nrbelk
Community Member
I have now completed the first DIY LED project that I have done. I thought I'd post some pictures and my thoughts on what I did with it.
I decided to purchase as much of the tools and materials I could from RapidLED. I highly recommend them for anyone else wanting to do some DIY LEDs. The best part about them is that they answered every single question I had. I never felt that I was ignored. They also never skirted around the question, even referring me to other sites when they didn't have a tool or something they recommended. I'm highly satisfied with the service and products I received from them and will buy from them again.
Materials:
Your Order Contains:
1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
2 x Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver
2 x 3-Prong Power Cord (6')
1 x Thermal Grease (5g)
16 x Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
26 x 80 Degree CREE XP-E/XP-G Lens/Optics (White/Black)
(Lens Color: Black)
2 x Driver Jumper
2 x Solderless LED Plug
2 x 1.4" x 36" Aluminum Heatsink
5 x Solderless CREE XP-G2 Neutral White LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
1 x Neptune 2 Channel Apex to Light Dimming Cable
5 x Solderless CREE XP-G2 Cool White LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
First Step:
The first thing I needed to do was to make the two 3' heatsinks into one 6' heatsink. I did this by attaching the two using the silver mending bars you see in the picture. I used self tapping screws during this part. Keeping them flat and level was really important during this step. If there was anything in the way from it being flat and level, it made it a lot harder to keep a flat edge on the bottom of the heatsinks where they met. I wanted to keep that as flat and seamless as possible incase an LED ended up there (which one did).
All in all, using two of the mending braces, one on each side, worked out really well and made one solid feeling heatsink.
Second Step:
After I had created the 6' heatsink from the two 3' ones I purchased, I needed a good way to easily mark where the LEDs would go so I could start drilling and tapping (tapping is adding the threading to the drill holes so you can screw in the screws). Searching around a bit I found, pretty much by accident, a template that had LEDs stars spaced at two inches (which is the spacing I wanted to use. I modified it a little bit (by printing and cutting it up. Made me glad for my kindergarten craft classes
) and then taped it onto the heatsink where I wanted the LEDs to go.
Third Step (Problems begin):
The next thing I had to do was to drill all the holes for the screws (RapidLED recommends and uses themselves 4-40 screws). The first trouble I has was to find short 4-40 screws. I went to both Lowes and Home Depot, both of which only had a few of the 1/4 screws I wanted. ACE Hardware had a few more, but I still didn't have enough 1/4 inch screws. So I got some 3/8" screws. I also had to search high and low for the drill and tap set. ACE Hardware turned out to be the place for those. They had both and they are easily labeled so I knew which ones I needed.
I get home, excitedly start drill the holes and realized that doing this in my computer room probably isn't the best idea. The thought of metal shards digging into my feed made me nervous. But oh well, I had already started, no point stopping just because I was scared of a few metal spikes in the carpet :smile:.
I drilled the majority of the holes, using the template I had marked, when the drill bit broke off into the aluminum. I had to use a metal spike thing that was just small enough to fit in the hole and then hit it with a hammer to get the stuck drill bit out of the metal. After I sat staring at the heatsink glumly (all the stores were closed by then), I decided I might as well start tapping the holes. I got the first LED spot done and decided to try to see how well the LED fit. The LED covered on of the holes..... I was getting really annoyed. Not only that but one of the holes wasn't long enough to fit the 3/8" screws I was using. I moved the LED star to the other holes to see if it was a fluke. Some would have fit nicely, others were way off. It turns out that the template I was using was great, it is just that my hand drill and I aren't as great....
At this point, I decided that screws are stupid and shouldn't have been invented. I got on the computer and purchased the other option they have, some type of epoxy that works well with heat and heat transfer.
This is the stuff:
1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
Luckily, we have really cool people in the club and Jerry had some that he had ordered but wasn't ready to use yet. I was telling him about my woes when he offered that I could use his and just replace it when my order gets there. I gladly took him up on his offer (who wants to wait for the 3 days for the shipment to arrive? not me!).
Gluing the LEDs onto the heatsink was much easier and faster than drilling and tapping. I recommend this method... so far. Hopefully the thermal qualities of the epoxy hold up and don't cause my LEDs to overheat.
Fourth Step (Wiring):
After the glue cured for at least an hour (instructions say 24 hours are needed before heat is applied) I could start the wiring process. For this project, I used the Solderless option and I really liked it. The LEDs come with the connections and you just plug them into each other. The only problem I had was in two spots, the wires that I got from them weren't log enough to span a gap (for the black plastic bars on the top of my tank) and reach the next LED in line. But a little splicing and extending fixed that.
