hexbasher Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 started the heat sink today after work so far i also have a RKM-ALC and a 24 LED Dimmable kit from rapidled.com. I have two Reefkeeper Lunar LED pods ordered from my LFS the heatsink still needs some more work. I need two more holes drilled for the wiring for the lunar pods and as well i'm going to machine hex pockets for the led star board to sit in nicely... i have afew ideas kicking around in my head on how i'll finish this fixture (how i'll make the outer housing) gonna hit up an electronics store for some fans later today. Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Did some more work today at work not much is left...i need to drill and tap a hole to attach a ground....and im thinking dead center machining a little pocket to glue a temp probe to think I'll order this to control my fans (RKL is maxed and i have nothing left to control any fans) http://www.coolerguys.com/840556086611.html Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 i wish i have access to a machine shop with a CNC mill Link to comment
silversurfer96790 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Nice mill work. Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 thanks....its my trade ... thinking about adding some UV LEDs to this rig but im alittle unsure....are 5mm LEDs the standard UV led for DIY reef lights??????? Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 how would 2 of these 1W UV LEDs be? i like the price...8 bucks... http://www.lck-led.com/p660/1W-Star-High-P...27cde8097115da2 Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I wouldn't bother. They don't have enough grunt to make any kind of real difference, and their life expectancy isn't that great compared to other LEDs. Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 ok...should i look into 3W UVs then...or more UV LEDs besides just having two or not even bother with UVs???? I'd like to have a nicely mixed reef... Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Finished the heatsink and the mount...off to the annodizers to get it blackened Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 due to double double-shifts, i didnt get the heat sink to the anodizers until thursday morning and missed the black batch....next week until thats done still need to get: -wiring, -some nylon washers, -a project box (for the 2x meanwell drivers, 12v transformer, fan controller, wiring terminals, and the future addition of a 10v transformer and all the stuff for a dimmable manual bypass for the meanwells), -my Digital Aquatics Lunar Pods (which Ive ordered but still hasnt come in at my LFS) i "found" a baggie of aboot 200 M3 x 8mm bolts at work...hehe i've ordered a 70mm fan and controler from thecoolerguys.com (and it shipped on friday i believe) What sort of Wiring are people commonly using??? Are people grounding their LEDs???? I've planned for this and I have a tapped hole on my heat sink allowed for this use. For Reefkeeper users (since I have a ALC modual) do you guys have the Meanwell drivers plugged into a PC4 (or PC1?) or are they just plugged into a (non-controllable) power bar?????? I'm not sure whats more proper...Im saying f*** it and im upgrading to a RKE in the future once my lighting is done and i;ve upgraded my Pumps...if its worth doing, its worth overdoing... Link to comment
coolwaters Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 how much did that cost? looks like a water cooling block... Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 how much did that cost? looks like a water cooling block... nothing....Im a machinist...work in a CNC prototyping shop...made that from a solid peice of 6061... Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 due to double double-shifts, i didnt get the heat sink to the anodizers until thursday morning and missed the black batch....next week until thats done still need to get: -wiring, -some nylon washers, -a project box (for the 2x meanwell drivers, 12v transformer, fan controller, wiring terminals, and the future addition of a 10v transformer and all the stuff for a dimmable manual bypass for the meanwells), -my Digital Aquatics Lunar Pods (which Ive ordered but still hasnt come in at my LFS) i "found" a baggie of aboot 200 M3 x 8mm bolts at work...hehe i've ordered a 70mm fan and controler from thecoolerguys.com (and it shipped on friday i believe) What sort of Wiring are people commonly using??? Are people grounding their LEDs???? I've planned for this and I have a tapped hole on my heat sink allowed for this use. For Reefkeeper users (since I have a ALC modual) do you guys have the Meanwell drivers plugged into a PC4 (or PC1?) or are they just plugged into a (non-controllable) power bar?????? I'm not sure whats more proper...Im saying f*** it and im upgrading to a RKE in the future once my lighting is done and i;ve upgraded my Pumps...if its worth doing, its worth overdoing... There is no need to ground the heatsink with DC. If you make a mistake with the wiring to the LEDs, and have a short somewhere, that normally wouldn't affect the operation of the LEDs, it will cause all kinds of havok with the heatsink grounded. With the heatsink anodized, it's electrically isolated anyway, provided you don't short to a screw Just keep your wire strip length nice and short, and bare copper away from any bare metal. You can plug the mains power for the Meanwells into a single PC4 port if you like. The advantage here is that you can set two timers up. One to ramp the dimmer up and down, and one to kill the mains power to the driver. Reason being is that some people don't like the glow that some experience when the dimmers are "off". Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 There is no need to ground the heatsink with DC. If you make a mistake with the wiring to the LEDs, and have a short somewhere, that normally wouldn't affect the operation of the LEDs, it will cause all kinds of havok with the heatsink grounded. With the heatsink anodized, it's electrically isolated anyway, provided you don't short to a screw Just keep your wire strip length nice and short, and bare copper away from any bare metal. You can plug the mains power for the Meanwells into a single PC4 port if you like. The advantage here is that you can set two timers up. One to ramp the dimmer up and down, and one to kill the mains power to the driver. Reason being is that some people don't like the glow that some experience when the dimmers are "off". Thanks Evil, you always seem to have some good insight....wonder why... anywho, i picked up everything i had at the anodizers today...and my weekend starts 1am tonight.. so I can imagine i'll spend my whole weekend between my kitchen table (soldering), the bar, and going to afew hockey games... Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 I put all the LEDs in place during lunch and mocked up the rest (the 1/4 csink s/s bolts are just temp and is the pin I have on the hindge) Link to comment
evilc66 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 It starting to look pretty nice. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 looks commercially bought.. now go make me one =P Link to comment
imagex Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 now thats probably one of the nicest diy's i've seen on here... good job.. did you anodize the heatsink? Link to comment
blibo Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 holy...crap...fyi they're using this setup for the 'T' in Transformer 3 Link to comment
RK_tek Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 That looks awesome. Makes mine look like a hack job. I miss having access to a full machine shop... Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 now thats probably one of the nicest diy's i've seen on here... good job.. did you anodize the heatsink? thanks...yes, i got it annodized but the annodizers fexked it good by dropping it twice...my company sometimes uses them because they dont do as good as a job but theyre fast...this was the 5th time i sent personal stuff there and maybe the last.... anywho, basicly the whole LED rig is soldered up but im currently in the middle of moving the tank to my living room since i finished building my stand...im just waiting to put on a second coat of paint on the back of the tank, quickly hard plumb the overflow on, then start putting the sand/rock/livestock back in the tank i'm hoping to have the meanwells wired up by tomorrow..i have to hit up the electronics store for some more wire for the fan since i forgot to order an extension from coolerguys.com... Link to comment
glazer Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Looking sweet bro... as others have mentioned, man, do I miss having access to a CNC set up. All the DIYs were so much simpler then...lol I have to ask... Why did you cut holes in your splash guard everywhere there is a lens/led? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of keeping everything "clean", mainly the optics? Steve Link to comment
hexbasher Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have to ask... Why did you cut holes in your splash guard everywhere there is a lens/led? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of keeping everything "clean", mainly the optics? I dont know...That material is tinted lexan and I thought the tilt would suck up alot of light/heat...To me, it's purpose is just to hold the lenses from falling (afew of them are loose on the Crees). Link to comment
glazer Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 OH, okay.. I hadn't noticed before that the guard was tinted. I see now, looking at the pics again that it is. With you 100% though in regards to holding the lenses on. I just made a splash guard up for a friend and the plan was originally to mount it with about 1.5' of space. After finding out that half the lenses would just fall off the emitters if you looked at them funny we had to change the spacers to ones that would in effect clamp the lenses on. Seems like a poor design.. the lenses I mean. Is anybody glueing them in place? Know to NOT use superglue but is a very minute amount of silicone acceptable? Anyway... the light looks great and looking forward to seeing some pics of this thing mounted up and in "action". Steve Link to comment
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