Another LED project

[evilc66]

Difference? One is Cree, one is Luxeon

 

The main differences that will concern you will be price and overall brightness. The Cree Q5 and the Luxeon K2 -0200 have similar brightness but the Crees can be found for half the price.

 

Simulating a point source isn't the best idea for a few reasons. First, you are concentrating a huge amount of heat in a small area and it will be harder to control that heat effectively. Second, you will create a very high intensity PAR hotspot under the array that will very easily burn/bleach corals. You can get very high performance from spreading the LEDs out, and as a bonus, you will have consistant PAR levels across the length of the tank.

 

If you are trying to create a point source light like MH to get the shimmer, don't worry about it. LEDs create shimmer in spades, even with them spaced out.

[flamethis]

If you are trying to create a point source light like MH to get the shimmer, don't worry about it. LEDs create shimmer in spades, even with them spaced out.

 

 

Good info thanks! And yes that is why I was thinking of the clusters.. This is why I'm still reading and not attempting this just yet.. Probably better for me to buy one already made so I don't burn down my house..

[npain316]

We are NEARLY DONE!

I fitted the array to the tank today. Note: the tank is at work, and I work on this at home.

So, I have a little bit of griding on the HS to get it to fit snuggly under lid (see pic below)

I have to mount and wire the fans in the hood, and redo the connections b/w the array and the hood.

Other than that we are in business. Let me back up and document everything up to this point.

 

First: Mounting bracket. I got pieces of aluminum strips from lowes. a straight piece that is about .25" think and a thinner one with two 90 bends:

 

Longer ones 13.5" (array bracket

Short ones 8.5" (Splash guard bracket)

 

 

Mounted w/ splash guard (8.5x10 acrylic from Lowes ~ $4

 

Side view of splash guard

 

 

Keep going....

[npain316]

The hood....Gut it!

Take everything out. Grind out all screw posts and plastic pieces that will get in the way. I even cut out the on/off switch and the part of the old fan mounts! ALMOST EVERYTHING!

 

 

Drill two holes for the pots and super glue them in.

 

To connect the PS box to the hood, I got about 6 feet of wire from Lowes. It is 3-18. (3 wires @ 18 guage.)

1 wire for the positive for the pucks, and one wire positive for the fans. and one negative for everything. I had to have a seperate positive for the fans b/c one fan is in the PS box. B/c the fans are wired in a series, fan #1 positive wire is connected to the PS itself. Fan #1 neg is runs up to hood via fan positive wire mentioned above. that will connect to the other to fans and complete the circuit via all in one negative wire. (that part is yet to be done.)

 

I superglued the pucks in the hood next to the pots

 

I plan to use a connector like this

I just need one with 6 ports not 4.

 

So here is the array on the tank. I simply twisted and tapped wires for demonstration

 

 

The fans will be mounted on the side of the array and wired into that 6 port connector

I also have a but load of wire keeping too.

 

still more coming...

[npain316]

The Finale!

 

Right side - pretty snug fit!

 

Left Side - could be better. Only a little more grinding needed.

 

Whites Only

 

Blues Only

 

Both ~14K

 

With feeding lid up - Word up Clown fish!!

 

All in all I am impressed with how it looks. These lights are the shiznit for sure!

 

Thanks, to everyone who helped me, especially Evil. I will updated with pics when the fans are mounted. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Cheers, Nick

[npain316]

Which would be ideal for mounting a fans:

 

 

#1) One fan blowing across the HS and the other blowing out the hood.

Fan --->LEDs--->Fan--->

 

#2) Both fans blowing at eachother on the HS

Fan--->LEDs<---Fan

 

Im leaning toward #2

 

Also, I want to monitor the temp of the HS with my multimeter, what is a cirtical high temp?

 

Thanks,

Nick

[evilc66]

Go with option #1. Flow through is better.

 

Is your meter a K-type thermocouple? If so, use a little thermal paste and tape it as close to the star as possible on the heatsink. I'm usually comfortable with a temperature of 40-50C. You can go a little higher than that without any damage, but thats a nice safe range. Lower is always better obviously.

[npain316]

Is your meter a K-type thermocouple?

 

Yes its a K-type. I got a little bit of AS5 left.

