The DIY LED Project
DIY LED
Hi everyone, just a bit of an update:
I purchased this DIY LED kit, and it arrived in just over a week. Service was great, and communication was excellent from Ray.
Anyway work had been ridiculously busy so the build is only half finished as of tonight. All the LEDs have been hooked up to their drivers and dimmers - i got 12xRoyal Blues (452-455nm) and 12xWhite (10000K) so they are on separate circuits.
I will be removing the existing halide lamp from the hanging canopy, and make some modifications to it and place the LED fixture into there. Also on the to do list is to get a project box to house the drivers and dimmer controls - hopefully will get done over the next week or so.
Anyway, onto some pics!
This is the plan for the layout of the LEDs:
Here's what came in the package (Ray threw in a couple of extra LEDs and a spare lens):
The heatsink came as a 400mm X 120mm piece, so I cut it in half and bolted the halves together to give me a 200mm X 240mm piece:
Royal blues attached:
All 24 LEDs attached:
The heatsink plaster that came with the kit. It dried up pretty quick so I had to work quickly. It helped to know exactly where and which direction the LEDs were going to be mounted before I opened up the plaster.
I pre-cut, stripped and tinned the wires while the plaster was drying. Saved a lot of time and made soldering the wires to the LEDs much easier. I also tinned the LED stars.
I put together a simple little "third hand" to help with tinning the wires (basically a bit of bent coathanger and an alligator clip with tape around the teeth so as not to damage the wires):
Royal blues wired up:
All 24 wired up:
60 degree optics:
The power cables that came in the kit were quite flimsy - i found that the copper insides were very thin and frayed - so i replaced them with a couple of leads that I had in the garage.
Original leads:
Replaced with these:
Driver and dimming controller all hooked up:
Completed unit (for now) with makeshift control box to house the drivers and the dimming pots:
And finally the test run - both lights at 100%:
The light is very very bright. I have not had a chance to run it over the tank yet, but I can't wait to see how it will look!
Hi everyone, just a bit of an update:
I purchased this DIY LED kit, and it arrived in just over a week. Service was great, and communication was excellent from Ray.
Anyway work had been ridiculously busy so the build is only half finished as of tonight. All the LEDs have been hooked up to their drivers and dimmers - i got 12xRoyal Blues (452-455nm) and 12xWhite (10000K) so they are on separate circuits.
I will be removing the existing halide lamp from the hanging canopy, and make some modifications to it and place the LED fixture into there. Also on the to do list is to get a project box to house the drivers and dimmer controls - hopefully will get done over the next week or so.
Anyway, onto some pics!
This is the plan for the layout of the LEDs:
Here's what came in the package (Ray threw in a couple of extra LEDs and a spare lens):
The heatsink came as a 400mm X 120mm piece, so I cut it in half and bolted the halves together to give me a 200mm X 240mm piece:
Royal blues attached:
All 24 LEDs attached:
The heatsink plaster that came with the kit. It dried up pretty quick so I had to work quickly. It helped to know exactly where and which direction the LEDs were going to be mounted before I opened up the plaster.
I pre-cut, stripped and tinned the wires while the plaster was drying. Saved a lot of time and made soldering the wires to the LEDs much easier. I also tinned the LED stars.
I put together a simple little "third hand" to help with tinning the wires (basically a bit of bent coathanger and an alligator clip with tape around the teeth so as not to damage the wires):
Royal blues wired up:
All 24 wired up:
60 degree optics:
The power cables that came in the kit were quite flimsy - i found that the copper insides were very thin and frayed - so i replaced them with a couple of leads that I had in the garage.
Original leads:
Replaced with these:
Driver and dimming controller all hooked up:
Completed unit (for now) with makeshift control box to house the drivers and the dimming pots:
And finally the test run - both lights at 100%:
The light is very very bright. I have not had a chance to run it over the tank yet, but I can't wait to see how it will look!
