Milad's 72in LED build

[Milad]

Lets get this party started! ---- WARNING THIS IS MY FIRST LED BUILD ----
I knew as much as you did before i started this build, but its actually quick pickup after knowing nothing about aquariums and building a 180g i think LED is easier.


So i needed something to do during the Christmas break so what better way to spend my time than building a nice 72in LED for my 180G tank.

Link to my tank build is in my signature but there are a few things to know about the tank.
No canopy
2 dividers every 24in
peninsula!


So basically I have to work with the parameters above. Having no canopy is good and bad, I probably wont need fans if I have good heatsinks because its open air above it but I have to make it look clean since everyone can see it! gota hide those wires.

Dividers suck because I have to pick the correct optics so shine the light and the correct size of the modules.

What I will be building is 3 module system. Each module will be plug in play. Currently im going with only 2 drivers for all the modules. This could change. The drivers will be dimmable and attach directly into my apex controller.

I will be buying LEDs from the group buy I started which is located:
http://www.LEDGroupBuy.com

sick deal hey?!

im going with
XP-G CW 60
XP-E RB 84

+ 144 40degree optics

Total of 144 emitters

To run the whites I will be going with:
Mean Well HLG-240H-42B

To run the royal blues I will be going with:
Mean Well HLG 240H-54B


That will give me a 42% cool white 58% royal blue to achieve something in the 14-15k color range, equivalent to 250-400w MH.


Here is a preliminary idea of what the fixture will look like (will probably incase everything in black plexi):



more to come soon

Quick Links:
Initial wiring diagram with parts list

[martinmcnally]

Sounds good. I tried building an LED bar to supplement my T5s unfortunately I failed miserably. I found it really really hard to solder wire onto the CREE LED points. The solder would not stick properly unless I scratched the little metal solder point on the LED, then it kind of worked but would also easily break off with a little nudge. I might try another experiment but maybe I am missing something with the soldering. I was thinking maybe you needed to drill a whole in the solder point and feed the wire though it like you would see on a circuit board with components soldered on.

Martin

[Milad]

Originally Posted by martinmcnally

Sounds good. I tried building an LED bar to supplement my T5s unfortunately I failed miserably. I found it really really hard to solder wire onto the CREE LED points. The solder would not stick properly unless I scratched the little metal solder point on the LED, then it kind of worked but would also easily break off with a little nudge. I might try another experiment but maybe I am missing something with the soldering. I was thinking maybe you needed to drill a whole in the solder point and feed the wire though it like you would see on a circuit board with components soldered on.

Martin

i haven't soldered for years but if i remember correctly its like an art.
just takes a few tries soldering a few together

also did you have pretinned wire? you dont want to heat up the led solder too much otherwise boom goes the led.

[Bloodasp]

You need to use flux. If you have to scratch the copper clad in order for the lead to stick to the board it means the copper has a thin film of oxidation that you need to clean out, otherwise you get a cold solder or it won't even stick.

[DiverDude]

Using a flux-core solder should be fine unless the LEDs are old and/or been improperly stored -in which case the copper pads may be oxidized.

Most soldering difficulties come from improper technique. It's important to remember that you are joining TWO metal surfaces with a 3rd metal (solder) and therefore BOTH surfaces must be hot enough to melt solder. A decent soldering iron is also good to have. A reasonable iron will cost a good $50 at Active. Good brands include Hakko and Weller.

-And try not to breathe the fumes from the solder; NOT good for you.

[Bloodasp]

I agree that a lot has to do with improer soldering techniques. I have yet to see solder meant for electronics without a flux core, even the lead free ones I have used always contain them, from the sound of what he said though that he had to scratch the component to get some soldering to happen he definitely needs it.
And also boring a hole through the track of an smd mounted component is not a good idea as they are normally too small that drilling a hole through them would likely cause it to peel off.

[martinmcnally]

So I just checked out my solder and its Rosin core! ah ha! Maybe I need to try this again with flux core?

I wonder if I fried the driver in the process $

[martinmcnally]

Oh no wait, Rosin is flux haha so back to squire one.

[makana]

pure solder doesn't work well, the resin core is a cleaning agent that helps remove impurities and allow the solder to stick. If you are having to scratch at the metal to get it to stick then it isn't clean. You could try cleaning it with alcohol or scuffing it up with a scotch brite. You need to get the metal hot enough for the solder to bond without overheating it. When the temperature is right if you dab the solder on it will travel along the metal. If you are soldering to surface mount copper pads on a circuit board be carefull. If it is clean it shouldn't take much to heat it up. Too much and it will lift the trace from the board.

[mseepman]

Looking forward to seeing this...I am planning an LED build myself for my 290G peninsula once I finally get the damn house built.

I was planning on doing a blend of CW and RB crees but after researching for countless hours, it appears to me that there is a real need for some Neutral Whites and even a few standard blues in the mix to give you the coloration that we are used to with MH and or T5.

Where are you getting your heatsinks? Where are the big meanwells coming from? Are you planning to balance the forward voltage on your parallel setups or are you just going to keep the voltage low enough to handle an issue if it arrises?

I plan to do about 200 LED's and that would mean a lot of the small ELN meanwells which is a problem. My issue is that all the threads over on RC seem to put the fear of GOD into people who plan to go parallel on their LED setups rather than serial.

Looking forward to hearing how you plan to do all this.