Thinking about SB Reeflights

[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

[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

[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

[lnevo]

I'm using ebay block boxes that I've modded for control, better fans, pwm drivers and sb reeflights boards.

[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.

[cosmith71]

Where did you get the PWM drivers, BTW?

[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.

[cosmith71]

Sounds good. Looking forward to the info. Did you have to use a PWM inverter circuit?

[lnevo]

Nope but needed to use the included dimmers

[lnevo]

Nope but needed to use the included dimmers