Another DIY led...
- Thread starter dacianb
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I've read the thread in one breath.
Felt that you were complicating things with the thermostat, fan always on at full blast is a better option. The only downside would be noise during night time, but I belive you could use the controller to reduce RPM during evening and night time, when the lights are dimmed / off. The dust can be tackled with electrostatic dust covers.
The good:
- it's nice that you solder your own choice of leds on your custom built MCPCB
- the enclosure is very professional, allowing you to pack heatsink, fan and drivers in a nice way
- I love the rails
What can be improved:
- try using full lenght finned heatsinks and mount the LEDs directly on the heatsink - saves space and probably allows for faster heat spread from the LEDs (you can lose on the transfer from the silver heatsink to the anodized heatsink). Also, you achieve better cooling with a larger heatsink.
- why not using Epileds for the near ultraviolet and Cree XT-E for the Royal Blue?
- UV leds below 400nm are annoying as they amplify minute dust speck in the air and any microparticles in the water, making you feel dizzy (probably can even cause seizures in susceptible people); I found that the 410-415nm bins are the perfect combination colour / power wise.
- if you're after a cheap controller that can do only dimming / control a fan, TC420 costs probably €20; also can power directly your leds up to 20V/ 4A per channel (five channels included).
- as for lenses, there might be loses, but you could also achieve better colour blending and a deeper punch (needed in tall reef tanks).
I've just finished myself a led light fixture using 90° lensed individual leds mounted on 20mm copper star MCPCB, with a finned heatsink, all fitted into a extruded aluminium project box (Hammond 1455), thin 180mm fan (Silverstone SST-FW141). Now looking to try a multichip project, with the Storm controller.
Felt that you were complicating things with the thermostat, fan always on at full blast is a better option. The only downside would be noise during night time, but I belive you could use the controller to reduce RPM during evening and night time, when the lights are dimmed / off. The dust can be tackled with electrostatic dust covers.
The good:
- it's nice that you solder your own choice of leds on your custom built MCPCB
- the enclosure is very professional, allowing you to pack heatsink, fan and drivers in a nice way
- I love the rails
What can be improved:
- try using full lenght finned heatsinks and mount the LEDs directly on the heatsink - saves space and probably allows for faster heat spread from the LEDs (you can lose on the transfer from the silver heatsink to the anodized heatsink). Also, you achieve better cooling with a larger heatsink.
- why not using Epileds for the near ultraviolet and Cree XT-E for the Royal Blue?
- UV leds below 400nm are annoying as they amplify minute dust speck in the air and any microparticles in the water, making you feel dizzy (probably can even cause seizures in susceptible people); I found that the 410-415nm bins are the perfect combination colour / power wise.
- if you're after a cheap controller that can do only dimming / control a fan, TC420 costs probably €20; also can power directly your leds up to 20V/ 4A per channel (five channels included).
- as for lenses, there might be loses, but you could also achieve better colour blending and a deeper punch (needed in tall reef tanks).
I've just finished myself a led light fixture using 90° lensed individual leds mounted on 20mm copper star MCPCB, with a finned heatsink, all fitted into a extruded aluminium project box (Hammond 1455), thin 180mm fan (Silverstone SST-FW141). Now looking to try a multichip project, with the Storm controller.
Hi, was looking at Akasa website. They have fans with auto thermal chip, which allows for automatic adjustment of the fan speed depending on the ambient temperature (low speed at 25°, max speed at 45°C, ball bearing)
http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tpl=product/product.list.tpl&type=Fans&type_sub=Auto thermal
http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tpl=product/product.list.tpl&type=Fans&type_sub=Auto thermal
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