DIY LEDs - The write-up

[DustinB]

If you plan on doing anything like this again I would go ahead and buy a better iron. I found a hakko 951 station new in box on craigslist for $100, not bad for a $260 iron.

If you want something in the middle these are supposed to great highly rated irons: Hakko 936
http://www.frys.com/product/454489?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

If you only plan to use it once or twice then the radio shack 40w station is fine. Just be aware the tips are very soft and have a tendency to corrode and deform no matter how well you take care of it. A quality tip with a good iron will last you years.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The best features to look for in an iron are:

1) Enough wattage. Regardless of how HOT the tip can/will get, it's the wattage rating on the iron that determines how much heat it can sustain when transferring heat to the parts. Even a low-wattage iron can get really hot, but the instant you touch it to something, the heat's gone.
2) Real temperature control. Many cheaper irons just force juice to the tip. There's no feedback loop. "Real" irons have a thermostat that actually turns the element on and off to maintain a desired temperature. This is helpful for consistency from joint to joint. Without temp control, you might get one really good joint, then one that seems impossible. It's important to differentiate between irons that have a real temperature feedback loop, vs. irons that have a knob that just acts like a rheostat and adjusts the wattage to the tip - you want the former.
3) Enough mass/surface area in the tip to facilitate good heat transfer. This is a bit related to technique and personal preference, but if you've got a long, narrow, pointy tip, even the best iron will struggle to keep the very tip of it hot. There's just not enough mass to retain the heat. And, if you just poke the very end of the tip against the joint, there won't be much surface-to-surface contact to transfer heat. Meanwhile, if you have a short, thick, chisel tip, it'll have enough mass and surface area to retain heat and transfer it rapidly.

I'd look for an iron with at least 40 watts, temperature control, and a tip you can work with. FWIW this is the iron I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Dig...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1273759467&sr=8-2

It's essentially a cheap Chinese knockoff the of the Japanese Hakko brand. It's done really well for me so far, but the tip that comes with it is a little small, so folks might want to order a meatier tip to try out.

Keep in mind that asking for soldering iron recommendations is like going to a racetrack and asking which brand of car is the best. Everyone's got really strong feelings about their favorite. :lol: But at the same time, people can usually agree on basics regarding what works best.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Well I wasn't suggesting putting it on with a roller :lmao: but I get the point.

There might be some dry space on smaller tanks, but even with outside ventilation there is little around larger tanks. I guess time will tell, given the OP was only a year ago.................

Arguably, this is not a new problem - people have been concerned about other electronics near reef tanks for the whole history of the hobby. Since many other electronics (light rigs, etc) are off the shelf, we assume the problem has been dealt with - but us DIY'ers need to solve the problem regardless of if we're using MH or LED. IMHO applying the same basic principles and some common sense should work here. For instance, if you're using an open-frame power supply for your LED drivers, check it's datasheet for allowable environmental conditions, and protect it adequately.

 

[ErikS]

Since many other electronics (light rigs, etc) are off the shelf, we assume the problem has been dealt with - but us DIY'ers need to solve the problem regardless of if we're using MH or LED.

We may think off the shelf items have, not been my experience. I've opened up more then a couple lights to find connections that fall apart (heat) or have corroded..............................brands like Aqua Medic (not the cheapest).

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Yeah, I agree - I shoulda put more emphasis on "assume."

 

[The Grim Reefer]

I ended up with a Shack 20/40m iron with a fairly blunt tip that works OK. The Weller Iron I had was a POS, not that this shack thing is great but I can at least switch it down to 20 watts if I am between joints or something. It still gets a little toasty near the barrel on the handle. I have a 25 year old Iron in the garage that would put either of these to shame if I could find a good tip for it.

One thing about this shack Iron is the tip is hard to keep clean, good thing they are cheap.

 

[skippyreef]

Is anyone using green blue and white in an array where the green replaces some of the white?

 

[CJO]

I'd look for an iron with at least 40 watts, temperature control, and a tip you can work with. FWIW this is the iron I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Dig...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1273759467&sr=8-2

I just ordered this iron yesterday! What setting are you using?

Thanks,
CJ

 

[Jay1982]

So I found the rosin core solder and I bought it. But what are people using to tin their iron tips? The only other thing that was in the soldering section was plumming flux and acid core solder.

Also, I have been searching youtube for instructions on soldering LEDs and all I am coming up with is DIY projects on soldering the emitters to the starboard. Not on how to solder the pads and have them wired up. Can someone help me with this. THanks!

I did find this though, is this the proper way of doing it? Not what I have envisioned to be honest. Seems a lot simpler than I thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3H6IVmXzEM

 

[DustinB]

Did you buy it at the hardware store or radio shack? You tin the iron with solder or tip tinner/cleaner. Radio shack has it in a little can. I'm convinced it's just powdered flux and solder in a can though.

Yeah the video is somewhat correct, except he has a tip that is in horrible condition. Notice he's also touching the brown part that is not tinned, there is little to no heat transfer in this area. You should always use the conical tip area and keep it tinned, clean the brown residue on a damp soldering sponge.

