# DIY LED mini light



## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

So.... I had some extra LED's kicking around, and when I saw this piece of aluminum, I had to do something with it.

I also have a huge box full of 2-3x 3W drivers to use up, so I thought I'd use them illustrate how simple a DIY LED can be.

Scraps of white acrylic cut to size for a nice box, and I threw this together:



















More pics to follow...


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Are those Cree LEDs?

Make them dimmable!


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> Are those Cree LEDs?
> 
> Make them dimmable!


They are some no-name brand, just regular 3 watt Star LED's. This is for a small frag tank, so dimming's not really important.

I used 6x white and 3x blue

More pics of the build process:


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

That looks very nice, i've got few questions for you:

1. what is the mA on those drivers?
2. does the fixture get very warm? Have you tried to put your hand there?
3. How is the frag growth compared to your T8 or T5 lights?
4. what is the distance between the substrate and the light?
5. what do you use to attach the led to the aluminum plate?

thanks


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

GAT said:


> That looks very nice, i've got few questions for you:
> 
> 1. what is the mA on those drivers?
> 2. does the fixture get very warm? Have you tried to put your hand there?
> ...


Here's the driver:










Haven't really checked the heat. Maybe I should go down and look at it... 

I haven't had it for very long, but already notice better colour on my frags. my old light was a 6500K CFl, so anything would be better than that, LOL  The light is sitting on the glass top of the aquarium, so it's about 12" to the substrate, but the light spread on the entire tank is good and even.

LED's are attached with thermal paste on the surface and super glue around the perimeter to hold them on


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## DrBlueThumb (Feb 18, 2012)

Thanks for the post, I'm looking to slowly get started with led.

what drill bit did you use to drill through the aluminum? did you use a hand drill or?


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

DrBlueThumb said:


> Thanks for the post, I'm looking to slowly get started with led.
> 
> what drill bit did you use to drill through the aluminum? did you use a hand drill or?


 I <3 LED's 

Regular HSS in a drill press. Using Varsol or paint thinner as a lube works wonders to keep the bit from gumming up.


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## DrBlueThumb (Feb 18, 2012)

New toy, I need to look into getting.

it's looking very nice so far


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

50seven said:


> Regular HSS in a drill press. Using Varsol or paint thinner as a lube works wonders to keep the bit from gumming up.


i had no problem with "gumming" when i drilled with my 18v milwaukee power drill. the bit was cutting beautifully through the aluminum.


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