DIY LEDs - The write-up

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My understanding is the thicker the better. At least 1/8 I beleive. Yes, with channel you will need a fan, unless you are running at a very low current. I am guessing the couple hundred ma range. This is my understanding from what I have read, but I answer in case ou need a immediate response.
 
mike_cmu04 said:
When using aluminum u channel what thickness do you need and does it require fans?
Click to expand...


Your question is too vague to answer correctly. It matters on so many details.

However, in your favor a good heat sink design needs no fan and if you use a fan you can use a lousy heatsink. So if you're committing to a fan(s), which is the conservative way to go, you can use any U-channel you want as long as you make sure air moves well across the heated surfaces.

Use any fans you want to, just make sure the air moves across and thru the channels. If noise is a problem for you go with large fans that turn slowly.
 
fishman Im only going with that because it will be the blues for moonlight effect and whites for shimmer. But still considering to do 5 and 5

Mike it does depend on how many lights and size of the channel but i think 1/8 is the rwcommended thickness. Surface area is really what you want.
 
I am lighting over a 92 gallon corner tank so i dont want to use the regular rectangle heatsinks. I will have 65 led's spread over the tank running at 700ma. I would like to stay away from ffans because i would need one for each run of u channel
 
mike_cmu04 said:
I am lighting over a 92 gallon corner tank so i dont want to use the regular rectangle heatsinks. I will have 65 led's spread over the tank running at 700ma. I would like to stay away from ffans because i would need one for each run of u channel
Click to expand...


If you box your U-channels reasonably and set things up so the air can move around them you don't need a fan per channel.


Picture a box with an acrylic bottom to prevent water splash damage.
A sealed top. With a couple of fans mounted on the top blowing out.
Drill a hole on the ends in-line with the centers of the U channels. When the fans are on cool air is drawn in thru all the holes and down the channels where it finally exits via the fans.

The quiet way would be to use the largest 12VDC box fans you can lay hands on. Then run them with 9VDC. They will start reliably and make 1/10th their full speed noise.

Look at Jameco for 120mm box fans.
 
Is there any easy DIY method to solder a LED to a star mount board. I keep hearing that a reflow oven is the only way to go. I'm hoping that someone out there has a cheaper alternative.
 
Do some google searching for "DIY reflow" or "toaster oven reflow" or "hotplate reflow" or "skillet reflow."

If you can't tell by those suggestions, people have invented ALL SORTS of methods for DIY reflow soldering. Pretty much, all you need is a method to evenly heat the assembly to the proper temperature at an acceptable rate. The issues with DIY methods are controlling the rate of heating, even-ness of the heating, and accuracy of the endpoint temperature. IMHO, the hassle is often not worth the benefit. I value my time more than the few pennies I'd save per LED to do that myself.
 
Do some google searching for "DIY reflow" or "toaster oven reflow" or "hotplate reflow" or "skillet reflow."

If you can't tell by those suggestions, people have invented ALL SORTS of methods for DIY reflow soldering. Pretty much, all you need is a method to evenly heat the assembly to the proper temperature at an acceptable rate. The issues with DIY methods are controlling the rate of heating, even-ness of the heating, and accuracy of the endpoint temperature. IMHO, the hassle is often not worth the benefit. I value my time more than the few pennies I'd save per LED to do that myself.
 
Why that methode is nesrsary to attach led to the star?
What about standard welding? Is not good enough?
Or I missed sone point... ;) I'm sorry then.

Regards,
mark
 
Buy them pre-mounted unless you want to spend a bunch of money and gobs of time making a lot of unreliable stars with LEDS mounted on them...
 
Well I am in the pre-planning stages of putting together a 290G peninsula tank. I am planning to put LED's over it and will be running with approximately 144 plus LED's mixed between XP-G's and XP-E's.

Given the mix of opinions between running parallel series and running heavy amounts of drivers...any real straight-forward suggestions on how I avoid using 12 Meanwells?

I will be building a new house around this tank...so if I can do something differently in the wiring setups on the house so as to avoid the "multi-driver" issues then please suggest this as well.
 
Alright guys, I need a little help. I'm building my fixture, but I'm going to run 2 parallel strings of 12 each off each ELN-60-48D. I'm trying to find the right kind of fuse, but I'm not finding any ultra rapid/rapid blow 1a fuse rated for 48vdc or so. If anyone can't point me in the right direction that would be great.
 
I've been reading on the fuses, and can't really find a good answer on using an AC rated fuse in a DC circuit. It also seems that most fuses aren't really rated to blow until 150%-200% of the rated power. So if I'm going to run the circuit at 650ma, I should get a .7a-.8a fuse or so?
 
I've been reading on the fuses, and can't really find a good answer on using an AC rated fuse in a DC circuit. It also seems that most fuses aren't really rated to blow until 150%-200% of the rated power. So if I'm going to run the circuit at 650ma, I should get a .7a-.8a fuse or so?

I was looking at this, it seems to have the right stuff, but can't think of a good way to hook it up....

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=sGAEpiMZZMseCiJT91fwIrhcnEoxWl66dviPpShMkTg=
 
You need to look at the Time-Current curve of the fuse and match the fault clearing capacity to your needs. If you choose a fuse that is too small, then you will have nuisance faults and if it you choose it too large, you will not have the protection you wished for.


Try here:

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/Marketing/Littelfuse_316.pdf?cshift_ck=null&client_id=5042

Take a look at the curve for the .5A fuse very fast acting fuse. Notice that at .8A it can take 100 seconds to open. At a current of .9A it will take somewhere around .5 seconds and at 1A .06 seconds. 1.1 amp will open the fuse in .01 seconds.
 
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BeanAnimal, looking at that same chart and reading through the specs, I can only reason that running the .5A fuse at .65A will cause it to blow anywhere from never to 100s. And if I run it at .5A, then the best reassurance I can get is that it will run for at least 4 hours before it blows... Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm trying to see what the best solution is, or if I should just spend the extra $200 on 8 more ELN's
 
I am wiring up 5 meanwells and was wondering if it is possible to wire 3 into one plug and 2 into another plug then I only have to buy 2 timers.
 
3.jpg

2.jpg

Almost needs no work at all to house LEDs in there. Just wire it, fan and slide in an acrylic sheet :)
 
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