My first DIY PICO project

[tkimmons85]

Lori I know that as soon as you give me the word I can get your tank made fairly quick. But if you want I can make you a DIY LED fixture too, it just might take a little longer because I am going to take my time on it to make sure I get it right. I'll Pm you about it.

 

[tkimmons85]

Hey just wanting to keep this thread alive. Since the search engine has been dead things have been harder to find. I am in the process of building my LED light fixture and its already lookin sweeeet. I'll hopefully have it done sometime in the next week. Plenty of pics and details of the build coming soon.

 

[AdrianBryce]

Hey are you using a drill press and taps to attach your leds or are you using thermal adhesive? I am going to be ordering my parts soon. I just got 10 computers that I am scrapping heatsinks, fans, and power supplies out of. I am going to make a practice light for a 1 gallon pico first. Then I am going to make a light to retro into my NEP shell. The only bad part is never being able to take a decent picture of my tank again.

Can't wait to see your build.

 

[tkimmons85]

I went with a heat sink from heatsink usa. 5 white crees and 5 royal blues. Thats 4 and 4 over the DT and 1 and 1 over the fuge. I have two dimmable buck pucks and a 24 volt power supply that I turned down to 20.5 volts which is exactly what my leds need at 1 amp. I have also talked to alot of people about these diy led fixtures and they have all said that with the amount of leds Im running on the size heat sink I have that I wont need a cooling fan. Which eliminated alot of work. I am also using a computer heat sink thermal paste to glue my leds on and Im not worrying about drilling them.


Also heres a handy way to find out how many volts you need for your crees. They will need 3.7 volts each at 1 amp and the buck pucks need 2 volts over that to perform efficiently. So for me I have 5 leds on each puck which would be 5 times 3.7 plus 2 = 20.5 When I get the fixture done I'll list all the components, where I got them, and how I assembeled them.

 

[AdrianBryce]

cool.

I am looking forward to seeing how you do it.

 

[NeveSSL]

Sweet. You need to post some pics!

How did you determine the voltage out of your power supply? If you did it with just a voltmeter, keep in mind that voltage is going to sag a bit under load. Also, the buckpucks won't be 100% efficient, so you'll lose a bit there, too.

Just a thought.

Brandon

 

[tkimmons85]

the power supply has a dial on it where you can adjust the output it comes set at 24 volts but can go anywhere from 20- 28 so if I need more I can dial it in

 

[zef004]

Same here like to do a big one on a 75gal seahorse tank.

 

[tkimmons85]

Thats gonna be my next step a LED fixture for my 125. It will be identical to this one but many times the size. I wont even have to add fans cause the ones in my hood will work fine.

 

[NeveSSL]

Ok, if you're doing one for a 125, you will definitely want to look into the meanwell drivers. They have 48v versions that you can put quite a few LEDs on (what, like maybe 10 to 12, depending?) and they don't have to have an external power supply. One end plugs into the wall, the other goes to the LEDs.

If you check out the group buys on the other "smaller" forum, you can get the Meanwell drivers for around $25 a piece, which is super cheap. They also come in an analog dimmed version (just like the BuckPucks do) so you can dim your LEDs with your controller, should you choose.

Brandon

 

[orthokardia]

pics-pics-pics

 

[tkimmons85]

Ya I'll definatley look at the meanwell drivers then. Thanks Sorry about no pics I have been at work.

 

[tkimmons85]

Pictures

 

[tkimmons85]

pics

 

[tkimmons85]

pix

 

[NeveSSL]

Nice!

Great job on the fixture. Looks clean!

I would be a little bit concerned with the amount of epoxy on the LEDs, though. It may not be as much as it looks, but it looks to be about 1/16" or so thick, which may actually insulate them from the heatsink. But maybe not.

Great job!

Brandon

 

[tkimmons85]

The epoxy that is around the leds is extra that pushed out when I firmly seated the led against the heat sink. I put quite a bit of down force and a twisting motion when I seated them so I dont think the layer of thermal adhesive is too thick.

 

[NeveSSL]

Oh, ok. Gotcha, man. That makes perfect sense. Pictures do not always tell all.

I love the design, though.

Brandon

 

[tkimmons85]

Thanks Im hoping to have it soldered up and running here in the next day or so.

 

[tkimmons85]

Its all done and looking good. Now for the corals.