Led Lighting Build With Pics

[dojima]

Little background as this is my first proper post.
Setup my first real tank 43G in Feb 09 (eBay job) previous tank was a biorb 60 which served as a good introduction to the hobby. I wanted to minimise internal clutter so went for an External Hydor 300W heater and wanted to ensure adequate filtration with an Tetratec EX1200.

I was undecided about lighting as hood didn't come with any, intended to buy an Interpet compact T5 Twin 55W however they were discountinued when I came to buy which was enough of an excuse to get this project started. I had always liked the dimming LED on the BiOrb with the daytime and moonlight, ultimatley this is what I want to achieve.

I do not intend to be growing plants so the target for lighting is simply to look good with a nice balance that shows of the fish while maintaining a tranquil ambience.

Fish wise I previously had 2 Corys and 2 White Rams ( I Think) from BiOrb
Have added since: 6 White Tip Tetra, 1 Firemouth, 1 Bristlenose Pleco
Everyone appears to get on well

So on with the LED Build...

My experience is limited so it is very much learn as I go, a bit of patience and common sense should hopefully do the job, if I can do it you can to

Background Reading
Thanks to SuperColey1 and his LED Lighting thread @ Diy Whole Tank Led Lighting Retrofit

Items Utilised (So far)
The primary objective was not cost saving however it is nice when you have parts lying around
Tools: Soldering Iron, Multimeter (Optional)

5 x 3W LED & Driver (You get 5 individual Drivers) - ebay, delivery was just under 3 weeks. ~£18 inc delivery
Ebay 5 * 3W White LED & Driver
12V DC Mains Adapter - Found an old piece of tech in the cellar with a suitable adapter. 12V DC 1.2A
Terminal Block - Wilkos, was cheap like ~50p

Please excuse image quality, my old compact just aint what it used to be.

Version 0.1
Wanted to get 1 light in for testing and see how it looked. You can see wiring easily from the picture, very straightforward.
Cut off terminal on DC Adapter, pop it in terminal block. Stuck the legs on the driver straight into the block and soldered on to LED. Pink is positive.

In Relation to hood looks tiny.

Couple of pictures:
The pictures don't really do it justice, very nice shimmer and faint rays of sunshine effect. It does light the width of tank, you wouldn't know with the picture quality but
there are fish in there.

Future Planning
Want to get all 4 LED mounted and running, thinking I will use a bit of pvc conduit piping mounted onto the hood and then epoxy the LED onto old pc heatsinks and into the pipe.
I imagine I then need to connect all the drivers in parallel to the supply, I know the current one isn't powerful enough so I am thinking it would be good to put an old ATX PSU to use
and convert it into a handy Lab PSU. Found this nice tutorial: ATX Power Supply To Lab Power Supply Conversion
12V 20A wil be plenty.
Added: Higher voltage is preferable rather than higher current output, I require 700ma and enough voltage to to cover the 4 LED so infact a 24V powersupply at 1A would be better.

Further ahead I would like to consolidate it into using 1 single drive like RCD-24 and utilise the dimming functionality however one step at time.

Next Step
Take the test version and create a more permanent installation, add in a heat sink along with detachable hood mounting and detachable power. This will serve as the foundation for the next version.

Any feedback, ideas, suggestions appreciated. Will post as I go...

 

[SuperColey1]

Are you planning on only using 4 on the whole tank? Is it to be supplemental or the sole lighting?

AC

 

[dojima]

Are you planning on only using 4 on the whole tank? Is it to be supplemental or the sole lighting?

It will be the sole lighting, will see how it looks with all 4 LED in, it would have been 5 however there was an accident

 

[helterskelter]

Look's ok what i was looking at some 50watt LED's the other week..... need a large heat sink though but good otherwise.

Here look ta my LED video
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKGFseTGobE...re=channel_page

 

[dojima]

An individual unit like 50W High Power LED ? I would like to see that in my tank lol

I have a couple of spare stock Intel Heatsinks for Core 2 Duo processors, was thinking of using these for the 3W LED although it does seem overkill as the heatsink dwarfs the LED, some old 486 style heatsinks would probably be fine however I don't have any lying around, would also like to have them all the same.
Was thinking along these lines 25x25 Heatsink

 

[SuperColey1]

Don't underestimate the heat these babies push out. Here is one 3W with the recommended heatsink on it (bought from the same supplier):

Just to show you what it looks like with a small number these show 3 x 3W over my 125Ltr. They are crudely fastened in and are at the front (This was the first test before assembling the whole 15 LED board.) These will be fine for a non planted tank but I wouldn't put plants in there with any expectations to flourish too much. This is 7.45W (0.23WPG!!!)

AC

 

[dojima]

Your Lighting looks good.

When you used those VGA heatsinks which looker smaller than the LED unit itself, did they get too hot so you moved over to the bigger ones, how big are they? Look like 30x30mm ?
Also what compound are you using to attach the LED to the heatsink?

I have some good thermal compound for PC heatsinks however it doesn't really 'glue' so was thinking to use the thermal compound arount most of the surface area and then
use a cheap epoxy (£1 Shop) around the outer edge?

Also had a look at the drivers you use, think I should go down that route as it is going to get tedious with lots of these single driver units.

Here is an image of the Intel stock heatsink with the LED, perhaps a little large ?

 

[SuperColey1]

I used the VGA heatsinks because allied with the fans I didn't need the heatsink to do the whole job. Had to do it this way really because the unit is enclosed with no vents.

I used the proper heatsinks on the open top mini luminiare.

I guess they are 40 x 40mm (ish)

The original memory chip ones had thermal tape already attached to them so just used that. The mini luminaire ones I used the same processor compound you are talking about and then superglued over the edges to hold it in position. Left it for an hour or 2 before putting them in position.

The drivers I used (apparently) will do for 7V - 24V therefore take off 1.5V that the driver itself uses and they will run 5.5 to 22.5V. That means you can bang a 24V source into it and run 22.5V of LEDS. Using these ebay ones means you can run up to 6 off one driver.

That is one big heatsink don't think you need anything that large. I would go back to the seller you bought the LEDs from and ask them to quote you for the heatsinks. I got quoted $6 inc shipping for 3 heatsinks and 3 lenses with holders. I don't use the holders anymore.

AC

 

[saltynay]

Use something like this
http/www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_...al_adhesive.htm

Make sure to allow it to cure. The best for Cpu is the Thermalright tx-2 or Mx ranges

 

[dojima]

That stuff looks good however I bet it aint cheap even for a tiny amount, I do have some Arctic Silver 3 thermal compound though.

The heatsinks I was looking at have an adhesive strip on em so hopefully that will be sufficent to hold on the LED. Will probably buy from Farnell as I don't have the patience
to wait 3 Weeks like I did for the LEDs themselves although the £20 minimum spend is annoying.

I have been thinking about the way to attach the lights to the hood, I was going to use the PVC pipe as I have some lying around however ideally a piece of metal (aluminium?) would be better, one that is wide enough to slot the heatsinks into and I can drill some holes into it for easy mounting.
Any suggestions for hood mounting ?

 

[SuperColey1]

I used the big sheet of acrylic attached everything to that and then attached the board to the hood. That way if something goes wrong I can just disconnect the main wires and then detach the board to work on it in the open.

AC

 

[helterskelter]

The LED light i used above is an LED bar with 135 led's built into it, fully water proof and no need for a heat sink

 

[smegforbrains]

You can use a Christmas tree rope light and fix it in position with conduit saddles.


Wilko sell them very cheaply around Christmas time at less than a tenner for a 2m rope.

 

[Truck]

You can use a Christmas tree rope light and fix it in position with conduit saddles.


Wilko sell them very cheaply around Christmas time at less than a tenner for a 2m rope.

then we can have our selves a fishy disco

 

[helterskelter]

LOL

Oh dear