I can't find a LED lighting fixture I like for my 10G AIO Clown Tank so I guess I am going to have to build one. My skills in building with Acrylic and basic wiring are sufficient for the task but my knowledge of proper circuit design and the correct hardware to purchase is lacking.

I am going to be using a heat sink from Heat Sink USA that is 5.8" x 18" which should be over kill for this project. I would like to have 8 led emitters 4 white and 4 blue with wide optics so that the fixture can be mounted as low to the tank as possible while still mixing the colors well. I am not opposed to using more LED's if I can get better coverage closer to the tank. I plan to make the housing out of black acrylic or ABS with a clear splash shield. I may also like to install a couple cooling fans just so I don't have to have the Heat Sink exposed.

Could someone help me with the electronics and LED Supplies I will be needing and the circuit design? I am not sure what type of driver I will need I would like to be able to dim the LED's using a RKL and an ALC module. I started looking at all the options at ledsupply.com and realized I am way outside my comfort zone in designing the circuit and selecting the correct equipment. I would like to install as much of the equipment inside the fixture as possible with just the power supply external to the unit.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Burt

Meanwell ELN-60-48D drivers are the easiest to interface into the ALC module. Buckpucks can also be used with a simple voltage divider on the output of the ALC module to drop the output to a usable 5v signal.

Can I get these drivers and other equipment form Nanotuners or can you recommend another supplier? Also a wireing digram of how to set this thing up would be helpful. Like I said construction of the enclosure will be easy for me its putting the components together I am not familliar with.

Thanks,
Burt

OK I looked up the Meanwell driver you recommended and It appears that it runs on mains power and universal voltage. That makes the input wiring easy. looking at the application deployment diagram though confuses me though. It appears that you can either wire up 1 to 6 LEDs // 8 strips or 6 LEDs // 1 to 8 strips using a resistor. I am not sure when to use a resistor and what size resistor to use. When I decide on a layout can you help me with the wiring or is there a tutorial somewhere that will show me the right way to set these up.

I think I ned LED wiring for dummies.

I'll try to help a little, my knowledge is limited but I have successfully built 2 DIY fixtures. Since you are only going be using 8 leds, you can just wire them up in series from the eln-60-48d. This model can do up to 13 leds in series and that is the safest way to wire them. Those diagrams in the meanwell .pdf are only when you are going to use more than 13 leds but they have to be wired in groups of 3 or more in series and parallel.

You can directly connect the meanwell to the ALC module for the dimming feature. Only problem is that if you use only 1 meanwell, all of the leds will dim together. You will need 2 separate meanwells in order to dim the whites and blue separately (I think).

You will also need to turn down the voltage and current of the meanwell by popping the cover off and adjusting the pots. If you use the 8 leds approx 30 volts and 4 leds approx 15 volts. You have to turn the current down 1A because the default is 1.3A. Hope this helps, I'm sure someone will correct me if I've given some bad info.

Thanks Persim,

I am really looking forward to this build. So now I know what driver to use, I can wire the LED's up in series, I don't need to worry about using resistors in the circuit and how to adjust the current. This is a big help.

What would the best LED's be to use with this project and where is the best place to get all this equipment.? Is there an online source for the Meanwell and LED's? I did a search and most places don't have online stores.

Thanks again for your help.
Burt

Most people here use the Cree XR-E series, mostly the Q5 cool whites and the Royal Blues. Since you are getting small quantities your best bet is to get everything at Nanotuners.com. Everything there is priced pretty good. No point in ordering the leds from China if you are only gonna save $5-$10.

I am getting ready to order the parts.

What is the best way to attach the LED's to the heat sink? Is it OK to silicone them down or is it better to use silver thermal compound and screw them down to the heat sink?

In order of best performance:

1. Bolt down with thermal paste
2. Adhesive thermal pad
3. Thermal epoxy
4. Silicone (not personally recommended)