Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

Jay's 12 AP LED lighting by Deep


deepdvnarq

Recommended Posts

i had loads of fun building this little retro. it was for a friend who owns a LFS and thought i'd do a thread since i didn't see too many 12g aquapods out there. i used a 6 LED by 2 rows (6 cool white and 6 royal blue Cree x-re's) line up on this one along with 2 uv in a center row for added POP and maybe some coloration (to be determined). in all i used 4 fans. 2 60mm x 25mm silen x fans for exhaust and 2 80mm x 15mm silent x fans blowing directly on a 10" by 7.25" heatsink (medium foot) from heatsink USA. the power supply is a potrans 24v 6.5 amp and used a total of 3 drivers for the LEDs. 2 1000mA buckpuck for the whites and blues (each color separate on thier own dimmable driver) and a 700 mA buckpuck for the 2 UV LEDs.

 

i first gutted the hood out and kept the 3 switches as for on/off switches for each type of LED. i also cut out the slots for better air flow.

DSCF0275.jpg

DSCF0276.jpg

DSCF0277.jpg

DSCF0278.jpg

 

i then drilled 3 holes, one each just in front of the switches for the pots.

DSCF0280.jpg

 

next i mounted the power supply near where the old power cords entered the rear of the hood. i reused the power cord with the rubber grommets to keep the factory look to the tank. i ran the cord into the hood and then out through the other hole. i then epoxied a power strip into the hood to distribute the DC power and ran the 2 dc power wires from the power supply to the terminal and covered the wires with wire tubing.

 

 

DSCF0294.jpg

DSCF0295.jpg

DSCF0296.jpg

DSCF0297.jpg

DSCF0298.jpg

DSCF0299.jpg

Link to comment

Looks good, do you have any pics of the leds? If you have any high temp problems with your tank I would relocate the PS. Direct contact will = direct heat transfer...

Link to comment

i then went on to add the fans. i didn't center the 80mm fans because i didn't want to cut off the post incase Jay wanted to reverse back to the original hood. i used double sided tape to mount the fans to the underside of the hood. these fans are blowing into the hood and directly onto the heat sink. i then proceeded to the 60mm fans. these are to be the heat exhaust of the hood, so the air is blowing out. i enlarged the holes on one side of the fan so they slide onto the post and i used the original screws to lock in the fans. i wired the fans in series. the 60mm together and the 80mm as another set. i then ran the wires to the power distributor.

DSCF0300.jpg

DSCF0301.jpg

DSCF0293.jpg

DSCF0285.jpg

DSCF0286.jpg

DSCF0287.jpg

DSCF0288.jpg

DSCF0289.jpg

DSCF0291.jpg

DSCF0303.jpg

 

 

Looks good, do you have any pics of the leds? If you have any high temp problems with your tank I would relocate the PS. Direct contact will = direct heat transfer...

still up loading all of the pics. :D

the power supply doesn't get too hot all all but that will be the first thing i would look at.

now on with the posting

 

DSCF0306.jpg

Link to comment

next onto the buckpucks i put the 1000mA on each end and used the 700mA in the center for the UV LEDs.

DSCF0282.jpg

DSCF0308.jpg

DSCF0310.jpg

 

i actually did the LEDs first but for this build thread im doing it here.

i did a 6x2 array with both UV in the center.

 

IMG00104.jpg

IMG00105.jpg

IMG00106.jpg

IMG00108.jpg

IMG00110.jpg

 

i used a size 6-32 tap and nylon screws for this build and decided to use this method to clamp down the LEDs for future builds

Link to comment

i then made some aluminum clamps and ran the final wires for the LED array, secured the heatsink to the hood using the existing posts, and soldered the wires in and cleaned up the bird nest of wires. i closed the hood and checkewd from underneath to make sure the LEDs line up where i wanted them to be and they were.

DSCF0313.jpg

DSCF0314.jpg

 

i then re-installed the original splash gaurd and fired it up!

Link to comment

DSCF0315.jpg

all lights on in tank

DSCF0316.jpg

just whites

DSCF0317.jpg

only UVs

DSCF0318.jpg

only blues

DSCF0319.jpg

full hood shot

DSCF0320.jpg

close up

DSCF0321.jpg

birds eye view when in operation

DSCF0322.jpg

check out the wicked color POP. i cant wait to see what it will look like when it is is up and running.

DSCF0324.jpg

Link to comment

+Lots on the power supply location. I always had salt creep issues on the back of my BC14, and I'd assume the AP12 is much the same. Putting the power supply in the stand might be a very good idea.

Link to comment

WOOT D! That thing looks amazing. Now your gonna make me get you to send me some of those UV's arent ya! :P I cannot have you out do me. Where did you get your knobs for the pots at? I still have yet to find any. Question. Do you think you could have safely gone with any less # of fans? My tank is gonna in the babies room and it needs to be as quiet as can be. I didnt catch it but do you have the fans on the same PS?

Link to comment
WOOT D! That thing looks amazing. Now your gonna make me get you to send me some of those UV's arent ya! :P I cannot have you out do me. Where did you get your knobs for the pots at? I still have yet to find any. Question. Do you think you could have safely gone with any less # of fans? My tank is gonna in the babies room and it needs to be as quiet as can be. I didnt catch it but do you have the fans on the same PS?

hey JP,

the tank is very quiet even with all those fans. this too is going into Jay's daughter's room. it is very very quiet. i decided to give silen x one more shot and it didn't disappoint. plus Fry's electronics lowered their prices on the silenent x fans. the 60mm are $8each and the 80mm are $10 ea. let me know if you want to me to pick them up for you and i can send them together with everything. this way you save on the shipping. newegg.com is the only other place that i found the silent x fans but they get expensive with the shipping. i did use the PS for the fans. that's why i needed 4 fans. to use the PS you need to keep them in pairs because the the PS is 24v and the fans are 12v. just wire each pair of fnas in series so they each get 12v. or you could purchase 24 volt fans and wire them in parallel but i wouldn't know how loud those fans are. just let me know. i saw you message in time and didn't go to the post office. if you want the fans i can go get them for you on wednesday and ship everything. i'll put the receipts inside along with everthing else. let me know on that. the knobs i got from LEDsupply too. they are $2.50 each. did you want UV's too? i have 2 available. remeber with the UV LEDs, you can only run them at a max of 700mA.

Link to comment

Oh, I know. I appreciate that. Really I do. But there is something magical about that place. It's a tech geeks heaven. I got introduced to this wonderful place when I went out to California to meet Chris for the first time. That SOB should never have done it. I'm tainted for life now :lol:

Link to comment

Dennis, Thanks! I am sure that I will have you do that for me. But I really need to get through the work week 1st. Slammed. Pm a total for UV's fans shipping.......

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...