Todd's 125g Build (Part 3 = DIY East-to-West Linear LED Lighting)

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

Looks real good Todd, your DIY inspired me to start all the digging and researching!!
 
Thanks Mike, now we will see how long it takes one of the Commercial units to catch up/catch on on to our builds.... I'm going to practice my wiring/soldering on a couple fuge lights first before risking it on this one and still may recruit Floyd and/or Alex to be safe.

Cheers, Todd
 
I have always had good luck with mounting the LEDs to a wood board and draw out the pattern. Once you apply the LED's to the heatsink it becomes a little harder to solder. Doing this little trick helps out a lot. And should be really easy with the set up that you are doing.
 
Thanks Mike, now we will see how long it takes one of the Commercial units to catch up/catch on on to our builds...
Click to expand...

I just want them to catch up with the price of them, lol Commercial units are still so darn expensive.

Mojo
 
I'll be at the ready Todd, if you need some help. :D

FWIW, I might be loaning out my bench soldering station to Trido (Duane) sometime in the near future for his led build. Oh and I plan on doing some very cool diy rheobus fan controls for my own build. :lol:

Cheers,
Alex
 
I have a wood board that I draw out the dimensions of the heatsink and the layout of the LEDs and then I screw the LEDs down and solder them up as if they were on the heatsink. When it is all said and done (making sure not to over heat the LED's and make a tangled web of wires) I transfer them over to the heat sink and glue them down. This helps with the soldering of them. As many of you that solder know heat sinks really do sink heat. Which makes it hard to solder properly. You want a nice solid wet pad, and not a partially filled pad. You want discernable braids on the wire with a nice thin blanket of solder.
 
Last edited:
OK sounds good Guys, so if you both come over to help this will be done in no time at all.... Floyd that technique of yours seems just right and if you were to show me how by doing the first 45 then Alex could show me his way of soldering on the next 45... then I'm sure I could take over from there. One of each technique just to prove I could have done it all by myself. Since I'm a wood worker with no fine Electronics skills I could have it all jigged up and waiting for you. Are either of you buying this yet ???

Cheers, Todd
 
TJL said:
OK sounds good Guys, so if you both come over to help this will be done in no time at all.... Floyd that technique of yours seems just right and if you were to show me how by doing the first 45 then Alex could show me his way of soldering on the next 45... then I'm sure I could take over from there. One of each technique just to prove I could have done it all by myself. Since I'm a wood worker with no fine Electronics skills I could have it all jigged up and waiting for you. Are either of you buying this yet ???


Cheers, Todd
Click to expand...


I see nothing wrong with your reasoning.
Mojo and I have a similar relationship. LOL
 
OK, a BIG ? for Guerry,Floyd or ??? to fix my ignorance (well some) in electronics. On Rapids website it says that the Mean Well ELN-60-48D drivers will fire 3-14 3w chips at 1050ma so planned on having each circuit have 14, then after talking with Mojo and reading online am I understanding correctly that I could safely run more using less power... say 16-18 chips per circuit at 750ma ??? Also before I begin is there any reason that I should add resistors to my circuitry like you have in your builds ???


Thanks in advance Guys, Todd
 
Yes you should be able to run a lot more Leds at 750mA with very few problems if any, most people do not need the intensity of a full 1A for most situations.

Resistors are used as current limiting devices in an LED lighting set up. This way it helps to keep the LED from getting over powered at any given moment. Series resistors are a simple way to stabilize the LED current.

Cheers,
Alex
 
I just did a quick check on the specs of the Meanwell driver ELN-60-48D (dimmable) and they say that the driver should be run with no less than 8 LEDs and the minimum output is 24V. Hmmmm interesting.

Is this the driver you have?
Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver

Cheers,
Alex
 
Resistors are components that are used to control that amount of current flowing in a circuit. A light bulb (LED) in a circuit would be actually acting like a resistor because it only allows a certain amount of current to flow through it. If there are no resistors or components that act like resistors to slow the flow of electrical current, too much current may flow through the circuit and damage its components or wires. Too much current flowing through a component results in the generation of heat that can melt the conductive path through which the electrons are flowing. This in known as a short circuit and is the reason fuses or circuit breakers are often included in a circuit.

Ohm's Law; V = IR, where V is the voltage difference, I is the current in amperes, and R is the resistance in ohms. For a given voltage, higher resistance entails lower current flow.

Hope this helps a little. Sorry for all the information, but I've been using these formulas for years and am using them this week for my fan control units. :lol:

Cheers,
Alex

p.s. here's the whitesheet for the Meanwell driver ELN-60-48D
http://reefledlights.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ELN-60-spec.pdf
 
Last edited:
Wow! Thanks Alex, helps alot but if you have time would appreciate a visit before I do something... not right...

and yes that is exactly the drivers I have



Cheers, Todd
 
OK Alex how about this ? I'm using the below CPU fan/heatsink combos for my fuge lights and will be firing six no-name 3w chips each (4 whites & 2 blues) twelve total with the Mean Well LPC-35-700 (no need to dim) since it is a steady 700ma is there a need for a resistor or would getting a resistor that limits to say 500ma be beneficial ???

This is going to be my pratice build for main lighting
DSCF0103.jpg

DSCF0106.jpg



Cheers, Todd
 
*lol* Okay, well it all depends. First question I'd need to find out is do you want to run your fans off the same power driver that the led array will be run off of or would you like those to be seperate?

If you do wish to run your fans off the driver/power supply, I'll need the full specs of the fans. I can do either way just depends. Looking at it as it sits you have a driver/power supply with an output of 48V or 33.6W and you will be using 36W with the 12-3w LEDs. So thinking of it we may not be able to wire up those fans, we'll see what I can come up with for a wiring schematic.

Cheers,
Alex

p.s. scratch the fan idea. Probably safer to just run that off a wall wart with the proper amperage rating and voltage rating. *lol* I'll figure a few things and get back at ya.
 
Last edited:
Alex, I could just go with five chips each as this was the original plan... just have extra chips that I'd like to use if safe enough. Am I correct in thinking that a resistor could curb forward voltage to a safe level to be able to run six without any problems ??? I already have the power supply and splitter for the fans and will be on same timer (16 hrs ON / 8 hrs OFF) reverse lighting schedule. Speaking of fans... maybe you could bring over your latest creations to see how I may incorporate them (ones just like) into my canopy build.


Cheers, Todd
 
The amount of LESs is dependant on how much voltage you have. Not the amperage. Therefore you will not be able to use that driver with more then 14 less. The current is going to be constant in a series circuit. The voltage is the only thing that is going to drop.
 
TJL said:
Alex, I could just go with five chips each as this was the original plan... just have extra chips that I'd like to use if safe enough. Am I correct in thinking that a resistor could curb forward voltage to a safe level to be able to run six without any problems ??? I already have the power supply and splitter for the fans and will be on same timer (16 hrs ON / 8 hrs OFF) reverse lighting schedule. Speaking of fans... maybe you could bring over your latest creations to see how I may incorporate them (ones just like) into my canopy build.


Cheers, Todd
Click to expand...

I am so glad to see that you wish to use those awesome fan guards Alex designed and fabricated. I will also need to get a couple when my next large build starts.
I have been following along. I dont understand most of it. I see Driver, blah blah blah circut blah blah blah dimmer blah blah....... LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

senji
led fixture 132 watt dim able 2+ channel diy
Replies
0
Views
582
senji
senji
S
Please help DIY Led Build
Replies
2
Views
2K
Stkef9
S
S
New build, recap of old build and lessons learned
Replies
13
Views
5K
seattlereef
S
barrierreefcf
Pre-Sale NOVA Flare 42" LED (48" Tanks)
Replies
5
Views
1K
elmexotics
elmexotics
IslandN8TIV
My 40 breeder led light build
2
Replies
25
Views
7K
merob94
M
Back
Top