# Cheap Chinese LED unit + TC420



## Major_Grubert (1 Feb 2018)

Hi all, noob-ish Fish Keeper here & certainly new to UKAPS, thanks for having me 

At a grizzled 53 I'm coming back to the hobby after 30-odd years away to find that, Jinkies! all t' technology has out-stripped me basic knowledge so I'm a little bit out o' me depth. People are, like, growing PLANTS in aquaria an' everything!!!!

At the moment I'm puzzling ower lighting. I've bought a tank - managed to get a TMC Signature 60x45x45 Rimless for somewhat less than ½ price via ebay - in which I'd like to do a fairly Low Tech, non-CO2, Planted Aquascape set-up a lá Walstad. This, according to various Online Calculators, needs a minimum of @ 4000 Lumens to stand a chance of success.

As I'm on a low-income budget I must needs shop accordingly. I'd like an LED overhead run via a TC420 looping a Day/Night cycle.

I've come across this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5730-SMD...hash=item2838f5bd21:m:mC03j0MuL7jjuz6WiyBJX_g and have a few questions about it.

The stated specs for it are: 24W over 6x Red, 4x Green, 23x Blue, 45x White 5730 LED's = 78 LED's. The stated spec's for 5730's is that they give out @ 50l/m which should give me @ 3900 lumens.

So;
1) Could I safely cut 'n' shut the power input to insert the TC420 in-line after the "brick"?
2) Will said TC420, at 4A per channel, cope with the Amps drawn by the LED's at full output?
3) Given this is a Chinese unit, is my estimate of lumen output overly optimistic? If so what is the best realistic guess?

4) Although overall more expensive, what would be the best route to go down for LED Strip if I were to DIY an LED set-up? I've sourced, via Ebay,  a DIY 1" square-section Ally frame to hang lights from, 43mm wide Ally U channel with transparent covers & end caps, the TC420 and I'm fairly certain I've got an old PC PSU bumming about in one o' me boxes somewhere. But the LED strip needed to adequately light the tank eludes me. It's a bloody minefield out there.


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## Tim Harrison (1 Feb 2018)

Hello Major and welcome to UKAPS.
Your story sounds familiar...I came back to the hobby in 2011 but didn't even have a whiff of an aquarium for around 25 years in between.
There are some great members here and together I think we've got your queries covered.
For my part, check out the Tutorials page, especially this https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/ it should get you off on the right track.


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## foxfish (1 Feb 2018)

Welcome to the forum old bean!
Hopefully you can find the time to read through the forum post & start to get the basic principles of how a planted tank works in these modern times!
You will soon notice that the light the plants receive is possibly the most likely aspect to cause nuisance algae, not the colour spectrum but the intensity & duration!
We strive to match the light to complement the available C02 in the water & more often than not, the amount of light offered is far to high... 
If you decide not to add additional C02 to your set up, then the light becomes even less important or better to say .. light is important but, you wont need much of it!
I am still a fan of T5 lighting as I know that two bulbs works well with high C02 tanks & one works well with low C02 tanks however I am slowly tuning towards LED.
Having an adjustable intensity LED light would obviously be of benefit...


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## Edvet (1 Feb 2018)

Welcome@ Ukaps
Being on a budget i would aim for T5 or maybe even T8 as Fox says. Sadly dubious chinese LED are very unpredictable, and with TL you still know what you get, and it is plenty light to grow beautifull tanks.


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## zozo (1 Feb 2018)

The whole lumen part in the LED industry is a bit of a guessing part. Not even to speak of that lumen doesn't say much when it consern an aqaurium.
Anyway besides that when it comes to TC420 out of the box it's designed for LED setups at 12 or 24 constant voltage units that can be dimmed via PWM. This means that if you have a LED setup running on a constant current than they can't be used without special drivers and manualy converting the TC420.

This LED specification isn't always given for factury build aquarium LED lights. You need to ask how it is driven or find a picture of the PSu it uses. If the PSU that comes with the lights states 350Ma or 900Ma etc. than it most likely is a constant current driver. Constant current can only be dimmed via PWM over the driver. Than the driver and not the LED is dimmed.

LEDs that can be dimmed with PWM/TC420 are the Chip on board COB and SMD strips running on DC 12 or 24 constant voltage. Not to make to difficult for you if you are planning a hood than go for the SMD 8520 led strips. These are still one of the most powerfull SMD strips around with 65 lummen per chip. ANd 72 chips per meter. If that is 72x65 = 4680 lumen p/m i do not know, but for a 60x30x30 tank, than for example installing 4 or 5 of them it will be a bomshell of light.
https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs...-2-chips-18W-M-8520-LED-Hard/32373288003.html

And as you see they come awfully cheap, in a aluminium profile with cover and end caps ready to install. Screw 'm to the hood. Water proof them with kitting the endcaps to make tham damp proof. They are DC 12 volt - 18 watt per meter so one meter of these on one TC channel is peanuts and if you take the White 6500K version, than that's all you need. Or drop them an e-mail and ask for the 2700K and also order a 10000K than you can create your own K color you like with combining the 3 colors. You do not need extra reds and blues leds. Only whites is sufficient.

I'm running these excact same strips already for almost 3 years above a 60x30 tank on a TC420.. The first 2 years high tech and 4 of them at 100% was way to much light intensity. Further no issues at all.. It can happen that 1 or 2 chips burn out after a year or 2, not that this is a big deal, since there are 36 chips per unit. But for the price they come it's a lauch. Buy 10 pieces for € 27,- and you'll have enough for the comming 6 to 10 years. But as said, i'm still running the very same set for almost 3 years.

18 watt p/m, than if you install 2.5 m that's 5 pieces, than buy a DC 12 volt PSU that is 60 watt to run them.. TC420, 5 channels, run 5 pieces, 1 x 9 watt on each TC channel and you will burn the crap out of that little tank at a 100%.


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## Zeus. (1 Feb 2018)

*NEW CHIHIROS A-SERIES PLUS AQUATIC AQUARIUM *

A501 Plus: 

Lamp dimension : W490 x D100 x H90mm
Luminous Flux: 7950lm.
Power consumption: 55W
LED: white, 165pcs.
For 50~60cm long tank.
A601 Plus: 

Lamp dimension : W590 x D100 x H90mm
Luminous Flux: 9600lm.
Power consumption: 65W
LED: white, 195pcs.
For 60~80cm long tank.
prices not bad and quite popular, not sure if the A601 is compatible with the TC420 due to its current draw


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## zozo (1 Feb 2018)

Zeus. said:


> *NEW CHIHIROS A-SERIES PLUS AQUATIC AQUARIUM *
> 
> A501 Plus:
> 
> ...



Both are actualy not compatible with the TC420.. 1 channel can take 4 amps that's 4 x 12 = 48 watts per channel. The complete light runs on 1 power cord.. This limits you to use only 1 channel for the complete light. Than 55 watt is already overpowering the controller. Than you need to open the light and split up the led strips at least in 2 seperate channels and fiddle 2 power cords in there, which obviously will affect it's warrenty.


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## nnnal (1 Feb 2018)

I use a Chihiros A series 901 with a TC420 on my tank. This is a nice led fixture for the price, very thin and looks good, it can grow plants very well. Powerful enough so i use only two of the led strips out of three. I had to disconnect one strip due to too much power for the TC420. Even so i run them only at 80% and there is plenty of light. Can use the power supply that comes with the light and to connect the light to the TC420 use the manual dimmer cable that also comes with the light. You will have to cut it and connect the wires to the TC420 and you are done, very easy to do. Yes, you will have a single channel but i don't see a problem there, when the light is dimmed it looks gorgeous, i have a ramp up of 2h and down 2h just so i can enjoy viewing my tank for a longer time. I can really recommend this setup if you are looking for something cheap that can grow plants and look good at the same time.

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk


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## Barbara Turner (26 Apr 2018)

Major_Grubert said:


> The stated specs for it are: 24W over 6x Red, 4x Green, 23x Blue, 45x White 5730 LED's = 78 LED's. The stated spec's for 5730's is that they give out @ 50l/m which should give me @ 3900 lumens.




Sounds like alot of hardwork and soldering.

I purchased 10w LED Cobs, I run 10 x 10w cool white, 10 x 10w  Full spectrum and 5 x 10W Cyan that just seems to encourage algae growth but make the green plants look very green.
I normally run at  50% power with the cyan turned off,  which I suspect is more than needed.

Most expensive bit is the constant current drivers.

In a recent video by george farmer he talks about running a 70w unit at 50% power on I think a 60cm tank


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## doylecolmdoyle (26 Apr 2018)

If you do go the cheap Chihiros A series route I have dimmed a "60cm A-series Plus" via a tc420 with no issues, tho never ran it at 100% so perhaps never drew enough power to damage / effect the tc420


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## rebel (28 Apr 2018)

For a low tech, a cheaper Chihiro A series is more than enough. That can be easily dimmed with a TC420. 

if you do DIY, make sure you spray conformal coating or similar to water proof all the led boards before you use it .They rust very easy if you get aquarium water on them .

Good luck!


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