Converting Sfiligoi Stealth to LED / T-5 Combo. Check it out

aharrow

Member
Well I wanted to document my conversion from a T-5 / Metal Halide to T-5 / LED and show a step by step build in the event that other reefers out there wanted to convert an old T-5 Fixture to a T-5/LED.

Special thank you to Tim at Aquatics Elite for getting me some spare parts and outstanding customer service to rebuild this great fixture. If you are looking for a Sfiligoi fixture Tim is your guy.

I purchased my Sfiligoi Stealth fixture from a fellow reefer (Thanks Soccerbag) a couple years back and Craig hooked me up for a pretty sweet deal. The Stealth is 48" long by 20" and about 3.5" deep.

The fixture had some ballast issues and instead of a 12 bulb T-5 it was only working on about 6-8 bulbs. My preference at the time was metal halide and I decided to convert the unit to a 2 x 250 Radium MH and 4 t-5's as well as fitting in a standalone reefbrite LED. The problem with retrofitting this fixture for Metal Halide was the lack of clearance for the bulbs. I could not use the glass of the fixture because the bulbs would sit on them and too much heat. It worked well for several years and now I am ready to make the move from MH to LED. I will keep 6 T-5 Bulbs in the fixture.

So before I could take down my Stealth I had to build one half of the LED fixture. I purchased a kit from Bill at ReefLedLights that consists of 35 LED's that will mount on the 18" x 8.9" Heatsink. When the fixture is done I will have two of these kits for a total of 70 LED's. I will be running the following configuration for LED's. On each heat sink will be 35 stars consisting of 20 Cree 3W Premium Royal Blues, 10 Cree Premium XRE Cool Whites , and 5 XPG Cool Whites. I am using Carlco Optics and Inventronics pre-tuned Dimmable ballasts.

This isn't quite the 2-1 ratio I wanted to get the 20k look so I will supplement that by running 2 Blue T-5's, 2 fiji purple and 2 white. The white XPG LED's are the stronger brighter ones for a high noon affect. Since I will be at work during the day when the High noon whites are on bringing my spectrum down more along the lines of 12-14k it won't bother me, plus it offers some better growth spectrum. After the high noons turn off around 4pm, it will be back to a more 20k spectrum which is my preference when I am home.

So on to the pictures:
Here is the fixture retrofitted for MH in the center and 6 t-5s along with the reefbrite tucked in there as well. Not the cleanest retro but it worked.
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Here is the fixture gutted and only the shell remains:
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Here is the LED build for one half of the unit
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Because I didn't want to see all those wires I cut a piece of Lexan to create a shield to hide the wires. I am very OCD and even though no one will ever see the wires up in the fixture, it drives me crazy.

So here is the shield painted metallic silver mounted over the heatsink. I think I am going to strip it and paint it black, not sure yet if I like the silver. The shield is seperated from the heatsink by 1/2" extender posts and each LED is cut out using a standard 1" Hole bore drill bit.

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So I broke down the fixture even further since I plan to paint it. Not quite sure what color yet, but I am leaning toward Ferrari Red or Rich Black. I will paint the mesh a metallic silver if I go with Red and leave it gunmetal if I paint black. I used paint stripper and a lot of sanding with steel wool. I have to give it to Sfiliogi, that was one of the best paint jobs because it took me a long time to strip it using multiple applications of the paint stripper. I only got one half done today. Will work on the other half this week. The left side is down to the bare metal. I wish I could leave it that metal finish and put just a clear coat on it. That would look awesome.

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A few notes on the lexan shield. It covers nicely but I don't like the way it took paint. My thought was to paint the backside and let the silver show through. That way it should be a nice gloss finish. I cleaned it with alcohol before painting but it took theming with a splotchy look.

Make sure your holes are perfectly measured. I used a nail to start indent the lexan at the center of the circle and then placed the drill tip on that indent so it didn't move.

Also go as slow as possible with the drill. if you go too fast it heats up the lexan and then you are taking a razor blade or knife and trimming the buildup around the hole after the fact. Very tedious and a royal pain. Use a drill press if you have access to one.

I dropped off the metal piecs to a custom paint shop and decided to go with black. I got the paint codes from sfiliogi and am using RAL 9001 if anyone is interested. I almost went with Ferrari red but couldn't pull the trigger
 
So I got the Shell back from the Paint Shop. The place did an outstanding job and I got it done in Black. RAL 9005 is the official color from Sfiligoi. Base coat, two coats of Black and a final clear. It shines and looks outstanding.
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Here is the shell assembled ready for wiring and T-5 Ballast and end caps. I got the fan mounts put back together since I painted all components black.
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Here are the three ballasts halfway installed. The wife wants to watch a movie tonight priorities, priorities. I will finish the wiring in the morning and zip tie it all nice and neat and install the reflectors and the bulbs. That will leave my center piece of LED's left to build.
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Alright, so the T-5's are done. Second Set of LED's should be here this week.

Here is the ballast wiring nice and neat and zip tied. Only ones I had were a nice neon yellow which goes nicely with the black.
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Now the reflectors and Bulbs installed:
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Lights ON:
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Should get more done later this week once the LED's arrive and then I will get it mounted and over the frag tank. Next build will be my main display tank. I intend to purchase a 60" x 36" x 20" from Tim at Aquatics Elite but that is for another thread.
 
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