DIY: Light Housing

[kaserpick]

I'm running it through a Mesa 4x12 Rectifier cab. Love it! In the studio, i used a Mesa Stiletto cab instead. It's just a bit smaller than the rectifier but with the same exact speakers for a tighter feel. My axes are 2 Gibson sg-x in Caribbean blue and coral and a Gibson Les Paul Studio.

I only have one axe, my Gibson Les Paul Studio in black (a classic ). I'm pretty much stuck on black guitars. From my previous, to my current acoustic and electric, they've all been black. Heck, almost everything's black on my Martin. How do you like your SG-X? I've played on a couple of SG's and really loved the sound and feel. I really wouldn't say I'm an experienced player. I feel like I'm just now starting to feel my style and sound, but I want to venture out a little from the Les Paul. I just don't really know what I'm looking for.

 

[c0mp|ex]

I only have one axe, my Gibson Les Paul Studio in black (a classic ). I'm pretty much stuck on black guitars. From my previous, to my current acoustic and electric, they've all been black. Heck, almost everything's black on my Martin. How do you like your SG-X? I've played on a couple of SG's and really loved the sound and feel. I really wouldn't say I'm an experienced player. I feel like I'm just now starting to feel my style and sound, but I want to venture out a little from the Les Paul. I just don't really know what I'm looking for.

Nice. I always liked brighter colors. If yours the faded model of not? LOVE the sg-x. It's perfect for the pop-punk/rock style that i play.

You can use the violet LEDs that Maxspect sells, although they are 9.60 a piece. Prewired and they say that have a 403nm peak. You can just cut the connectors off at the end.
http://www.buy-led-light.com/accessories-led-lights/11-maxspect-3w-high-power-led-bead.html
http://www.maxspectusa.com/specs.html

I've been looking around for other companies that sell them and they hard hard to find and expensive when you find them.

These say ultra violet but have a 420nm-425nm peak which is violet.
http://leddna.com/3w-high-power-ultra-violet-420nm425nm-uv-led_p411.html

These are also listed as ultra violet but have a higher spectrum of 405-410nm compared to the maxspect ones.
http://www.ledssuperbright.com/3w-ultra-bright-uv-violet-led-p-187

These are 1w listed as 400-405nm peak.
http://www.lck-led.com/p660/1W-Star-High-Power-Violet-LED---400-405nm,-300-350mW/product_info.html

I think using the prewired maxspect for violet would be best route. That's what i'm planning on.
Tad

 

[Girly Gears]

+1 on using Bondo to fill holes, since it will constantly exposed to heat, it will crack. Any welder with their salt could just grind out the stack of dimes look in the weld if you wanted to go all the way around the seams for a solid look.

 

[widmer]

Aquarium looks excellent, reminds me of how mine used to be set up. Is that a closed loop, or is there enough room in your sump for the tank's volume?

 

[kaserpick]

Nice. I always liked brighter colors. If yours the faded model of not? LOVE the sg-x. It's perfect for the pop-punk/rock style that i play.

You can use the violet LEDs that Maxspect sells, although they are 9.60 a piece. Prewired and they say that have a 403nm peak. You can just cut the connectors off at the end.
http://www.buy-led-light.com/accessories-led-lights/11-maxspect-3w-high-power-led-bead.html
http://www.maxspectusa.com/specs.html

I've been looking around for other companies that sell them and they hard hard to find and expensive when you find them.

These say ultra violet but have a 420nm-425nm peak which is violet.
http://leddna.com/3w-high-power-ultra-violet-420nm425nm-uv-led_p411.html

These are also listed as ultra violet but have a higher spectrum of 405-410nm compared to the maxspect ones.
http://www.ledssuperbright.com/3w-ultra-bright-uv-violet-led-p-187

These are 1w listed as 400-405nm peak.
http://www.lck-led.com/p660/1W-Star-High-Power-Violet-LED---400-405nm,-300-350mW/product_info.html

I think using the prewired maxspect for violet would be best route. That's what i'm planning on.
Tad

Awesome, thanks! I wasn't aware that they were available; I really appreciate the links. :thumbsup: The pic below only shows blue's and white's, but I'm definitely going to try to include some violets. That'll definitely help in achieving a more complete spectrum.

