Building a water cooled LED light

[lnevo]

Paul, I have a little over a hundred 90 degree LED lenses that I pulled from my fixtures. If you want they are available in Bellmore

 

[Paul B]

I am not sure they will fit on these LEDs. The fixture I took them out of didn't use lenses. What do they look like? Maybe I will try one to see if they fit. These LEDs are only a small round plastic thing. I posted a picture of them.

 

[lnevo]

The lenses were from the chinese blackbox leds. I'll try and get a picture later tonight.

 

[Paul B]

OK thanks. I think lenses would make a big difference although I would hate the idea of removing these lights to install them. It takes a while to get all the air out of the system even though I have two places to bleed it.

 

[lnevo]

 

[Paul B]

Inevo, someone on another forum is sending me fifty of them today but I need 72. If these fit, I could use 22 from you. Bellmore is not that far from me. Thanks, I will let you know.

 

[lnevo]

Sounds good. They're one of those things I wouldn't get rid of cause who knows when they'll come in handy

 

[Paul B]

A friend gave me fifty lenses for my new water cooled LED fixture. They made a big difference and now I don't go blind when I open the front of the tank. They also cud down on the scattered light that was going all over the place as I hate to see the back of the tank. I still need about 20 more lenses and I did drop some in the water, they don't float and I can't find them. I will eventually.
The lenses didn't push on like they are supposed to because I didn't wire them the way they were meant to be wired. They came off a printed circuit board and I have wires soldered to them that does not allow the lens to fit. I solved the problem by cutting off the sides of the lens to make room for the wires. That allowed the lens to fit but they were very loose so I had to epoxy them to the LEDs which was easy.
Here is the cut lenses along with one that is not cut.

The lenses once again let the back of the tank go dark as I like it. I still need more lenses but all of the front and rear LEDs have lenses on them

 

[lnevo]

Don't know if silicone would hold to copper but might be easier than epoxy if you ever needed to replace. Your welcome to the bag of lenses I have Paul. I'll be home from work Friday and the Weekend or later tonight. PM me whenever to make arrangements

 

[Paul B]

OK, I am going to Aquarium Village across the street from Fortunoffs in Westbury this Friday. Are you near there? PM me your phone number.

 

[Paul B]

Here is the completed water cooled LED fixture with the re-designed splash guard on it from above. Inevo, I installed the rest of the lenses you gave me, perfect, Thanks again

 

[BioMan]

WOW!! I been seeing this thread lately and finally clicked on it just now,,glad I did thats a tremendous job you did and made it look so simple! I'm curious if the LED will last longer because of this. Also, I'm guessing now you dont need to buy fixtures ever again just new bulbs when need be?

 

[Paul B]

Thanks BioMan, but I never bought a fixture in my life and never will. These LEDs run very cool so I am hoping they last forever. Or at least longer than me.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Very nice Paul, looks like another patent is on the way:bigeyes2:

 

[lnevo]

Looks great Paul. I'm glad they got to be used rather than sitting around in a bag

 

[Paul B]

Andy, I have enough patents and they are not worth the aggravation and money. I will just build stuff and sell it to you for an exorbitant price. :thrash:
Thanks Inevo they work great.

 

[Paul B]

I started Building the heat exchanger for my water cooled algae scrubber LED light. Of course I could have bought one for half the price, but anyone could do that.

 

[Paul B]

I realize it is hard to tell what this thing is, but it is my water cooled LED fixture for my algae scrubber. The red LEDs will be mounted on the back side on copper disks and the thing will transfer heat passively to the fan operated radiator through convection. It is in this shape because I only have 2" of space in front of the scrubber so the radiator needed to be mounted off to one side and slightly above in order for the heated water to rise to the heat exchanger. After I get it wired and installed I will take another picture which hopefully will clarify how it works. (If it works)

 

[Paul B]

What do you know? It works! I am running a test now to see if it gets hot.
If it works and stays cool for an hour, I will make the splash shield and install it.


While I was waiting for this to warm up, I made some stuffed calamari that will knock your socks off. They are in season now and are all over the place.

 

[Paul B]

I installed the water cooled light for the scrubber.
I am not sure if I will keep it on as I want to see if any salt water splashes on it. Of course it is copper so that wouldn't be a good thing and I may add another acrylic panel on the back of it.