DIY LEDs with Radion Pro G2 pucks?

[_shorty_]

Anyone have any details on where to buy the extra LED chips to upgrade the Gen2 to the Gen2 Pro? I would prefer to get them mounted on the same chip, as opposed to running some star chips.
Shorty, what did you supplement yours with if you don't mind sharing?
I have 2 pucks in the mail, so looking forward to see how they compare to my Dreamchip build.


Edit - ok done some of my own further research, here is what I have come up with.
Indigo: 4 SemiLEDs UV, 415nm
"Ultraviolet": 4 SemiLEDs UV, 405nm
Yellow: 2 Osram Oslon SSL Yellow, 590nm

I got mine directly from semiLED. If you can find another source, I'd recommend it, I got kind of reemed on shipping. They are the same models that are on the pro pucks, though.

 

[_shorty_]

Lime is getting popular as well, never seen one in person though.

View attachment 279634

I have never seen the lime in person, and have not even read much on them yet either, but I don't think I'll plan on trying them until they are developed further. If you've seen pucks that use them, several are used to get the intensity needed, and the spectral 'peak' is MUCH more wide/spread out than what you see from proven non-LED light sources.

 

[blast_79]

Tagging along, may try this soon! Lots of reading to catch up.

 

[ChouDawg]

Other than Shorty's setup, what are you other guys planning on using heat sink wise? I have been astounded at the costs of heat sinks. Has anyone ever tried using a CPU heatsink/fan combo on one of these types of pucks? Do you think that one like this one would suffice for each puck: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186070

I got my heatsinks from HeatsinkUSA as mentioned by zachts and plan to attach my pucks with the lenses using the 4 3mm screws with artic silver thermal epoxy. I got two 4.850"x3.5" pieces, I'm planning to put one puck on each with a fan blowing air up into a diffuser that will push the air through the fins of each heatsink..basically copying the Radion design. I'm still modeling everything in Solidworks and plan to cut my black 1/8" acrylic on a Lasercam to build a sweet professional looking fixture. Overall dims should be about 12"x7"x3" so slightly taller than the Radion but will house all of the components inside with a single 90' 3-prong AC socket coming out of the fixture. :idea:

I have never seen the lime in person, and have not even read much on them yet either, but I don't think I'll plan on trying them until they are developed further. If you've seen pucks that use them, several are used to get the intensity needed, and the spectral 'peak' is MUCH more wide/spread out than what you see from proven non-LED light sources.

Same, haven't seen any in person but a few big DIY LED builds I've been following have been adding them in and I think a few commercial fixtures as well, the Nanoboxes for sure have Lime now. I like that I can figure out re-flow soldering down the line should I decide to fill in my non-pro spots w/ some extra LEDs

 

[crn005]

Same, haven't seen any in person but a few big DIY LED builds I've been following have been adding them in and I think a few commercial fixtures as well, the Nanoboxes for sure have Lime now. I like that I can figure out re-flow soldering down the line should I decide to fill in my non-pro spots w/ some extra LEDs

How difficult is it to solder LEDs on to a PCB?

 

[djmx2002]

Bummer... Connector too small

 

[crn005]

Any updates on harnesses?

 

[djmx2002]

Got it in the mail today, I choose the wrong connector. 1.5mm pitch instead of 2mm pitch... I think that sets me back at least another week or two

 

[ChouDawg]

How difficult is it to solder LEDs on to a PCB?

Requires re-flow soldering, I haven't looked much into it but it is not as simple as regular iron soldering, not that iron soldering is easy to perfect even. Post #246 _shorty_ did it on his pucks.

 

[oreo57]

How difficult is it to solder LEDs on to a PCB?

Are you referring to on "Stars" or a larger board??
As to reflowing.. it can be done in a electric frying pan..

As to soldering get a good iron..

https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59

I don't think anything can replace the large scale, multi-zone, IR/convection reflow ovens. But I could by 100 hot plates at $30 a piece before coming close to the price and performance of a traditional reflow oven.

Pros:

Low cost
Works well
Available anywhere
Small footprint
Operates on 110V

Cons:
Non-uniform heating area

Skillet sides can burn arms

 

[djmx2002]

Sorry I messed up the image again.....

 

[zachts]

I have never seen the lime in person, and have not even read much on them yet either, but I don't think I'll plan on trying them until they are developed further. If you've seen pucks that use them, several are used to get the intensity needed, and the spectral 'peak' is MUCH more wide/spread out than what you see from proven non-LED light sources.

Broad yes, but much more narrow than using a cool or neutral white to cover the same region. so more flexibility for the "white free" crowd and good potential to better tweak color with fewer LEDs. They are pretty bright on paper at least. I've got a few on order to play around with but look promising (someday I hope they will narrow the phosphor peaks a bit but that will be a while I think, these like all LEDs were developed for commercial lighting of human cages, not our glass reef cages )

 

[kentuckyclowns]

So when I was trying to solder one of the LDD-700 H drivers onto the 5UP board, I accidentally soldered on of the pins to the dim pin so both pins are soldered together. Is that a problem? Do I need to get it apart or should it be ok?

 

[O2Surplus]

So when I was trying to solder one of the LDD-700 H drivers onto the 5UP board, I accidentally soldered on of the pins to the dim pin so both pins are soldered together. Is that a problem? Do I need to get it apart or should it be ok?

You'll need to fix that asap. Don't apply power to the PcB until you do or the LDD in question will be destroyed. Use desoldering braid to clear the solder connection between the pins.

 

[zachts]

You'll need to fix that asap. Don't apply power to the PcB until you do or the LDD in question will be destroyed. Use desoldering braid to clear the solder connection between the pins.

+100! Props for having the fortitude to admit a goof and ask! Saved you letting out the infamouse smoke!

I hate that smoke it stinks up the whole house for days........

 

[kentuckyclowns]

So do all of the pins need to be soldered separately or can some of them be soldered together? It looked like there were 9 total pins with most being a combo of 2 negative and 2 positive with the exception being the 1 dim pin...hope they all don't need to be individually soldered bc that would stink...literally, when I let the smoke out...

 

[Poseidon]

Different pins, different joints. Don't let the smoke out.

I know they are really close together, I had to use separate one set myself. Take your time, get it right so it works for a long time.

 

[kentuckyclowns]

:headwally:

Thanks for all the advice. Not the project to start soldering on. Lol. Picking up some desoldering stuff tonight...

 

[kentuckyclowns]

I guess the only reason why I questioned the other joints is due to the pics I saw of the HW series of the LDD drivers. On those there are only 5 wires yet still have the same number of pins...so are some of the pins (4 of them) just not connected to the wires in the HW series?

Never mind. Found the specs sheet that shows there are no pins...only wires. I thought the Hw was just someone adding wires to the H series...lol

 

[_shorty_]

I like that I can figure out re-flow soldering down the line should I decide to fill in my non-pro spots w/ some extra LEDs

Remember that the sockets are built for very specific models of LEDs. I made the mistake of thinking that the osram LED is the same form factor as the semiLEDs.. they are not. Just a TINY bit smaller - just enough to cause problems trying to reflow solder.