 

Thanks again, Nick

 

P.S. So, any constructive crisism? I know if I were to do it again, I would get the narrower HS (like NAL) that was about 13 inches across so I wouldnt have to dick around with the mounting bracket. It would rest on the rim of the tank. Hindsight is 20/20, but that is the biggest thing I would suggest to others after me.

[Splumph]

P.S. So, any constructive crisism? I know if I were to do it again, I would get the narrower HS (like NAL) that was about 13 inches across so I wouldnt have to dick around with the mounting bracket. It would rest on the rim of the tank. Hindsight is 20/20, but that is the biggest thing I would suggest to others after me.

 

Yeah, it kicks ass...more of a constructive compliment. Shimmers no good with the LEDs..right?

[npain316]

Two words...BLING BLING!

[evilc66]

No doubt!

 

So, when are you getting this thing finished?

[npain316]

Hopefully this week. I left the light at work over the weekend and I hope to finish it up when I get back.

This weekend is shot with my two kids (2yrs and 6months) and family Christmas gathering. Lets not forget the 18+ inches of snow I've gotten in the past two days. Enough excuses I WILL find time Monday or Tuesday (even if its at work) to finish. I figure I got only a 1-1.5 hours max of work to do.

 

Thanks for the compliments too! Cheers, Nick

[NAL]

Looking awesome Nick, great job.

 

Now I have to hurry and get mine done.

[npain316]

I noticed this morning a fair amount of condensation on the pucks, wires, and, pots. I'm not concerned too much with the pucks as they are sealed up tight or the wires, but more with the pots. Is this a cause for concern with these? i.e. corrossion? Should I take action to seal them somehow?

 

Cheers, Nick

[evilc66]

I think it would be wise to do something. A little silicone smeared over the back of the pot and on the solder joints will help quite a bit.

[Marteen]

Do you think it would be a good idea to silicone the solder joints on the LEDs? or are you talking about different solder joints? I would think the heat of the LED would do something to the silicone.

[npain316]

Do you think it would be a good idea to silicone the solder joints on the LEDs? or are you talking about different solder joints? I would think the heat of the LED would do something to the silicone.

 

I was talking about the solder joints on the pots. Silicone is what I was thinking.

 

I ground down the HS a bit morem and it should be good now. I also mounted the fans. All I need now is the plug to connect everything. I will stop by Radio Shack on my way into work and hopefully get er done tomorrow.

 

Here is a pic of the fan, sorry they are dirty. I should take some compressed air to them.

[evilc66]

Piece by piece it's coming together.

[Marteen]

Yeah looking good there. Hey what guage wire are you using for those LEDs? I have some 16 laying around but I think it's way too thick.

[evilc66]

You want to use something in the 26-22awg range. 16awg is far too big.

[Marteen]

Thanks Evil I'll go pick some up. I'm still waiting for my LEDs from DX and Chris has to cut my heatsink once he gets it.

[npain316]

I picked up a 6 pin connector from Radio Shack and hooded it up...and hated it. The connection between the wires and pins were exposed. I didn't like that. I'm looking into something else, but I will more than likely just solder the wires and cover them with heatshrink tubing and deal with it.

 

I'll try to remember to snap a few pics when I go back to work.

 

I have made arrangments with a fellow reefer who has a Par meter and a LFS to take some readings. The LFS has a few tanks of various depths and I'm interested in getting some good numbers at different lenghts.

[apjohnson]

Hey Nick and Evil,

I've been following this thread and want to thank both of you for the information in here. I also have a NC 12 and I have been considering a light upgrade but didn't know what direction to go in. I'm just using the stock PCs right now but really want to get something better that's going to allow me to grow a wider spectrum of corals. This has really convinced me to take a *very* strong look at LEDs.

 

Nick, I'm really looking forward to the PAR readings that you get. I also have a few questions for you... Did you consider putting the LEDs inside the waterproof hood so that you didn't have to deal with the condensation issue and make it more convenient to access things inside the tank? Also, how much does that entire lighting unit weigh? Finally, any ballpark total cost estimates on your project?

 

Again, great info. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

--AJ

[sweevo]

I'm curious about the heatsink too. Think i'm going to opt for a 1 foot squar heat sink which will weigh approx 9 lbs which is a fair weight to have hung above a glass tank !

 

Oh, great work by the way, I've been keping an eye on your project for some time. Well done.

[snowlancer2720]

nice build, great job!