Chronicj7
Member
I have wanted to switch to LED's for some time and finally chose to go with 2 AI Sol units. The white and aluminum finish didn't really catch my eye and really didn't match my stand which is black and red with brass hardware. I decided to take on a little project and customize them as soon as I got them and thought I'd share my experience.
I've never anodized anything in my life and to my surprise it was actually fairly easy. So here it goes.
Things you'll need:
5 large buckets to fit whatever you want to anodize in it. - $5
Degreaser - $4
Caustic Soda (Drano works) - $4
A car battery charger or some sort of power supply - I had one laying around
Aluminum wire - $1
Battery acid (Sulphuric acid) - $8
RIT brand fabric dye (concentrated) - $1.50 a box. I used 3. $4.50 total
Spray bottle - $1
Latex gloves - $1
RO/DI water - most of us already have
Scrap aluminum sheet - already had it
Total - $28.50
To begin:
The AI Sol's as well as most aluminum parts you get with complete items these days usually come anodized. Whether it be the black so many are sought after or clear, which looks like a plain piece of aluminum.
You have to remove this. That's where the Caustic Soda (Drano or oven cleaner). If you have Drano or oven cleaner then mix about half the bottle with some warm/hot water and let the part sit in it for a while. Both heatsinks took about an hour. I didn't plan on doing a write up until after this point so I don't have a picture. Sorry.
Next you will want to warm the degreaser and water 50/50 mixture and dunk the heatsinks in for about 2 minutes or until they can pass a water break test. By water break test I mean when you take it out and you spray it with your water bottle, the water doesn't streak off it will bead. Meaning there isn't any oil on the part and its completely clean.
Before you put it in the degreaser, remember that this is the last time you can touch the part with your hands. Oily hands or dirty surfaces can and will ruin the finished product. I wrapped my aluminum wire up in a tight spiral and shoved it into the hole that the fan wire goes through to get the best connection from the charger to the piece. This is an important step.
After the pieces are clean and have passed the water break test. Remove them from the degreaser and spray them down with water. Be thorough with this. Next, you're ready to get some electricity flowing!
You will take your aluminum wire and hang it from something in the bucket of sulphuric acid and water mixture. I used 30/70 Sulphuric acid:water. Remember the 3 A's, Always Add Acid to water, not the other way around. Use the aluminum wire thats attached to your heatsink and attack the positive from the car battery to this called the anode. Take your sheet of aluminum or a scrap piece of aluminum and submerge it on the opposite side of the heatsink and attach the negative to this, called the cathode. Turn your battery charger on. You want it set to about 2 amps. The pic was taken of just a sample piece I was anodizing but its the same concept.
You will begin seeing bubbles coming off the cathode and now you check on it every 30 minutes or so and wait for the bubbles to stop or reverse in direction. After about 2 hours the part was showing a slight yellow tint and surface wasn't glossy. The bubbles coming off the cathodes had also changed the direction they were moving. I turned the power off, and the part was moved to a rinse bath of RO/DI water.
Next, you're gonna want to heat your water/RIT dye to a near boiling temp. I just heated mine until I saw vapors coming off it. Submerse the part but make sure its off the bottom of the bucket.
I let it sit for about 30 minutes. I pulled it out and poured boiling water over it then cold water over it to seal it. This is the result.
<a href="http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/?action=view¤t=516CA2A7-A1D0-48E5-B953-8FA58E6FA6FF-10669-0000052D77D05BCD.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/516CA2A7-A1D0-48E5-B953-8FA58E6FA6FF-10669-0000052D77D05BCD.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>
I also wanted the fronts to be black to better match my stand so I spray painted them. I won't go in to detail about this but here is a before and after.
<a href="http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/?action=view¤t=57FC85E7-FFCF-4405-9ECE-91DC015E7C10-10669-0000052D645845C4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/57FC85E7-FFCF-4405-9ECE-91DC015E7C10-10669-0000052D645845C4.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>
I've never anodized anything in my life and to my surprise it was actually fairly easy. So here it goes.
Things you'll need:
5 large buckets to fit whatever you want to anodize in it. - $5
Degreaser - $4
Caustic Soda (Drano works) - $4
A car battery charger or some sort of power supply - I had one laying around
Aluminum wire - $1
Battery acid (Sulphuric acid) - $8
RIT brand fabric dye (concentrated) - $1.50 a box. I used 3. $4.50 total
Spray bottle - $1
Latex gloves - $1
RO/DI water - most of us already have
Scrap aluminum sheet - already had it
Total - $28.50
To begin:
The AI Sol's as well as most aluminum parts you get with complete items these days usually come anodized. Whether it be the black so many are sought after or clear, which looks like a plain piece of aluminum.
You have to remove this. That's where the Caustic Soda (Drano or oven cleaner). If you have Drano or oven cleaner then mix about half the bottle with some warm/hot water and let the part sit in it for a while. Both heatsinks took about an hour. I didn't plan on doing a write up until after this point so I don't have a picture. Sorry.
Next you will want to warm the degreaser and water 50/50 mixture and dunk the heatsinks in for about 2 minutes or until they can pass a water break test. By water break test I mean when you take it out and you spray it with your water bottle, the water doesn't streak off it will bead. Meaning there isn't any oil on the part and its completely clean.
Before you put it in the degreaser, remember that this is the last time you can touch the part with your hands. Oily hands or dirty surfaces can and will ruin the finished product. I wrapped my aluminum wire up in a tight spiral and shoved it into the hole that the fan wire goes through to get the best connection from the charger to the piece. This is an important step.
After the pieces are clean and have passed the water break test. Remove them from the degreaser and spray them down with water. Be thorough with this. Next, you're ready to get some electricity flowing!
You will take your aluminum wire and hang it from something in the bucket of sulphuric acid and water mixture. I used 30/70 Sulphuric acid:water. Remember the 3 A's, Always Add Acid to water, not the other way around. Use the aluminum wire thats attached to your heatsink and attack the positive from the car battery to this called the anode. Take your sheet of aluminum or a scrap piece of aluminum and submerge it on the opposite side of the heatsink and attach the negative to this, called the cathode. Turn your battery charger on. You want it set to about 2 amps. The pic was taken of just a sample piece I was anodizing but its the same concept.
You will begin seeing bubbles coming off the cathode and now you check on it every 30 minutes or so and wait for the bubbles to stop or reverse in direction. After about 2 hours the part was showing a slight yellow tint and surface wasn't glossy. The bubbles coming off the cathodes had also changed the direction they were moving. I turned the power off, and the part was moved to a rinse bath of RO/DI water.
Next, you're gonna want to heat your water/RIT dye to a near boiling temp. I just heated mine until I saw vapors coming off it. Submerse the part but make sure its off the bottom of the bucket.
I let it sit for about 30 minutes. I pulled it out and poured boiling water over it then cold water over it to seal it. This is the result.
<a href="http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/?action=view¤t=516CA2A7-A1D0-48E5-B953-8FA58E6FA6FF-10669-0000052D77D05BCD.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/516CA2A7-A1D0-48E5-B953-8FA58E6FA6FF-10669-0000052D77D05BCD.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>
I also wanted the fronts to be black to better match my stand so I spray painted them. I won't go in to detail about this but here is a before and after.
<a href="http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/?action=view¤t=57FC85E7-FFCF-4405-9ECE-91DC015E7C10-10669-0000052D645845C4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3/chronicj7/57FC85E7-FFCF-4405-9ECE-91DC015E7C10-10669-0000052D645845C4.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App"></a>
