DIY LEDs - The write-up

[Jay1982]

So, I just called my friend who was going to solder for me and he said he doesn't want to anymore.....great. So how hard is it to solder the LEDs for wiring?

 

[tahiriqbal]

Not very hard, as long as you got good steady hands and your wires are pre tinned. Make sure when soldring you should not place your stars on the heatsink as it will absorbed the heat from star and solding would be quite difficult and messy...!!!

Good luck

 

[adova]

When I soldered mine, I used some electrical tape to hold the wire in position. Mine, however, were attached to the heatsink first, but I did not experience any issues.

I think the key to soldering success is to get a decent soldering station - I got mine from Amazon for about $70...

 

[tahiriqbal]

I'm using the 20mm star board for my XPGs. I'm currently waiting for the order to arrive from cutter but in the meantime I want to get all my supplies, I plan on drilling the heatsinks and screwing the leds on. How big should the holes be for the screws? Also, are nylon screws the way to go? Or would metal screws with nylon washers be better?

If you taking the drilling and tapping route which I would agree with you, would require M4 screws. Never use sylon screw as with heat they would melt and taking them out would be a bummer:worried2:. Nylon washers are used between the screw and star PCB which prevent any current shortages etc.....

 

[tahiriqbal]

I personally use something like this for very fine solding and its a great piece of kit....

 

[Neogenocide]

Make sure when soldring you should not place your stars on the heatsink as it will absorbed the heat from star and solding would be quite difficult and messy...!!!

Good luck

This is a wives tail. I solder all my LED's after they are on the heatsink with thermal paste behind them. It's no harder than soldering them off the heatsink. I actually find it a bit easier with them mounted as the starboard can't move and I can put wire exactly where I want it. It makes for a nicer cleaner install.

Scott

 

[cyrusthevirus]

I also soldered mine after they were attached to the heatsink and did not have any problems. Just as Scott said, it made cutting and attaching the wires much easier. I believe they were also easier to attach to the heatsink without the wire on them. All of those wires tend to get in the way.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Having the stars on the heatsink will reduce the chance you will overheat the led and damage it as well. With my soldering skills I would be afraid to try it with them off the sinks.

 

[Ben's Reef]

I personally use something like this for very fine solding and its a great piece of kit....

Thats nice but a bit pricey. If I soldered more I would consider it. Is there a good type of soldering iron out there that is more affordable?

Is one like this good for the LED DIYer or should I get one with a very small tip like the Pyropen?

 

[tahiriqbal]

Its a life time investment and I always like something with high quality and match my needs. Regarding LEDs being solder on while fasted to the large heatsink is a bad practise and for those with less skills will struggle as your heatsink will take away the heat from your soldering gun and make a it bit difficult.

This is how I would do mine....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSxmPGt353I

I am sure someone like Kcress or Stu would chime their views on this subject as it has already been talked about before.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Soldering on/off the heatsink is a bit of a personal preference thing IMHO. Both have advantages and disadvantages:

1) Soldering off the heatsink: It takes significantly less heat to get the solder molten, which for most people would be perceived as making it "easier" since it happens faster.

2) Soldering on the heatsink: The LEDs are held in their final position, you don't have to move a big spiderweb of delicate solder joints, etc. Disadvantage is that with all that mass, the heat is getting sucked out of the joint, which can make it take longer (especially if you have bad technique, or you're using a poor tip for the job, or you didn't tin the pads, and so on).

Personally, I tin the pads I'm going to use OFF the heatsink, which makes it faster/easier. Then, assemble the LEDs onto the heatsink and solder on the wires.

Pretinning, using a nice iron, and a few LEDs worth of practice to get the technique down and it'll go just fine.

 

[DeepPirate]

LED Proposal

LED Proposal

First of all, I want to say that I also think that this thread is the best thread that I reviewed. From reading various replys I believe that I have come up with my own LED plan that I would like opinions on.

My tank is a regular 55gal tank (48" L x 13" W x 20" H). I am currently running a T5 fixture (4bulbs - 2 10K & 2 Blue Actinic). I have some soft corals and one RBTA.

From what I have read in other forums, I will need about 48 LEDs/sqft. So I have decided on a pattern of 2 sets of 48 LEDs with a 50/50 mixture of Cool White XR-E & Royal Blue XR-E. I figure using 60deg optics with each LED and I am going to have it about 6inches above the water.

I am leaning towards using some Mean Well LPC-35-700W Drivers (1 driver / 6 LEDs), but, I am curious about the result of having multiple power cords from the drivers and only having a limited outlet. Should I use a power bar (with power surge) to tie the drivers to my outlet? Or is this what the use of a "wall wart", that I read about, is intended for?

