LED retrofit adventure!

[moneyman6891]

Any news. I cant wait to see some build pics, I am going to build the same light only in a diy houseing.

[Marteen]

Chris said he was going to try to get to it this week so

[Marteen]

Well it's been a while since I updated this thread but here goes.

 

So far I'm still waiting on the heatsink from Chris, in the meantime though I decided to order a new heatsink and cut it myself and drill it myself. As of today that has been accomplished and I will be uploading some pics of my adventure in drilling and tapping once I pull them off my camera.

 

I did manage to break a carbide tap but that was my fault, I did not drill the hole long enough and the tap struck the end of the hole and got stuck. I ended up just drilling a second hole since my steel bit was no match for the carbide tap. It all took less than 3 hours to tap all those holes and drill it so I'm pretty happy with the job.

 

Next I'll be cutting my fixture from 24" to 20" to fit my new heatsink. I'll post pictures of that step by step. I'm glad I'm finally getting moving on this project it's been sitting on my desk for months now. I still need to order replacement fans for the fixture and 2 power supplies as well. But I think that's it for parts so far.

[Marteen]

So I went to buy a PS today but unfortunately I came across this!

 

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=13657+PS

 

Sold out! I know I should have bought them a month ago. Anyone else got a lead on a power supply for me? I'm running 2 1000mA pucks and 2 750mA pucks.

[evilc66]

You don't need a 36/32v power supply any more. With 6 LEDs being the limitation on the Buckpuck, you can use a 24v supply like this.

 

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=16854+PS

[Marteen]

Thanks Evil!

 

Well since I'm ordering powersupplies I may as well get a soldering iron while I'm at it to help make up for shipping. what do you think of this?

 

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17517+TL

 

solder, wires, heatshrink, etc... I either have laying around in the house or I can just run down to RadioShack to pick up. Hmmm with these pieces I do believe i have everything together to finish this light finally. Now just to find some time this weekend to finish cutting my fixture.

[evilc66]

Splurge the extra $2 for this:

 

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=15860+TL

 

It's adjustable, and has a selection of replacement tips available, which the other one didn't.

[Marteen]

Update:

 

Alright PS and solder has been ordered. Just need to make a trip down to Radio Shack to pick up wire and some connectors. Maybe some knobs for the dimming switches as well. I've got the fixture cut and I test fit the heatsink and everything is nice and snug. I've got all the LEDs screwed in and applied thermal paste to them. I'll be posting pictures of the entire operation once I find my connector cord for my digital camera.

[doctaq]

to evil

if leds have an average voltage drop of 3.5 or so and hes running 6 of them that means 21v then two for the puck doesnt that mean 23 v and leave little room for swing in voltage due to increase in temp?

[evilc66]

Pretty much. Thats exactly how it's supposed to be. The LEDs aren't going to change a lot in voltage with temperature, and each LED will be different. 6 Crees on a 24v supply works pretty well. If you feel a little unconfortable with the small voltage window, the power supplies are adjustable up to about 27v. You shouldn't need it, but it's there.

[Marteen]

Well I just got the 24v power supply in and these things are huge! I thought they would be much smaller... I'll have to think of a new place to mount them when I get to it. on a seperate note I'm still waiting for my soldering iron it did not make it in with the rest of my shipment for some reason so they are resending.

[evilc66]

You know, I was wondering about this project just earlier today.

[Marteen]

Well all the LEDs are in place and all the materials are assembled I just need the soldering iron to make it's way. Oh I also could use 4 more 60 degree lenses *hint hint*

[evilc66]

Yeah, I know. I've been slacking.

[showjyr]

Any updates....I keep checking back and still nothin

[Marteen]

Yeah my laptop crashed on friday so I have been busy trying to get it fixed. I finished the LED array and everything is working I have pics but I'm going to have to see if they are still on my camera or on my backup drive. I'll put something up tonight or tomorrow.

[showjyr]

[rrcg50]

cant wait to see pics

[Marteen]

Going to post some up tomorrow at work I found the pics in my external drive thankfully. The tech guys at work said they would see if they could save my laptop but luckily I have all my important documents for work and school double saved on it external and thumb drives.

[isidro0]

This might be the right place, but whats wrong with the laptop? and make and model?

[Marteen]

This might be the right place, but whats wrong with the laptop? and make and model?

It's a Dell Studio 1735. The harddrive suffered a physical crash so it will probably have to be replaced. I am going to have to see if the data can be recovered or not.

[Marteen]

Alright the moment you have all been waiting for is upon us I have all the pictures loaded up on photobucket so here goes. I'll take you through the construction of my LED array in stages, for a full list of parts please refer to page 1.

