Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 So after reading the Ultimate LED Guide several times and all the other threads of led builds and some help from the LED gawd himself, I decided to trash the cheesy 24 watt PC setup on my 3 gallon JBJ and build a nifty LED light. I won't go deep into description of everything and I will just let the pictures do the explaining. But here is a quick rundown on what I used. 4 Cree XR-E Q5s 4 Cree Royal Blue XR-Es 2 dimmable Buckpucks with Pots 1 24 volt 6.5 amp power supply 7" x 4" heatsink Let the pics begin! Here all all the parts Heatsink marked out for drilling All drilled Starting to tap All tapped out! Link to comment
bobby Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Cool, I have been thinking of building one for my pico so I'll be watching closely. If you don't mind me asking, but what did all this cost you? Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Screwed down All polished another A little help from 3 in 1! Wicked shiny! Link to comment
bobby Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 A little more info man! LOL Man that thing looks like a mirror. Took me a few seconds to realize it was in the pic.LOL Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Starting the wiring Whites all soldered Finished the soldering The whites Whites and blues Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Cool, I have been thinking of building one for my pico so I'll be watching closely. If you don't mind me asking, but what did all this cost you? About $160 A little more info man! LOL Man that thing looks like a mirror. Took me a few seconds to realize it was in the pic.LOL Yeah I have about 3 hours into sanding and polishing that thing! Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 An old Aquamedic fixture I had laying around! Gutted with heatsink mounted Going back together Pots mounted All together! Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Sitting on the tank Got the blues again! Another Running at 1/3rd power! Half power! All white! Yuck! Enjoy! Link to comment
jae4571 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 That looks amazing! Nice job. Link to comment
travisurfer Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Wow! This looks great! Link to comment
Angelynn Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Very Nice build. i love how that heatsink turned out! i am about to start my own led build too for my 6.5 gallon (4 gallon) build soon and this really help me out alot. thanks! Link to comment
plantarms Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 nice build man! i like the retrofit choice and the polished sink looks great! it sure takes a lot of time to sand that thing down doesn't it? Link to comment
acropora1981 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 You know you've been in the hobby a while when a $300 metal halide pendant is just 'sitting around' lol.... Hella nice build though man! Link to comment
jayiNH Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 nice clean looking build, i like the way the pots are mounted..good job Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 That looks amazing! Nice job. Thanks! Wow! This looks great! Thanks! Very Nice build. i love how that heatsink turned out! i am about to start my own led build too for my 6.5 gallon (4 gallon) build soon and this really help me out alot. thanks! No problem! Thanks! nice build man! i like the retrofit choice and the polished sink looks great! it sure takes a lot of time to sand that thing down doesn't it? Thanks! My wife thought I was a little nuts wet sanding a block of aluminum in the kitchen sink! You know you've been in the hobby a while when a $300 metal halide pendant is just 'sitting around' lol.... Hella nice build though man! Haha! I know. It's amazing how much stuff you aquire over the years. Thanks! nice clean looking build, i like the way the pots are mounted..good job Thanks! I actually had a problem with the pots grounding out on the heatsink so I had to move them to a different area on the light. Link to comment
taylorjonl Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Very nice, just need to hook up an Arduino board and have it simulate sunrise/sunset Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 Very nice, just need to hook up an Arduino board and have it simulate sunrise/sunset Yeah, I've thought about it and it might be something for the future! Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 OK, so I've been looking into an Arduino and RTC to control my new lights. Man, is this confusing! Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Can you please add details about the parts and were you purchased them? Order numbers would be great if you have them. I'm particularly interested in what kind of drivers you have. I see they are buckpucks, but what kind? I'm looking at LEDsuply.com and there are 6 different kinds in varieties from 350mA to 1A. Also, where did the power supply come from? Thanks! Link to comment
Cheetos Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 Can you please add details about the parts and were you purchased them? Order numbers would be great if you have them. I'm particularly interested in what kind of drivers you have. I see they are buckpucks, but what kind? I'm looking at LEDsuply.com and there are 6 different kinds in varieties from 350mA to 1A. Also, where did the power supply come from? Thanks! Here are the whites: http://ledsupply.com/creexre-w107.php The blues: http://ledsupply.com/creexre-rb.php The buckpucks: http://ledsupply.com/03023-d-e-1000p.php The heatsink: http://heatsinkusa.com/ The power supply: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16854+PS Miscellaneous stuff (solder, wire, shrink tube, etc.) was picked up at the shack or the cheapo! HTH! Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Awesome! Thanks a bundle! Link to comment
trailsendcustom Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Sweet build. I am doing pretty much the same thing but I have one kind of off the wall question. What can I do with that style of power supply to protect it? Can I put it in some kind of box? Would I have to add another fan to the system to keep the PS cool if I did put it in a case of some sort. I just cant see leaving that style PS open to a possible saltwater splash. Thanks Link to comment
evilc66 Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 A box can be used, but it will need to be well ventilated. A fan isn't really necessary. Best thing to do is just keep it out of harms way. Link to comment
farkwar Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Any pros or cons to using the heatsink as your ground on the LEDs? It appears that that is how you wired it. Link to comment
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