Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Here is my DIY LED light fixture that I just completed and put it on the tank. To tell you the truth, as soon as I tunrned the lights on, my jaw dropped at the amazing brightness of these LEDs. I have pictures of the entire DIY so stay tuned for a DIY thread. Right now i am too tired to write-up a big post as I have been working on it since last night! But then couldn't wait to share with you all the success of this project. Below are the tank pics before and after and what the fixture looks like... Before: After: Here is what the fixture looks like: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwheeler Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 nice! looks good. cant wait for the diy thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 You should borrow the new light meter and get a reading on it! I am anxiously awaiting the DYI post! Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thanks guys! The thread will be up tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Looks nice. I would also be interested in the cost involved if you don't mind. I'm considering converting my son's over to T5's but if the LED's are about the same cost I might as well do those. Looks awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlenano Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Can't wait for the DIY thread. I have been trying to decide what kind of lights i wanted for my 24 aquapod but i think i just found them. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I really cant wait for the DIY thread. I want to make one of these and have no idea how!! I really want to make some LED lights for some upcoming garage tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Ok Guys! So here it goes... After rereading the thread, I apologize for the details but I want to make sure everybody understand what I am doing! Basically the LEDs ( 6 CREE XR-E Royal Blue 3W LED on Star + 6 CREE XR-E Q5 Cool White 3W LED on Star) and driver were bought from Rapidled.com. Total cost = $93.00 including shipping. From Lowes: 25 ft of 16g wire, a packet of #6-32X1/2 inch 100 bolts and nuts (a mistake, I could have done it with lot less), 3 X 5/8 inch aluminum C channels for heatsink (on sale, $7.80 reduced to 77 cents each (clap)) ~$11.00. From HD 2 packets each of #6-32 X 2 inch screws and nuts (5 in each packet) ~$2.00 Epoxy and other tools (I'll withhold one tool that was very important and let the readers guess it. ) Here is every thing laid out.. you see two tubes of heatsink compound that I did not use, so it goes back to radioshack tomorrow (naughty) I then took some pictures of me nano to make sure that I can get a good comparison. I know I don't want to load the thread with pictures but I think it is important for the readers to see the difference them self. So here are a few "Before" pictures: (see one above and one FTS here...) Some tools you will need for this project... 2 C-Channels were clamped together at two ends making sure that the bottom surface is completely plain. It is important because the LEDs sit in the middle and any uneven surface may lead to directional flux of the LED! The inner side of the C-Channel acts like a fin for the heatsink. A hole was drilled using drill through one of the sides and into the middle fin. The two channels were then screwed together like this.. The drilling of one side was necessary to put the screwdriver through it to tighten the nut. I'll post this now and rest in the next post... (i am afraid if something goes wrong with the computer, I'll loose every things here (scary)) on to next post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Ok, So we had put the two C channels together, now time to cut them into right length. Three pieces were cut each holding 4 LEDs... The sides were cleaned using rotary tool (Dremel mill) The LED grid was laid out on to the heatsinks.. And now on the the hood of the Nano that I want to destroy Do you see that small LED light at the upper corner, that is my refugium light (laugh) that works like a charm (I have some Cheatos in the back where the pump is! Thanks to Drew!) The plastic water shield was removed, followed by light bulbs and then the entire guts except the fan and its controller. The bulbs (~6 Months used, 2 yrs old) and ballasts along with bulb holders (4 pin square configuration) will on the for sale/for trade board soon (naughty) Now to the braces that's going to hold all the heatsinks together.. Please note the cuts that are made in the side wall. There were made to have the flexibilty to put an angle in the heatsink to direct light in the front and back areas of the tank (will have some pictures later to make this point clear)... I then proceeded to attach the brace with the heatsink, only to find out that I did not have long enough screws to reach the other side DOH! It was too late in the night so decided to pause here, go to HD in the morning and get some 2 inch screws. By the time I was done the room was in pretty bad shape. luckily the (wife) completely supports the hobby and projects (rock2). By the way, look carefully in this picture, you may find the tool I did not tell you about. on to next post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 wow i really appreciate all the info... i may give one a try soon!