LEDBrick Project - DIY pendant w/ pucks

[theatrus]

Lots of good points here.

I may target a thin heat-sink stock like this one: http://www.heatsinkusa.com/1-000-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/

Its not going to handle a lot of power, but for a supplement it should do nicely. I can pack a two channel driver onto the same fixture as well to really cut down the complexity (just add a power supply).

For a supplement strip, two channels would probably be ideal, it wouldn't totally need a diffuser but it wouldn't be an issue to cut those to length for the heatsinks and mount it on top via a threaded standoff to the heatsink (yay laser cutter )

I've used mylar tape to create a reflective shroud before, not sure thats really needed in this case.

 

[phalaris]

Thank you all for your useful information!

 

[theatrus]

i couldn't find in the spec sheet for the heat sink the dimension of the solid part in the middle, would you mind measuring it for me, i think it might be best to try to keep the LEDs in the solid part for better heat transfer. Thank You

The solid inner core has a diameter of 24.5mm. The smaller-end of the two trapezoid lobes is 9mm across, and the wide end is 14mm.

 

[Foggman]

The solid inner core has a diameter of 24.5mm. The smaller-end of the two trapezoid lobes is 9mm across, and the wide end is 14mm.

Thank You, i will continue on my design for the 32 up board

 

[theatrus]

Had an interesting brain wave on the LED strip boards - what if we put the driver on the strip, and even provide a simple adjustment screw-top potentiometer (trim pot) to adjust brightness if you don't want to use a controller?

The board is not quite an inch wide, and the driver + power jack section is about 1.5in long. The LED strip section right now has a Luxeon Z on it.

This is using the LM3414 that I'm using on the original LEDBrick driver, just in the smaller WSON-8 package. There will be a few jumpers on this PCB to keep it single layer (since its all MPCB). All you need to do is plug in a 24-36V (or up to 60V if the high voltage part is used, and you can find one! ) power pack for basic operation. Keeps things nice and simple, but still allows a PWM input signal for dimming that works in tandem with the adjust potentiometer.

The downside? Component height - the LED is super low profile compare to the connector and the inductor.

I'm going to re-purpose this compact layout for the two-channel heatsink top driver, stay tuned as I try to make the mechanical dimensions work and hopefully add a fan power supply too.

 

[perkint]

Very impressive

Tim

 

[Harbara]

Look into the A6211. O2Surplus happens to have a large cash of them at the moment. about the only way you'll get them. He ordered a few hundred a while back for assorted projects. Shoot him a PM, I'm sure he can spare you a few.

 

[theatrus]

LEDBrick Project - DIY pendant w/ pucks

Look into the A6211. O2Surplus happens to have a large cash of them at the moment. about the only way you'll get them. He ordered a few hundred a while back for assorted projects. Shoot him a PM, I'm sure he can spare you a few.

(I realized the above was a spam posting, but the comparison applies still )

I actually have a stack of them (there are also ~ 500 on DigiKey stock). A perfectly abled driver, but there are a few reasons to prefer the LM3414:

- No shunt resistor, common anode design
- Small package - the A6211 is a Power SOIC only, the LM3414 has a leadless WSON package
- LM3414HV is available at even higher supply voltages (65V)
- Both a PWM enable AND an analog current limit pin which work simultaneously

The A6211 has a higher current capability, but the sweet spot of LEDs I'm dealing with is around 700-1000mA.

And the RT8471 wins the budget prize

 

[O2Surplus]

Gotta love the spam bots....this one posted four times in less than two minutes.lol

 

[theatrus]

Gotta love the spam bots....this one posted four times in less than two minutes.lol

You'd think I'd learn and catch the zero pixel images sooner

 

[theatrus]

Noodled around with some alternate LED arrangements on the 8-up star. I also borrowed a friend's X-Rite Color Checker chart (used to calibrate color in photo shoots, its a very expensive precision printed card), and shot test images of the LEDs illuminating the chart with the camera forced to Daylight white balance.

First up, the "daylight":

Neutral White, Lime, Warm White, Blue (485)

A shot of the color-checker:

Next up, a "beyond 20k" Blue with 420nm violet:

4x Royal Blue, 1x Blue, 1x Cyan, 1x Neutral White, 1x 420nm Luxeon UV

This is well beyond 20k in actual blue rendering for the white patch. The color checker chart doesn't actively fluoresce in any way so its a bit deceiving vs an aquarium look, and doesn't look this blue to the eye (yay human brain). Interesting, the brown and purple patches are non-distinct.

 

[PeterHall]

How do you control your star boards? What would be the easiest way to get one to work with 0-10v aka apex.

 

[theatrus]

How do you control your star boards? What would be the easiest way to get one to work with 0-10v aka apex.

A lot depends on how many stars and the number of channels you want to control. For a two channel setup assuming you'll use 4 "half" stars, something like 2 of the Meanwell LPF-40D-48 would be a good option.

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/260/LPF-40D-spec-794605.pdf

For more channels or more LEDs, using LDD drivers with a 0-10V adapter or the driver I'm working on, plus a DC power supply, would be more economical (usually).

 

[theatrus]

Remember the pendant idea? Here is a micro driver AND fan power supply for it.

1.5 x 0.7 inches (eek) super dense packing. I really don't have space for connectors so you get to solder to pads (pads since the whole thing will need to be put down on a heatsink). Its based on the LM3414, will run up to 24V (the fan power supply caps out at 30V), and 1A per channel. The (white in the picture) metal trimmers let you adjust the current from 350mA-1A per channel, so PWM is optional but supported.

Its designed to run fans up to 100mA, but really the goal is to use this one: https://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=259-1584-ND (less than 2in diameter)

 

[perkint]

That's pretty impressive

Tim

 

[dorky]

Dude I love the microdriver board ESP the fan power supply tht is awesome

 

[theatrus]

Strip sneak peak:

(Luxeon C footprint, 2x3 arrangement, same push in headers on each end)

 

[Rakie]

Strip sneak peak:

(Luxeon C footprint, 2x3 arrangement, same push in headers on each end)

Very nice!

 

[saf1]

Strip sneak peak:

(Luxeon C footprint, 2x3 arrangement, same push in headers on each end)

What is the intent or use and do you have any running? Wondering how it will turn out and what LED arrangement?

The upgrade I'm working out now will more than likely use an additional 2 x 48" wide heat sinks stuffed with varous Luxeon singles. Then in the center I'll move over my older multi chip Borealis. They have their new chip but are not selling seperatly yet last time I spoke to them.

Need to get reasonable coverage on a 54" wide tank with at least 30 - 36" height. I still like the Borealis singles.

 

[theatrus]

What is the intent or use and do you have any running? Wondering how it will turn out and what LED arrangement?

Don't have any running yet, though I made a batch in both C and Z footprints. My main goal was to make a customized low-mounting-height light strip array for tanks like Biocubes, or as a filler strip for T5 hybrids. If someone wanted more in-fill lighting it would also act as a nice supplement with some easier layout compared to single-stars.

I'm looking at either a mixed spectrum, all blue/violet, and even experiment with the 720nm reds for algae operations. I've also cut diffuser strips to size to see what effect it has.

The upgrade I'm working out now will more than likely use an additional 2 x 48" wide heat sinks stuffed with varous Luxeon singles. Then in the center I'll move over my older multi chip Borealis. They have their new chip but are not selling seperatly yet last time I spoke to them.

The new puck is from their new fixtures, yes?