DIY LED Array build

[sphil876p]

Here is the sink set inside the acrylic fixture/anti-splash box.....

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714180390/" title="PICT0373 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2563/3714180390_8388be62d9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0373" /></a>

Next I made the connections for the LEDs and wall warts (3) and ran all of the cabeling through some flex loom to keep the cords tidy.......here is the completed fixture in place...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3713372837/" title="PICT0394 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2453/3713372837_db44bbd93f.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0394" /></a>

Bottom view.........

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714182320/" title="PICT0388 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3509/3714182320_98bdc42758.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0388" /></a>

 

[JoshuaG]

Looks good, lets see more pics!

 

[sphil876p]

OK OK........................................

Here is what I am replacing, and what the tank looked like with the MH..........

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714178832/" title="PICT0370 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2635/3714178832_011f54ffc7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0370" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3713366095/" title="PICT0362 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2460/3713366095_f9de8c5092.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0362" /></a>

 

[sphil876p]

The top of the fixture has the variable fan speed control knob and two pots for dimming the drivers surface mounted.............

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714185648/" title="PICT0410 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3714185648_029832a2a4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0410" /></a>


One hole in the middle for cool air ventilation from the room pushed through the fixture and out the vents cut at the base of the heatsink......


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714185032/" title="PICT0400 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3714185032_c4ceca2dda.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="PICT0400" /></a>

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Looks good!

I'm curious why you went with a taller box like that for the fixture - any particular reason, or just because you liked it that way?

Nice idea to mount the controls on the outside of the fixture like that.

 

[sphil876p]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15349478#post15349478 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by der_wille_zur_macht
Looks good!

I'm curious why you went with a taller box like that for the fixture - any particular reason, or just because you liked it that way?

Nice idea to mount the controls on the outside of the fixture like that.

I cut the acrylic pieces before I received all of the components..... Thought I would need more room inside the box than I did, probably could have made it about 3-4 inches shorter.... This is why I like to build a prototype first to work all of the kinks out of my designs first..... I used clear acrylic I had on hand and painted the fixture, I will use 1/8" black acrylic for future projects. After all, this will end up on my 55 gal frag tank tucked away in my new fish room I think I have the mechanics worked out, now to make the asthetics better. Oh, have I mentioned how cool it is to be able to dim these lights with just a turn of a little screw :rollface:

 

[sphil876p]

Had a request for meter settings and lead hookups for testing and setting the driver for amperage.........

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3717380250/" title="PICT0364 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3717380250_522124970e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0364" /></a>

See the settings on my meter, also where you plug the leads in on the meter is important careful not to blow the fuses in your meter......
Positive lead (red) to positive out from driver....
Negative lead (black) to positive wire to the LED string....
Basically you will use your meter as a bridge to complete the positive circuit......
HTH

 

[sphil876p]

Edit: cant see it in the pic, but the meter is set to the ADC= amps direct current range.

 

[Bzar]

Great thread, another good spot for LED teaching. THank you, I will use this as I venture towards my LED fixture build.

Could we get a list of all the equipment, parts, sources, prices used in this build?

 

[sphil876p]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15351045#post15351045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bzar
Great thread, another good spot for LED teaching. THank you, I will use this as I venture towards my LED fixture build.

Could we get a list of all the equipment, parts, sources, prices used in this build?

Thanks for the kind words, I will try to get the list together.......

 

[sphil876p]

Here is the fixture running over the frag tank.....
The pictures are really washed out, but the light is alot more blue than I was expecting. I used roughly a 2 to 1 white to blue ratio to give me the 12k look. I really do like the light, not nearly as much stray light bouncing out of the tank......

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3714189804/" title="PICT0427 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/3714189804_be90277da9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0427" /></a>


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3713379003/" title="PICT0426 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2561/3713379003_b9a6774383.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0426" /></a>

Top down pics turned out the best

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40220688@N05/3713376875/" title="PICT0416 by sphil876, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3447/3713376875_041914dda9.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="PICT0416" /></a>

 

[james3370]

ok, i get it now after looking at the 2nd pic.....your power supplies & all electronics are in the box that the lights are mounted to the bottom

earlier pics had me confusalized as to why it was so thick

 

[sphil876p]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15352964#post15352964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by james3370
ok, i get it now after looking at the 2nd pic.....your power supplies & all electronics are in the box that the lights are mounted to the bottom

earlier pics had me confusalized as to why it was so thick

Now I am confused.......
Do you use two different user names?

 

[james3370]

uuum....no....just when i looked at the earlier pics, i couldn't figure out why it looked so tall

 

[sphil876p]

:hmm4:
Ok, now that we have that all figured out I have a question for anyone who might have some knowledge regarding all things electrical. I used three seperate ac-dc converters on this build, one to run the fan, and one for each meanwell power supply dimming pot. Is there a way for me to wire all of these things to one converter? Also, if there is please detail the process/calculations necessary........

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I'm assuming they are all 12V DC? Just wire them all to the same power supply in parallel - i.e. all the +'s from your devices to the + on the supply, and all the -'s on the devices to the - on the supply.

When doing this, the only caveat is to keep the total amp draw UNDER the max current listed on the power supply. Since you have that handy multimeter you could just measure draw and know for sure, but I'm guessing the dimming circuits draw a tiny amount (a few mA) so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[JoshuaG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15354741#post15354741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sphil876p
:hmm4:
Ok, now that we have that all figured out I have a question for anyone who might have some knowledge regarding all things electrical. I used three seperate ac-dc converters on this build, one to run the fan, and one for each meanwell power supply dimming pot. Is there a way for me to wire all of these things to one converter? Also, if there is please detail the process/calculations necessary........

What I did was connect the PS for the Meanwell DIM+- like wille said, just connected the + from the PS to each blue + on the driver, and the - to each white - and soldered them up.

You won't be able to connect the fan PS though as it should be a 12V.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you are actually using a 10V supply for the mean well dimming circuit, you could still use that to run the fans - they'll just run a little bit slower, not really a huge issue - it'll just be as if you had turned that fan speed controller down a hair.

But looking back near the beginning of the thread, it looks like you used a 12V DC supply for the dimmers anyways, so it should work *and* give you the full range of fan speeds. Just make sure that the total current draw is below the max listed on the power supply you decide to use.

 

[shikhyung]

So for the tank 60x30, I need 3 set up like yours, phil. Let see what is the trade off with MH after 5 years..., I wonder?

 

[bluetang_2000]

do you happen to know the final cost to build this? just curious whether it's more economical than MH or T5.