Looking for 10W LED Help.
- Thread starter Poseidon
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Luxeons and reflectors (light spill containers) ordered from Steve's.
So... 4 Blue LED's, drivers and reflectors. You guys are great at spending my money.
Off to Rapid to get the heat sink, I am sure I can make it all pretty given the quality of the parts. I'll make sure to post pictures of all my goodies when they get here.
So... 4 Blue LED's, drivers and reflectors. You guys are great at spending my money.
Off to Rapid to get the heat sink, I am sure I can make it all pretty given the quality of the parts. I'll make sure to post pictures of all my goodies when they get here.OK LED's, Heat sink, CLG, and LDD's are all here. It looks like I need some sort of PWM signal, based on the coralux built in protection circuit on the PCB's that I ordered.
Being that these are mulit-chip leds, I am thinking that I run 2 of Luxeon's in parallel from each of the two LDD1000's, is that correct?
Will the LDD's set the voltage as well as the current, or do I have to set that on the CLG with one of the two adjustment pots?
Is there a way to use what I have to get manual dimming without a PWM signal?
Thanks for all the input, you guys have been GREAT!
Being that these are mulit-chip leds, I am thinking that I run 2 of Luxeon's in parallel from each of the two LDD1000's, is that correct?
Will the LDD's set the voltage as well as the current, or do I have to set that on the CLG with one of the two adjustment pots?
Is there a way to use what I have to get manual dimming without a PWM signal?
Thanks for all the input, you guys have been GREAT!
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Steve's are C5G, LGB are E5G.
For the M, you run two of them in series, not parallel.
The LDD set the voltage and the current, and if you dim them, then you change the current, and the LDD autosenses the voltage change and adjusts it accordingly, so you don't need to do anything.
You would need a converter to go from analog to digital and have a 10v reference signal and a pot. O2Surplus has designed one of those boards, but it really adds a lot of extra cords and such (which, really, a controller does, too, since they're the only things that are being controlled).
Interesting. They were the same when I posted.....I checked first....
I am fairly certain you can simply supply a constant 5v signal say from an old Cell charger to run them full power in place of the controller's pwm signal, no dimming that way though.
I found a wall wart with selectable voltage, at 5.1V output I measured 36.4V at the LED ends, so this is 100% correct. Without the 5V I measured 0V.
I put the LDDs in a small project box from Radio Shack, do these get hot at all? The box is rather small, I don't want to damage them.
I am waiting for my heat sink to dry. I bought 1.25" Square Aluminum tubing, 1/8th inch wall, and I put a 1/2" tall "L" in the middle of that tubing. I then cut a 45 at one end, and attached another piece so that I have an air output that is vertical and an air input that is horizontal, with forced air cooling over that fin in the middle that is riveted to bottom of the inside of the tube.
As soon as the paint is good and dry, I will mount the LED's and fire it up! Woohoo!!!!
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Steve's has always had the C bin since the royal blue M was first made available from Future, and when Milad decided to get some he would only get the E bin.
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
What solder are you using? 63/37 is recommended and I've never had an issue soldering with a 40w iron.
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Not sure what you mean by mylar surface - the solder pads should be shiny metal (usually aluminum, sometimes copper).
Make sure the solder iron is good and hot first. Also very helpful to tin the LED solder pads and wires BEFORE attaching them to the heatsink
Then they just melt together rather easily.
It can also help to have a chisel tip iron but if you just have a normal pointed tip it helps to put a little blob of solder on the end of the iron (heavy, tinning of the iron) and then solder your connection real quick. The extra heat in the solder blob usually does the trick but you have to make sure not to get too messy or you can short things out to the star or screws.
Then they just melt together rather easily.
It can also help to have a chisel tip iron but if you just have a normal pointed tip it helps to put a little blob of solder on the end of the iron (heavy, tinning of the iron) and then solder your connection real quick. The extra heat in the solder blob usually does the trick but you have to make sure not to get too messy or you can short things out to the star or screws.
Well, I got it all fired up!
WOW those suckers are BRIGHT! I have the reflectors one two of them, and not on the other two, just wanted to see the difference. There is a of course a much more even spread on the back of the tank, but the two points of light from where I sit are a real bummer! I have a few pics on the phone cam, I'll finish up the project tomorrow night, and get out the camera for some good pictures.
Thank you for the suggestion jedimasterben and zachts, this is exactly what I wanted, and yes it is noticeable when the halide is on, just a tad more blue than before.
The killer part is when the halide is off of course, nothing beats the LED POP!
WOW those suckers are BRIGHT! I have the reflectors one two of them, and not on the other two, just wanted to see the difference. There is a of course a much more even spread on the back of the tank, but the two points of light from where I sit are a real bummer! I have a few pics on the phone cam, I'll finish up the project tomorrow night, and get out the camera for some good pictures.
Thank you for the suggestion jedimasterben and zachts, this is exactly what I wanted, and yes it is noticeable when the halide is on, just a tad more blue than before.
The killer part is when the halide is off of course, nothing beats the LED POP!
Well, here it is:
Heat sink cut to size, LED placement marked out. The holes are for the wires to the LEDs.
My "chimney" idea. This gives the hot air a vertical exit, and a horizontal input, convection should draw air along the cooling fin.
The cooling fin.
The LED and reflector for it.
All wired up!
HOLY CRAP! That is REALLY Bright!
I left the reflectors off on one side, I wanted to see the difference. In this image you can clearly see that difference, The spread is better without the optic, of course, but there is way to much spill into the room. I'll end up adding the reflectors to this side tonight.
Next up is a decision on control, and I have to rotate my halide 90 degrees in order to get the best spread from both the halide and the new LED's. I will get the good camera out once the mess is cleaned up.
Heat sink cut to size, LED placement marked out. The holes are for the wires to the LEDs.
My "chimney" idea. This gives the hot air a vertical exit, and a horizontal input, convection should draw air along the cooling fin.
The cooling fin.
The LED and reflector for it.
All wired up!
HOLY CRAP! That is REALLY Bright!
I left the reflectors off on one side, I wanted to see the difference. In this image you can clearly see that difference, The spread is better without the optic, of course, but there is way to much spill into the room. I'll end up adding the reflectors to this side tonight.
Next up is a decision on control, and I have to rotate my halide 90 degrees in order to get the best spread from both the halide and the new LED's. I will get the good camera out once the mess is cleaned up.
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