DIY LED Help

[cmwalters]

I bought a used 36W PC fixture for my 5.5 gallon tank and it doesn't work. I think I am going to build a LED fixture instead of dropping all that cash for a nanobox or something, plus it will be a cool thing to learn. I am thinking 8 or 9 LEDs, with a 5:4 or 5:3 royal blue to cool white ratio. I want it to be dimmable so I don't fry everything I put in there. I also want to use the solderless LEDs as I have never soldered before, but if that is not possible then I can learn to solder. So basically, all I need is: the LEDs, the heatsink, the driver, the wiring, and thermal adhesive. What do I need as far as dimming accessories? If there is a good article or build thread that would help me out, if you could link it to me that would be great? I did a quick search but didn't find anything that really walked me through everything that well.

 

[mwbeach]

Following

 

[TJ's Reef]

Both Rapid LED and Steve's LED's have great DIY kits to work with. As for emitter choices, consider 3 RB's, 1 Blue, 1 Violet, 1 Cool White and 1 Neutral White for a very well blended broad spectrum array. You will need to control the dimming through a Apex or manual Potentiometer and Rapid and Steve's both sell 1 & 2-channel dimming kits. If you drop down to only 6 emitters you can fit them all on a single fan cooled CPU heat sink available from Newegg.com or ??? You can see one of these for my Fuge light in my build thread, linked in my signature below.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Reefing Madness]

Drivers - Dimmable Drivers - Rapid LED
Dimming Accessories - 0-10V Dimming Accessories (D drivers) - Rapid LED
Retrofit kits - Nano Kits - Rapid LED

 

[ifarmer]

3-4 years ago, DIY on led made sense. these days, DIY on led is not worth it.
you better off buying the premade fixtures. price isn't that bad and at least they have some resale value

 

[ReefLEDLights]

3-4 years ago, DIY on led made sense. these days, DIY on led is not worth it.
you better off buying the premade fixtures. price isn't that bad and at least they have some resale value

Gotta disagree

By DIY you can choose the best parts and more importantly Bin your LEDs for Colour. This way you wont wind up with a yellow looking cool white.

With the Cree LEDs, Storm Controller and MeanWell LDD Drivers you can build a Fixture that last longer and is more efficient than the Ebay Imports for under $300. If you go solderless its a little more.

For a 5.5 gal tank your size I would use the BJB Solderless connector so you can swap out an LED at any time.

4 Royal Blue 2 Blue and 3 Cool white should work great. If you use a dimmable buckpuck driver you can adjust the colour perfectly.

Bill