cet98 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 well… here it is, yet another DIY AquaStyleOnline.com LED build after reading an endless amount of DIY LED builds over the years, I had made the decision to give it a try. FWIW, my desire to switch to LEDs was more based on “can I do it” as opposed to “I need to do it” so I decided to attempt this build with an attempt to keep my costs low in the event I didn’t like to finished product. It should also be known that I am lighting a softy tank dominated by mushroom corals with a couple of BTAs and a few small frags of medium light requiring encrusting montipora . This LED fixture would be replacing a 4x24W Sun Blaze T5 fixture. In fact, this fixture would be gutted and the LED fixture would be retrofitted inside it’s housing… So here it is… First, list of components: 24" Sun Blaze T fixture - Gutted (26) Bridgelux 3W Royal Blues (10) Bridgelux 3W 4500K Whites (4) Bridgelux 3W 6500K Whites (4) Bridgelux 3W 10000K Whites (36) 80 degree optics (diffused face) (8) 90 degree optics (clear face) (3) Meanwell ELN 60-48D drivers (1) 18cm X 2.2cm X 40cm (7.1"X0.9"X15.8") Black Anodized Aluminum Heatsink with hanging kit (3) 10K ohm potentiometers (1) 1.75g tube Arctic Alumina Premium Ceramic Polysynthetic Thermal Compound 45 ft. 18 AWG black stranded wire (100) 3/8” 4-40 stainless steel machine screws (100) #4 nylon washers 2.5 oz. 60/40 Rosin Core solder (1) Radio Shack 8-Position European-Style Terminal Strip (1) Radio Shack Size M Panel-mount Coaxial DC Power Jack (1) Radio Shack Size M Coaxial DC Power Plug (2 pack) (4) NTE In-line 5x20mm fuse holders (4) 1.0A 250V 5x20mm Fast-Acting glass fuses (1) 140mm Deep Cool Ultra Silent DC fan (1) AC/DC 12V 1A adaptor (1) Enercell 9V/300mA AC Adapter 18 ft. 18-2 insulated power cord (1) 10"L x 2.5"H x 8"W Christmas cookie tin (1) aerosol can Krylon Fusion Satin Black paint 1/8” thick Clear Acrylic shield 9”W x 23”L Miscellaneous (rubber grommets, machine screws, nuts, washers, zip ties, adhesive tie mounting pads, mini adhesive wire clips) Second, list of building tools/equipment used: Bench top 10” Drill press General Tools Automatic Center Punch Craftsman 14.4V Cordless hand drill Velleman 25W Soldering Iron Velleman Helping Hands with Magnifying glass 8oz. can WD-40 Lubricant #4 Tap and Ridgid Cobalt Drill bit Craftsman Adjustable Circle cutter Vermont American T-Handle Tap Wrench #0 - 1/4" Gardner Bender 19 Range/7Function Digital Multimeter So now, on to the build… I ordered my AquaStyleOnline.com kit with Ray via emails and PayPal due to customizing my kit. A pleasant few email communications turned to an order which shipped and delivered from Hong Kong to IL in 4 days Everything was packaged nicely and no damage occured. (FYI, there are some items that came with the kit that I chose to not use, such as the fan and the power cords from his kit) After finalizing my LED and wiring diagram I decided to go all out and drill and tap my heatsink. With that, I printed out my LED star drilling pattern and tapped it down like a “glove” on the face of the heatsink and proceeded to “punch” my drilling holes in preparation of drilling. Drilled and tapped the heatsink…timely and tedious, but IMO, well worth it Pre-tinned my LEDs and the wire strands I cut to size based on my layout Applied thermal compound and screwed stars in place… Began soldering the wiring beginning with two parallel strings of 13 RBs… Then a string of ten 4500K Neutral Whites… And finished with the final string that included four 6500K and four 10000K Cool Whites Adjusted the driver for the RB LEDs to 1300mA as both strings in parallel will be running at 650mA each Then adjusted each of the drivers for the Whites to 700mA Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Now came time for the retro fitting of the heatsink and LEDs into the gutted Sun Blaze fixture. This involved gutting of course (LOL) and then drilling holes for mounting screws designed to install the fan, heatsink and acrylic shield. As well as the hole for the 140mm fan itself… Mounted the fan in place first, followed by the heatsink. Next came the final wiring of the fixture to the drivers. I cut the Radio Shack 8-Position European-Style Terminal Strip in half and mounted each half using double sided foam tape, one on the front side and the other on the rear side of the fixture. This enabled me to have two smaller runs of wiring along the sides and kept the wiring less cluttered. I then re-wired the in-line fuses using 18AWG stranded wire so that there were no unnecessary splices in the wiring runs. I used the adhesive clips and tie-down pads to hold the wiring neatly in place and along the sides of the enclosure and away from the heatsink. Installed some grommets into some of the existing holes to eliminate any chance of fraying the power cords. Then came the “driver box”…Came across a