My DIY LED Lights

Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Just thought I'd start my own thread for this, as i didn't want to hijack the other DIY led thread... not to mention this will be an ongoing project, that may lead to me building my own "solaris" equivalent. So far here is what I've got!

01-08-08_1415.jpg



so far it's not much, and on this bar, i've placed the lights much too close together. I'm not sure whether I will continue to attempt making "supplemental" llights, or if my next attempt will be at an entire light fixture to replace my PC's. I plan to use a potentiometer to control brightness, and eventually a digital pot. programmed to auto light/dim for day, night cycles. I know this will be quite involved, but i think it will be quite an interesting DIY project! Enjoy!

I will have video of my tank with and without the lightbar to see the results with the above lightbar, later on today.

Thanks for reading!
 
tippMANn98

tippMANn98

Has been struck by the ban stick
I think thats a hell of a lot better than I would have the patience for. Looks good andy....How many are on that first strip? each individual watts? and how many total LEDS would you need for the whole tank?
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Thanks Everyone!

heh, scott :) I try :lol:

Dan - there are 16 LEDs, running in parallel ~3.6v Max is 3.8, so they can get a bit brighter :) Heres a video guys! Sorry about my voice if i sound congested or whatnot I just got home from the doctor :( Been sick for a couple weeks now
*edit* i removed this vid and will be adding another below; I'll make a better comparison video tomorrow*
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
It's not very easy to see what's going on in the video, and the colors are no good through my little point and shoot digi cam for video :( anywho, i tried! more as it happens... :)
 
tippMANn98

tippMANn98

Has been struck by the ban stick
Wow that is super bright from that one strip. I WANT SOME!!!!! I can hook them up under my canopy.....if you dont mind me asking, how much was it to make that 16 led strip? from start to finish?
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone!
Dan - i'll pm you with the info you wanted... I can't really say how many to light the whole tank yet, as that's what i'm experimenting with now to find out myself. I know theoretically i can light my whole tank (29 gallon, 30lx12dx18h with ~48 LEDs. whether or not this will provide sufficient intensity is yet to be determined. Each LED runs a max of 3.8v, but 3.4-3.6 is more likely where i'll be running them for longevity. If this all works out, i'll be happy to produce some fixtures for you guys! But for now i still need to experiment, i'd be embarrassed to send someone a piece of junk! Here is my start of the second trial:it should cover an area of 11" X 11" at a distance of 12" away from the light. I am using an identical number of LED's for this fixture as the bar, so obviously the light will be less intense, but i'm not yet sure what intensity is sufficient.. overkill is obviously not a good idea, for my wallet or my tank. Having the leds spread over a distance will also allow the "shimmer" of the water to prevail :D updates to come...

01-10-08_1536.jpg
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Well, this project is going better than I anticipated... so i've got more LED's both white and blue (~460nm) on order for an actual prototype :D
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Just thought I'd share my first completed CAD prototype with you guys... let me know what you think! The tentative name "RSLED Systems" ... well i'm sure you guy's know what RS is for.. Thanks for the support :)

RSLED1.jpg

RSLED2.jpg
 
tippMANn98

tippMANn98

Has been struck by the ban stick
dude, that is totally awesome...send me a PM (u never did) about $$$ cost and everything that is involved...
 
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