evilc66 Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 johnamon, if you are stripping threads, the hole you drilled may have become too large as you drilled it. Even with 3mm/4-40 threads, you should be able to really crank down on the screws to the point of distorting the metal on the pcb. It is a lot harder to get accurate holes without a drill press, so you do have to be more careful later. Thermal epoxy is never going to be a replacement for bolting down the LEDs. Clamping pressure is important to getting the best thermal transfer. The method that dhraakoxr used is a good last ditch alternative though. Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 johnamon, if you are stripping threads, the hole you drilled may have become too large as you drilled it. Even with 3mm/4-40 threads, you should be able to really crank down on the screws to the point of distorting the metal on the pcb. It is a lot harder to get accurate holes without a drill press, so you do have to be more careful later. Thermal epoxy is never going to be a replacement for bolting down the LEDs. Clamping pressure is important to getting the best thermal transfer. The method that dhraakoxr used is a good last ditch alternative though. Other than than being able to easily remove and replace LEDs via the screw method I don't really agree with screws having a better ability to induce heat transfer (via clamping force) than a thermal adhesive specifically designed to get into all the peaks and valleys of a mounting surface. That is unless the screw method is complemented by a thermal grease under the LED .. in that case then the screw method is far superior. But I cannot see the screw method by itself being superior in heat transfer. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Of course you would use thermal paste. Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Of course you would use thermal paste. I just didn't feel like going through all the trouble of drillin n tappin so I went this route Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 I cannot believe how much of a difference in color these damn LEDs cause the corals to emit. It's like there's a black light over my tank or something. Do you guys know how to take good quality pictures of corals and stuff .. because man .. it's ridiculous. I had no clue they would make THIS much of a difference. It's like color popping city or something .. my freakin jaw dropped. If anyone can point me in the general direction of taking descent pics to show colors off please do tell because I'd like to share them. screw caring about any sort of costs or energy saving etc .. the colors alone pay for everything. CRAZY Link to comment
mg4015 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 i hope my setup goes over just as well. glad to hear yours turned out great! the best place to start for photos is a good DSLR and zoom/macro leses. if you dont have any of these, skills with a point and shot will suffice. i plan to geta DSLR soon for my old lenses. setup the room with the tank in it to be as dark as possible, except for the tank lights. that way there is no reflection on the glass. do not use the flash on the camera. use a high shutter speed and low f stop (i use 2.8, the lowest my point and shoot allows) and make sure the image is focused. other than that, it is pretty simple. alot of people get pissed when you edit your photos, so only edit to show the true colors if the camera doesnt do the subect justice. my photos tend to be a little washed out, so i up the colors until it looks like the actual tank. what color temp would you say the 2:1 gives you? post some pics and an FTS so we can see the eye-popping new led's in action!!!! Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I cannot believe how much of a difference in color these damn LEDs cause the corals to emit. It's like there's a black light over my tank or something. Do you guys know how to take good quality pictures of corals and stuff .. because man .. it's ridiculous. I had no clue they would make THIS much of a difference. It's like color popping city or something .. my freakin jaw dropped. If anyone can point me in the general direction of taking descent pics to show colors off please do tell because I'd like to share them. screw caring about any sort of costs or energy saving etc .. the colors alone pay for everything. CRAZY Welcome to my world! There is no turning back now. Pictures with LEDs are hard, regardless of what you are using to take them with. It's the royal blue LEDs that make it hard. Best thing I can suggest (on top of what mg4015 said) is to shoot in RAW mode. This removes white balance from the equation and it can be adjusted in Photoshop or similar to get the results you want. Also, turn the pumps off. Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 14, 2009 Author Share Posted June 14, 2009 Welcome to my world! There is no turning back now. Pictures with LEDs are hard, regardless of what you are using to take them with. It's the royal blue LEDs that make it hard. Best thing I can suggest (on top of what mg4015 said) is to shoot in RAW mode. This removes white balance from the equation and it can be adjusted in Photoshop or similar to get the results you want. Also, turn the pumps off. Thanks for the advice from both of yah, I will try my best! Link to comment
TheStar Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I had a few spare computer connectors that I used so I can easily disconnect the power supplies if need be. I need to buy larger heat shrink tomorrow to finish some stuff off and I'll likely get some split loom to make everything prettier. Are those Dell PA-9's? How did you use them? Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 15, 2009 Author Share Posted June 15, 2009 Are those Dell PA-9's? How did you use them? Not sure of the model I'll have to check em out .. but they are Dell for sure. I simply cut off the connector that plugs into the laptop, stripped the plastic insulation off, bunched up the external wrapping which is the ground, stripped the internal insulation back to expose the +ve wire, tinned and soldered. They work like champs. Link to comment
TheStar Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Not sure of the model I'll have to check em out .. but they are Dell for sure. I simply cut off the connector that plugs into the laptop, stripped the plastic insulation off, bunched up the external wrapping which is the ground, stripped the internal insulation back to expose the +ve wire, tinned and soldered. They work like champs. I see...So, you use the Dell adapter to power the Buckpuck? Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 I see...So, you use the Dell adapter to power the Buckpuck? yuppers. One adapter per buck puck. Link to comment
TheStar Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 yuppers. One adapter per buck puck. Very Cool...any way you can put up some pictures of that? Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 Very Cool...any way you can put up some pictures of that? Honestly unfortunately the only picture I have of the actually connection before it all got soldered together is this: Ok so for the big update. I still have a few things to do and I need to clean things up and finalize mounting etc. But here is the semi-finished setup: Hood gutted and ready: Kinda finished .. I still need to mount my fans properly: Toggle switches and POTs: Showing how I was able to use the stock cover to protect the LEDs.. now I just need something to protect the wires AND I need to clean them up more: Finally figured out how to kinda use the camera to capture color.. unfortunately there is a lot of red in the picture due to what I did to take the pic: And for some coral pics .. hopefully I will get better at taking them.. but the colour is close to what the corals actually look like. Lunar Eclipse on the left, Green Bay Packers on the right. Fireball: Japanese Zoa of some form: Lunars: Horizons: Link to comment
evilc66 Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Wow. Nice pictures. What did you do to get them to come out so well? Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 Wow. Nice pictures. What did you do to get them to come out so well? I put my camera into manual mode, put the aperture speed to as slow as it could go .. 1 3/4 I think and then put the camera on manual white balance mode. I aimed the camera in macro mode at the coral of concern allowed the camera to adjust the white balance and then took the shot. I really need to repeat this process again with a tripod and then see how it goes. The colours wern't perfect to what I could see with my eyes but close. Do u have UV LEDs on there? I do not. I have blues and royal blues but I am not sure if the combo makes a difference or not. I need to get another buckpuck so I can have the blues individually powered as to see if having two blue wavelengths makes a difference. Link to comment
weeber Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 thanks because those colors are awesome. Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 thanks because those colors are awesome. Thanks Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Some other pics: Better pic of a Florida Ricordea: I love the colours of this zoa the best. I believe these are Green Bay Packers: Other Ric: Pink Sparkle Zoa: Link to comment
mg4015 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 damn nice zoas, especially any of the yellow ones. got trade names on all those? Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Cost breakdown: Royal Blue CREE LEDs (5): $42.30 Blue CREE LEDs (5): $42.30 CREE Q5 LEDs (5): $50.00 BuckPucks (1000/750): $45.00 HeatSink: $28.00 Wire: $20.00 Heat Shrink: $4.00 x 3 = $12.00 Switch: $8.00 x 2 = $16.00 Flux: $9.00 Flux Remover: $9.00 Fans: $12 x 2 = $24.00 Thermal Adhesive: $20.00 Egg Crate: $5.00 I had everything else like the soldering iron, solder etc. Total cost in CAD without shipping for a few items: $322.60CAD Obviously I have nice round numbers listed so there may be a few dollars variance. I did not include shipping since anyone in the states would likely get much cheaper shipping. Link to comment
mg4015 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 that last pic is awesome. (drooling wishing my colony of dragon eyes and dull orange zoas was that cool) Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 damn nice zoas, especially any of the yellow ones. got trade names on all those? I don't have names for them all .. it was really hard to ID them under PC lighting, but now that I have colour I'll see if i can ID it all. I have added names to a few of the pics already attached. that last pic is awesome. (drooling wishing my colony of dragon eyes and dull orange zoas was that cool) Haha thanks. I'm amazed my Canon A560 can do any of this. I honestly thought I have to go out and buy a digital SLR to get pics like that. I guess I proved myself wrong which is a perk Link to comment
dhraakoxr Posted June 19, 2009 Author Share Posted June 19, 2009 Upper Zoa garden pic: You'll have to excuse the bubbles.. the water level decided to get a little low before I got home. Zoa ID (not sure if I'm 100 percent correct) from top left to bottom right: Mean Grean, Pink Sparkle, Horizon, Fireball, Japanese Zoa of some form Link to comment
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