Step by step full spectrum diy led build

Dowtish · Mar 3, 2013

The braiding of the wires is fantastic!

I'm glad you kept the T5's as well. Just be sure to allow things to acclimate slowly, and you should have some good color and growth in the next few months.

bairdimusprime · Mar 3, 2013

Seriously amazing job

fireman23 · Mar 4, 2013

Nice job. I'm looking at the 72 led kit for my 110 tall

dwilliams87 · Mar 4, 2013

Great job with the build thread. Very understandable with step by step instructions.

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nhago · Mar 4, 2013

Awesome job!!

do you care to share how much this project cost you? I'm looking into making the switch also...

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greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

nhago said:
Awesome job!!

do you care to share how much this project cost you? I'm looking into making the switch also...

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The kit with a extra driver was around $287 with shipping, then the material at Home Depot was around $64. So for a total of around $350

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nhago · Mar 4, 2013

That's fantastic!!

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greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

There is over 125ft of wiring in this because of the way i routed the wires, but 100ft of wiring is like $5. To me it was well worth it.

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CoralFragZ · Mar 4, 2013

What guage did you use

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dwilliams87 · Mar 4, 2013

To do it this way, with the wiring routed like this, you do have to have more wire than given with the kit. Correct me if I'm wrong Greg, the kit only came with 50ft total?

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greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

50ft of 20 gauge is what came with the kit and dwilliams had a 100ft roll of wire

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dwilliams87 · Mar 4, 2013

And, yes the Dosequis was mine. 180 soldering points, you need some help.

greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

From the time i started building til i was finish, i had roughly 20 hours into this project.

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dwilliams87 · Mar 4, 2013

Now you get to change the Metal hallides to LED's in your signature!

greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

Doing that this afternoon

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glamisracers · Mar 4, 2013

nice work im thinking about making the switch also where did you order the kit from?

greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

glamisracers said:
nice work im thinking about making the switch also where did you order the kit from?

Aquastyleonline

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fragmatic · Mar 4, 2013

Impressive... job, what glue did you use to fasten the crees to the rails? I was afraid to do that because most glues don't do heat well. Are the LED's hotter than the rails? Wondering if the heat transfer is effective. My interest is because I have spare LED's and I want to build a set with for my refugium. I'd love to glue them.

gmoney243 · Mar 4, 2013

fragmatic said:
Impressive... job, what glue did you use to fasten the crees to the rails? I was afraid to do that because most glues don't do heat well. Are the LED's hotter than the rails? Wondering if the heat transfer is effective. My interest is because I have spare LED's and I want to build a set with for my refugium. I'd love to glue them.

They are bridgelux leds but the alluminum c channel keeps the leds super cool i dont need a fan and the.metal never even gets warm on my led diy.

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greg0385 · Mar 4, 2013

fragmatic said:
Impressive... job, what glue did you use to fasten the crees to the rails? I was afraid to do that because most glues don't do heat well. Are the LED's hotter than the rails? Wondering if the heat transfer is effective. My interest is because I have spare LED's and I want to build a set with for my refugium. I'd love to glue them.

The "glue" i use is just the heatsink plaster that the kit came with. So far since i have the leds dimmed way down to mimic the same par as i was getting so that i dont shock my acros too much at one time. I dont know how hot they will get. I do know the little time i had them at 100%, they were warm but not hot. The drivers are way warmer than the heatsink and leds. But the t5s and t5's ballast WAY hotter.

I will gradually ramp up the leds over the next few weeks and if i notice any unwanted heat i will let everyone know. Although i really dont think i will. The C-channel i use is 3/4" which actual dimensions are 7/8" where the leds are placed on the bottom and 1/2" tall sides. So total area is close to 2" of metal. So heat has lots of metal to transfer the heat from the led.

I hope this help

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