C Jerome Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Thanks, I was happy with how it turned out. To your questions... I dont know if a jigsaw would cut it, do you mean a jig saw with a metal blade or a jigsaw with a blade for metal cutting? I don't remember if I used that huge machine or a big band saw, but assuming you don't have one of those at your disposal my next choice would be a simple hack saw. I asked a similar question about using self tapping screws and received a few replies discouraging them I think because of concerns about striping out the holes if you need to unscrew and replace them at some time, possibly the clamping pressure and I don't recall what else so I just went with tapping the holes. I think I broke two, had I been more careful it probably would have been just one. To me I thought the self tapping might have worked, if you have time, try it on two holes or better yet drill a few holes in the areas you are going to cut out and try the self taping screws in there and see how it goes then decide. Maybe it will work fine, maybe the aluminum will be too soft. Let me know if you have any other questions. Jerome Link to comment
Sc Seahawk Posted April 2, 2010 Share Posted April 2, 2010 Ive been thinking about this same project....how thick is the Heat Sink? Link to comment
rO.oster Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 +1 this is THE guide. my 29BC and 5.5 quarantine thank you. my wallet hates you. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Thanks for the complement, at lest you wallet is a little happier than mine, the prices have come down a tad since last year when I did the project! I think the heat sink is around 1.5 or so. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 So, I have that next best thing itch again... I would like to set up the RKL with one of the ALC dimming modules to control the LEDs. That being said I will need to switch up how my setup is powered. I have not fully looked into this but I think I can 'just' replace my power supplies and buck pucks with a set of these New Drivers, given I will loose the four knob control, but I will gain automation and a cool sunrise/set effect. I will also go from 1000ma to 700ma but I dont think that will be an issue as I think the 1000 is overkill anyway. Anyone running the 700 buckpucks have feedback? I was looking at the nanocustoms fancy duo 700 box but then realized its sort of a waste of money, if I am just going to hook it up to the ALC I might as well just buy the drivers. What do you think? Jerome Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 You can still use the Buckpucks if you like. You just need to add a voltage divider on the output of the ALC to drop the voltage to more a Buckpuck friendly 5v. Now, the one issue with use Buckpucks is that you have to use the timers on the RKL in reverse. Buckpucks use an inverse control signal, meaning 5v is off, and 0v is on. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 I will have to price that. If I went that way the light gradient up and down would be less since I am only spacing over 5 instead of 10v? Link to comment
evilc66 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 No. It's ratiometric. Whatever the output of the ALC is, divide it in half. You still get the same number of steps, just at half the voltage. Link to comment
jetfixr Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Nice build.... I loosely based my build on yours, but I went with 3 dimmable meanwells. Basically the entire area under the spash shield is covered with heatsink except for the spots notched for the stock fans. I figured by going with that large of a heatsink I could just go with the stock fans..... Lets just say, I know why you went with the 120mm fan now. Seems like heatsink temps and and water temps are manageable only up to about 90 to 100 watts as read with a Kill-a-watt meter, and that is with the mild temps this time of year. Anything over that and the heatsink gets over 120 degrees and I have kinda set that as my max temp. If I max it out with 150 watts, forget about it. I have some cooling mods in my future. I did run an Apex controller to handle the dimming function. But a controller is a bit cumbersome to change the intensity of the lights on the fly. So i built all 3 of my drivers into a 1u rack enclosure that I found at an electronic surplus store, and then I put 2 potentiometers on the front along with a double-pole, double-throw switch, for both channels (blue is ran as one channel even though I have 2 meanwells on it). With the the switch in one position, it runs off of the potentiometers, switch it to the other position and the controller takes over. I have also found that if I use the controller to kill power to the meanwells, I get a nasty voltage spike moments after the power is pulled and the lights flash brightly one time and then go out. I figure this is because of the caps inside of the meanwells draining down. Now I just keep the meanwells powered 24/7, and just reduce the dimming voltage to 0v. Link to comment
LRStar Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 The finance department approved my request for an LED project for my BC29. This thread is great and I may do mine like this. Thanks for all the leg work you've done here. Finally had it replacing lights again. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 Good luck with your project. The one change I would make now is to use a drive that includes the power supply and can support dimming with the 0-10v so you can set it up with a controller when you are ready. Jerome Link to comment
WmTasker Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I am just curious about using the wood to make the housing. Has there been any problems with using the wood? Any problems with heat transferring to the wood from the light? Link to comment
C Jerome Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 No problems with heat. I have built MH into wood hoods with out issue. The design of theirs led was more of just a surround, but you could do a full hood as long as you plan for proper air circulation across the Heatsink. Jerome Link to comment
chaizer Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Good luck with your project. The one change I would make now is to use a drive that includes the power supply and can support dimming with the 0-10v so you can set it up with a controller when you are ready. Jerome any suggestions as what driver I should get? I just started modding my BC29, I've already retro fit with a small DIY LED fixture, but I plan on grabbing the same heatsink you have, and spacing out the LEDs more for better coverage. Link to comment
C Jerome Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Yes, I would go for a driver that is controllable, so then when you are ready you can buy a RKL or other controller and set it up to dim the lights on and off. So no buck pucks, I used them because they were the best thing available at the time I did my project, there are many more better options available now. Jerome Link to comment
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