Mix up your epoxy if you're using that. I decided to go with this stuff as it gives the best thermal transfer as compared to using a thermal paste + screwing them down.
Use just a little bit of epoxy on the bottom of your LEDs.. a thin blob about 1/4 the size of the mixing tool.. here I used too much.
This one is just about the right amount.
Blues all stuck down.
Wire them together, positive of one to negative of the next.
Test firing the blues.
Here are the blues dimmed as far as possible using my current dimming circuit, as you can see, the driver is putting out 50 mA at this point and they will still make you see spots.
This is the dimming circuit I put together - courtesy Evilc66 in a thread on RC.
Since I went with 72 total LEDS for my system, I ended up with what amounts to an exrta half a string(only 6 instead of 12) of each blue and white per pendant so I made a sort of "50/50" string.. It has trouble dimming, I assume because the different fV or something.
Bracket made from more aluminum L stock, and a little bit of 1/8" bar stock. these pieces are just bolted into the main L bracket with m3 nuts and bolts.
all ready to do a full test.
hanging.. holy crap I didnt think a light could be so heavy.. it's probably 20-25lbs!
yay! all lit!
and from underneath.
I'll have more of this LED build to come, I have to condense all of the wiring into something that can easily connect to these.
Very nice! so you just used epoxy to attach your LEDS to the aluminum? What type of epoxy? i am planning a build soon but i have seen some people screw them down and others not tell what they did.
Very nice! so you just used epoxy to attach your LEDS to the aluminum? What type of epoxy? i am planning a build soon but i have seen some people screw them down and others not tell what they did.
It's arctic silver thermal epoxy, it acts as both a bond and a heat transfer agent... the only drawback is that if you are going to get one of the LEDs off.. you will be replacing it and most likely scratching the aluminum.
I spent all yesterday evening working on the small wiring details. My wrists and fingers are killing me.
here's how I placed the wiring container & fans overtop..
I was pretty damn tired but I hung them over the tank rag-tag using the hangars that I had supporting my halide setup. I will be getting some new roller track hangars to take care of this mess. It clearly needs some adjustment but its more than hard to do with the current setup. the fixtures are supposed to be about 8" from each other in the center, they are currently about 4 so my light spread is nowhere near what I want it to be.
then take a look at the before versus after.
I also need to dial in the color temp to something more my liking... I will probably do this while I wait for my roller track
Before: you can see how ambient the light is from the 2x250W 14k halides + actinic t5.
After: again, spread and color temp are not where I want them to be right now, so it looks "darker" at first glance, but pay particular attention to the orange monti cap. You can definitely see how much brighter the light actually is on this thing.
I see more color from the corals in the first pic-like the gsp and some shrooms-the Monti does look brighter in second pic but could that be cause it's closer to the lights then the other corals?
I see more color from the corals in the first pic-like the gsp and some shrooms-the Monti does look brighter in second pic but could that be cause it's closer to the lights then the other corals?
There are a few reasons for this:
1. By the time I got the LEDs hung, the halides had been off for about an hour, then when I pulled the fixture down I had to turn the T5's off as well so the corals were well into their typical nighttime routine.
2. The pendants aren't positioned / configured how I want them. Once I lift them off the water a little more and position them to be more centered on each respective side of the tank the spread of light up the sides should be slightly better.. right now both pendants are too close to the center so the sides are lacking light.
Im going to re-hang them tonight, supported by turnbuckles from eye hooks in some 2x4's across the floor joists above. Im also ordering some roller track and rollers (right now in another tab) to hang them from McMaster-Carr.
The monti looks brighter because the light is simply brighter.. I wish I had an apogee to do some tests, but visually you can see how much brighter it is in person.
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Originally Posted by jolson10450
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