coolwaters Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 FINALLY http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10852 i requested this dam thing for about of month now and they found it.... of thos how wants to do a really small LED pico. Try this. its really a no brainer... wire it like how u wire bulbs.... max is 3 LEDs at 700mA i'll try to see if they have a stronger one great of small refuge. i'll buy some once they get high power ones. Link to comment
strangelove Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 hey!!! u got the 1w common LEDs too? i havent touched them yet.. tell me if their bight. i was planning to use them as refuge lights. So how many of these LEDs do I need to line up in an array to light a 7.5 Pico. Dimension of the tank is approx. 1 foot by 1 foot square. Would individual reflectors be better or could I use a single large reflector and diffuse the light with frosted glass. I've got both white and blue LEDs and I think there are some cyan LEDs too. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 u should get plastic eggcrates. IME for a 7.5g i need to know wat r u going to have in it. if your going to have SPS or high demanding coral i suggest putting the LEDs closely and use optical lenses LEDs r still really new and finding a good rule of thumb is hard...i just got by MH specs. i had 10x 3w LEDs and my frogspawn loved it. at first it was getting a little bleached but im sure it was fine. and u can put it really close to the water surface. im trying to get it down to 2". http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4600 mines here but i dont have time to drop by the post office yet... Link to comment
strangelove Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 u should get plastic eggcrates. IMEfor a 7.5g i need to know wat r u going to have in it. if your going to have SPS or high demanding coral i suggest putting the LEDs closely and use optical lenses LEDs r still really new and finding a good rule of thumb is hard...i just got by MH specs. i had 10x 3w LEDs and my frogspawn loved it. at first it was getting a little bleached but im sure it was fine. and u can put it really close to the water surface. im trying to get it down to 2". http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4600 mines here but i dont have time to drop by the post office yet... I'm looking to do a low light pico, Zoas, Palys, Dendros, Suncorals and mushrooms. Coral only with a CUC if snails and micro stars. Don't mean to thread jack, just figured since it looked like you had used these LEDs before you might have some advice. So once I figure things out I'll create another thread. For the time being, I was thinking of making an array of 20 white LEDs, 20 blue LEDs and 10 cyan LEDs. So 50 LEDs all together. I was hoping to have the ability to raise and lower the voltage to dim and brighten the lights if needed. Where did you get most of your supplies? Any local Bay Area resources to get some hardware. I was thinking of going to Builders Resource in Berkeley to see if I could find some large heat sinks and salvage some old CPU fans and other hardware. I'm going to need a soldering iron too. How do those cold heat soldering irons work, junk? Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 u need thos current adjustable LED drivers. the only one i seen so far are the Xitanium LED drivers and they dont come cheap...$60+ for thos 40w... IMO thats a little too much blue but if u want the 20k+ temp. look then go right ahead. wat are you planning to drive the LEDs with? Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 i feel kinda dump cuz yet again im thinking about taking my LED arrray apart. i turns out that my old CPU is copper plated so i'll just be using that. im also reducing the amount of LEDs to 10. i'm also planning to cut the fins off the copper heatsink cuz i need a base. in my head this is fool proof... Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 http://cgi.ebay.com/99-9-pure-Copper-Bar-S...1QQcmdZViewItem This is half the cost you would pay for anything like this at an online retailer. The cost of copper has gone up considerably over the last few years, so this is a good deal. Like I mentioned before, bolt not glue the heatsink to the plate. It really does make a big difference. You could also use 1/4" aluminum as opposed to 1/8" copper. It would be a lot cheaper, a lot lighter, and almost as effective. It also won't corrode as easy as copper in the salt air. At McMaster Carr, use this part number: 9041K12 Less than $8 plus shipping and you can even make 3 plates total. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 The Luxdrive buckpucks have options for a dimmer driven by an external potentiometer. The Luxeonstar website carries them. Link to comment
strangelove Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 http://cgi.ebay.com/99-9-pure-Copper-Bar-S...1QQcmdZViewItem This is half the cost you would pay for anything like this at an online retailer. The cost of copper has gone up considerably over the last few years, so this is a good deal. Like I mentioned before, bolt not glue the heatsink to the plate. It really does make a big difference. You could also use 1/4" aluminum as opposed to 1/8" copper. It would be a lot cheaper, a lot lighter, and almost as effective. It also won't corrode as easy as copper in the salt air. At McMaster Carr, use this part number: 9041K12 Less than $8 plus shipping and you can even make 3 plates total. Would it be cheaper to get a large block of aluminum and milling fins with a radial arm saw? Aluminum is fairly soft and easy to cut right? I'm looking for a 12 x 12 x 3 inch aluminum heatsink. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 lol aluminum is rock hard...your thinking lead... evilc66 the ebay link dont work. wats the name of the thing? really i thought copper pulls out heat better? i can get a 1/8" aluminum plate at home depot for about $10 i think. guess i'll just use that.... btw i dont have the stuff to bolt them together... Link to comment