Mine's not the faded black; although, I really like the faded look.

+1 on using Bondo to fill holes, since it will constantly exposed to heat, it will crack. Any welder with their salt could just grind out the stack of dimes look in the weld if you wanted to go all the way around the seams for a solid look.

Thanks for the input. I feel like this was the 'straw that broke the camel's back'; I'm getting pretty sold on the welding idea, now. I'm concerned about the longevity of the JB weld as well. Thanks again!

Aquarium looks excellent, reminds me of how mine used to be set up. Is that a closed loop, or is there enough room in your sump for the tank's volume?

It's actually a closed loop with a canister filter. It's very unconventional, but I have been working on a husbandry schedule for a while. The logistics have been tricky, but I think I'll have a healthy SPS/Clam reef in the end. The tank won't be housing much of anything but a few fish, until around May/June. I want this one to settle for a while.

 

[kaserpick]

LED Configuration

LED Configuration

Here's a paint sketch of how I want the LED's configured (color combo will change a bit). It's not exactly to scale. I'll be using the strip heat sinks from Rapid LED and angling them to cast the light from an angle rather than straight down. It will become more clear once I get past this welding and painting phase. I'll be talking to local welders tomorrow. Hopefully, the body will be done by the end of the week so I can work on the internals this weekend. :thumbsup:

I welcome the critiques!

 

[c0mp|ex]

Awesome, thanks! I wasn't aware that they were available; I really appreciate the links. :thumbsup: The pic below only shows blue's and white's, but I'm definitely going to try to include some violets. That'll definitely help in achieving a more complete spectrum.

Mine's not the faded black; although, I really like the faded look.

Awesome! Yea i plan to use some too. I plan on modeling my DIY build pretty close to spec to the Maxspect fixtures except make a few changes to fit the spectrum i like.

Yea, i haven't seen many, if any, one do DIY LED fixtures and include violet yet. Can't go wrong with the ones from maxspect though i guess because it looks good on their fixtures. Being pre-soldered is a plus too.

Is there anything that prevents your tank from siphoning in the event of a power outage? Looks cool i just cant wrap my head around one drain and one return from the bottom, unless it's just a closed loop.

The non-faded ones are better. Pretty much the same thing as a les paul standard without the binding and nice hardware.

 

[strgazr27]

TIG doesnt have a lot of structural strength though but your design would not need much strength.

Without creating a war and hijacking this amazing build you are incorrect. Depending on the material being welded it can be just as strong as a MIG weld. In some cases, such as when welding a chassis or roll cage, especially out of 4130 chrome-moly steel it is preferred as it has a much smaller heat affected zone (HAZ) to minimize weak joints or cracking that can result from excessive heat. We wouldn't use it for those applications if it wasn't a strong weld .

As for the light housing, AMAZING work for DIY with basic hand tools! Can't wait for another update

 

[JoshuaG]

I built pretty much the same fixture last year, just quite a bit bigger. All I did was spot weld the end pieces, worked like a champ and only took about 5 min. I wouldn't be worried about yours tho either way, should be fine

 

[widmer]

Gotta admit, it's kind of twilight zone that 3 members here seem to have made almost the exact same fixture unbeknownst to each other.

They all look great btw guys.

 

[kaserpick]

Awesome! Yea i plan to use some too. I plan on modeling my DIY build pretty close to spec to the Maxspect fixtures except make a few changes to fit the spectrum i like.

Yea, i haven't seen many, if any, one do DIY LED fixtures and include violet yet. Can't go wrong with the ones from maxspect though i guess because it looks good on their fixtures. Being pre-soldered is a plus too.

Is there anything that prevents your tank from siphoning in the event of a power outage? Looks cool i just cant wrap my head around one drain and one return from the bottom, unless it's just a closed loop.

The non-faded ones are better. Pretty much the same thing as a les paul standard without the binding and nice hardware.

Yeah, I'm stoked about the violets! As far as the tank goes, it's just a closed loop driven by a canister filter I had. I'm thinking about switching it to a external pump with a canister add-on. We'll see...

