Vince's BC14 LED

[vresor]

For better or worse, I've just gotten around to starting a tank thread for my BC14. It's been up for two years. Reading posts from many here and getting lots of support from Evil and others, I decided to skip the next round of replacement PC bulbs and jump into an LED mod. Mine is about like everyone else's. Here are the parts.

• 6

Cree XR-E RBs from Nanotuners
6 Cree XR-E CWs from Nanotuners
1 5.886" x 10" x 1" profile heatsink from HeatsinkUSA
2 24 VAC 1700 mA wall warts from MPJA
2 3023-D-E-1000mA Wired BuckPucks from LED Supply
2 5k Linear Taper Potentiometers from Radio Shack
Knobs, wire, Arctic Silver, stainless steel screws, nylon washers, etc.

Evil, Russ, Nick and others have been a huge help and I'd have never gotten to this point (or even thought about it) without their help and the contributions here at Nano-reef.com. I've received all the supplies and gotten started.

 

The first catch was figuring that my 10" was too long (imagine hearing that!). After sizing it up in the BC14 hood, I realized I just needed to cut out two notches to accomodate the original fans I believe will provide ample cooling. Next came drilling the heatsink. I can't imagine doing that without a drill press. Hat's off to those who have. I consulted with Waterproof on the LED arrangement and chose an semi-inverted hourglass (aka, laid them out in straight lines). I like the way some have hidden the wires by running them up into the heatsink fins, so I included that in my design. I also realized that aluminum is soft and stainless steel screws are hard and that tapping the soft aluminum is unnecessary if one finds the right combination of screws and holes. Use #4 stainless sheet metal screws and a 7/64" drill bit and they self tap just fine. Applied a small blob of Arctic Silver, tightened the screws and called it a night. Here are the pictures.

 

Heatsink drilled with mounting holes and separate wire holes:

 

Dollup of Arctic Silver thermal paste waiting for an LED to land on it:

 

Crees mounted on heatsink:

 

Heatsink with all 12 LEDs mounted in place and ready for wiring:

[vresor]

Day two saw the top come off, the old PCs disassembled, the LEDs soldered and the heatsink positioned. Taking everything apart was easy and I will be glad to see the back of the tank simplified from a bird's nest of wire and cable ties to a relatively simple bundle of far smaller wires. Soldering went well, although I wish I had a higher wattage iron. 40 watts took forever to heat up. I will use the original moonlights and found they and the controller board were easily relocated to lid lugs outside the heatsink footprint. The lid lugs are also perfect for mounting the heatsink to the inside of the lid. Use 1 inch nylon standoffs and 1 1/2 inch screws to provide proper spacing.

 

The original fans should provide ample air movement to move heat off the huge heatsink. If not, I plan to reverse the exhaust fan and blow them both in and exhaust the air through new vents drilled somewhere in the lid. Here are the photos.

 

I got about 18 months out of the Nanotuner 3.24 upgrade.

 

Lights, reflectors and 3.24 ballast removed.

 

Moonlight relocated to fan lug.

 

The PC reflector lugs are perfect for mounting the heatsink to the inside of the lid.

 

Heatsink in place and ready to secure to lid.

[vresor]

Day three and the LEDs are now on. It was harrowing on two fronts. First I discovered I had 24 VAC power supplies from MPJA, but 3023 Buckpucks that are DC-only. Shoulda bought 24 VDC supplies or 3021 pucks. Dooh! Fortunately I'm kind of in the power supply business and could borrow a pair of 200 watt constant current programmable supplies (the $400 variety). They put out a maximum of 20 volts, so I had to wire two of them in parallel. After a little help from my technical team, the power was on.

 

When the power came on, only two LEDs on each string lit up. After plenty of head scratching and posting a question here in the Lighing Forum, Captain wrote that it must be a short to the heatsink. Sure enough my sloppy (read: rookie) soldering left a few shorts. After cleaning them up and confirming electrical isolation like I should have in the first place, they all powered up.

 

Finally I managed to get the wires on the wrong two poles of the pots, so they trim backwards. I'll fix that and add heat shrink to the connections when the right power supplies arrive. I securred the wires, put the clear light cover back on and brought the BC14 top back up to the tank. It all powered up much to my relief. After a few hours of running the hood is cool to the touch and the exhaust fan is blowing cool air. The PCs would have been warm.

 

Of course none of this would have been possible without a lot of help and moral support from Evil. Thanks Man. Here are the photos.

 

Most of the wiring is in place complete with labels in the picture.

 

Wiring and Buckpucks securred and tucked away.

 

 

I couldn't find a place to keep the pots on the side yet inside the clear cover, so here they are.

 

 

Final test fire with lid reassembled and ready to go back onto the tank.

 

 

And finally a FTS with LEDs on. I'll replace this with a better one soon.

 

Thanks for reading.

[sammy113]

Looks very nice. I Love the look of the clean heatsink from the LEDs side but I've always wanted to see how it looks fro the fins. Is it too messy? Do you think the wire spaghetti could decrease airflow from the fan?

[vresor]

The wires on the fins side of the heatsink sound far worse than they look. Besides, they are all hidden in the air flow plenum between the fins and the lid. It's purely aesthetic, but I like the hidden look. And those small wires in no way inhibit air flow. My hood temperature is far cooler than PCs ever were. I'd say the hood is no higher than room temperature.

[MikeTR]

Salt creep + exposed pots = bad driver... take it off and do it over or cover them.. speaking from experience.

[vresor]

Does heat shrinking the wires and terminals help?

[Mechano]

try using waterproof liquid electrical tape, or maybe silicone sealant would work(just make sure it is DIELECTRIC)

[vresor]

I know it's been a long time, but I was reading this over and see I kinda left it hanging. I fashioned a DIY cover and siliconed it into place over the pots, so they are now in their own water tight enclosure.