Another LED project

[npain316]

As the title says I am going to outrig my 12g nano with with LED's. The plan will be detailed on this thread, so tag along if you are interest.

 

Let me start off by saying THANK YOU to Evilc66, whom I have already spoken to about the project. This man is a great guy! He knows his stuff and his willing to answer any questions. The following layout was suggested by him. The other LED gurus on here, NRG, coolwaters, Slumph always have great advise to!

 

So here is what I, ehem Evil, have worked out so far:

7 Cree Q5 Whites,

7/8 Cree Blues (not sure yet),

and thinking about adding a UV or two but I don't know if it is worth the cost.

 

Driven by two buckpucks (700mA for the blues and 1A for the whites).

 

Powersupply is probably going to be this.

 

Heat sink will be from HeatsinkUSA which is like 20min from where I work - BONUS!

 

I have ordered the LED's, heatsink and buckpucks.

 

The details for mounting into the hood are still in my head, but I will share with you all when the time is right.

 

So here are a few questions I have remaining:

1) Which is preferred drilling/tapping the heatsink to mount the LED's or drilling/tapping a sheet of aluminum and fixing that to the HS? If choosing the latter, you obviouly would like as much contact between HS and aluminum sheet, wiring through the sheet like this is out! (scroll to post 145 - evils last picture) I would like to do it like evil did in this picture as it is a cleaner look.

2) I would like to use the stock fans in the nano cubes hood. Could the power supply I have shown above accomidatie the stock fan board if wired in parallel with the buckpucks? I can't imagine those fans drawing too many amps.

3) Is there any difference in size b/w the lid of the 12g Nano and 12g Dx? I have the regular but I'm thinking about getting a DX shell from nanotuners if is larger.

Finally 4) Does anyone have a recommendation for a housing for the drivers and powersupply. I know I don't want it in the hood over the tank as saltwater + electronics = buying more electronics. Ideally I would like a case with a switch, possibly a fan to keep things cool, maybe a dail or two to adjust buckpucks. I don't mind doing a small amount of modification/fabrication.

 

Cheers,

Nick

[evilc66]

HOLY CRAP, ANOTHER ONE!

 

Glad to see you started a thread for your project. This LED stuff is almost like a disease

 

To answer your questions, I would attach directly to the heatsink. With the heatsink you got, you will have enough width to cover the tank front to back. The only reason to attach a plate to the heatsink would be to cover a larger area, or to do what NRG did and use multiple smaller heatsinks.

 

You won't be able to power the fans directly from the 36v power supply. A few options would be an adjustable wall wart which would be nice seeing as you could drop your fan speed if it's too noisy (providing you have adequate cooling of course), or to run a 12v voltage regulator off of the power supply to give a fixed voltage for the fans. That way you will turn the fans on and off with the lights. An LM317T adjustable voltage regulator is an option too if you want to keep the fan speed adjustable. Don't worry, these ar easy to get working

 

Don't know about the hood. I'll let someone with some experience deal with that one, but the changes could just be down to mounting locations. You could always talk to the guys at Nanotuners about it.

 

Some of these cases might fit the bill. Some might also be big enough to fit the power supply and drivers in there. You will have to mount switches and potentiometers yourself, but it's ABS, so its pretty easy to drill and cut.

[npain316]

Thanks Evil for the reply. Wall wart...I have never heard that term before...had to google it...and then I laughed.

 

Anyway, I like the idea of using a LM317T, they seem pretty strait forward. I read they should be mounted on a heatsink...do you agree?

 

Do you think it is necessary to add a fan to the box housing the power supply? Do the heat heat up a lot?

 

Cheers,

Nick

[evilc66]

A small heatsink for the LM317T isn't a bad idea, but it depends on the amount of current draw. Anything above 750mA should have a heatsink. The small TO220 heatsinks that you can get at Radioshack are fine.

 

I have never run those power supplies enclosed before, but they don't get very warm when left in the open. A small fan will provide a little bit of security.

[fshaqrmman]

Well you guys have got me hooked now. I have the 29 biocube, how many LED's do you think I can fit in the hood along with the two power compacts that it comes with? Also, other than personal preference, what is the ratio of white to blue LED's that you recommend?

 

I found this site....http://www.ledsupply.com/index.php

Does it look like I can get everything I need from them?

[mabviper]

One thing to note about LM317 or any other linear voltage regulator is that the voltage drop within the regulator will generate heat. Say you have a 36V power supply and you pass that through an LM317 to drop that voltage to 12V. Effectively the LM317 will have to 'suck up' 24V to drop down the output to 12V. Say the fan requires 200mA of current, 24 x .2 = 4.8W of heat generated by the chip. I'm not big on heatsink design so I don't know if a small clip-on heatsink can take that.

 

If you want to power the fan from that power supply, better use switching regulators. The easiest way would be to just get a DC adapter for that fan though.