Well, I didn't know the non-faded ones were better; thanks for that piece of info! :thumbsup:

Without creating a war and hijacking this amazing build you are incorrect. Depending on the material being welded it can be just as strong as a MIG weld. In some cases, such as when welding a chassis or roll cage, especially out of 4130 chrome-moly steel it is preferred as it has a much smaller heat affected zone (HAZ) to minimize weak joints or cracking that can result from excessive heat. We wouldn't use it for those applications if it wasn't a strong weld .

As for the light housing, AMAZING work for DIY with basic hand tools! Can't wait for another update

Thanks for the info and compliment!

I built pretty much the same fixture last year, just quite a bit bigger. All I did was spot weld the end pieces, worked like a champ and only took about 5 min. I wouldn't be worried about yours tho either way, should be fine

Looks great, Joshua! Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup: Do you have any pics of it completely finished? I'd love to see them!

Gotta admit, it's kind of twilight zone that 3 members here seem to have made almost the exact same fixture unbeknownst to each other.

They all look great btw guys.

Thanks! Yeah, it's kind of freaking me out, too; I guess I didn't look hard enough for other builds like this. It's, at the very least, encouraging to see that the design appears to be acceptable.

 

[JoshuaG]

Looks great, Joshua! Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup: Do you have any pics of it completely finished? I'd love to see them!

Thanks! Here are a few more.

 

[kaserpick]

Looking sharp! :thumbsup: Thanks for the pics! I'm loving the tank and the aquascape, as well!

 

[KafudaFish]

Glad you are still in the game.

I'm guessing life has calmed down after your move.

 

[kaserpick]

Glad you are still in the game.

I'm guessing life has calmed down after your move.

Thanks, Mike! Yes, life has calmed down a bit, which means it's time to make it crazy with reef projects. This build is probably the most 'DIY' I've ever done.

 

[dainiusiva]

Gotta admit, it's kind of twilight zone that 3 members here seem to have made almost the exact same fixture unbeknownst to each other.

They all look great btw guys.

Thats just the legacy of ATI, isn't it? you've gotta admit, that is a superb fixture...

 

[dainiusiva]

it's just a closed loop driven by a canister filter I had. I'm thinking about switching it to a external pump with a canister add-on. We'll see...

If it's driven only by canister filter, you will have no problem of the tank draining...

But i guess you already know it Anyway, great build, keep it up...

 

[Gamepro_inc]

Without creating a war and hijacking this amazing build you are incorrect. Depending on the material being welded it can be just as strong as a MIG weld. In some cases, such as when welding a chassis or roll cage, especially out of 4130 chrome-moly steel it is preferred as it has a much smaller heat affected zone (HAZ) to minimize weak joints or cracking that can result from excessive heat. We wouldn't use it for those applications if it wasn't a strong weld .

As for the light housing, AMAZING work for DIY with basic hand tools! Can't wait for another update

I stand corrected although I have done some welding I dont pretend to be an expert and therefore assume your knowledge on the subject exceeds mine. I retract my previous statement. BTW would you still suggest TIG for his project with your knowledge in the subject?

 

[kcress]

I stand corrected although I have done some welding I dont pretend to be an expert and therefore assume your knowledge on the subject exceeds mine. I retract my previous statement. BTW would you still suggest TIG for his project with your knowledge in the subject?

Absolutely TIG. If you want GOOD looking welds TIG is the way to get them. That's why pacemakers are welded together with TIG not MIG.

 

[kaserpick]

Thats just the legacy of ATI, isn't it? you've gotta admit, that is a superb fixture...

If it's driven only by canister filter, you will have no problem of the tank draining...

But i guess you already know it Anyway, great build, keep it up...

Yes, I agree; we can most likely point the finger at ATI. Their fixtures just look too nice!

I stand corrected although I have done some welding I dont pretend to be an expert and therefore assume your knowledge on the subject exceeds mine. I retract my previous statement. BTW would you still suggest TIG for his project with your knowledge in the subject?

Absolutely TIG. If you want GOOD looking welds TIG is the way to get them. That's why pacemakers are welded together with TIG not MIG.

Thanks for the info and the dialogue! Again, I'm learning quite a bit about TIG. :thumbsup: