New Light Project - Completed

[degsod]

Just received my 3W White and Blue LED's from Hongkong along with drivers and heatsinks so am going to give DIY lighting ago. I have 5 white and 5 blue.

Hopefully this should be sufficient for my 2' 6" tank.

Just got to locate a suitable psu now.

I will post up my pics and results over the coming days

 

[degsod]

LED's with power drivers soldered and heat sinks.

Close up of LED

Ok I decided to use Unistrut to attach the LED's to

Using 'Chocy blocks to make the connections

Attached the LED's to the Unistrut using tie wraps The unistrut should make a good heatsink

I have used 5 white LED's and 3 blue LED's

Ligths on !!

Back of the unit showing cable

Pictures of the tank with the lights just resting on the condensation cover.

I am using an old 12V Laptop PSU which ia rated at 100W at 12V

 

[rabbut]

Looks good. I'd point out that they are most efficient when as many as possible are rigged to one driver in series though, each on an individual driver almost doubles the power they use, just so you know where to mod if you feel like playing later

 

[degsod]

Looks good. I'd point out that they are most efficient when as many as possible are rigged to one driver in series though, each on an individual driver almost doubles the power they use, just so you know where to mod if you feel like playing later

Thanks, I was going to do that originally, but the supplier I bought them off in HK only had the 3W drivers, ie one for each LED so I was stuck with that.

This is only a test for my next projext which is to light a 6x2x2 tank when I get it.

 

[rabbut]

They should work for daisy chaining. They limit the current, not the voltage and hence maximum power consumption, so if they are wired in series, you can use one driver and as many LED's as are enough to swallow just less than your power supplies voltage, or the maximum voltage limit of the drivers, either way

 

[degsod]

They should work for daisy chaining. They limit the current, not the voltage and hence maximum power consumption, so if they are wired in series, you can use one driver and as many LED's as are enough to swallow just less than your power supplies voltage, or the maximum voltage limit of the drivers, either way

Hmm, I will have to give it a try then, the specs for the drivers are for 1 x 3W or 3 x 1W LED's (in series). When I spoke to the supplier they reckoned that I could not put 3 x 3W with 1 driver.

I need to dig out my old A level physics lol

 

[rabbut]

You don't want to put them in series though...

Do you have the driers spec sheet? Is so, what is the maximum and voltage at which it will operate? What is the maximum power of the LED's?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[degsod]

You don't want to put them in series though...

Do you have the driers spec sheet? Is so, what is the maximum and voltage at which it will operate? What is the maximum power of the LED's?

All the best
Rabbut

I have requested the datasheets for the drivers and LED's, I will post the info as soon as I get it. I will have a go at wiring a couple of LED's up to see what happens.

 

[degsod]

You don't want to put them in series though...

Do you have the driers spec sheet? Is so, what is the maximum and voltage at which it will operate? What is the maximum power of the LED's?

All the best
Rabbut

Info off suppliers web site


Power Drivers

They are ideal for 3 of 1 watt in series or 1 of 3 watt high power Luxeon LED work with 12-24 volt, fit for any color LED 1w and 3w.

Input Voltage: 12-24 Volt
Output Voltage: 5v~9v
Output Current: 680~720mA
Protection Rate: IP50
Function: Open circuit, Short circuit and Over loading
Working Temperature: -20~80 celsius degree
Save Temperature: -20~80 celsius degree

LED's

DC Forward Voltage (VF): 3.6 ~ 4.0 Vdc

DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 650mA

Temperature Co-Efficient: 0.04nm / Degree C

Viewing Angle: 120 Degree

Intensity Luminous (Iv): 120 ~ 150 LM

 

[rabbut]

A quick "back of an envelope" calculation says 6 is possible, however 5 would be what I'd rig to them. This is because the driver requires some power to regulate the current to the LED's You'll need to drive the chain at 24V DC, and it will pull about 4A (4,000mA) from the supply

All the best
Rabbut

 

[degsod]

A quick "back of an envelope" calculation says 6 is possible, however 5 would be what I'd rig to them. This is because the driver requires some power to regulate the current to the LED's You'll need to drive the chain at 24V DC, and it will pull about 4A (4,000mA) from the supply

All the best
Rabbut

thanks I will be ordering some more LED's so I will give it a try then. I do however have 2 Blue LED's left over so I could try 2 with one driver.

I will have to source a 24V PSU, could I use a switched mode psu from a pc? I could put the driver over the -12 and +12 to give 24 V maybe?

 

[rabbut]

Unfortunately, it has to be + or - 24V strait. If you apply a + and a - 12V to the driver, nothing will happen

 

[degsod]

Unfortunately, it has to be + or - 24V strait. If you apply a + and a - 12V to the driver, nothing will happen

Ok, I will look out for a 24V psu.

I have got a 12V psu for the blue lights now, will post some pics later once it gets dark

 

[saltynay]

Desktop psu's have a 12V max rail just to clarify.

 

[mixmaster jay]

that looks weel good mate