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Continuing on... Got up this morning and went straight to HD (yeh! I did not even take shower (nutty)) Got the right size screws (2 inch) and attached the braces with the heatsinks... I cut one 14 inch piece of the C Channel and fit it on the hood where the reflector was screwed in. Made three holes there and this is going to be the mount for the whole contraption.. But wait (flame) Do you see that pesky fan transformer there(flame) its in the way So I had to rearrange the heatsink on the braces DOH!, Removed one in the middle and changed the direction of the screws in this one (the screw comes in from the bottom so that I can place the middle heatsink AFTER I had mounted the whole thing on to the hood. Now it fits perfectly... The final test fit was performed... Now on to LEDs. I had previously planned on mounting the LEDs with screws (and that's why I bought 100 screws/nuts) but when I tried it, I found the screw head was large and could short circuit the whole thing. By holding the LEDs with screws, I could change LEDs if I wanted to (try different colors, replace burned out LEDs etc) So back to the WWW to see if its on to use epoxy and so did I find. Mixed the localite epoxy and glued the LEDs to the heatsink. Care should be taken not to use too much epoxy as I want as much metal contact from the back of the LED to the heatsink. All the LEDs were glued on the the heatsinks (alternate royal blue and cool white) And soldering the wires started... But wait, suddenly I find that cannot solder these LEDs to the wires (I think I am pretty good at soldering stuff). I could melt the solder on the wires just fine, but when I go to attach the wire to the LED, nothing happens, the solder was not attaching itself and hard to melt when it was on the LED. (flame) Then it dawned on me that the heatsink was too good.DOH! All the heat used for melting solder was getting transferred to heatsink DOH! So, I had to put extra soldering paste on the LED, melt the solder on the iron and then immideatly transfer it to LED. Only then I could solder these things (flame). And even then, they came off several times while working on it and had to be resoldered. (solder your LEDs first before putting on to heatsinks!) Everything was soldered... And the other side after soldering.. Those fins on the heatsink really work ( and made me work too(laugh)) The braces were angled appropriately for the lights to distribute And now to mount the whole fixture on to the hood... After the whole fixture was mounted, wiring was connected, its time for moment of truth...(scary) And yes!!! it works! all the LEDs had survived my brutal soldering temperatures The plastic water sheild was placed back on to the hood and tested again.. And now on to the tank (clap)(clap)(clap) What a sight... I'll tell you, it was good enough to attract some very curious viewers too... So there it is guys, my final picture... Looks like I have a 14K MH bulb on the tank I would be glad to answer any question and take suggestions at this time. I am really looking for a soft start circuit that could go between the Meanwell driver and the LED string. That would help the sudden lighting and turning off of the light. Thanks all, Upinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 You should borrow the new light meter and get a reading on it! I am anxiously awaiting the DYI post! Brian Pretty good suggestion!! I think the light meter is in PDX! And its too far for me to drive Unless somebody here in Eugene has it. I would be curious to see the par numbers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Looking pretty good, I've been doing my homework on building a new LED fixture for the new tank I'm building. Only problem I see is that you should of been using a thermal epoxy to attach the stars to help with heat transfer. What are your temps like on the heat sink themselves? if getting proper airflow they should be about 100* They should not be so hot that you can't hold your hand on them for an extended period of time. The cooler the LED's are kept the better the performance. I'm planning on building mine with and Arduino unit to control the dusk to dawn functions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Looks nice. I would also be interested in the cost involved if you don't mind. I'm considering converting my son's over to T5's but if the LED's are about the same cost I might as well do those. Looks awesome. Hi NoobtoSalt, I hope you see the costs info in the post. there were other very typical things like epoxy etc that I already had so I did not count them in. but the list is pretty much complete. I went for constant current driver ($18.00) rather than dimmable (>$30), but in retrospect, I should have send the money and got the dimmable driver to make a soft start and soft shutdown. I am looking for some cheap circuits that could do that, but no luck yet. I'll update the forum