Diy Led Rig

[Ps3Steveo]

Thats only because I dont know how hot they get and I dont want you burning your house down lol.

 

[StandbySetting]

Me neither!

 

[SuperColey1]

If you use the star without heatsink your skin will stick to the star if you touch it for more than 5 seconds!!!

I can touch the heatsink for as long as I like.

I think that tells you all you need to know with heatsink they aren't going to burn wood.

The only problem I have had from the wood, which is not really a problem is with the lid where there is nothing touching. the ambient warmth (I say warmth here not heat) made my lid warp slightly Hiowever it is thin 6mm MDF.

If you look through those threads above there is a pic of a chap who stuck his LEDs directly to an aluminaium bar. The pic shows the bar bending upwards He also didn't use drivers and a couple of months down the line was talking about fried LEDs

You've said 'this is how i've mounted the leds so far but not put a picture. If it is heatsinks stuck to the wood then it should be OK but much easier and tidier to use the lense holders that the LEDs clip into and mount them to the bottom and leave the LEDs behind the bottom clipped into the lense holders.

If you do decide to use some metal inbetwen the heatsink and wood then make sure they are seperate for each LED. something to do with electrical current can flow through the bar if they are all on the same piece

Andy

 

[StandbySetting]

Sorry Andy, forgot to post the image, here it is:

That's ok then, I'll make sure not to touch the star mounts, the heat sinks are fairly large, about 3.5Cm square.
I recall the picture of the aluminium bar, I'll have to see how things go.

Thanks

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Oh thats good then, just didnt wanna give advice on something that caused a fire lol.

 

[SuperColey1]

I would get some washers to move the heatsink away from the wood a little. Not for fear of burning but to let air through them better. heat is drawn away from the star by the heatsink and by having the heatsink grills bended onto the wood you are losing some surface area for cooling there.

No need to worry about not touching the stars when they are heatsinked. that is what the heatsink is for....to draw heat away.

You can touch them when you have the heatsink on them, but if just the star then they do this to metal bars:

This is not my tank. this is the chap I mentioned above.

Andy

 

[StandbySetting]

Well the PSU arrived, connected it all up and it doesn't work, no surprises there!

checked all connections, no shorts, so I'm wondering if 24V isn't enough to power all 6 LED's?

 

[SuperColey1]

Well the PSU arrived, connected it all up and it doesn't work, no surprises there!

checked all connections, no shorts, so I'm wondering if 24V isn't enough to power all 6 LED's?

It should be more than enough. If 12V is enough for 3LEDs and the driver then 24V should be enough for 7 LEDs and the driver.

Do you have a 12V variable adaptor anywhere?

When I do anything like this I soldered wires to 1 LED and hooked it up to the variable adaptor without the driver. Then slid the voltage up notch by notch. First would light up at 4.5V. Then solder the next. connect up and it would light up at 6. Solder the 3rd etc and it would light up at 9V.

Without the driver I did this but I was only lighting them up for a second to make sure it was working. Then the driver soldered in and connect up again. They now lit up at 9V but ful brightness at 12V.

For you it would be easy enough to solder the LEDs into 2 strips of 3, test on the 12V variable and then solder theses together into a 6 etc.

BACK to the testing board I think.

This is me testing without a driver. You can se the connector in the bottom right corner.

Andy

 

[StandbySetting]

Thanks Andy, after a bit of fault finding, I've found the offender, one of the LED's isn't operating so I've replaced it and after being dazzled it all works!

Thanks for all of your help

I'll post a picture in a minute once this final LED is in place.

 

[StandbySetting]

There it is, I just need to box it all up now!

Thanks

 

[Gav935]

Looking good, how much has all the parts set you back so far?

 

[StandbySetting]

In total about £30 for LED's, Driver, PSU, Thermal Tape, Wood and fixings.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Thanks Andy, after a bit of fault finding, I've found the offender, one of the LED's isn't operating so I've replaced it and after being dazzled it all works!

Thanks for all of your help

I'll post a picture in a minute once this final LED is in place.

Which was my point about parallel wiring.

 

[StandbySetting]

That's something I could possibly do in the future, but with the driver I'm using the LED's are best wired in series according to the manufacturer.