Sourcing LED Supplies for DIY

[Biokabe]

For those who are still building their own LED fixtures these days... where are you sourcing your parts? Especially bar-style heatsinks (rather than fixture-style).

I've built a few lights in my time and I'm thinking of doing so again - the T5 bulbs for my supplemental lighting seem to be getting harder to find, so I'm weighing whether it would be worth it to build a couple of bars to slot into my fixture. I'm not necessarily expecting it to be cost-competitive with just buying something that already exists, but I enjoyed the process before and love the flexibility it gives to make exactly what you want to make.

 

[mcarroll]

I'm not necessarily expecting it to be cost-competitive with just buying something that already exists

You can do much better than "competitive" if you really feel like it.

Run AC power do these, set up in a strip:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2260442618...zDXW5ZqmjMsxKw4+BTKIEos10=|tkp:Bk9SR6icgNugZw
Fill with these:
https://ebay.us/m/UY0QZn
Alternate with cool or neutral white if you want good color. Just use blue if all your after is the pop.


How many?

Assuming your T5's are 36" (and so is your tank), then....

36 " tank ÷ 2" bulbs = 18 bulbs - 1 so that you end up with white bulbs on the ends, otherwise the the ends look dark. (If you're using it as a full spectrum light.)

So two packs of sockets is about $16.
Each 6-pack of bulbs is about $40.

You need three packs of bulbs for an all-blue setup, for about $150 total cost – a little more if you don't have a spare extension cord to canniblize or wiring supplies.

It should be cheaper if you're using blue and white bulbs, since white can usually be found dirt cheap if you look.

Get at least a few spares of each bulb color you end up using.

 

[oreo54]

For those who are still building their own LED fixtures these days... where are you sourcing your parts? Especially bar-style heatsinks (rather than fixture-style).

I've built a few lights in my time and I'm thinking of doing so again - the T5 bulbs for my supplemental lighting seem to be getting harder to find, so I'm weighing whether it would be worth it to build a couple of bars to slot into my fixture. I'm not necessarily expecting it to be cost-competitive with just buying something that already exists, but I enjoyed the process before and love the flexibility it gives to make exactly what you want to make.

For the " classic" style 3w type arrays my " go to" is Stevesled for stars, Led supply for power supplies and drivers, and heatsinksusa for heat sinks.
Lower power bars seem to be fine with any aluminum stock. Flat, c channel, square tube.

Only problem with heat sinks is it isn' t easy to find anodized.
Makers slim heatsink for a full array. 45" us $100-ish. Anodized so good for passive cooling but a " fixture style".

Only easily found anodized generic heat sinks are like the pin style to use w cobs or clusters.
They were about $10 for 15w..

For non- anodized a light coat of black enamel helps increase radiative cooling.

If you use fans anodizing is unnecessary really.

Other vendors like Rapid led which leans more to horticulture nowadays.

Controllers Hurricane, modified tc-420, 421, and Storm et.al. for 5v pwm drivers.

Ghl for 10v analog controller.

Optics, eBay though I personally usually don't use them. If one can find "reasonably priced" reflectors for 3w stars...well go for it.


Currently a host of " smart stuff" and more exotic control protocols like DALI and DMX well beyond me.







Of course eBay. .....

 

[Biokabe]

Thanks to both, I'd completely forgotten about heatsinksusa.

So now it's on the to research and figuring out what it will actually cost to build the thing.

 

[gman107]

Keep us informed ! I would like to build as well but haven’t built a led fixture before

 

[Biokabe]

Keep us informed ! I would like to build as well but haven’t built a led fixture before

It's fun. My wife used to tease me when I did it... "Playing with circles," she called it. And yeah, she wasn't wrong. Once I get started on something like this I tend to become obsessive until its done.

The first LED fixture I built powered probably the most successful run I ever had... so maybe I do need to make this happen.