strangelove Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 lol aluminum is rock hard...your thinking lead...evilc66 the ebay link dont work. wats the name of the thing? really i thought copper pulls out heat better? i can get a 1/8" aluminum plate at home depot for about $10 i think. guess i'll just use that.... btw i dont have the stuff to bolt them together... Pretty sure Aluminum is easy to cut and mill, just not sure of the practicality of doing so. Think I'll leave you alone to your business. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Aluminum is fairly easy to cut. You just need to make sure you cool the material as you cut it. It can work harden as you cut it if it gets to hot and can become difficult to cut, and will dull the tool. Plus because aluminum is fairly soft it can grab the blade. Just douse it with a little water as you are cutting it. Coolwaters, copper does pull heat away better, but when it's 8 times more expensive than aluminum, is the cost worth it? You can make a pretty good heatsink out of aluminum. Like I mentioned before, make the base plate thicker out of aluminum and it will work as well as the copper at 1/8". The extra mass ans surface area will help pull the heat away. You may want to invest in the equipment to bolt them together. It's not expensive. Go to Harbor Freight and find a drill index and a tap and die set. It will run you $50 tops for both. They are not the greatest quality, but for the jobs you will use them for they will be just fine. I have used the heck out of mine since I bought it. Think of it this way, bolts come apart a lot easier than thermal epoxy Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 lol only 8 times? everywhere i look its likes 20 times more... thanks for the info on ths bolts but i think i'll use a plan CPU heatsinks. it got a copper plate. (found that out once i sand down the top part) i had to take the LEDs off the board so 14 can fit. also since my tank is only 4g and 6" deep i guess 14 should be plenty... 10 white 4 blue. im aiming for that 10k look. also with a RBG LED but not using the red Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 man...i did over 8 LED arrangements...and now the final one... i call it Halo Array XDXD its super bright and i think its electrically isolated. now i have to wire my blue and greens. i was about to use the regulator but since that DX has thos 6w LED drivers i guess i'll try them out... edit: i'll buy the 20w driver off ebay since i might want to expand... edit: yeah i know its not a perfect ring...i panicked and just throw them on...i thought the glue was going to turn hard in a minute guess not... Link to comment
Gomer Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Copper DOES pull away heat better then aluminum. Here is the thermal conductivity (W/m*K) for a few materials Air 0.025 Rubber 0.16 Epoxy (unfilled) 0.19 Epoxy (silica-filled) 0.30 Water (liquid) 0.6 Thermal grease 0.7 - 3 Glass 1.1 Stainless steel 15 Aluminium 237 Gold 318 Copper 401 Silver 429 As someone who machines various metals, for the time involved, just buy a $20 heatsink and save yourself A LOT OF GRIEF. plus, you will not be able to get near the same surface area (which is important for REMOVING the heat from the heating) as you will with extruded or bonded fin heatsinks. ..and Copper DOES have an important use. If you want to make a dense array, I would ONLY use copper. If the LEDs are spaced out, then aluminum is fine. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 lol i need some pure silver plates.... hey do u have the stats of platinums? LOL so copper is about 2 times better. as u can see the plate of top is copper well at least it looks like it. so im satisfied so far. i just got 3 green LEDs...i dont know why i got 3 green.... but w/e i'll use them as chrismas lights.... Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 diamond? isnt that a mineral? how can that absorb heat? Link to comment
Gomer Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 diamond? isnt that a mineral? how can that absorb heat? Diamond is an allotrope of carbon. it is 100% carbon in a special geometry. Soot is a form of carbon (if pure). Same with graphite. Same with Coal. Different bond arrangements result in unique properties. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 so pure carbon pulls heat better then silver? found it. its CVD Diamond. pretty neat stuff. melting point in gold is 1337 XD nice i need to get myself a solid silver plate.... Link to comment
Gomer Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 so pure carbon pulls heat better then silver? found it. its CVD Diamond. pretty neat stuff. melting point in gold is 1337 XD nice No, not JUST pure carbon. The diamond form of carbon. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 im using silicone to hold up the fan. cuz i heard it reduces noise... its suspended 1/8" in the air for better air intake. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 just did a very very successful stress test. im confident that this CPU heatsink will cool down 40 watts with no problem. but im just using about 30 watts of LED. the PC fan was at only 6v so it wasnt that loud. just need to wire down everything and connect the blues. but thats later on since the driver will be here in 2 weeks... that should be enough time to get my tank up and going. Link to comment
Gomer Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 just did a very very successful stress test. im confident that this CPU heatsink will cool down 40 watts with no problem.but im just using about 30 watts of LED. the PC fan was at only 6v so it wasnt that loud. just need to wire down everything and connect the blues. but thats later on since the driver will be here in 2 weeks... that should be enough time to get my tank up and going. I just wish they had high powered 420nm LEDs (photosynthetic maxima). Cree has som 389?nm LEDs and the other standards are ~450 and ~460nm Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 23, 2008 Author Share Posted January 23, 2008 wtf? 420? thats like UV right there... thats y clams do better under MH... http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4334 its rated at 395 ~ 410 nm i bought one just to try it and i wasn't about to use it until now XD that wavelength is fine right? Link to comment
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