Also, notice how when he finally solders the wire to the star the solder ends up coated slightly corroded. He didn't hold the heat long enough, he also may have reheated the solder too many times. Ideally you only want to melt the solder once, except for the joining the tinned wire to the tinned pad. Do it like he did, just hold the iron to the pad for a half second longer to ensure a good bond.

 

[Obi-dad]

... But what are people using to tin their iron tips? ...[/url]

Just use the rosin core solder to tin the tip. The acid flux is only for plumbing, not electronics.

Another tip is to have a sponge, very lightly wetted with water, then briefly rub the tip on the sponge to remove the oxidized gunk before you solder a connection.

 

[TheFishMan65]

I have seen lots of comments about acid core so for those wondering. As I understand it (and someone will correct me if I am wrong) both rosin and acid are for cleaning the area before the solder actually attaches. It takes off finger oils and other contaminants. Most of it burns off, but not all. If you where to use acid core solder some would stay around and eat away at the contact and eventually it could/would break free.

 

[DustinB]

The solder core won't really remove much if anything, just very minimal surface oxidation. The core's main function is to help the solder "flow". Acid core is typically for coated or copper pipes.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Thanks for correcting me DustinB

 

[DustinB]

You were mostly right, the flux is to clean the surface whether in paste or in a core. Really strange the way flux makes solder flow.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Yeah, I thought it was the burn off something has to take its place and the solder is there at least with plumbing, but I don't know for sure.

 

[DustinB]

Well when doing pipes by the time I touch the solder the flux has just burned off, yet it still flows there just fine. I have had problems soldering circuits before where another bump of solder released enough flux to get the solder to flow to the pad. I don't really know why it's so different.

 

[skippyreef]

You can do that, but then you need to buy a telephone 6p6c connector a connector crimper and some 6 lead telephone cable and knowledge which lead goes were. If you like to know what signal is on which pin at the PL dim plug I can PM you this. Then you can hook it up directly and the drivers to the amplifier.

To make it easier for people like us GHL makes the LBF-AP. It comes with the cable and connectors so you just hook it up to your PL and then you connect the dimming wires from the amplifier to the terminal in the LBF-AP. The channels are already split in the LBF-AP so you can connect two amplifiers if you like.

But as I wrote before, if you hook-up the drivers with an amplifier to an LBF-APand dim them 100-0% the drivers will still be under current even if they have 0% dimming signal. So it is up to you if would like them in 24/7 duty.

Also earlier reported in this thread has been that due to interference and other influence the LEDs are not completely off by 0% dimming cycle. The ELN driver was still giving some juice to the LEDs. Maybe this will be more serious with an amplifier in the line.

I connected the EVG-AP with its own 6p6c connector (its a part of it) directly to the PL L plug , then the main power to the EVG-AP. To the EVG-AP high voltage terminal I connected the high voltage leads from the drivers and from the amplifier. I connected the Osram DIM SA amplifier dimming leads to the dimming terminal on the EVG-AP. Then the drivers dimming leads to the amplifier dimming output terminal. Look at the simplified diagram:

I found one of these on Amazon.DE (the Osram DIM SA). It says 230 volt. Do I need to use that end of hte amplifier? We are on a different power standard (110-120V) to use the Osram? I thought about the PLM DALI card but I am not sure if the meanwells are Dali compatable/

 

[sammy113]

Today I received 12 LEDs from Semi LED (Same LEDs used in Maxspect lamps) Decided to buy a few to test them and compare to CREE's as they were at half the price from CREE's

Just IMO, you can't compare these to CREE.
The quality of the Plastic dome (which is not really plastic, is some kind of rubber) is not as clear as CREE. Don't know if this will actually change any performance. The look overall is ok, if you're used to CREE you will see these as very cheap, although they do perform very well with my Meanwell ELN 35-700.

One thing I liked was the reflectors as they were lower profile than CREE's but they don't seem to make a snug fit into the LED. Plus you will notice the optic covers the entire PCB and after you have soldered the wires into the pads, the lenses will not stay in place. They need to be glued or something to stay where you want.

Color spectrum seems pretty close to CREE. Semi LED's Cool white looks a little "yellower" than CREE.
Royal Blues looks to me a little lighter blue than CREE's but still a nice bang for the buck

Here some pics of the little rig I did

Sorry for the mess. I always say that doing a LED rig looks like someone is actually building an airplane dash casue there are LOTS of wires and crap around :lol:

Closer look at what I said about the wires and the fit of the optic

Here's an out of focus comparison shot of CREE Q5, Semi LED and CREE XPG

 

[pheinzig]

I found these today while sifting through this mountian of knowledge:
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-57/48-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

My question...
can I save myself the headache and just get two of these kits for a 72" 125g tank?
I see it has the LED's, optics, drivers, cords.

All I'd need to do is get myself a heat sink to mount them on correct?
And a power supply right?