DRLenox Posted February 29, 2008 Author Share Posted February 29, 2008 Ok so I just got it set up, minus the real lights. The LFS let me borrow this Rio mini sun LED light. It's pretty dim and the light it projects is to narrow. As soon as a post this I am going to order 4 1W LEDs, 2 white and 2 blue and build them into the hood. It turned out to be around .375 gallons actual volume! I don't think i've seen a tank this small before on this site, if anyone knows of one i'd love to see it. Hope it works out ok. Here are the pics of it set up: Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 I ordered my lights a couple of days ago off of ebay. This is what I got: 5 X 1W LED and driver 2 Wide 4 LED Blue Do you guys think I need a heatsink? If so is there a small good one? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 For the 1W's, deffinitely. PC CPU heatsinks are the cheapest and most readily available heatsinks that you will find and will be fine for 5W of LEDs. Link to comment
Matty1124 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 you wanted smaller hows this .09 G Link to comment
phases Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Drlenox, A few years ago my wife got me a little desk top water fall decoration. The pump in it would be perfect for something this small. It was about the size of a zippo lighter and was submersible and quiet. You may look at some of the department stores for something similar or search online for a pump like that. Love your idea for a pico btw. Greg If you are interested in one of these little pumps and can't find any theres a place near me that sells them and I would be happy to ship some to you. Another possibility is a dosing pump. Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Well after reading this thread for the 4th time i think i am going to try one out myself. I just dont get what you all mean on the small pumps from desktop fountains. Where would i be able to find a small pump like this? Sorry for the hijack but i love the idea! Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted March 8, 2008 Share Posted March 8, 2008 Well i figured out what you meant by the pump and waterfall thing and i found one i had in the garage and took the pump from it, now all i need is the tank! I already have the light Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 I got the 1W LEDs today, wired them up and built them in to the hood. they are pretty bright, but I have a problem. when I turn the AC adapter up to 12V the lights blink. I'm sure there is an easy answer for this. I should get the blue LEDs soon, I'll post pics when I get those installed. Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 I wish i knew what the problem was to help ya out. About how much is your lights going to run you? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Could you shed a little light on how you wired them up? Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 Yeah sorry, I wired up a radio shack switching current ac power adapter to the 12V LED driver, Then from LED to LED, in positive out negative. The loop is then completed back to the LED driver. It is kinda weird, yesterday it was only blinking on 12V and today it is blinking on 9V also. When I turn down the adapter to 7.5V it is fine (as of now). Here are some pics: Parts Close up of LED Temporary Install, no heatsink yet and no blue. lilredneckman, all said and done it cost me like 50 bucks, including soldering iron and plexiglass. Thanks for all the help. Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 lilredneckman, all said and done it cost me like 50 bucks, including soldering iron and plexiglass. Not bad, so far mine has cost me 0$ but i do not have the tank up yet. Cant wait to see pics of it with the blue light on there. EDIT: this is the light i am using Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Temporary Install, no heatsink yet and no blue.Thanks for all the help. Yikes! Don't run the LEDs without heatsink for more than a couple of minutes! They'll overheat. If you notice them turning blue, it's almost too late to switch them off. I can't quite make out the writing on your power supply, but if it says what I'm thinking (300mA) then you need a bigger one. Regards Hans Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 Yikes! Don't run the LEDs without heatsink for more than a couple of minutes! They'll overheat. If you notice them turning blue, it's almost too late to switch them off. I can't quite make out the writing on your power supply, but if it says what I'm thinking (300mA) then you need a bigger one. Regards Hans Thanks Hans, Right now i'm only running at about half power and there is very little heat. I will for sure get one in there when i get the power situation fixed. Can I get some clarification on getting a new power supply? The driver for the 5, 1W LEDs is 12V 320mA and the power supply is 300mA. What do I need? (i'm not running the blues with the same power supply) Thanks Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 Hmm. 12V and 0.32A give about 3.8W, while 5 1W (more like 1.2W) LEDs need about 6W. Something doesn't add up here. Can you post a link to the specs of your driver? Regards Hans Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 9, 2008 Author Share Posted March 9, 2008 I ordered my lights a couple of days ago off of ebay. This is what I got:5 X 1W LED and driver 2 Wide 4 LED Blue Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted March 9, 2008 Share Posted March 9, 2008 OK. The 320mA number is for the output side of your driver. Stated efficiency is 85%. At 320mA, you get at about 1.1W per LED, giving a total of 5.5W. At 85% efficiency, the driver will need at least 6.5W of supply power. To be on the safe side, I'd get a 1000mA supply (12V/12W). It's not a good idea to run small and cheap power supplies at their maximum rating, anyway. Regards Hans Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Last time I checked, 3.2Vx5=16V. Unless I'm missing something here, that driver shouldn't be able to drive those LEDs successfully. Plus the driver should need 2V above that to operate. That is unless this is a boost driver, which it doesn't say on the auction. Something doesn't add up. And like Hans said, YOU NEED A HEATSINK!!!!!! Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 Well you guys know a lot more than I do and I have no info other than what has been provided. What should I do? Sorry to impose but I am now really confused. Like I said before the system does work at lower voltage and is bright, (almost to bright to look at directly) I just feel like it will be brighter when running properly. I got the blue LEDs this morning and they are awesome, great build quality, better than they look in the pics. I'll put them in latter today and post some pics. Again, thank you for all the help it is greatly appreciated. Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Looks like a boost driver to me. Found some specs in this auction. Boost drivers generally have problems without a load. This thing should work with a 12V 1A DC supply. Regards Hans P.S: These ARE a bit strange, They need minimum 10.5V and will only boost up to about (guesstimated) 17-18V. At $13.50/pair shipped one can't complain, though Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 Thanks Hans, I'll get a new power supply and heatsink tomorrow. but for the mean time, PICS!!! Before the Blues And After Just a reminder the 1W's are running with the ac adapter running at 9V, 300mA. Almost no heat. Link to comment
Hans Dorn Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Looking nicer than my tank already Link to comment
DRLenox Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 Alright, I'm done with the build, barring no electrical fires or LED failure. Thank you to everyone for their help, I could not have done it with out you. Here's the data for the tank: .375 Gallon Glass Vase Ubilida 23g/hr Pump 5 X 1W LEDs 8 X wide angle blue LEDs Small Chip Heatsink And The PICS: Link to comment
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