angle and no longer create overlap. Beyond 12" the Planted+ ends up slightly higher. I suppose at some depth the ray2 will catch back up, as the extra red of the Planted+ will start falling off as you get deeper, but that's probably not going to be strong enough to overcome the PAR difference happen until you are much deeper than the tanks of mere mortals... (ie: I could see the Ray2 overcoming it at 48", but that's really too deep for either fixture to do much)

Bump:


jeffkrol said:


> Thanks.. The Razor is unexpectedly low in PAR...
> Best guess is the ind. diodes are set to only output 150mA
> 
> Out of curiosity can you see the resistor number on the RayII and the ps voltage?
> As a side note: Your RayII data is way above manuf. spec:


Jeff,

All in-tank measurements of Finnex fixtures should be way above manufacturer spec, at least for any tank with relatively clear water.... The MFG specs are in-air numbers, and the air-water boundary focuses the light, tank wall reflections contribute, etc, which will increase PAR.

edit: actually, they're not really *that* much higher:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944

30" Ray2 Grizzly_a vs Finnex data from 24" model

6” 168 vs 165
12” 80 vs 74
18” 47 vs 39


30" Fugeray Grizzly_a vs Finnex Data

6” 116 vs 115
12” 62 vs 48
18” 37 vs 30


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

Great write up. I have the Razor and Stingray over my 30" and I confirm your results, Low light at best! But cheap!

I have another Razor coming, I got one for $28.00. I'm going to tear it open and see if I can't control it with an Arduino to turn on 6 LEDs and then all on.

But I think I'm going to have to get a Planted+ over the tank soon!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

mattinmd said:


> snip


I corrected myself.. not sure what I was looking at at first. My post was edited..


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

Just so I'm on the same page...when you say Planted+ you mean the FugeRay Planted+ correct?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ichy said:


> Great write up. I have the Razor and Stingray over my 30" and I confirm your results, Low light at best!


combined that is a bit of an interpretation.. Adding the PAR pushes it above "at best"..


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

ichy said:


> Just so I'm on the same page...when you say Planted+ you mean the FugeRay Planted+ correct?


Based on the pictures, he's got a Finnex Fugeray Planted+, as in not a 24/7 or other newer fixture..

That said, he got much better PAR out of the Planted+ than I measured a while back... (53 vs 43).. 

Perhaps I need to revisit that measurement...


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

jeffkrol said:


> combined that is a bit of an interpretation.. Adding the PAR pushes it above "at best"..


I am going by purely qualitative measurements, but my plants are really stretching and the red ones just have a tinge of red on the top near the surface.

I was getting much better plant results with my DIY.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

It's the FugeRay Planted+. I haven't gotten my 24/7 yet. Amazon said it's coming next week.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

jeffkrol said:


> Thanks.. The Razor is unexpectedly low in PAR...
> Best guess is the ind. diodes are set to only output 150mA
> 
> Out of curiosity can you see the resistor number on the RayII and the ps voltage?
> ...


All the resistors on the Razor board show "180"

The Ray2 is the earlier one with the PS integrated and the stupidly short power cord.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Glad you posted this... I was considering it for my low-tech 55 gallon


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

grizzly_a said:


> All the resistors on the Razor board show "180"
> 
> The Ray2 is the earlier one with the PS integrated and the stupidly short power cord.


Thanks yea I saw the 180 (18Ohm) from the photo.
That is where this came from


> Best guess is the ind. diodes are set to only output 150mA





> R = (VDC – 3 x VF) / IF = (24 – 6 x 3) / 0.35 = 17.1Ω (ohms)
> And, the power that the resistor has to dissipate is given by:
> P = V x I = 6 x 0.35 = 2.1W (watts)


(12- 3 x 3.4)/.150 = 12 Ohms.. but I'm guessing on the V(f) snd current draw at it..
Most run in this area..which is close to .5W..


http://electronics.stackexchange.co...specced-values-and-real-values-for-led-strips

for fun on how to increase your output (and overheat) your LED strip light..
Hint: replace ps w/ one larger in voltage than you have.. 

note though 150mA is pretty well on the top level for .5W LED's. 

https://d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net/pdfs/spmwht5225d5waq0s0.pdf
http://www.homeled69.com/faq_17.html


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

So my substrate is about 2-2 and half inches deep or so... So around 19 inches.. That would put me at a PAR of around 22-24 with the Beamswork Razor LED if I'm correct? Good enough for non demanding plants in a low-tech 55?


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

jeffkrol said:


> Thanks yea I saw the 180 (18Ohm) from the photo.
> That is where this came from
> 
> 
> ...


I've got a 15v power supply on the bench looking for a home!


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ichy said:


> I've got a 15v power supply on the bench looking for a home!


If the output is OK, well there are some tweaks to lower the voltage a bit..

Using some power diodes will drop the voltage, or even some of those cheap flea bay boards.


> In a small silicon diode at rated currents, the voltage drop is about 0.6 to 0.7 volts


Take 3 or 4..
You probably don't want 15V.. Anything over 14 may significantly shorten it's lifespan.