 

When deciding to make this LED array I wanted something that would look nice on my BC29 but at the same time I did not like the look of the closed top that was on there previously. I decided I wanted something like the Nova Extreme satellite fixture so that's what I got!I contacted a local in manhattan who was selling their old fixture for a cheap $50 and promptly took it home and gutted it.

 

 

I then went to work getting my heatsink ready for LED goodness. Here is a picture of me marking where each and every LED is supposed to go and the holes. you can't beat a good old fashioned ruler and marker.

 

 

I then proceeded to take a hole punch to all the marked holes for easier tapping. I would recommend anyone who is drilling with a dremel to go out and buy a $5 hole punch for metal it makes it 100% easier to hand drill these heatsinks.

 

 

After the holes are drilled the tapping began. I apologize for having no pictures of the dremeling I was too covered in aluminum shards to care

 

 

So it turns out the nova extreme satellite fixture is a biiiiiiit too long for my tank... what to do what to do?

 

 

I did what any good DIY would do I broke out the hacksaw!

 

 

I used tape to prevent any scuffing of the aluminum housing, not it's not plastic housing it's some kind of metal I'm assuming aluminum and it was a pain to cut through. I think my hacksaw blade was dull from previously cutting some wood frames for the wife. It worked out pretty well though and I ended up with a 20" fixture instead of a 24" fixture.

 

Next step was to solder all the LEDs into place. I used metal screws and nylon washer to prevent contact from the screws to the LEDs. I also taped down all the wires I was going to solder before I started soldering, this made the whole process much easier. In retrospect I should have tinned the wires and the LED contacts before doing this step but I didn't and I ended up burning 2 white LEDs in the process. After a lot of trial and error, this was my first time after all, I managed to get all the wires soldered.

 

 

I then attached optics to all the LEDs except for the UV's which I left open for maximum dispersion.

 

 

A mental note for attaching optics, if it doesn't slide in easily try rotating it a little either way and it should pop right over the LED. Sometimes a nylon washer would be in the way and it was a simple matter of unscrewing the screw and adjusting the washer.

 

Oh I forgot to mention I did use arctic silver on all of these LEDs but I forgot to take a picture of the application.

 

Here is a picture of the guts of the satellite fixture after I had all the wires and buck pucks installed. I ended up applying velcro to all the buckpucks and putting them inside the fixture, I like the nice clean look and I drilled holes for the pots in the back of the fixture. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of that and I'm still waiting to find some nice knobs for the pots so I haven't taken pictures of those either. Sorry fans.

 

As you can see the original fan is still installed in this picture. I removed it shortly after this was taken and replaced it with a 80mm blue LED fan I got from radio shack.

 

 

AND THERE WAS LIGHT!!

 

 

This thing was so bright I couldn't look at it I just pointed my camera and took a picture.

 

Here is a picture of the unit after I just placed it on the aquarium. I should have taken a picture of everything installed inside the fixture but it slipped my mind, fortunately for you guys and unfortunately for me, one of my solders failed and I have to redo it so I'll take that opportunity to take a picture of the under carriage of this thing.

[Marteen]

 

Here is a pic of the blue LED 80mm fan I got from radio shack. It's so quiet I'm really impressed with it. I like the blue effect as well it goes well with the rest of the fixture. I kept the power switches functional on the fixture and they have proved useful when doing maintenance on the fixture.

 

 

Here is a final picture of the LED array fully adjusted. I had to turn it down after this picture was taken and I'm slowly increasing the strength of the lights since my clownfish seems blinded by the whole shebang. She is slowly recovering though so my wife no longer hates my new lights. The actual light looks a lot bluer in person than in the pic. It's also very crisp, being able to adjust the light temperatures is awesome and totally worth the trouble of building one of these yourself.

 

 

All in all I am loving the look of this fixture and am glad I did it. It was a lot of trial and error and some burnt out LEDs and a lot of resoldering and fixing ground faults but in the end it all worked.

 

If I had to give advice to someone doing a fixture like this I would say the most important thing is to plan everything out ahead of time. Know where you are placing things and the correct procedures for soldering and desoldering, the last thing you want to do is go and look up everything online everytime you hit a bump. It takes up a lot more time than you think. Finally go slow and enjoy it, remember it could be years before you get to mess with it again, so enjoy it while you can.

[evilc66]

Looks great.

[jewbilee]

I also taped down all the wires I was going to solder before I started soldering, this made the whole process much easier. In retrospect I should have tinned the wires and the LED contacts before doing this step but I didn't and I ended up burning 2 white LEDs in the process.

 

what do you mean by tinned the wires?