# My Attemp on DIY LED



## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

Been reading lots on building my LED fixture for my 50G planted tank.

Special thanks to Mr. Fishies (Ian) for the hand-me down tank + stand. It's been running for a couple of months. It's using RENA XP4 filter and a couple of T8 shoplights. Plant wise, the tank has low-light plants: java fern from Franks, cryptocerne wendtii from BA.

This LED fixture would be my test fixture before building a bigger version for my FOWLR 55G tank. I would like it to be as inexpensive as possible.

*Parts & Cost:*

LEDs: purchased 14 (7x7000 K, 7x10000K) from Steve's LEDS: $65.00 (shipping included)

LED Driver: purchased Meanwell LPC35-700W from rapidled.com: $30.00 (shipping included)

Thermal paste/adhesive: purchased thermal adhesive from Luxeonstar: $20.00 (shipping included)

Heatsink: purchased 6(w)x24(l)x1/4(thickness) from Metal Supermarkets: $23.00

Wood, screws, L shaped 36 x 2 x 1/8 aluminum at Home Depot: $25.00

I already have the following:

40W soldering iron

soldering paste

wires for connecting the leds, used speaker wires (18AWG)

alcohol and cotton

*Build:*
It took my the whole day, that includes taking care of my 8 month old daughter, dropping off and picking up my 4-year old, errands here/there, to complete the fixture.

*HEATSINK* - I was expecting the heatsink I bought would be as clean as the ones at Home Depot. Needless to say, I had to sand it down to remove small blemishes and oil residue from cutting the aluminum bar. As soon as the aluminum if pretty smooth, applied alcohol on it to remove oil residue and begin marking it for led placement.

*Thermal Paste* - Its straight-forward application. Placed it on the marks on the aluminum bar. Make sure you apply enough pressure, about 5 seconds.

*Soldering* - After placing the LEDS on top of the thermal adhesive, it's time to connect them in series. Mind you, it's been a while since I last used my soldering iron, soldering isn't that great. Applied little solder on the LED, soldering paste on the tip of the connecting wire. 18AWG seems to be a bit thick. Also 40W soldering iron takes time to heat up the element.

*Meanwell Driver* - pretty straight-forward, connect the red wire to the positive and the black wire to the negative terminal of the LEDS.

*Roofless canopy* - Got some 1x3 wood and build a roofless canopy. I might have to attach a fan on top of the fixture. I have plexiglass in my garage to create splashguard preventing water contact on the LEDS.

*Troubleshooting*
When I first plug-in everything, *NONE* of the lights lit-up. My first hint was the wires were too thick that their touching the star base of the LEDS. *Mistake:* I tried to troubleshoot by placing red and black wire directly on each LED to see to make sure that it's not the LEDs. TO my surprise, I saw a spark (now dead) on the LED. Be sure to have a multimeter handy to check for continuity before plugging in the unit. What was a 12 LED fixture became a 10 LED fixture finish.

After visual inspection of the LEDS, One of the LEDS was NOT soldered properly breaking the connectivity of the LEDS in series. That was after two LEDS were burned. I had to re-arrange the LEDS to accommodate 10 LEDS instead of 12.

*Heat Testing* - Now that the LEDS are placed on the aluminum bar and is attached to my roofless canopy, I have the fixture running for at least two hours. I can touch the heatsink but it is hot. I was told that if you can touch hot elements, temperature is usually around 60 - 70 degrees.

For my future build:

Get at least 100W soldering iron/gun. Invest on a weller gun.

20 -24 AWG wire would be ideal.

Get access to multimeter and learn to use them.

Pictures soon to follow. . . .


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

cannt wait to see it.


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## Carlito (Feb 10, 2011)

Sounds like an interesting project....good luck!


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## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

As promised, here are the images. Pictures doesn't do justice.

I had some plant clippings on my other 40G planted.









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10









By barokpogi at 2011-03-10


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

Very bright..cool


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## Carlito (Feb 10, 2011)

Very nice!