I decided to purchase as much of the tools and materials I could from RapidLED. I highly recommend them for anyone else wanting to do some DIY LEDs. The best part about them is that they answered every single question I had. I never felt that I was ignored. They also never skirted around the question, even referring me to other sites when they didn't have a tool or something they recommended. I'm highly satisfied with the service and products I received from them and will buy from them again.
Materials:
Your Order Contains:
1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
2 x Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver
2 x 3-Prong Power Cord (6')
1 x Thermal Grease (5g)
16 x Solderless CREE XT-E Royal Blue LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
26 x 80 Degree CREE XP-E/XP-G Lens/Optics (White/Black)
(Lens Color: Black)
2 x Driver Jumper
2 x Solderless LED Plug
2 x 1.4" x 36" Aluminum Heatsink
5 x Solderless CREE XP-G2 Neutral White LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
1 x Neptune 2 Channel Apex to Light Dimming Cable
5 x Solderless CREE XP-G2 Cool White LED
(Wire Length: 4.5")
First Step:
The first thing I needed to do was to make the two 3' heatsinks into one 6' heatsink. I did this by attaching the two using the silver mending bars you see in the picture. I used self tapping screws during this part. Keeping them flat and level was really important during this step. If there was anything in the way from it being flat and level, it made it a lot harder to keep a flat edge on the bottom of the heatsinks where they met. I wanted to keep that as flat and seamless as possible incase an LED ended up there (which one did).
All in all, using two of the mending braces, one on each side, worked out really well and made one solid feeling heatsink.
Second Step:
After I had created the 6' heatsink from the two 3' ones I purchased, I needed a good way to easily mark where the LEDs would go so I could start drilling and tapping (tapping is adding the threading to the drill holes so you can screw in the screws). Searching around a bit I found, pretty much by accident, a template that had LEDs stars spaced at two inches (which is the spacing I wanted to use. I modified it a little bit (by printing and cutting it up. Made me glad for my kindergarten craft classes
) and then taped it onto the heatsink where I wanted the LEDs to go.Third Step (Problems begin):
The next thing I had to do was to drill all the holes for the screws (RapidLED recommends and uses themselves 4-40 screws). The first trouble I has was to find short 4-40 screws. I went to both Lowes and Home Depot, both of which only had a few of the 1/4 screws I wanted. ACE Hardware had a few more, but I still didn't have enough 1/4 inch screws. So I got some 3/8" screws. I also had to search high and low for the drill and tap set. ACE Hardware turned out to be the place for those. They had both and they are easily labeled so I knew which ones I needed.
I get home, excitedly start drill the holes and realized that doing this in my computer room probably isn't the best idea. The thought of metal shards digging into my feed made me nervous. But oh well, I had already started, no point stopping just because I was scared of a few metal spikes in the carpet :smile:.
I drilled the majority of the holes, using the template I had marked, when the drill bit broke off into the aluminum. I had to use a metal spike thing that was just small enough to fit in the hole and then hit it with a hammer to get the stuck drill bit out of the metal. After I sat staring at the heatsink glumly (all the stores were closed by then), I decided I might as well start tapping the holes. I got the first LED spot done and decided to try to see how well the LED fit. The LED covered on of the holes..... I was getting really annoyed. Not only that but one of the holes wasn't long enough to fit the 3/8" screws I was using. I moved the LED star to the other holes to see if it was a fluke. Some would have fit nicely, others were way off. It turns out that the template I was using was great, it is just that my hand drill and I aren't as great....
At this point, I decided that screws are stupid and shouldn't have been invented. I got on the computer and purchased the other option they have, some type of epoxy that works well with heat and heat transfer.
This is the stuff:
1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive
Luckily, we have really cool people in the club and Jerry had some that he had ordered but wasn't ready to use yet. I was telling him about my woes when he offered that I could use his and just replace it when my order gets there. I gladly took him up on his offer (who wants to wait for the 3 days for the shipment to arrive? not me!).
Gluing the LEDs onto the heatsink was much easier and faster than drilling and tapping. I recommend this method... so far. Hopefully the thermal qualities of the epoxy hold up and don't cause my LEDs to overheat.
Fourth Step (Wiring):
After the glue cured for at least an hour (instructions say 24 hours are needed before heat is applied) I could start the wiring process. For this project, I used the Solderless option and I really liked it. The LEDs come with the connections and you just plug them into each other. The only problem I had was in two spots, the wires that I got from them weren't log enough to span a gap (for the black plastic bars on the top of my tank) and reach the next LED in line. But a little splicing and extending fixed that.
