# Gift from the Junk Gods...



## sudz

So, Walking the dog, and what do I see... A nice piece of aluminium! I think to my self... Gee... that would make a really nice LED heatsync. I bet its a bunch of pieces.

on my way back, I look at it... and its long and one solid piece!

Heres some pictures:


































So, the ONLY flaw is that it's not completely flat on the bottom, but if I stagger the LED's, I'm thinking it'll be perfect to put about 6 LED's to give me the ability to grow some higher light foreground plants.

Its going to be on the cheap, and its going to be mounted inside the cabinet I already have. Do you think with 6 3Watt LED's i'll need active cooling on this sucker?

Also... What are the odds? its 47 inches long. It'll fit PERFECTLY inside my home made cabinet. 

Destiny I think. Going to make some LED lighting  I think because I want to spotlight it at the front of the tank, I'll go with 40 degree optics?


----------



## FlyingHellFish

Damn! Nice find, I need a piece like that but not as long. What LED you going to put in it? Cree? 

What the thing for anyways?


----------



## Darkblade48

It looks like a piece of extruded aluminum bar meant for building a frame.


----------



## FlyingHellFish

Would you know a place that might sell these? They look like the DIY kits online, shipping kills the deal tho.


----------



## sudz

My only guess is that its meant for a frame of a window or door. Maybe from a bathroom/shower?

The bottom isn't completely flat, but I'm thinking Its big enough for the LED's to sit flush. I haven't actually seen one of those pre-mounted "star" LED's. Anyone aware of their size?

Yeah, My Fiancee was kind of shocked that I was so excited over something in the garbage, lol.

So, More research/puttering done.

I'm thinking between 5 and 8 Cree XP-G Neutral White LED's, because then I can stick with One Dimmable ballast, and keep this project on the cheap.

Potential Parts List:

Dimmer/Constant Current Driver: $34
Mean Well ELN-60-27D dimmable driver - Rapid LED

5-8 Cree XR-E Neutral White LED' with 40 degree Optics $6 Each
CREE XP-G Neutral White LED with 40°, 60°, or 80° degree Lens - Rapid LED

9 Volt Wall Wort for Diming:
(I have this laying around from electronic gizmo's that have gone the way of old yeller)

A potentiometer for Dimming the 9 Volt signal:
(This, I'm not sure of. What kind of load? I'm assuming because its just a "signal" that it doesn't have to be beefy. Also, I can't seem to see any Voltage rating on Pots. Does that mean it just goes by Resistance? I would think that if you put 230 volts through a small one, it'd just pop. Anyway, the decisions I HAVE made for this are Single Turn, and Linear curve.

Optics: 40 Degree. Below are pictures of various senarios. I don't have a cad program, so I used Photoshop with the following ratio: 10 pixels per Inch. The Aqua square is the floorprint of my Fishtank, 480 pixels by 180 pixels The grey circles are 156 pixels wide, which is what the flood would be with 40 degree Optics at 22 inches off the substrate.

Which light pattern do you suggest?

5 LED:









6LED:









7 LED:









8 LED:










Anyone have any advice so far?

If this goes right, I could have an LED fixture in place for about 100 bucks!


----------



## gofigure

it's a curtain rod (triple track rail) from IKEA.

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/80079363/










and they have singles too:

http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/00079362/


----------



## sudz

Amazing! Not the best of values to buy it... but to find one in the garbage  Woohoo!


----------



## sudz

Alright Guys... Just placed an order with RAPID LED. Decided to go with 12 LED's and 80 degree Optics. The guys at RapidLEd (Mike) was SUPER fast responding to e-mails, and talked me out of the 40 degree optics for the 80's. 

12 Cool White XP-G, with 80 degree Optics. Meanwell driver, 10 volt Adapter, Dimmer nob, Wiring and Thermal adhesive has been ordered.

Stay tuned folks!


----------



## sudz

WOW... they've shipped my order already. Via USPS. Probably about a week to get here, only 15 bucks. Impressed so far. They said there won't be brokerage fees... Holding my breath!


----------



## sudz

I am beyond excited! I managed to pitch the expense to the fiancee, beacuse we're looking for houses, and will have to pay our own electricity bill soon.
I guestimated the power numbers and showed her how it would pay itself off in about a year in power and lightbulb replacements. 

Just got my tracking number from USPS. Excitement!

Here's my order details:


10K Ohm Linear Potentiometer
$3.50 USD


10V AC Adapter
$10.00 USD


Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
$7.00 USD

Bulk Wire (White) (15 feet)
$3.75 USD


CREE XP-G R5 Cool White LED with 40°, 60°, or 80° degreeLens
(Lens Color: Black, Lens Width: 80 Degree) 12 Pack
$66.00 USD

Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver
$34.00 USD

Subtotal:
$124.25 USD

Shipping:
$15.00 USD


Grand Total:
$139.25 USD


----------



## sudz

Still waiting for them to come in. Tracking shows its stuck at customs :-(

Also, Anyone know of a relay that is "triggered" by 5-9 volts, but switches on Mains (120 Volt?)

Thinking of making a cheap mans lighting controller.

The idea would be to program a slow-on and slow off for the LED's, and have my T5's kick on once the LED's were bright enough. Would reduce the suprise factor of allt he lights kicking on at once.


----------



## sudz

Yipee! Got all the stuff! Jebus they are bright!

They provided a 2XAA Battery LED tester - All tested and working great.

Already lowered the drive to minimum (300mah?)









Optics and wire and Pot









Thermal Adhiesive









Driver









10Volt adapter:









The LED's!









I was a little worried when this was dropped into my office:









But the packing was well done.


----------



## sudz

This is all done! My Crypts and Anubias are growing much faster. So is my algae. I think I need to get to CO2. 

I have the driver set to 1000mah max, even though the lights can handle 1300. I did this for thermal reasons, and also the fact that i'm not running CO2.

It is subjectively 2-3 times brighter than 108 watts of T5HO. Wish I had a Par Meter!

The Heatsync is inadequate. This is sad, because the LED's are permanently attached to it. I've added 3 40mm fans and a 12 volt wall wort. Because the box isn't vented, its still quite quiet. It's allowed me to run the lights at 800-900mah sustained, and the heatsync is just hot to the touch (uncomfortable to hold it for prolonged periods)

I'll need to jury rig something, or maybe vent/actively cool the entire enclosure to get the temperature lower if I want to crank it up to 1300mah. In the mean time, I'm VERY pleased with the light output from these babies. Just need some carpeting forground plants now!


----------



## FlyingHellFish

^ Pics of build or it didn't happen

Joking, wish you had some final shots of the build. 

If one wanted to go a DIY route, how hard do you think it would be to rig up a few of those CreeX lights on an heat-sink. Is it just drilling holes, thermal paste and wires to the drivers? 

I have like no tools either. By the way, with the grand total costing 130+, how does it compare to the retail lights like Aquatic Life T5HO etc.... ?

It's looking good so far though!


----------



## J_T

sudz said:


> This is all done! My Crypts and Anubias are growing much faster. So is my algae. I think I need to get to CO2.
> 
> I have the driver set to 1000mah max, even though the lights can handle 1300. I did this for thermal reasons, and also the fact that i'm not running CO2.
> 
> It is subjectively 2-3 times brighter than 108 watts of T5HO. Wish I had a Par Meter!
> 
> The Heatsync is inadequate. This is sad, because the LED's are permanently attached to it. I've added 3 40mm fans and a 12 volt wall wort. Because the box isn't vented, its still quite quiet. It's allowed me to run the lights at 800-900mah sustained, and the heatsync is just hot to the touch (uncomfortable to hold it for prolonged periods)
> 
> I'll need to jury rig something, or maybe vent/actively cool the entire enclosure to get the temperature lower if I want to crank it up to 1300mah. In the mean time, I'm VERY pleased with the light output from these babies. Just need some carpeting forground plants now!


That heat sink has sunk all the heat it can handle! If it is in a closed in hood, the air around it will heat up. With no where to go, it will start to heat up like your oven. Stick two holes in the hood, stick a vent cover on it (stops light spill) and it can atleast vent some of the heat on its own. Better would be a couple holes above the hood, and heat will rise. Add a fan blowing fresh air in, and I bet the whole thing gets cooler!


----------



## sudz

You are 100% right. I took it off the top of the tank, turned it up side down (so the lights shining upwards) and they've been at 1000mah for 45 minutes, and the heatsync is almost COOL. I'm going to wire in an 8cm computer fan and drill some vent holes in the back of the enclosure. 

Also, I am blind. lol, these things are BRIGHT!


----------



## sudz

Some Photo's of the "finished"

Product

As an experiment, I have it upside down (facing up) with no fans on. The heatsync is warm after 15 minutes, but not as hot as it is with the fans on, while ontop of the tank. Definately going to have to vent it if I want to keep it cool.

FYI - My handywork is horrible. I mean, everything in here is from scratch, Limited to what I can do inside my apartment, etc... but yeah.

Also, I know its not mositure-proof wiring, however, there is glass infront of this and my fishtank. It's never gotten above 75% moisture, and its never consdensed. I used butt connectors for everything.

Off:









On:









fans:









Close up of LED's (off)










I'll take some better shots with my SLR, with set exposure to get you guys an impression of how bright these suckers are.


----------



## sudz

*2 year update*

Hi guys,

its been forever!

However, Just wanted to give a little update.

2 years later, these suckers are still going strong. I got rid of the T5HO light, and have been running it exlusively on LED's.

My only complaint would be these: The moisture inside has gotten to the dimmer, so sometimes the lights fade up and down (its a gradual thing, almost like clouds. I feel like its an eventual fire hazard, so I'll have to replace the dimmer, and find something a little more sealed.

During my Move into the house, I lost 2 out of 4 of my discus about a week later. It devastated me. Then for my brothers wedding in Cuba, I was gone for 8 days. I had a family member fish sitting (feeding every other day) I came home and I lost another discus while I was gone. A week later the last one died. With the decreased bio-load I converted the tank to a no maintenance tank - I lowered the lights to 700mah, Disabled the fans, and stopped CO2 injection. Got some zebra snails, and now I just have a few molly's and angels in there. It looks Meh, However, the lights are performing perfectly. 700mah seems to be the limit without fans.

I stuck the LED's on with just thermal adhesive - And its been perfect.

Although with the low light the only plants that are doing amazing (read: taking over my tank) are crypts, and I've split my Anubias multiple times.


----------



## damianrosario2000

Great! I tried my own led lighting with aluminum too, in my case I used regular chinese leds. You can put 1 every 10cm without getting it warm.


----------