> I didn't go further than 14.21v (I originally didn't want to go past 13.8v, but oh well). You can see that I cycled through the voltages at a faster rate near the higher voltages, because I was too scared to damage the LED strip. At 14v it dwarfed the luminous flux outputted by 25m of RGB led strips that were in the room, that's for sure  – Sasha Dec 20 '12 at 10:37



Then again a PWM dimmer would work as well.. The diodes can take short bursts of high current.. http://electronics.stackexchange.co...real-values-for-led-strips#comment98393_51778


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## jkpedrita (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks for all of the great info! Looks like a 48" razor would be perfect for a 33 long.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Blackheart said:


> So my substrate is about 2-2 and half inches deep or so... So around 19 inches.. That would put me at a PAR of around 22-24 with the Beamswork Razor LED if I'm correct? Good enough for non demanding plants in a low-tech 55?



Your PAR will most likely be a bit higher if you have a std 55 with a 48" fixture.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

So would that be too much light?


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

I doubt it would be too much light..

The 30" in this review is 21 PAR at 20" deep, pretty typical of a 55...

Yeah, the 48 will have a bit more going on.. but it isn't going to double...

Looking at a finnex fugeray as an example, the 30" is 30 par at 18" away, and the 48" is 48 PAR at 18" away. Going from 30" to 48" in this case raises par by 60%...
However, I think the Finnex 30" here is a bit of an anomoly, as the 36" fugeray is 47 PAR at the same distance. Going from 36 to 48 raises the PAR only 2%...

Regardless, even going with the higher number, raising that 21 PAR by 60% would raise you to 33.6 PAR. That's not likely problematic, particularly if you use excel or have floaters.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

I don't use excel, but I do use API Liquid C02


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Same thing for al practical purposes.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

So shouldn't be an issue?


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

You should be fine... Usually with double-dose excel you can go up to 35 PAR without issue, sometimes higher if you have enough fast growing plant mass....


Realistically I expect you'll be closer to 25 PAR... which is plenty low, even without a liquid carbon supplement. As long as you're not running it on for too long of a day, you should be good. (I'd suggest starting in the 6-8 hour range, and work up/down in response to plant/algae growth)


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

I'm usually at work until 4 or 5 and the lights don't even come on normally until I get home. and even then I usually only keep them on for 6-8 hours.

My plan is growing low-tech plants though. So nothing that is insanely fast growing


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

There are some fast growing low-tech plants out there.. 

Hygro Corymbosa, Ludwigias, Pearl weed all pop to mind.. Now, these will all grow absurdly fast in high tech, but even in low tech they grow pretty quick.. I have to hack 6" off my H. Corymbosa Angustafolia every 3 weeks or so, and I'm low-tech.

Regardless, there's a big difference between a tank full of anubias (notoriously slow growing) and a tank with faster growing plants in it.

It's not well understood, but there's something about the quicker growing plants that tends to act as an algae suppressant.


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Probably the closest fast growing plant I will be doing is Rotala. That plant usually grows like a weed for me even in low-tech. Besides that mostly Crypts, Java Ferns, Dwarf Sag, Water Wisteria, Amazon Swords, Banana plants, Moss balls etc.

I've just been eyeballing that thing for a while and wonder if it's the right way to go or not. I don't want algae issues though.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Blackheart said:


> Probably the closest fast growing plant I will be doing is Rotala. That plant usually grows like a weed for me even in low-tech. Besides that mostly Crypts, Java Ferns, Dwarf Sag, Water Wisteria, Amazon Swords, Banana plants, Moss balls etc.
> 
> I've just been eyeballing that thing for a while and wonder if it's the right way to go or not. I don't want algae issues though.



I think you'll be fine, if you have a glass top that will reduce your light even further down to the low mid 20s and you can always raise the light a couple of inches to give more coverage and less par.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

Blackheart said:


> Probably the closest fast growing plant I will be doing is Rotala. That plant usually grows like a weed for me even in low-tech. Besides that mostly Crypts, Java Ferns, Dwarf Sag, Water Wisteria, Amazon Swords, Banana plants, Moss balls etc.
> 
> I've just been eyeballing that thing for a while and wonder if it's the right way to go or not. I don't want algae issues though.


Water Wisteria, aka Hygrophila difformis, definitely counts as one of the faster growing low-tech plants...

Amazon swords and Rotala can also count, but they don't always thrive in every tank... I have a hard time with Rotala in my main tank, for example..


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## CowBoYReX (Nov 30, 2013)

grizzly_a said:


> The EA80 arrived yesterday and I couldn't resist the urge to pull all my 30" lights and get a few lineup shots. I also set it up and took some PAR readings.
> 
> The Razor makes the Stingray look tiny. The Razor has 54x0.5watt 6500K LEDs. Rated for 2700 Lumens. It's not as nice in fit and finish as the Stingray but you get what you pay for. The electrical cord was LONG! The Finnex ones are just barely manageable, and my older RAY2 is stupid short.
> 
> ...


Hey I know this is old, but was this actually 54 led @ 30"? The reason I ask is because I have a 30" 36 led and no par meter and I can't find a 54 so... I was hoping to go off your readings.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

I thought it was...I'd have to go home and count!


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