I am also planning on using some fans to cool the whole system. But, I figure that that is the least of my worry. All of these LEDs will go on a heatsink, but, I want to use the fans to help prolong the life of them.

So, how am I doing so far????

 

[wfournier]

First of all, I want to say that I also think that this thread is the best thread that I reviewed. From reading various replys I believe that I have come up with my own LED plan that I would like opinions on.

My tank is a regular 55gal tank (48" L x 13" W x 20" H). I am currently running a T5 fixture (4bulbs - 2 10K & 2 Blue Actinic). I have some soft corals and one RBTA.

From what I have read in other forums, I will need about 48 LEDs/sqft. So I have decided on a pattern of 2 sets of 48 LEDs with a 50/50 mixture of Cool White XR-E & Royal Blue XR-E. I figure using 60deg optics with each LED and I am going to have it about 6inches above the water.

I am leaning towards using some Mean Well LPC-35-700W Drivers (1 driver / 6 LEDs), but, I am curious about the result of having multiple power cords from the drivers and only having a limited outlet. Should I use a power bar (with power surge) to tie the drivers to my outlet? Or is this what the use of a "wall wart", that I read about, is intended for?

I am also planning on using some fans to cool the whole system. But, I figure that that is the least of my worry. All of these LEDs will go on a heatsink, but, I want to use the fans to help prolong the life of them.

So, how am I doing so far????

I think that 96 LEDs is going to be more than you need. You can do that and run them at lower levels but I am planning 50 LEDs (XP-E/XP-G) over my 75. I would be especially worried with non dimming drivers. Check out cdiweb for drivers as they have the best pricing I have seen.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

96 is going to be WAY more than you need on a 55g, especially given the advances in technology (i.e. the XP-G is now the standard, and about 30% more efficient than the XR-E that many "rules of thumb" were developed for.)

Consider that Soundwave's original build was only 48 LEDs on a 75g tank.

The LPC-35-700 drivers are 48v, 700mA constant current non-adjustable non-dimmable drivers. If you use those, by all means load them up to 12 LEDs each. Only running 6 LEDs on one of those drivers would be a waste of capacity.

If you want multiple drivers to turn on/off at the same time, just wire them all to the same power cord. Or use a good quality power strip. A "wall wart" is an AC/DC power supply, it doesn't really apply to this application.

 

[zangmann]

You should get good PAR from them. Based on PAR readings I've seen here I would say the RB's are producing as much or more PAR than the cool whites. The whites had higher readings but the PAR meters don't read light in the deep blue spectrum very well so an extremely blue source like a Royal Blue is going to have more PAR that a meter will read.

Thanks,

Any optics suggested for supplemental lighting, or is it more of personal preference?

I'm only asking because I plan on angling the RBs inward in order to keep as much light off the glass as possible.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

For supplemental lighting, you will typically have a small number of LEDs covering a large area. IMHO, unless the fixture is high above the water, it's probably best to use very wide optics or no optics at all. Otherwise, you'll see the separation of the light from LED to LED.

 

[DeepPirate]

Thanks for the insights....I'll rethink the number of LEDs. I was originally going to go with 2 sets of 24. But, I ran across a ratio that suggested that I needed to double the number of LEDs.

I agree that I would want to make sure that the driver is dimmable. So, I will make sure of the part number.

Thanks for the idea of wiring the drivers to a particular power cord. I plan on controlling the lights to simulate daylight/nighttime conditions.

I believe that I have already forced myself into a corner by already purchasing some Cool White XR-Es. So, I think I'll stay with this type. I was a little intimidated by the XP-Gs... mainly because of the lack of optic choises.

 

[nitjt]

heat sink question

heat sink question

I have 5 large heatsinks that will cover about the entire surface of my bowfront tank. Should I use them all and spread the 104 leds (39 cool white XP-G, and 65 RB XP-E leds) about 3.5 to 3.75 inches apart over the entire surface of the heatsinks. Or should I use only three and group them tighter The tank is 48x24 at the widest point and 29 inches deep. The heatsinks are 8.5 inches wide and the longest is 17 inches the shortest are 13 inches long x 2 and two that are 15 inches long. Will my choice of 104 LEDs be enough to equal my curent lighting system which is 4 x 39 w T5 actinc and 2 x 250 w HQI over driven with lumentek dimmable 400 w ballast?

 

[adova]

XP-G Amp Output

XP-G Amp Output

I have been setting my meanwells for 1 Amp for the XR-E Cool whites. Now, I have a lot of XP-G's - do these have a higher Amp rating?

 

[DeepPirate]

Which dimmable driver is the better choice...Mean Well ELN-60-48D or the -48P??? What is the reccomended load?? Is it 12 per driver or 6?