cheap ($4) Christmas cookie tin at Target and began the task of painting, drilling holes for power cords and pots. Then came the fun part…wiring everything in a small box is a bit more challenging than I hoped for… FWIW, I will NEVER use a tin again…way too thin and flimsy but never the less, I used it cause I bought it and was spending way too much time and energy looking for something the right size without being overly monstrous…. Finished the driver box off with grommets for the power cords. Soldered up, wired and installed the power jack and attached the power plug to the Enercell 9V AC adaptor and installed the pot and attached the knobs. Drilled the four mounting bolt holes for the acrylic shield and installed it… Then…time to fire it up....and….wah lah!!!! Then I attached the heatsink hanging kit that AquaStyle supplied and it worked perfectly for my needs So there it is…My first time DIY LED build. I must admit that I am very pleased with the overall outcome and feel a huge sense of accomplishment Now I have the pleasure of playing with the overall color spectrum…not an easy task as I know it will take time for the corals to adjust to the light and I know their coloring will alter as well… Thanks for lookin’ C Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 Good lord... replacing 4-24w t5's for 'softies' that will power sps you know!! Looks great - mr gloves on! lets get some tank shot Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Good lord... replacing 4-24w t5's for 'softies' that will power sps you know!! Looks great - mr gloves on! lets get some tank shot yeah but my BTAs will really benefit from the improved light source... yeah...I know....my friend suggested I wear gloves to be sure I didn't get any skin oils on the LEDs for fear of reducing their life cycle, so I thought it best to safe than sorry I'll post some FTS pix shortly but as we all know, the pix will suk at showing the actual look of the LEDs... I will say that I am really starting to like the look and thrilled that I decided to separate the whites on two drivers rather than one. the ability to manipulate the NWs and the CWs individually is key IMO in attaining the 12-15K look I prefer Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 did my best to try and capture as true a color sample of the tank and corals as possible but camera picks up way more blue than there really is so I adjusted them to as close as reality as I could... here ya go... FTS: some close-up pix: Link to comment
Fnard Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Wow, nice build. Looks very sleek and well built. One piece of advice I may give, and you could do with it as you please, that tin box with all the drivers in it may get fairly hot, a couple of vent holes may be a wise idea. Otherwise, saweeet build. Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Wow, nice build. Looks very sleek and well built. One piece of advice I may give, and you could do with it as you please, that tin box with all the drivers in it may get fairly hot, a couple of vent holes may be a wise idea. Otherwise, saweeet build. thank you, thank you!!!....and thanks for the advice as I was very concerned about that myself and was considering adding a cooling fan....surprisingly however, it has been running only slightly warm to the touch with no real build up of heat at all.... Link to comment
Shallow Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 nice build... what size is your tank? i want to get a kit from them, but i dont know which one. i have a 30gallon, (24"x24"x12") I would like to do sps. Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 thanks!...tank is a 40gal breeder I would prolly recommend the 36 LED Dimmable kit for your size tank SPS growth should not be a problem with that IMO Link to comment
brad908 Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Great tutorial. I hope most ppl know aqua styles will build the fixture for $12 before sending also Link to comment
Aquatic-J Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Super nice build! I can't wait till I get my tax return to do mine. Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 I hope most ppl know aqua styles will build the fixture for $12 before sending also :haha: :haha: Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 OK...for anyone interested I have taken some PAR measurements for all to view... Disclaimer: In no way shape or form is this a scientific test/result. These are "as close as possible" readings using an Apogee Quantum Meter #QMSS-E and as we all know (or should know), PAR readings of LEDs in the "blue" spectrum are inaccurate at best. According to Apogee Instruments, Inc. the readings of Blue/Royal Blue LEDs can be approx. 20-25% higher than detected by their meters. So use this info for what its worth to you PAR readings are taken with the following conditions in place: 1) RBs set at approx. 