My diy led build using arduino controller

[mark sid tottle]

Here is a picture of the how the build is going, wiring can get messy and it is a bit of mess at this point. there are 2 15 pin d-sub connectors that need wiring.

And here it is once its all tidied up and in place.

 

[mark sid tottle]

Seeing as my plans didn't working with the screen being in fitted in the canopy my next plan was to fit it local.

cut a nice size hole so I can fit the bezel

and now the for the screen

 

[mark sid tottle]

this picture is with everything wired in and in place.

 

[mark sid tottle]

side shoot of of what thing look like on the outside.

and now a shoot from the top. i have fitted a to the box to help keep thinks cool.

 

[mark sid tottle]

in this picture I recycled some old parts including the fan from a laptop cooling tray.

 

[mark sid tottle]

that's the power supply all sorted time to move onto the led side of thinks. these are the lenses i have used for my 10w leds. they are a 90 degree lens.

 

[mark sid tottle]

Here are the pictures of my drilled and tapped heat sinks.

 

[mark sid tottle]

Here is a quick picture of how I am laying the leds onto the heat sinks. Here we have whites, royal blues and some uv/violet. The white leds are 16000k white and royal blue is royal blue and the uv/violet I have selected a specific wave length for these bad boys which are 420nm. With all the reading and research I have done I found that this led is almost perfect for coral growth. Let's see if all the read and researching pays off and seeing if what people say is true. Well only one way to find out.

 

[mark sid tottle]

the fans I am using to cool the heat sinks are Arctic cooling f12 pwm.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Turning out very well Mark, looking forward to seeing it light up your Reeftank.


Cheers, Todd

 

[mark sid tottle]

Turning out very well Mark, looking forward to seeing it light up your Reeftank.


Cheers, Todd

I have a picture from when i was testing everything making sure it all was working as it should. the leds are connected to the lid of the canopy and held up with to chairs, the test i was running at the time was a full power test and the brightness is insane. i'll post that soon.

 

[G_Sanab922]

Following along! Very nice DIY! What has the approximate cost been so far?

 

[rayn]

Double post, sorry

 

[rayn]

I am just looking into a diy build. First search and I come across this!

Very nicely done. Also wondering what your cost tally is. Also how do you think your lights compare to the commercially available led lights? Color, intensity, price? One more, what size tank is this going over?

 

[TJ's Reef]

I have a picture from when i was testing everything making sure it all was working as it should. the leds are connected to the lid of the canopy and held up with to chairs, the test i was running at the time was a full power test and the brightness is insane. i'll post that soon.

Cool, looking forward to it. Mine are pretty darn bright just running at about 42-44% overall, have the drivers tuned to 700ma and Apex maxing out at 70% of that. Curious to see what yours end up looking like color wise without any Red or Green/Cyan in the mix. I also run a mixed lot of CW's consisting of 5000K, 6500K and 8000K.

Cheers, Todd

 

[mark sid tottle]

The price total is about £350 (sterling) but have been able to build 2 led units and power supply that is more then capable of running both led units. Not really sure how they compare to commercially available led lights? Colour, intensity.
As for colour using 10w leds colour was limited when I first started build, but I do plan on adding some 397 uv leds and some 10w cyan leds which are 490nm this wil will help with the green side of things a little. not really interested in fitting any red colour as it can prompt algae growth. growth of corals has been amazing and growing at a fast rate. My leds are rated to 1000ma but are being limited by the driver to 816ma.
I'm in the middle of measuring the spectrum at the moment so i can see just what area I am in with the colour range.

 

[akitareefer]

Wow this DIY goes way over my head. Can't wait to see these lit up

 

[CoralFragZ]

nice job!

 

[mark sid tottle]

I have drilled a few holes to help with some of the wiring. The temp sensor is in place in the middle of the heatsink.

 

[mark sid tottle]

well all the leds in place and screwed down now the fun begins lets do some more wiring.
in the process of wiring the leds up I decided to make the wires long enough so that i could build a harness long enough to connect to the power supply. the length is about 1.8m - 2m

I used this 6mm polyester braid expandable sheath cable sleeving wiring harness co cover the wires.