DIY LEDs - The write-up

[afgun]

Strongly recommend a pair of 1.5V batteries taped together instead of 9V and resistor. Easier and less chance of letting the smoke out.

 

[stugray]

2 AA batteries, some wire & some electrical tape:

Stu

 

[customcolor]

get a metcal soldering station!! i just soldered up my 48 with mine and 3 seconds is all it took per solder to the star! heats up in like 5 sec and you can get a ton of tips...my wife uses them at where she works and they build ultra sounds and military electronics...aka very high grade stuff!!




on a different note...like i said i finished up my 48 array and HOLY COW!!! i used 60 degree optics on q5 bin crees and that little set up blows a 175w halide out the water!!!!! its very crisp white...now i wish i would have gotten the dimable drivers so i can take some white out of the mix....when i get going i will be replacing my radiums with leds and a controller.

LEDS ROCK!!!

i realized at work today i posted that i soldered up 48 leds......nope ....it was only a 24 led kit...opps my bad........but it still kicks a 175watts butt!!

 

[DFason]

I tried the two AA batteries, hooked up and could not get them to fire. I was using a 9v harness that I stripped the wire from and I believe it said 26 awg on the wire ( black and red wire and very thin wires in it). I just taped two AA's like above and hooked it up and the batteries became very hot. Still no luck with the LED to produce light.

Any ideas?

-Dave

 

[sammy113]

Dave, make sure the AA batteries are connected in series (+ with -) or get a cheap battery holder from radio shack which already comes with the cables to test the LEDs. I have tried this lots of times and works for me. Tried with other LED? perhaps the LED is damaged? Hope not

 

[widmer]

I tried the two AA batteries thing too, it didn't work for me. I'm guessing that the batteries were less than 1.5v because they were old and/or crappy to begin with. All of my LEDs work great though when hooked up in fixture.

 

[sammy113]

I forgot to say I had some LEDs from ETG that were soldered iverse in the PCB. The - was actually + and - was +. This happened in all my Royal Blues. Try swapping the polarity also. I shouldn't do any harm but just do a quick touch with the wire.

 

[TheFishMan65]

If the batteries became hot it makes me wonder if you connected to both - or + on the LED star sounds like you shorted the batteries. Or as Sammy says maybe the LED is bad and shorted.

 

[DFason]

I tried on three LEDs. It did become hot but I am pretty sure I hooked them up correctly.

-Dave

 

[DFason]

The main part of the LED has the + facing the + and the - to the -.

 

[Soundwave]

Soundwave, so did your SPS start to grow better after they got use to the LEDs? Great looking tank by the way.

I never had halides. I went from PCs to LEDs. So, yeah, they started to grow much better and faster. I love picking up little corals that are one color when you buy them and then taking them home and watching the colors change within a few weeks time. LEDs have a major impact on the colors that corals display.

 

[saraiva]

5W LED´s

5W LED´s

Wy you don´t use 5W LED´s? They are more eficient than 3W.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Wy you don´t use 5W LED´s? They are more eficient than 3W.

Can you post a link to the specific LEDs you're referring to? Labels like "3w" and "5w" are pretty meaningless, especially when trying to discuss efficiency. Some LEDs produce 100+ lumens per watt when run at 3w, others produce 10.

 

[Hesham]

If I want to test my LED's out can I just hook them up with a 9v battery harness I have laying around? Just one at a time or would this fry them?

-Dave

Some multimeters, like my tried and true Fluke 87, have a diode test function. Simply select the diode symbol on the multimeter and then contact the probes of the multimeter to the LED - the LED should light up. The multimeter will not supply much current but you will be able to see that the LED is working and that it has been soldered correctly.

 

[customcolor]

my multimeter did the same thing i was able to test my solder joints that way...when i set it to audioable it powered the led...really dim but it worked

 

[chuckstyl5]

So I got my LEDs ... Now I have some options ... a 7.28" heatsink with 3 rows of 9 or a 8.46" heatsink with 4 rows of 8? I will have 2 identical heatsinks with whichever one I decide. I have a 72 bowfront and splitting the LEDs between the 2 sides ... The fixture will probably be approx 6" above the tank ... also have 80 optics but not sure if they will be used or not ... Let me know what you guys think .... THANKS

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you use the optics, go with the wider heatsink. If not, the narrower one.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Hey Soundwave, your PM box is full - can you shoot me a note when you get a minute?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Oh, and a wider request. I've PM'd a few people but I'm sure I'm missing many of you. I'm collecting resources for publication in the Reefkeeping magazine. I'd like to get in touch with anyone who has good photos of building an LED rig, or of a completed, nice-looking DIY rig over a tank.

Thanks in advance!

 

[hllywd]

Hey Soundwave, I love the progress. Is this still the original 48 LED rig with no optics? I just ordered 24 + 24 to build half of what I'm planning for my 120. If you're getting those results with 48 I may need to rethink the plans, maybe I can live with what's on the way! I'll be going from 2x PC actinics, and 2x 250W MHs. What kind of wattage did you have in your PCs?

Tim