DIY LED Lighting

[Heavyd]

I thought I’d post a thread about my DIY LED lighting system.Some of you may have already seen this, but when I was researching mine, I found threads like these invaluable for gathering ideas and understanding how it all comes together.

Materials

7 x 3W Cree LEDs Neutral White

7 x 3W Cree LEDs Cool White

8 x 65 degree lens

6 x 80 degree lens

4 x blue moonlight leds

Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive

Meanwell Dimmable driver ELN-60-48P

Daylight controller

Moonlight driver

Twin pc stealth fan

Heatsink

Qubelok tubing

Aluminium Angle

Flat bracket strip (for fan mount)

Aluminium Primer

Black spray paint

Electrical Wire

Australian plugs (old computer power cables)

Various electrical connectors

Steel cable for suspension

Fish eye adjustable hooks (I think?)

Clear and Black Perspex

Construction

After gathering all my materials. I was ready to start work.

I cut, bent and drilled the fan mounts into the heat sink.

Here the LEDs have been attached to the heatsink with thermal adhesive. The four LEDs in the middle-row are the moonlights. The LEDs on the top and bottom row alternate between cool-white and neutral-white.

Here the wiring has been soldering in place in series. Two separate circuits, one for the white lights and one for the moonlights. The LED lenses were then glued on next.

The first test of the LEDs and it’s a resounding success (and also resulted in temporary blindness!)

Next up, the PC fans were attached to the heat sink mounts I created. I decided to use cable ties as it seemed the easiest option.

Here is the frame I contructed out of Qubelok tubing and connectors (also sold as Connect_It tubing and Bunnings for three times the price!). You can see the heatsink sitting inside the housing. This tubing has a metal lip sticking out, so is perfect for the job. The external housing for the light I made out of Aluminium angle that I cut to size, painted with primer and then spray-painted gloss black.

I also created a stand for the lighting out of the Qubelok tubing and attemped to reinforce it with steel right angle brackets, but found that it still flexed too much, so I had to provide additional support by tying it to the wall. Also made the light suspension out of steel wires and some adjustable fish-eye hooks ( I think they were called). This allows for me to raise and lower the lighting as required and I can also slide the light forward and backwards to facilitate cleaning of the tank.

The completed product.

Please feel free to ask any questions. This was a quick type-up so I glossed over some details.

Cheers,

D

[lorby]

Looks much more professional than mine haha. Nice work!

Thought about adding blues and reds in addition to the whites?

[Heavyd]

Thanks mate.

Yeah I have thought about it, but to be honest, I can grow anything I put in this tank, so the motivation to spend more is low. If I was to build another, then yes.

[Dean]

that is crazy bright. would it be possible and cost effective enough to make 8ft versions of these?

have you worked out the costing to make these also? like for every meter of so?

great thread to. sorry it took so long to find :)

[Loach]

I think it would be Dean. Not happy with the T5's? For just shrimp, the LED Floods may be a better & cheaper option though :).

[Dean]

T5 are fine just curious as to if it could be done and at a good price, i love trying new things and lighting plays a big part in shrimp color,

so the more i play around the better the shrimp i can produce :)

[Heavyd]

That light unit cost me around $600. Maybe more. The costs snowballed on the materials to make the housing and the stand. If I was to do it again, it would definitely be cheaper. The truth of the matter is, I didnt mind spending, because I enjoyed the process of planning and making so much. The most expensive thing to ship from the states was the heatsink, but I couldnt find what i was looking for locally.

[Dean]

wow, but i guess if you look at it logically, its still cheaper than some of the LED units in the shops and best part is you can fix it :)

[Heavyd]

Yep and I can say I made it all. Very satisfying feeling.

[NoGi]

Interested in that daylight controller, how are you finding it? Can it handle multiple drivers? I'll have around 4 drivers I think.

Also, are these from rapid?

[Heavyd]

Hey Nogi,

I'm not very impressed with the daylight controller. I got it from Rapid. I find that when it switches off, there is still some residual charge (or something), that causes the LEDs to flicker for a long time. This is completely unacceptable when you have livestock in a tank. The only way around this is to use the timer to switch of the controller before it reaches the end of it's cycle. The other thing that I don't like about it, is that the dimming effect isn't great enough. The LED drivers have a nominal voltage that they must operate within. So whatever that is, is as low as the lights will dim.

Also the controller can control three separate systems. What that means is you can have three drivers per each system (I think), and control each system separately for light intensity, but you cant do this if you are using the daylight function. Hope that helps, somewhat.

[NoGi]

Hmmmmm maybe I won't bother with it then. I'll just put all the drivers on their own timers and phase them in and out. Won't be a smooth fade in/out but will still do the job.