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Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 5:52 am
by cosmith71
Right now I'm running a custom RapidLED setup with 70 Cree LED's on my 120 (4'x2'x2'). I'm not pleased with the color and I think fixing it would require replacement of a lot of LED's, which is a fairly expensive overhaul. Even then, I can't get the lenses to stay on.

So I'm considering SB Reeflights. I like their spectrum and I think the size would fit my tank better. They are 16x8 vs 20x6 on my current lights. I could use more front to back coverage, and the shorter side to side would help to avoid light loss from the center brace.

Advantages:

Possible better coverage
Better spectrum
Less wiring mess (currently 8 wires to each heatsink, 16 total)
Lenses that don't fall off

Disadvantages:

Slower drivers. Could possibly mod one of the models with PWM drivers to get better response for lightning, etc.
Possible loss of intensity, although this may not be a problem since I'm not running lenses at the moment.
Will have to modify for dimming. "Apex Ready" model available soon is a possibility.

Any thoughts?

--Colin

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 12:35 pm
by lnevo
Apex ready model has be soon since last year. Troylong has a kit for cheap. Great spectrum, you'll be happy. The pwm drivers aren't responsive either. Actually the responsiveness may have been better with the analog.

2 months growth ImageImageImageImage

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Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 12:42 pm
by cosmith71
Looks great!

That's disappointing about the PWM drivers. That eliminates one of their possible advantages. The Apex-ready models will be more expensive and I'm not sure the price difference would be worth it when I could mod some of the standards for cheap.

What exact lights are you using right now, Lee?

--Colin

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 12:56 pm
by lnevo
I'm using ebay block boxes that I've modded for control, better fans, pwm drivers and sb reeflights boards.

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 2:04 pm
by cosmith71
I went ahead and ordered two of the SB Basics. I'll just mod them for 0-10v dimming. If I really want lightning I can always put together a small fixture with a few LED's and an LDD driver. Not sure it's worth the effort, though.

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 2:05 pm
by cosmith71
Where did you get the PWM drivers, BTW?

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 6:01 pm
by lnevo
I'll send you a PM with the info on the PWM drivers. They are good for the fact that they turn off completely and dim much lower than the analog.

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 5:05 am
by cosmith71
Sounds good. Looking forward to the info. Did you have to use a PWM inverter circuit?

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 10:07 am
by lnevo
Nope but needed to use the included dimmers

Re: Thinking about SB Reeflights

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 10:08 am
by lnevo
Nope but needed to use the included dimmers