[DarkDevil]

For the housing, you can check out what I did with my setup, I used an old computer power supply, gutted everything and retro fit the new power supply and the drivers all in there. I added a more powerful fan for the just in case scenerino.

[npain316]

One thing to note about LM317 or any other linear voltage regulator is that the voltage drop within the regulator will generate heat. Say you have a 36V power supply and you pass that through an LM317 to drop that voltage to 12V. Effectively the LM317 will have to 'suck up' 24V to drop down the output to 12V. Say the fan requires 200mA of current, 24 x .2 = 4.8W of heat generated by the chip. I'm not big on heatsink design so I don't know if a small clip-on heatsink can take that.

 

If you want to power the fan from that power supply, better use switching regulators. The easiest way would be to just get a DC adapter for that fan though.

 

Your concerns are well appreciated. Let me clarify The power supply will be dialed down to 32 volts which is still a 4 watts of heat. I was planning on moving the fan board to a case housing the power supply, which will have its own fan, so there will be air blowing across the LM317/ heatsink to help dissapte the heat.

 

DC adapter is out - no room on Coralife power center.

 

However, a switching regulator is certainly an option to consider. Unfortunatly my electrical chops are not up to snuff. I get the premise of them, but wouldn't know how to execute.

[npain316]

I just wanted to give an update. I have my buckpucks and heatsink. LEDs are on back order and the powersupply is enroute. (Un)fortunatly, the job has me going to San Deigo for two weeks so this project is going to be put on hold. Lets just hope the LED's are at my desk when I get back.

 

Any good LFS in SD worth checking out? I'm staying in La Jolla.

 

Cheers, Nick

[rickjg]

Any good LFS in SD worth checking out? I'm staying in La Jolla.

 

Cheers, Nick

Aquatic Warehouse & Octopuss Garden are interesting to browse.

SD Local Fish Stores . . .

[npain316]

Just an update:

I pretty much have everything but the Cree Blue LEDs...still on backorder at deal extreme. I hope this weekend to start wiring things up, but we will see with the holiday. I will post pictures once I start to get everything going.

[Timanator]

Can you post the link to which LED and buckpucks you ordered specifically?

 

Thanks.

[iMaGin3]

Ditto ^^^ Also I can you or someone show a diagram or photo of the wiring? Thanks!

[npain316]

I ordered the wired buckpucks w/o the potentiometers(control dials). You can pay extra to get them, I just wanted to option to pick my own out and wire them up myself.

700mA BuckPuck

http://www.ledsupply.com/03023-d-e-700.php

1A BuckPuck

http://www.ledsupply.com/03023-d-e-1000.php

 

LED's:

Cree XR-E Q5 (whites)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2394

Cree Blues

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1775

 

I have recieved the whites, but Im still waiting on the blues from Deal Extreme. They tell me they should ship on the 28th, but they have lied to me before.If you are not as patient as me you can order the same LED's LED supply they are just more expensive.

 

So, I have not begun to wire things up yet. Stay tuned though, I will document everything and post it up here.

 

Cheers, Nick

[evilc66]

Come on man, I'm impatient I've got a banner here waiting for you.

[npain316]

Ha! You should have told me that before!

 

But anyway, while it is mildly irritating that the blues are on back order, there is plenty of things for me to do. Drill/Tap and sand\polish heatsink. Begin wiring of power supply, buckpuck, and white LED's. I plan on doing those this weekend.

 

Cheers, Nick

[iMaGin3]

Cool keep us up to date

 

Oh and evil... sometime in the future (hopefully near) can I have the honor of rocking that banner to?

[evilc66]

Get your array rocking and sure.

[Timanator]

How many Crees can each buck puck drive to full power?

[Catfishboy747]

depends greatly on your power supply forward voltage, 12 would about 3, 24 will get you 6 and 36 probably about 8 or nine per string.

 

BTW, this thread is worthless without pics

[npain316]

^^^No Doubt. None taken yet so, but I will post when progress is made. Time is consumed today and tomorrow with the family.

 

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

Nick

[npain316]

Got an email today that the Cree Blue LEDs shipped today! I should have them in 7-10.

[npain316]

Got started tonight.

 

Layed out the array. 3x5 alterating Cree whites and blues. The heatsink is 10x8.5

Layout

 

Next, we started to drill and tap the holes. The screws are 4-40 and 3/8"

Tapped

 

I know that it looks like the screw is over terminal..it's not...it's just the angle.

 

One done....14 more to go.....

 

I'll update when I'm done.

 

Cheers, Nick

[gregbot9000]

nice, looking real good. is that the actual heatsink your putting them on to? are you using any compound or grease on the back of LED?

[npain316]

Yes that is the heatsink, and NO I will not use any compound. That LED is only screwed down for demonstration. After I am done with all the wholes, I will sand and polish the heatsink, to give good contact between LED boards and HS. I don't want to use any compound to "glue" them on, because I want the ability to easily swap LEDs later.