clownfish1124 Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 i bet you had lots of headaches before the braces. Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 i bet you had lots of headaches before the braces. How did you know that? Link to comment
clownfish1124 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 umm... well i learned it from a family friend. her granddaughter just got some like a week ago Link to comment
terrariumsrock Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Just wait until you have to keep up with wearing a retainer. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 That was the worst part. That crap didn't last long for me. Zombo, now your head isn't hurting so much, got that light finished? I wanna see my heatsinks put to good use. Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 21, 2008 Author Share Posted August 21, 2008 Just bought the 110vac plug and cord, and a crimp/terminal connector kit. Gonna test run the electronics tonight. How long can I run an LED without being on a heatsink? Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Bah. The Arctic Silver tube I "borrowed" from work only had enough spooge in it for one LED. I did test the things out and for 4-5 hours walked around with a retinally burned image in my field of vision. Note to self: do not start directly at Cree Q5 while testing. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Yup, they are bright! Try that with 29 of them Don't run the LED for more than a few seconds without a heatsink. You can get Arctic Silver thermal paste at Radioshack. It's probably under a Thermaltake brand. Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Some one had a tube of AS5 here. I'll finish mounting them and start on the wiring tonight I hope my sucky ass soldering iron is up to the task Given the huge amount of open circulation this retro will have, I may dispense with any actual active cooling -- the back part of the fixture will have two tiny 12vdc fans pushing into the fixture, and although the idea of mounting the Buck Pucks in there crossed my mind, I think for the sake of preserving them from salt creep, I'll stick with external mounting. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 If you are goning to go totally passive, watch the temperatures. If you have access to an infrared thermometer, take measurements around the star. Try to keep it under 100F. Use electrical tape where you take the measurements. The bare aluminum will reflect the infrared and give you funky readings. Link to comment
coolwaters Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Just wait until you have to keep up with wearing a retainer. make sure u wear it all the time (not when your eating) i made a mistake of not wearing it and...might get braces again T.T well at least theres alternatives like Invisalign. also the new retainers are clear now right? the aluminum looks really clean and shinny nice job evilc. i think i'll switch brands to SSC for now. well when i get some money... Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 Well, I got them wired up -- HOLY ^$^@#%@~ is that array bright! I'm just going to resolder the actual power leads (I found some longer pieces) and tie them into the switches on the fixture. I scavenged another rocker switch from an old light, so I have two switches on the retrofit. I'm going to use one to turn on the blues, the other to fire the Q5's. I also found two larger and quieter fans, so I am going to arrange them in a push/pull arrangement on the ends. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Are you putting the switches between the PS and the Buckpucks, or between the Buckpucks and the LEDs? And, where are the pictures damnit!!!??? Link to comment
Zombo Posted August 26, 2008 Author Share Posted August 26, 2008 Done yet Nah, we're working on selling our house, so I had lots of "Honey-Do" projects that took priority. I was going to put the switches between the PS and pucks. I still want to get a nice box for the PS, and nice looking cables for the run between the PS and pucks -- I still might end up mounting them in the fixture. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Good luck with the house. Tough market right now in Michigan. I would advise against the Buckpucks going in the fixture. It makes for another failure point due to corrosion. Take a look around Mouser, Digikey, and Newark for enclosures and cables. You could also find a local wire house that could get you some cable in smaller quantities. McMaster Carr has a great selection of cable too, and you can buy by the foot (they do enclosures too). Plus they ship in a day or two usually. Link to comment
KDris Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 looks awesome zombo, dying for an update! Link to comment
Zombo Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Well, I'm stalled out at this point - I'm trying to find a suitable container to use as a power supply/buckpuck box. I could go pure ghetto and use a tupperware (or a like style) container for this, but I'd rather have a nice waterproof/resistant container for all that, besides the fact that drilling tupperware and fitting grommets in it for wiring would be a nasty proposition. I don't have a shop to fabricate anything either, although someone gave me 4 pieces of 3/4" x 18" x 5-7/8" cell cast acrylic -- but then I don't have any Weld-On for gluing that up either I am taking the finished 9 gallon to work tomorrow to split up the LR and corals between it and the existing (mostly stock) NW9, mostly to provide a more suitable home for the Peacock Mantis I picked up Saturday. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 What kind of rough dimensions are you looking at? I can find you something. Link to comment
Zombo Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 Well, the PS is L: 7.83" W: 4.33" H: 1.97" , So, I'm thinking a 10" x 6" x 3" would be workable. I was also thinking that I could run the hot leg of the 110VAC to one the fixture switches (there's two) and back to the PS, so as to use one for the PS/fans and the other for the LEDs. *shrug*. In a perfect world, I'd have about 6 feet of 4 wire (strand) 22ga. wrapped in cable as fat as a 110vac extension cord...it would fit in the fixture cutouts/grommets perfectly The closer I get to finishing this, the more picky I get about how it should be finished. I mean, I could ghetto up the whole thing, but then I'd just end up ripping it all apart again and re-doing it. Of course, all of the pressure evilc66 is putting on me doesn't help! Link to comment
KDris Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Well your progress so far looks great, best of luck to ya man. I'm just curious how you are going to finish this out because I just started building my LED array in a similar fashion as well. Link to comment
Zombo Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 Well your progress so far looks great, best of luck to ya man. I'm just curious how you are going to finish this out because I just started building my LED array in a similar fashion as well. Well, I got motivated and did some serious work on it tonight. Did a bit of a test with the 110VAC line switched on the hot leg to fire up the 12v transformer (for the fixture fans), and provide an outbound connection for the power supply. I used an extension cord cut in half, basically to provide a positive connector type of device for the power supply, also so without the power supply attached the fans will run. Pics to follow! The assembled unit -- I think this came out damned clean looking! The right side, where the power/switches are located. Notice the lovely hole cutting job for the fan The other end of the fixture -- I offset the location of the fan on this end, in hopes that there will be a bit of "cross" flow across the heatsinks. Looking into the bottom side of the fixture. You can see the lovely LEDs and the evilCinks If you really look closely, you can see the 120VAC/12VDC fan transformer hiding in the back. Right hand side fan mounting and wiring stuff (interior view)... The other side fan mount (interior view). I set up the fans as a "push-pull", so air would travel in one end, across/through the heatsinks, and out the other end. I may throw a digital thermometer probe in this and see how the temperature goes with this arrangement. More pics to follow.... Link to comment
Zombo Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 Here's some more photos of the.....errrr.....whatever it is Here you see the tricked out assembly and the power supply. Orange male into outlet, power supply male into orange female, and voila! I forgot to mention that there are two rocker switches on the fixture, one red and one black. The red one will fire up the fans and PS when it's energized, the black one will be for the LED's. Power supply plugged in Lovely plastic bits from drilling/cutting for the fans -- yes, I'll clean it out before I use it WHAT A FREAKING MESS! So...all that's left to do is get a suitable encosure for the power supply and Buckpucks, wire them in and take more pictures so evilc66 will finally stop riding me about getting this done Thanks for stopping by! Link to comment
disaster999 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 freaking sweet! cleanest setup ive seen Link to comment
evilc66 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!! Dude, looking sweet. It's starting to make me think about gutting the 12" Coralife fixture that I have over the 4gal and converting it. Those fixtures look great as retros for LEDs. I'll see if I can find you a box and some cable today. Link to comment
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