DIY LED Build - Need Input

[dankolle]

I am looking at $200 - $230 to replace all of my bulbs. I am not wanting to do this every year, especially since I can almost build an LED lighting system that will last 5-7 years.

I am looking at building a test unit that could replace my MH lighting all together.

(16) Cree XR-E Royal Blue LEDs w/ Star
(8) Cree XR-E Cool White LEDs w/ Star
(2) Mean Well LPC-35-700 Drivers

Based on my research this should produce 15k - 17k light output. I am not worried about optics yet b/c I am not sure how I want to mount this fixture as of yet. I can always add to this in the future.

I am planning on using 12v cooling fans to keep it cool and will be mounting it on 1/8" aluminum sheet. I can add some heat sinks if it becomes necessiary to further disapate the heat.

Total: $168.76 w/ Free shipping - If I produce 2 of them it will be around $400 (give or take with project extras).

Does anyone have enough experience with this to tell me if it will work or not? Or am I doomed to replacing $200+ worth of bulbs every year?

 

[Northstar24]

I'm not an expert on the DIY solution but from what little I do know, your plan looks sound. I replaced my MH / T5 fixture with the Aqua Illumination units because I was not comfortable going the DIY route

 

[dankolle]

I found some other more professional setups that include XR-G lights as "high noon" lights that run for 6 hours or so and really give an extra boost. I am interested in doing this, but I dont have any coral that needs light right now...so I can always add to it in the future.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Check out

www.rapidled.com

Also, dont forget a heatsink. You will most likely burn up or shorten the life of the LEDs with just a sheet of aluminium.

 

[dankolle]

Check out

Rapid LED Home Page

Also, dont forget a heatsink. You will most likely burn up or shorten the life of the LEDs with just a sheet of aluminium.

I was thinking about giving each LED it's own heat sink then having some fans blow over the top of the group. I found 100 1"x1"x1" heat sinks on ebay for $17.50. Thanks for the link, I'll have to check out what they have!

 

[fastrd400]

I have met the guys from RapidLED, they are super cool, and they have a great product. Customer serive is excellent as well.

As far as indivdual heat sinks go, you will still have to mount them to something. I honestly think you'd be better off buying one heat sink, and going from there.

 

[dankolle]

I was planning on mounting the LED to the heat sink, then to the aluminum mounting plate.

1.) Mount LED to Heat sink (I might use bigger ones, RapidLED has some individual heat sinks I like as well)

2.) Drill hole through aluminum mounting plate large enough for LED to stick through w/ optics

3.) Bolt LED / heat sink assembly to mounting plate with 1/8" or 1/4" spacer to allow wires to fit between. That way the wires are protected and are not running on the same side water is present.

Maybe that is a bad idea...but I don't like running wires where you could touch a wire and then touch water.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Just remember, it isnt the insulated part of the wire you need to watch out for, it is the part that you solder to the LED. Which anyway you look at, will be on the side facing the water.


I would just get some clear acrylic and build a cover for your fixture and use one big heatsink.

Also check out

Extruded Aluminum Heatsinks from HeatSinkUSA for different sized heatsinks that arent available on rapid LEDs.

 

[Patzig]

My 2 cents would be that a 16 blue - 8 white led combination is going to be very blue. I have 50% xp-e blues and 50% xp-g whites and it's "close" to the amount of purple/blue that MH's put out. Also, I'm not sure if the xr and xp series are the same as far as heat goes, but I was shocked at how hot these suckers get. I ran no fan for about 10 min on my heatsink and almost burned them up (the heatsink was almost too hot to touch). Now I run a couple of 90mm fans, and it's cool to the touch. Lastly, please remember to hard wire your led's to the power source THEN plug in the power source to wall outlet. I've heard of tons of people (including me) who have burned up led's by powering up the driver, then attaching it to the led's.

+1 rapidled.com

 

[dankolle]

I have been doing a lot of reading and I found some people who have converted ATX computer power supplies to power LEDs...any electricians out there who can verify this?

 

[Patzig]

I'm not an electrician, but my dad is and he wanted to do this with my LED's. But he said we would need lots of resistors/extra wiring to bring the current way down. Then I got lazy and just bought a Meanwell driver lol.

 

[bjohanson1234]

It can be done.
But an ATX power supply is a voltage source. To get consistent light output, these LEDs should be driven at a specific current. And should really be driven by a current driver. You can build one with electronic components and use the ATX to power that, but it is alot easier to just buy the drivers.

 

[Bifferwine]

^^ He is an electrician!

 

[mpatzig]

yes, modifying PC power supply will work if you are confident/competent with basic electricity. I'm building a chiller for my seahorse tank, and just modified an ATX 350 W - took me about an hour, including the google and finding my tools !!

this can give you almost unlimited 5v (15Amp +), and around 8 amp at 12 vdc.... most of the crees want around 1 amp at max, so the issue becomes regulating the voltage - LM317 or similar chip (again google) recommended.

somehow missed previous posts....the off the shelf drivers are foolproof - I'm just too cheap sometimes (okay....all the time...)