A new-ish way to drive LED's

After completing my LED fixture, I started looking more into multichip LEDs. I Decided to run 2 multi chip led's on the ends of my 150W fixture, kind of like this:


While working on sourcing the multichip, I came across a chip called the "Dream Chip"(http://www.sandiegoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?94760-DIY-Multichip-LED-Build)
The Dream chip was designed by reefers to "try" to fill the spectrums lacking on traditional LED fixtures.
*I should note, you could build a 3w LED array to hit those spectrums, but I wanted them all in one chip; to avoid the disco ball effect of 3w setups

The only problem I had with it was the amount of drivers I would have to add. Not only would would it cost a lot(3-10 drivers, 35$ a piece) They would take up a lot of space. There is also another problem, If you run string in parallel(so you don't need as many drivers) the LED's can go into a thermal runaway, which would overdrive one string until they burn up then switch over to the other and burn them up(short story)

It wasn't until someone posted up about LDD drivers(which is what this thread is about) LDD-H drivers run about 5$ a piece. They can be dimmed(with PWM) and have a set max(depending on which model) They can be run from 2-48v(forward voltage of the LED's)

More to come, this is only part one...

Finally getting around to post about the LDD drivers.

So here is how they work, they take in power from a regular power supply(like a laptop power supply) and turn it into a constant current source for the LEDs. Most higher powered LED's run around 3v, for forward voltage, and there are a bunch of power supplies that can run 48V(max of the LDD drivers) which means that if you need less than 1 Amp(max of the drivers) the LDD's are perfect for you. I am actually going to replace the red and green drivers on my set up with the LDD's. the beauty of it is I can use less space, have a driver that will dim down to 0, not 10% like the meanwells and still use my apex(with the arduino in the middle) And, when everything is said and done I can resell the meanwells for 20$ and still put money in my pocket....
more to come later....

reserved for pt 3

reserved for pt 4

Very intresting. I want to hear more!

Ok, not part of the LDD driver per sey, but here is a link to DIY reef controllers using the arduino: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2210357
For someone who asked;)

and the mother thread on the LDD drivers:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2222702

And I have the arduino Mega. Playing around with it right now, but nothing really productive. Here is a teaser picture of the mega:
I drew this with my finger sitting on the couch:

Compared to my wife's phone(used mine to take the picture)

And size compared to the traditional can o coke: