Stephen Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Hello, I wanted to share with yall new LED fixture that I am in the process of building.. Here are a few pics of some of the materials. The 12"x16" fixture will be constructed out of black anodized 3x1" aluminum extrusion, it will include a glass shield, (50) 3 watt LEDs mounted to a .025" aluminum sheet with custom perforation, two large computer fans mounted to a black perforated aluminum top. The lights will be controlled and powered by my arduino mega through a mosfet driver. Still unsure, but I might have two get another mosfet. I think I can only control 4 circuits with the one I have. Eventually, I'm hoping to incorporate a sunrise to sunset program as well as moon lights with lunar cycle. So, it should be pretty neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Capt. Obvious Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Power controlled by arduino right? cause...the arduino does not put out enough juice to power that beast.. I like the look, very clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Right, yeah definitely not enough power. Might need some help with the code later down the line! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+olaggie01 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Pretty slick looking fixture. Are you sure that aluminum sheet will cool those 50w LEDs? I see you have a pair of fans as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifuentes31 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Was thinking the same thing. Looks really thin. If the piece is not too big i can shear a piece of .125 Aluminum for you...Let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Pretty slick looking fixture. Are you sure that aluminum sheet will cool those 50w LEDs? I see you have a pair of fans as well. I'm hoping it will!! I know it's a gamble not using a heatsink for heat extraction, but I did save quite a bit with the aluminum sheet. Lots of people say you have to have a heatsink, but I have seen many applications with good airflow go without them and the LEDs seem to last. So that's what I'm going to try to do. Plus I am more than liekly only going to drive them at max 75%. The fan I picked up today from Fry's should do the trick. It's a 120mm computer fan that blows 70 cfm at only 19db. Was thinking the same thing. Looks really thin. If the piece is not too big i can shear a piece of .125 Aluminum for you...Let me know. I think it is actually .125. I'll need to double check my receipt. Thanks for the offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I'm weary to run that many LEDs on such a slim piece of aluminum, but I imagine if you have the fins blowing directly over them and have proper air movement removing the heat from the aluminum they should be fine. Just hope that the fans don't give out at some point and let the LEDs cook all day. What is your lighting setup with the LEDs? Only blue and white? Full spectrum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I'm going to agree as well. That is an awfully thin piece of aluminum for 150W of LED. I have 5 x 10w LED panels on a piece of 46" x 1.813" from http://heatsinkusa.com/ , which will get hot to the touch after about 30 minutes without active cooling. The surface area of this piece is roughly 46"x ~15" or so if you add up all the fins. Investing in a decent heatsink for your light is a relatively cheap thing compared to having to re-wire all of the leds again, or having to replace any that burn out. They have a low profile 6" width that would run about $65 for 2 pieces 16" long with shipping. http://www.heatsinkusa.com/6-080-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/ Or a 5.8" one that will give you hella fins for $70 http://www.heatsinkusa.com/5-886-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 I'm weary to run that many LEDs on such a slim piece of aluminum, but I imagine if you have the fins blowing directly over them and have proper air movement removing the heat from the aluminum they should be fine. Just hope that the fans don't give out at some point and let the LEDs cook all day. What is your lighting setup with the LEDs? Only blue and white? Full spectrum? I'm not too worried if my fan goes out though. I mean it is brand new and I'm going to have a temperature sensor hooked up to my controller that will have an emergency shut. This will be a full spectrum build. Seems like people have been getting amazing colors and great growth with these colors. (16) Royal Blue (16) Cool White (6) True Violet (4) Blue (4) Turquoise (2) Red I'm going to agree as well. That is an awfully thin piece of aluminum for 150W of LED. I have 5 x 10w LED panels on a piece of 46" x 1.813" from http://heatsinkusa.com/ , which will get hot to the touch after about 30 minutes without active cooling. The surface area of this piece is roughly 46"x ~15" or so if you add up all the fins. Investing in a decent heatsink for your light is a relatively cheap thing compared to having to re-wire all of the leds again, or having to replace any that burn out. They have a low profile 6" width that would run about $65 for 2 pieces 16" long with shipping. http://www.heatsinkusa.com/6-080-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/ Or a 5.8" one that will give you hella fins for $70 http://www.heatsinkusa.com/5-886-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/ Thanks for your input. I'm still not sure what I am going to do. Another member had suggested that I add some old cpu heatsinks from a computer recycle shop to the back of the sheet or to add some aluminum extrusion to create my own fins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted April 18, 2013 Author Share Posted April 18, 2013 Making some progress on my build here are three arrays that I have hooked up so far. Still have one more. True violets Cool whites and 10k Red, blue, and turquoise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibnzmonkey Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Have you looked into replacing that aluminum sheet with a real heat sink? It might work now for the short term. I just don't think it's a great long term design. Adding fins to the plate would only increase the surface area in which your cooling fans can effectively cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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