Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Here is my LED build for my 10 gallon, it took me about 3-4 days after work. Product List: LED supplies from RapidLED.com 8x CREE XPE RB $32 6x CREE XPG NW $30 2x Power Cord $5 2x Mean Well ELN-60-48D Dimmable driver $68 2x 10k ohm linear potentiometers $7 1x 10v AC adapter $10 1x DC Power Adapter $3.5 1x 4.25" x 16" Heatsink "as is" $15 1x Arctic alumina thermal adhesive $6.99 Shipping and handling $6 Other Equipment used 1x Project Box $8 (radio shack) 1x Plexiglass $7.98 (Home Depot) Shrink tubing $4 (Home Depot) 18 gauge 5-wire sprinkler wire $2.76 (Home Depot) Wire nuts $5.25 (Home Depot) Rubber grommets $2.48 (Radioshack) Equipment I Already Had: 1x 22 A.W.G. wire 1x Multimeter 1x soldering iron 1x 60/40 rosin-core solder 1x wire strippers Total: $213.96 The Build I bought my heat sink "as is" from RapidLED and it had all the holes drilled in it, but a broken bit in one hole. I didn't use the tapped holes because I didn't know how the heat sink would look when it got here, so I ordered thermal adhesive instead. I drilled 4 holes in the corners to make a splash cover and hanging hooks for the fixture. I thoroughly washed the heat sink with a lint free cloth and I aligned the LEDs where they would be screwed in and I mixed small amounts of the adhesive at a time. I applied a small dab to the bottom of the LED and a small dab to where the LED would sit. I then placed the LED on top of the dab and lightly twisted back and forth and pressed down to evenly distribute the adhesive. They really did not use much of the adhesive, I mixed only 2 batches and still have over 60% left. NOTE: Don't mix too much adhesive at a time, it does harden fairly quickly. I then went about soldering wires to the LEDs. I pre-tinned the wires first (putting a small amount of solder on the wires), taped the wires in place on the heat sink, and held the soldering iron on top of the wire until the solder already on the wire melted to the LED. I would let the solder cool and then add more solder on top to make a stronger connection. After succeeding and failing several times I wired everything using wire nuts and nothing worked. I figured out that if I use the battery powered tester RapidLED includes for free with the shipment and touch the positive wire on top of the solder on the positive terminal and placed the negative on the negative terminal on the same LED, the LED will light up if both connections are good. I learned that even if the solder is holding to the LED, it doesn't mean electricity can run through it. If it doesn't work, then individually test each solder job by touching the + or - wire to an un-soldered terminal while holding the other to the soldered terminal to determine if it is good or not. This will tell you which soldered terminal is not well connected. NOTE: When testing the LEDs, please please please don't look straight in the middle of the LED in anticipation.... I still see bright dots when I close my eyes. Here are all the wires soldered on The next step was connecting the drivers to the dimmer and to the LEDs to test. The best diagram to use to connect the wires to the pots is on this page :http://www.vinnymarini.com/pictures/rapid_..._diy_dimmer.pdf Wire Connections Power cord to Driver cord: Connect the brown wire (ACL) from the driver to the black wire from the power cord Connect the blue wire (ACN) from the driver to the white wire from the power cord Cut the ground wire on the power cord, it's not needed Driver to Dimmer Connections: Connect the black wire (V-) from the driver to the wire attached to the negative terminal on the very Last LED Connect the red wire (V+) from the driver to the wire attached to the positiver terminal on the very First LED Connect the blue wire (DIM+) from the driver to the middle port on the pot Connect the white wire (DIM-) from the driver to the right port on the pot Connect a wire to the right port on the pot (same one the white wire is connected to) to the - terminal on the DC jack (the one on the side) Connect a wire from the left port on the pot to the + terminal on the DC jack (The center terminal) It's easy to understand when you use the pdf link and look for yourself. It's also easier to pre-tin the wires and terminals beforehand; it makes for a speedier solder job. This is a picture of the pot and DC jack connected before installing (Scroll down to see my final soldering of these wires) I connected most wires I could with wire nuts to test with, others I had to temporarily solder together. I opened the drivers, which was pretty difficult to do requiring a very small flat head to pry open, and I turned the internal pots completely clockwise. The internal pot is a small white plastic screw. NOTE: Don't turn the internal pot too hard, it WILL break and you won't be able to adjust it. I turned the external pots completely clockwise and had my roommate hold the multimeter tips with the red tip touching the positive terminal of the first LED and the black tip touching the negative terminal. While he did this I slowly adjusted the internal pot until the multimeter registered ~.900 Amps. One strain didn't turn on when I plugged it it, so once I re-soldered some loose solder jobs they worked perfectly. Here is a picture of my blue strand lit up before moving on to the final steps of putting it all together I then drilled holes in my project box for the power cords, the DC jack, sprinkler wire for the + and - LED wires, and the pots on the opposite side of the box. I first connected the wires from the - DC jack to the right terminal on the pot that also connects to the DIM - on the driver. I taped them along