MY DIY LED Project

OzoneParkGuy

OzoneParkGuy

New member
Well I finally got everything situated and began my project yesterday...

My DIY LED setup consists of 84 LEDS.. 42 Cool White & 42 Royal Blue with 65* Optics running on 6 Meanwell Dimmable Drivers with speed controlled cooling fans and a DIY dimmable kit to control the white and blues independently.
They were all mounted on a 36"X8.5" Heatsink.

The two issues that I faced was figuring the spacing requirement needed to
mount the LED's withut causing the spotlighting effect. So I had them placed 1 3/4" apart diode to diode @ 21 LEDS per row, creating 4 rows. Each row is spaced exactly 2" apart from diode to diode.

Pic 1
Pic1.jpg


Pic2
Pic2.jpg


Pic3
Pic3.jpg


The second issue I'm facing now... is how to go about soldering the led's... do I mount the leds 1st to the heatsink causing the dissapation of heat like I have encountered or do I wire them up 1st then mount. LOL!!

Pic4
Pic4.jpg
 
hey Noel I see you have 21 lights per string thats 10 or 11 bulbs per driver not bad my friend I think as far as soldering the bulbs if your soldering iron is 40w or better you will do ok I think maybe try 1 and see maybe use flux and also plz practice on wire first to a small piece of metal that will be a make believe LED and then go from there. The set up looks great and I know it will be good to go by the end of the week you are that type of person someone who gets the job done. Keep up the good work and plz post pics and keep us updated I will give you a buzz tomorrow and call if you need help with anything
 
I would use caution spacing the Led's that close together! They Reccomemd that you leave 3" space by at least 2" Space. In other words you may have overheating Issues due to them being to close to each other and that will cut you Led's Life time Drasticly.
I would either move them away in the rows or space them 3" apart in the rows you have JMO As I had Led frying due to heat issues from them being too close together. We both used different type heat sinks though, Just don't want to see you have problems that cost you extra money in your build like I had, Learned the Hard way.
But everything else looks great, And 252 said If your not an accomplished Solderer Practice as Cold Welds will not transfer the Current you need for them to work. JMO
Bill
PS Just trying to save you a Headache Like I got!
 
I got my heat sinks and leds from rapid led and the heat sinks where drilled and tapped and the space between each bulb is 1 1/2 by 2 1/4 inches apart from each other. I dont think an LED company like rapid led would create a heat sink that could not support the heat of the bulbs as that would put them in a bind as far as customers returning or giving a good word for them. I dont think that will be a problem Noel but then again I am no expert just my 2 cents.
 
on Aqua Illumination fixtures the leds are bunched into groups of 3. It may be that they figured out a way to cool their leds more efficiently than us, or that proximity is less of an issue than people think.
 
Bill, did you use a heatsink or aluminum plate? With a good heatsinks heat shouldn’t be much of an issue, I can run mine all day and they are hot but not where I can't touch them.

Noel, Looking good. Did you decide on the wiring yet? Probably best to run 6 strings of 14 LEDs, makes wiring a little easier and no need to add fuses. I've always attached the LED to the heatsink first, make sure you tin the wire and star first so the soldering should be quick and easy.
 
Looking good I just did my led kit to that I got for rapidled. What leds are you using thay look like XPE and XPG and the space on the leds are fine. You going to love them.
 
As stated above I used a different type Heat sink and yours is most likely able to handle the Led's closer than mine is. I wasn't trying to critise your build It looks great and It will work Fine I did not take the different Heat Sink into the Mix when I first looked! Good Luck with the Build and sorry for any confusion.
Bill
 
Awesome!!! Im looking to start my DIY LED project but I don't know where to begin. I did my stand and the sump but now its time for lighting!! Is there a video or possibly something that indicates every single material you need and a step by step guide- lol. GL on the project!
 
Common Mr. Noel... get this bad boy up and running!

Free your self of the MH's vendetta on your electric bill!
 
Ninja1 said:
Awesome!!! Im looking to start my DIY LED project but I don't know where to begin. I did my stand and the sump but now its time for lighting!! Is there a video or possibly something that indicates every single material you need and a step by step guide- lol. GL on the project!
Click to expand...

Yes go to youtube and type in reefledlights and thay have a video what needed and how to do it
 
poolkeeper1 said:
As stated above I used a different type Heat sink and yours is most likely able to handle the Led's closer than mine is. I wasn't trying to critise your build It looks great and It will work Fine I did not take the different Heat Sink into the Mix when I first looked! Good Luck with the Build and sorry for any confusion.
Bill
Click to expand...

Sorry bro didn't mean it that way. I hope you found a better heat sink cause LEDS rock IMO.
 
Yup

Yup

xclusive252 said:
Sorry bro didn't mean it that way. I hope you found a better heat sink cause LEDS rock IMO.
Click to expand...

Mine has been running for 4 months with only one problem string and It turned out to be a Faulty Driver and some Sloppy Soldering by a friend.
Working great for the last week and no more Issues at all.
And my SPS colors have never been better.
Bill:beer:
 
wow plz post pics of the SPS I would love to see progress and color change and Im sure most of my buddies doing there fixtures would love the same. Thank you in advance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Reefing102
My wife’s 32 Gallon BioCube Build
Replies
12
Views
1K
Reefing102
Reefing102
R
AquaOne ReefSys 180 Build 2022
Replies
4
Views
783
Plastik0cean
Plastik0cean
S
FS: I'm getting out...everything must go...
Replies
4
Views
2K
scaast
S
el aguila
Revamping older DIY LED fixture
Replies
11
Views
999
oreo57
oreo57
C
Some DIY LED Questions
Replies
6
Views
830
sfsuphysics
S
Back
Top