LED Diode Replacement – Instructional Article

[homegrowncichlid]

Hi, I'm also preparing to swap out burnt royal blue diodes on my ocean revive t247 fixture. I see plenty of 3w diodes on amazon , was wondering if they are universal? What current or volt should I be for? Also where does one fund replacement 90 or 120 lenses?

 

[redfishbluefish]

You want a standard 3w bead. I wasn't in any rush and ordered a 50 pack from China .....HERE. You'll also need thermal grease, and I've had success with Arctic Silver 5 and Arctic Silver Ceramique 2...both are quality thermal greases. Can't help you on the lenses.

If you're not comfortable doing the LED switching, you can purchase a new PCB board from SBReef Lights for 70 bucks. I've done this as well...simply unplug old and plug in new....easy piesy. You can find the boards HERE.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Thanks paul, so the royal blue 453 was the usual color diodes you replace? i also found a vendor that sells 420, 445-450, 455-460, do these look like they are compatible? I may try getting a little more purple mixed in. This vendor also sells lenses.
https://www.amazon.com/Led-World-Extreme-Royal-445-450nm/dp/B00URFW1QY
https://www.amazon.com/world-Degree-Black-Holder-Power/dp/B00PH1V2QS?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_9346526011

 

[redfishbluefish]

Yes, they are "standard" 3 W beads. They will work just fine. I like that the positive and negative sides are clearly marked. You'll do fine.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Thanks paul, going to make my purchases today. In addition to the 450s, what other secondary colors do you like as supplementation to growth and colors? I'm limiting my changes to the same blue channel, so the violets of 400 or 420 or cyan 470s. As for eventually swapping out the whites, what mix do you prefer? 10 12 or 14K

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm currently running three SBReef Light Basic fixtures, and I'm pretty happy with the light from them. Corals are happy as well.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Just finished my soldering my Ocean Revive Arctic fixtures and once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. A good thing to have is also a soldering wick, to remove the old solder. Turns out the solder on the board required a much hotter temp than the solder coil I had, which melted at about 300F whereas I had to get the iron to 600F to get the original solder to melt a bit to remove the burnt LED.
Another observation I had was not all my blue LEDs were bad. turns out a bunch of them had melted lenses, which gave it a black center. I'm going to assume those diodes were about to burn out, since they were operating too hot. All these would be related to the heat build up, probably due to not enough thermal paste, or not enough heat sinks, or the fact that my fan and heat sinks were clogged with dust. When my computer over heats, the graphics card is the first thing I think of cleaning out. In the future, I'll have to clean out my fixtures also.

SB reef box, I just picked one of these up, the 32" 360W which doesn't have a heat sink. How is this guy going to stay cool enough on just 4 fans? The Ocean Revive has 4 heat sinks and 2 fans and the whole fixture is at just 120W. The SB reef box is triple the wattage, double the fans, but minus the heat sinks. Guess it all balances out, I'll have to start looking for some clip on heat sinks that will fit a clear space.

 

[George45]

Read through this whole thread maybe someone can help me. I have a black box as well but recently my blues don’t crank up full spectrum it stays really low. I had the violet ones replace by a friend twice can that be the issue or maybe the bad soldering it really looks crappy I though maybe it’s not touching

 

[ZoWhat]

Ive been heavily involved in LED diode replacements for 6mos.

I would like to Ammend some tips listed:

* best to CLIP the posts using a wire cutter on the old LED diode. Then once the middle section of the diode is removed, its easier to DE-solder the remaining +/- posts..... Super important you dont rip off the "pad" where the connection is made. If you lose the "pad" that diode slot is g o n e. Put the tip of the iron on the metal part of the contact post and tweezer it off

* never ever never ever put the tip of your soldering iron on the circuitboard pad (underneath the diode +/- post)....it will destroy the circuitboard pad fairly quickly...it'll burn a hole right thru the THIN METALLED FOIL pad and you'll never make a connection again..it'll go from bad to complete failure

* clean the contact pad with QTipped rubbing alcohol prior to resoldering

* when thermal pasting it better to put the paste as a small sized pea on the bottom of the diode and NOT the circuitboard. I personally put a dab of paste on the diode and smooth out the paste to the thickness I want using a razorblade

* place the diode in the exact position on the circuitboad..The paste should hold it relatively steady

* put a DROPLET OF FLUX over the contact points where the post meets the pad

* clean the TIP OF THE IRON each time you solder a single diode. I submerge tip in rubbing alcohol and wipe clean with a rag you dont mind having charred marks on it.

* I then put a droplet of solder on the TIP of the iron. With flux on contact point (where post meets pad)

* I put the tip of solder on the contact and flux burns away and flows a beautiful solder bond across the post and the pad. NEVER PUT THE SOLDER WIRE AND TIP IN CONTACT WITH THE CONNECTION (you're soldering NOT WELDING!!!) .....let the solder on the tip to flow OFF the tip and flow into the contact point.

* what's left over it a brown slim which is left over FLUX. clean area with QTop and rubbing alcohol

It's a strong bond with very little heat being transferred. Great connection everytime.

.

 

[Humble_Reefer]

Ive been heavily involved in LED diode replacements for 6mos.

I would like to Ammend some tips listed:

* best to CLIP the posts using a wire cutter on the old LED diode. Then once the middle section of the diode is removed, its easier to DE-solder the remaining +/- posts..... Super important you dont rip off the "pad" where the connection is made. If you lose the "pad" that diode slot is g o n e. Put the tip of the iron on the metal part of the contact post and tweezer it off

View attachment 1423069

* never ever never ever put the tip of your soldering iron on the circuitboard pad (underneath the diode +/- post)....it will destroy the circuitboard pad fairly quickly...it'll burn a hole right thru the THIN METALLED FOIL pad and you'll never make a connection again..it'll go from bad to complete failure

* clean the contact pad with QTipped rubbing alcohol prior to resoldering

* when thermal pasting it better to put the paste as a small sized pea on the bottom of the diode and NOT the circuitboard. I personally put a dab of paste on the diode and smooth out the paste to the thickness I want using a razorblade

* place the diode in the exact position on the circuitboad..The paste should hold it relatively steady

* put a DROPLET OF FLUX over the contact points where the post meets the pad

* clean the TIP OF THE IRON each time you solder a single diode. I submerge tip in rubbing alcohol and wipe clean with a rag you dont mind having charred marks on it.

* I then put a droplet of solder on the TIP of the iron. With flux on contact point (where post meets pad)

* I put the tip of solder on the contact and flux burns away and flows a beautiful solder bond across the post and the pad. NEVER PUT THE SOLDER WIRE AND TIP IN CONTACT WITH THE CONNECTION (you're soldering NOT WELDING!!!) .....let the solder on the tip to flow OFF the tip and flow into the contact point.

* what's left over it a brown slim which is left over FLUX. clean area with QTop and rubbing alcohol

It's a strong bond with very little heat being transferred. Great connection everytime.

.

About to try this. Glad i found your tips. Thanks!