the edges of the box to reduce clutter. Here's a picture of the two wires from the two right terminals of the pots I then connected the wires from the left terminal on the pots to the + terminal on the DC jack and taped them to the side of the box with the other wires Once the wires to the DC jack were completed, I finished the wiring on the pots. I soldered the blue wire from the driver (DIM +) directly to the middle terminal of the pot. I then fed the sprinkler wire through one of the holes and soldered the red(+) and black(-) wires from the drivers to their own color of wire from the sprinkler wires. Make sure to note which color corresponds to which LED terminal. I soldered them and then enclosed them with heat shrink tubing. I drilled two holes in the heat sink on both ends of the heat sink, soldered the wires from the first and last LEDs (4 total), and fed them through the holes where they met at the top and I soldered them to the sprinkler wire and closed them up with heat shrink tubing. I then fed the power cord through the rubber grommets into the box and soldered them to the drivers and closed them with heat shrink. Here's a picture of all the wiring soldered together and ready to be closed up I closed the box up, plugged in the DC power, and then the two power cords and.... KABLAM!! The LEDs lit up in their magnificent glory. The first neutral white LED burned out due to my poor soldering skills, so it will eventually be replaced. I then cut the plexiglass with a plexiglass carving tool (which took forever and I suggest cutting it with an actual tool), but there are plenty of videos and info on the internet on how to cut it. I cut it to be slightly larger than the heat sink and drilled 4 holes in the corners to correspond with the drilled holes in the heat sink. I placed 4 3" screws with the loops at the top into the holes, held them with nuts, placed another set of nuts 1" from the heat sink, slid the plexiglass cover over it, and added the final set of nuts to hold it in place. Here is the final product Thanks, I hope this is helpful anyone interested in building their own LED light fixture. I definitely think it was worth the work and the high initial price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nice build John. I'm really starting to think that you only own that one pair of maroon shorts though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nice build John. I'm really starting to think that you only own that one pair of maroon shorts though. Pretty much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nice build. Whats it going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyk Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nice build! I have one coming up when I return from deployment. I have 112 of the same LED's to attach to 8 4.25"x9" heat sinks. I'm going to put two of he heat sinks side by side and have 14 LED's on each heat sink so a total of 28 LED's per light for a total of 4 lights. 50/50 blue/white.I also have 9 more LED's (royal blue) and two 1"x36" heat sinks for moonlights. Total of 9 dimmable drivers and two LED controllers to simulate sunrise/sunset. All on a 6' 135gal rr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 Nice build. Whats it going on? My 10g nano reef. There's not much in there now but a BTA and some peppermint shrimp and a damsel I caught at the coast last weekend Nice build! I have one coming up when I return from deployment. I have 112 of the same LED's to attach to 8 4.25"x9" heat sinks. I'm going to put two of he heat sinks side by side and have 14 LED's on each heat sink so a total of 28 LED's per light for a total of 4 lights. 50/50 blue/white.I also have 9 more LED's (royal blue) and two 1"x36" heat sinks for moonlights. Total of 9 dimmable drivers and two LED controllers to simulate sunrise/sunset. All on a 6' 135gal rr. Wow, that's a huge project. It's going to look tight though. I can't wait to see pictures of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyk Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I should be redeploying home in around a month! I can't wait!!! I will definitely post a build thread on this project of mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet'spride70 Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 first led isnot light up, may have a poor connection, not burn out yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Yeah I'm not sure why it won't light up. I don't think it's burnt out either; my blues burned out because the internal pot was broken and overloaded, but they don't glow when the other LEDs are on. However, the one white does lightly glow when other LEDs are on suggesting that it is still capable of lighting up. I've tried testing every terminal and made sure that no left over solder is connecting a + and - terminal. I have no clue why it's not lighting up. I just bought a replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Another thing you made want to consider is those Meanwell driver get really hot. So you made want to take it out of the project box and remove the white cover that it came with. And put like a computer fan on it, trust me i experience them melt in person and is not Cheap and pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I should be redeploying home in around a month! I can't wait!!! I will definitely post a build thread on this project of mine! Scotty for a 135gal that is a little too much. Since i have a 300gal and only using 108 LED with nothing but SPS colony. So made want to consider it before you order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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