70% 2) NWs (4500K) set at approx. 50% 3) CWs (6500K & 10000K) set at approx. 60% 4) 80* optics on all but 8 of the 26 RBs and 90* optics on the remaining RBs 5) 80* optics have a "diffused" or "dimpled" face as opposed to the polished clear face of the 90* optics 6) due to the existing rockwork, most of the readings are taken from the center (front to back) of the tank as that was the only real location available for the probe to be placed level (well....mostly level ) now on to the numbers: What I found interesting was the outside readings...as you can likely tell from the photo is that the optics do not allow for much light on the sides...as the light measurements are taken lower into the tank, the readings actually "increase" based on the reduced shadowing effect of the optics reach as it relates to the sides of the tank... anyhow...not too shabby I guess, huh?.... Link to comment
Trogdor447 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I like the numbers.. remember you get cone effect from optics so that all makes perfectly good sense to have higher down further Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 That is incredible. Easily the best DIY I've seen yet. Oh, nice gloves! Wiener Link to comment
i<3nanotanks Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 awesome will aquastyles really build the fixture !!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 That is incredible. Easily the best DIY I've seen yet. wow...thank you iball...appreciate the high praise. I really do like the finished product Oh, nice gloves! Wiener yeah...guilty as charged...hahaha!!....a friend was very insistent I wear gloves to protect the led from body oils...wonder now if he was pulling by junk.... in hindsight, it does make for a few laughs though... Link to comment
iball1804 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I mean it's a smart thing to do, but ask yourself, "Who does that?" Link to comment
cet98 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 awesome will aquastyles really build the fixture !!!!!!!!!!!!!not to my knowledge....can't see why they would...he's a one man show and don't see how he could be profitable in doing so since every fixture is unique to itself...especially NOT for $12... I mean it's a smart thing to do, but ask yourself, "Who does that?" color me "gullible".... Link to comment
andrewguilfoy Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Im trying to do the same type thing. Im thinking like two 24 led kits.. But it looks like you bought everything separate, Why the Meanwell drivers instead of the ones in the kit? and just one more.. The kit for 48 would require four of the kit drivers.. Is this one of the reasons? I see you minimized them down to three for 44 led's.. I have a 46 bow. 48 led's seems like a good number w/ the dimming option. How many led's are you stringing together on 1300ma? Taking a guess, thats probably a max of 24? Your DIY looks incredible. You have such attention to detail. I love it. Link to comment
Scubaro Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Great build super clean! way I like to see things done. I have 34 on the same heat sink over my 29 and couldn't be happier with the results. Super clean and nice write up Link to comment
cet98 Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Im trying to do the same type thing. Im thinking like two 24 led kits.. But it looks like you bought everything separate, Why the Meanwell drivers instead of the ones in the kit? and just one more.. The kit for 48 would require four of the kit drivers.. Is this one of the reasons? I see you minimized them down to three for 44 led's.. I have a 46 bow. 48 led's seems like a good number w/ the dimming option. How many led's are you stringing together on 1300ma? Taking a guess, thats probably a max of 24? Your DIY looks incredible. You have such attention to detail. I love it. thank you Andrew I do love the way it came out...I much prefer taking my time to do things right and since this hangs over my tank, I don't want to look at any more "clutter" than I need to... I chose the Meanwells for their ability for two reasons... first, their ability to be dimmed via my Apex's 0-10V ports (the Maxwellen drivers can not do this) second, their ability to run 26 LEDs (RBs) wired in two parallel strings of 13... Great build super clean! way I like to see things done. I have 34 on the same heat sink over my 29 and couldn't be happier with the results. Super clean and nice write up you are very kind, thank you! Link to comment
Lednewbie Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Nice setup, I have a question running your LEDs in parallel. Do you have any protecting like resistors? I'm interested in running my setup in parallel to cut down on drivers. Link to comment
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