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Very nice!

Question 1; what type of metal is the heatsink? Aluminum? What cut is it? I cant find heat sinks on their website.

Question 2; what is the difference between a driver and a power supply? Steve's has two categories with different things... I thought they were just two words for the same thing...


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

acropora1981 said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Question 1; what type of metal is the heatsink? Aluminum? What cut is it? I cant find heat sinks on their website.
> 
> Question 2; what is the difference between a driver and a power supply? Steve's has two categories with different things... I thought they were just two words for the same thing...


Driver and power supply technically are both transformer, they might be either step-up or step down. Ballast for florescent tube is also a transformer but more on a capacitor side because of it's function. Being a power supply for LED, alternating current (AC) must be converted to direct current (DC)to lit it. May be term DRIVER is use to identify it as DC transformer whereas power supply can be either AC or DC.
Electricians correct me..


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## rrobbiiee (Dec 4, 2010)

From what I've seen in the online LED world the term driver is used to describe a powersupply that can deliver a set current usually within spec of your LED's with a variable voltage output. A regular powersupply is just like an AC/DC adapter you would use for most household electronics (set voltage and amperage). If you use a regular powersupply then you will need to use a Buck Puck (or equivalent) in order to maintain the proper amperage.

I think that makes sense


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## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

acropora1981 said:


> Very nice!
> 
> Question 1; what type of metal is the heatsink? Aluminum? What cut is it? I cant find heat sinks on their website.


Yes, it is aluminum. When I called them, they are referred as Aluminum bars. They can almost cut anything depending on your needs.

Dimension: length: 24 inches, width: 6 inches, height: 1/4 inch.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

BaRoK said:


> Yes, it is aluminum. When I called them, they are referred as Aluminum bars. They can almost cut anything depending on your needs.
> 
> Dimension: length: 24 inches, width: 6 inches, height: 1/4 inch.


Amazing. Thankyou so much for finding a Canadian heat sink source!!!!


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## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

Metal Supermarket sells them raw. You might have to do a little bit of sanding to smooth out the surface. It cost my around $23.00 for it. It costs three-four time more if purchased in States.

So far the heat have been constant. It's warm but I can touch the heatsink. I'll try to see if I can get actual temperature.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Just a quick question. I tried to order from Steve's but they only have a american online ordering system. Also says they only do american shipping.

Did you have someone in the states send you these or something?


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## ThyrosineChoi (Apr 6, 2010)

^
i'd love to know as well!
they say that they only ship within the states ;(

it seems like it's very cheap compared to rapidleds.

do you guys know any cheap canadian source?


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## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

choii317 said:


> ^
> i'd love to know as well!
> they say that they only ship within the states ;(


I emailed Steve about this issue. He said to put in a phony address when completing the order and he will charge on a separate bill for shipping to CDN.

It cost me $15.00 shipping for my LEDS. He was very surprised on the shipping charges as he thought they were about $25.00

I suggest to email him before ordering and give my regards to him. It took a little over two weeks for it to arrive.



choii317 said:


> ^
> 
> do you guys know any cheap canadian source?


You can check out Luxeonstar's http://www.luxeonstar.com/ website. I bought my thermal adhesive from them. They also carry LEDS, heatsinks,drives, and power supply too.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Well if anyone is interested I'll be putting in an order to Steve's in the next few weeks for some LED's for myself. Maybe we could do a small group buy and save on shipping a bit.

Sorry for the hijack!


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

altcharacter said:


> Well if anyone is interested I'll be putting in an order to Steve's in the next few weeks for some LED's for myself. Maybe we could do a small group buy and save on shipping a bit.
> 
> Sorry for the hijack!


I'm in on that for sure. email is [email protected]


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Is your heat sink just like a metal bar or does it actually have fins?


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## BaRoK (Sep 10, 2009)

acropora1981 said:


> Is your heat sink just like a metal bar or does it actually have fins?


My heatsink is flat bar.


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