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Products
CREE XT-E 3UP
Product Description
***UPDATE*** In stock and ready to ship
Say no to disco!
One of the main issues with LED arrays is color banding and separation, due to the LEDs being spaced out, causing their colors to not mix properly, which can be VERY distracting. This 3up PCB fixes that!
The PCB has one XT-E neutral white and two XT-E royal blue, which is now the gold standard in DIY LED arrays for reef aquariums. It has separate solder pads for each LED so you can run all three separate, or put a solder blob between two sets to run all three in series.
For wiring of the 3UPs please check picture 7 and 8 (press the > arrow) on this product page
High quality Carclo 40 degree optics available that easily slide into the holes on the star, use a small bit of thermal adhesive or silicone to ensure they stay put.
Other Details
Reviews
There are 6 review(s) for CREE XT-E 3UP
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Look great, but *frustrating* to install!
by Phil – 3rd Feb 2014
These LEDs look fantastic once installed, I will give them that. But they are by far the most frustrating thing I have ever worked with! If you want to wire the whites and blues to separate channels, you have to solder a whopping 10 wires to this tiny chip. I built a fixture consisting of two heatsinks with 10 of these per heatsink, and just on one of the units I have spent well over 20 hours troubleshooting the shorts that have resolved from trying to cram all the wires onto this thing! If you really want to go with 3ups, go solderless.
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Excellent reef tank lighting!
by Carl – 17th Oct 2013
This reef tank lighting is working very well for me. I am a bit of a noob to custom tank setups. The guides on this site made it a breeze. This light is one of many in my set-up. My reefs are looking great and the lighting is very aesthetic too. I am so happy with my new hobby and this product!
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Better System For Reef Tank LED's
by Mark – 13th Jul 2013
This is such a better system for your reef tank LED's. This makes is to much easier to blend your colors. I love the effect that this has had on my tank. This has taken the guess work out and given me a much better blend. I would definitely recommend this is you are using multiple colors of LED's.
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Dense LED configurations :-)
by Wes T – 22nd May 2013
There is a whole new movement in the DIY community for this LED Cannon style LED setup. That is a high capacity, high density led cluster instead of the even and spread out LED configurations of the past. Interesting concepts, that are hard to manage with 1 LED per Star configurations.
I am only using 4 of these LED stars now on my 12 gallon, and it is MORE than enough for my softies. It is running now around 70% and thats about all i'm going to push it. I am using all "makers" hardware and controllers, and everything is cool to the touch.
My expectations weren't met as far as brightness, but i soon found out it was enough for my needs. These are not XMLs, so be sure to set your expectations correctly on how bright these will be.
However, the "shimmer" from these LEDs are amazing, and my tank has come alive. Even my fish seem to have more pep in their step.
Also, remember you can "bridge" the pads for the blues with a glob of solder, and you don't have to individually wire them. You probably could "blob" them all together for one controller if you were so inclined... but i wouldn't recommend it. Be sure to use a "fine" tipped soldering iron, as mentioned before these pads are small!
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No Disco From your LED Aquarium Lights
by Your Name – 26th Feb 2013
No more trying to figure out what lights to buy to avoid a disco affect in your tank! These gorgeous royal blue LED aquarium lights are spaced perfectly and are ready to go. LED Groupbuy knows LED lights and helps get you just the right ones.
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Ok for specific applactaions
by Joel Espinoza – 23rd Apr 2012
These have some upsides and downsides vs individual LEDs:
Upsides:
No disco effect
VERY little spotlighting (even with 40 degree optics I run these these 5" over my waterline)
Easier to attach to heatsink
Easier to plan LED pattern
Downsides:
Much more difficult to solder (6 tiny pads to solder instead of 2 large ones)
More heat per surface area (3 LEDs on the same size star as 1 LED)
They can not be driven as hard (heat compacity limited, even with a good heatsink)
Limited optics (currently 40 degree only)
So in the end just be sure what you are getting into, in some applications these can be great, in others single stars are better.
If you are not really comfortable soldering, do not order these.
