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Plantarms LED Pico Fixture 10''


plantarms

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you can drill the broken screw out. i did it all the time on cars. it will be hard but you can do it. you can try to use a drill bit smaller than the size you used to drill with, make a tiny hole then use an extractor to get it out. or buy a reverse drill bit and try to back it out. good luck. if you decide to sell it then i might pick it up from ya.

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i also have a couple of holes in the heatsink that are too close together, so i don't think you would really want it, that's why i'm working on my second one, i'm drilling and tapping first, then putting in the sanding work

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finished the drilling and tapping on the backup heatsink, no problems this time! i'm going to buff this heatsink some then add the led's. i know the led's should be on the heatsink when they are being soldered, but do most people screw them down with the nylon washers at this point? wouldn't that cause the washers to melt?

 

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finished the drilling and tapping on the backup heatsink, no problems this time! i'm going to buff this heatsink some then add the led's. i know the led's should be on the heatsink when they are being soldered, but do most people screw them down with the nylon washers at this point? wouldn't that cause the washers to melt?

 

I wouldn't worry a WHOLE lot about the washers melting or softening, but it would not hurt to just screw them down lightly without the washers while soldering. I'd bet the heatsink would pull the heat off before it got warm enough to do anything to them.

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alright that makes sense, thanks man. also, i'm working on wiring my moonlight, do you know anything about current usa's moonlight setup?

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It's fairly wide angle, and not very bright. If the LED you are using is too bright, you can increase the resistor value to make it dimmer.

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It's fairly wide angle, and not very bright. If the LED you are using is too bright, you can increase the resistor value to make it dimmer.

hmm alright, increase as in use the next one or just up several levels?

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drilled some holes in the fixture today for the dc panel adapters, i'm also using a separate power supply for the fans so that i can control the speed(through variable voltage resistance) using a rheostat. i'' upload some pics tomorrow

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here are some pictures of the progress, mainly just the back panel for power mounts. now i've got some sanding and soldering to do

 

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I have to ask, would a nova fit on a tank this size?

yeah, the original fixture is the current nova extreme t5 18'', but i knocked it down to 10''

 

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If you haven't already attached your LEDs, go to Autozone and get a can of mag wheel polish. It will only take you a little time to give to a chrome like finish. You won't even be able to see any markings in the aluminum after you're done. You'd have to spend an eternity and a couple dozen grades of sandpaper to get the results of a polishing compound.

Motorcycle-Polish-Mothers-Mag-And-Aluminum-Polish.jpg

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yeah but doesn't using polish leave a residue on the heatsink that interferes with the thermal transfer of the LED's to the heatsink?

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i don't think i'm actually going to polish this though, it will be mounted and will not be seen and the lapping job was to get the heatsink perfectly flat for an excellent thermal surface

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here are some pictures of the progress, mainly just the back panel for power mounts. now i've got some sanding and soldering to do

 

 

DSCN3429.jpg

 

super clean. lookin good. I may steal this from your room...but I'll feel bad and give it back..

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no updates yet, i've been very busy during the holidays and haven't gotten to work on this, however my girlfriend did get me three heads of neon green trumpet coral for christmas! she even did her research and everything to make sure it would go in my tank

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  • 2 weeks later...

mounted the led's today and soldered them together, used a thin layer of arctic silver 5 thermal paste between the led and the heatsink. all i have left is to build the moonlight, mount the heatsink, and connect all the wiring. here are some pictures

 

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just put in about four hours of work on this today, i soldered and heatshrinked the buckpuck to the led wires and power supplies, and i'm working on the moonlight right now. i ran the led's full power for about 15 minutes and the heatsink is only a little warm (and that was with the heatsink upside down and inverted in the other heatsink without fans) i'm going to try to finish this all up tonight, i will post pictures soon

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