when I find one. Thanks for the compliments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Looking pretty good, I've been doing my homework on building a new LED fixture for the new tank I'm building. Only problem I see is that you should of been using a thermal epoxy to attach the stars to help with heat transfer. What are your temps like on the heat sink themselves? if getting proper airflow they should be about 100* They should not be so hot that you can't hold your hand on them for an extended period of time. The cooler the LED's are kept the better the performance. I'm planning on building mine with and Arduino unit to control the dusk to dawn functions. Thanks Arsonmfg! Yeh, I wanted to go with thermal epoxy but couldn't find one. On searching the web, I found several posts on other sites where they successfully used normal epoxy (NOT super Glue). The heat conduction was very very good in my case (and hence my soldering problems). I don't know what the temp of heat sink is (did not measure it yet). But I know that the water temp use to go to 85 with CF lamps and now it is consistently 80 deg F. Good lucj on your build. After I have done it, I don't think it is that difficult, it just takes time. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Can't wait for the DIY thread. I have been trying to decide what kind of lights i wanted for my 24 aquapod but i think i just found them. Thanks Well the DIY thread is up... I was in the same boat for a while when I was trying to look for better lights. Settleing for LEDs was a good choice in hindsight as it is very bright and I may be able to keep some sps in the tank now. I had a Zoos colony that I bought about two weeks ago and half of them were closed. today after I put the new lights, the entire frag was fully open in four hrs. So LEDs is the way to go on small tanks, I think!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 I really cant wait for the DIY thread. I want to make one of these and have no idea how!! I really want to make some LED lights for some upcoming garage tanks wow i really appreciate all the info... i may give one a try soon!! Thanks Drew! You are not too far away. Stop by some time to take a look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I would love to stop by. Im in town today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 I would love to stop by. Im in town today Hi Drew, I am out until 5pm today but anytime after 6 pm would work just fine. Send me a pm with your phone number and I'll let you know the address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlenano Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thank you so much for all the details. Ordering my parts now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Such a great project! I really liked the way it turned out. Great having you over today and chatting with you and your wife. I love how detailed this thread it. It makes me think that it would be pretty darn simple to build a few arrays for the shop!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman30k Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Great thread. This is exactly what I am planning on doing with my 29gal Nano using very similar materials. Thanks for the post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Such a great project! I really liked the way it turned out. Great having you over today and chatting with you and your wife. I love how detailed this thread it. It makes me think that it would be pretty darn simple to build a few arrays for the shop!! Thanks Garrett! You have an impressive setup and excellent selection. After seeing all the corals I was thinking may be I should leave my credit card number on file with you (laugh) That way, I don't have to pull the card every time. If you did decided to switch to LEDs, let me know if you need any help (although, looking at your garage, you seems me way more skilled than I am!!) Great thread. This is exactly what I am planning on doing with my 29gal Nano using very similar materials. Thanks for the post! Thanks Aquaman30k. Since mine is a very small tank, you may want to add additional LEDs to your setup. One of the thing I want to experiment is to add 1 green and 1 red LED in the mix as well to complete the spectrum (I don't really know how the corals are going to react to it but I am hoping the reaction should be favorable. Also,I am still looking for a soft start circuit (Any electronic gurus here on the fourm to help me (scratch)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Thanks for the information. I debated doing LEDs for our biocube but went with retrofitted t-5s from nanotuners. I will be following along to see how these work for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thanks for the information. I debated doing LEDs for our biocube but went with retrofitted t-5s from nanotuners. I will be following along to see how these work for you! T5 are pretty good. You can overdrive them and you will have a very good output from them. How big is your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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