Diy led

[leeit2me]

just wanted to post my project up. I guess if you see one LED project you seem them all.. LOL.. Well here is mines. I brought the 72 led kit I went with 1/2 white and 1/2 blue. since I have alot of left over led's from other projects. I will make this project an experimental one. Just messing with the color and placement of the leds.

 

[KathyC]

Wow, that looks complicated!

So, where is the pic of how the tank looks with the light on?

 

[leeit2me]

Yes I was lost couple of time when I was trying to trace what goes where. LOL

sorry no pic with it turn on over the tank since I didn't solder the the dimmer pots when I took those pics.

I will this weekend, I am still playing with the LED colors. I think judging by the 4 REDs. it's way too much for me. I think I will drop it down to 2 REDs. I have try green and didn't do anything on the color.

Total of 80 LEDS with a 24x24 60gal cube and 8 inch above the tank.. Yes I know it's a bit over kill for a tank of that size.. LOL.. but thats why I have dimmers..

 

[leeit2me]

Here are the pic's you requested. did a quick setup and took these pic's.

this is my rapidled DIY setup. All 48 cree leds, White and blue's

this is the aquastyle.com DIY LED setup. 80 LEDS Mix of Whites/blues/reds.

As you can see how the RED stands out when it's turned up all the way. thats why I am stepping down to 2 reds instead of 4.

 

[Frank@Wall]

Tagging along. I ordered a 72 led set up as well.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

How much time you have spend on this project? Did you cut a bigger heatsink into strips?

 

[leeit2me]

How much time you have spend on this project? Did you cut a bigger heatsink into strips?

From brainstorming to where I am at right now. I would say about few days of work if you combine all the hours here and there.

I was lucky when I brought a DIY led fixture from a fellow MR seller. I thought it was a solid heat sink. But as I was taking it apart I've notice it was in segment strips. So that's how this design came about with these segments heat sink strips. Only issue I have about this fixture is the weight. I would say its about 13lbs of aluminum and acrylic. Once I make the cover for it, which will be 3/16 thick acrylic it will be even heavier.

 

[ravi197699]

nice built since you have optics on red led's try it without optics and see the difference you won't see any spots of red in the rock or corals. it will blend evenly with whites and blues but great job thumbs up

 

[ifarmer]

very nice.
just curious, what camera did you use to capture that shot?
my iphone camera nenver give me such a clear shot like that

 

[Imbarrie]

Instead of acrylic to shield the LEDs why not use glass?
You are in BKN there is Mega Glass right by the Nets Arena that can cut thin glass and that would work better.

Nice to see people DIY LEDs still.
I bought mine.

 

[leeit2me]

very nice.
just curious, what camera did you use to capture that shot?
my iphone camera nenver give me such a clear shot like that

Thanks!

I use HTC HD7 phone. it's a 5mb pixel phone I think.

Instead of acrylic to shield the LEDs why not use glass?
You are in BKN there is Mega Glass right by the Nets Arena that can cut thin glass and that would work better.

Nice to see people DIY LEDs still.
I bought mine.[/QOUTE]

I didn't use a splash guard for this. I think you misread my post. I was making the shell of the fixture to cover the top and putting a fan on top to remove the heat from the heatsinks.

Sorry, didn't update my progress. but never too late to do so. Here is my fixture cover made from 3/16 clear acrylic and after gluing and drilling and mounting a 120mm fan was done. I painted it black on the inside so it looks shiny on the outside and threw a coat of white paint to reflect some of the light over the black paint. But I think it was just over kill on my end.

I have add a black foam board strips. I did this because the LED lens was right below the edge of the fixture cover and the glare was annoying for me. so I cover it with the foam board strip which help the annoyance.

Lesson learn.... 80 LED's at 8 inch height over a 60 cube is kind of over kill... LOL..

 

[goisles1]

ok.. it's been 2+ months.. hows the tank doing with the Cheaper LED's compared to the CREE's from RapidLED?

 

[vio]

Nice job, i like it.

 

[troywalkerphoto]

Compared to buying a ready made system what was the cost in total? I love DIY but it can be a bit of a money pit once you add it all up.