Grizz's DIY Heat sink & LED build / showing all colors

[The Grizz]

I put all this in my build tread for the 300 gal 8'er but thought I should do a DIYthread to make it easier to find.

I finally got a chance today to start building the heat sinks for this tank. I have decided to do 2 - 39" x 12" heat sinks both will have 136 LEDs but will have room for more.

Got my main plates of 1/4" aluminum cut & 48 pieces of 1/8" x 1" aluminum flatbars as well.





First 5 flatbar fins tacked on:



Now 10:



15:



20:



And finally the last 3:





As you can see in the 2nd last pic I removed the very first flatbar fin, yes this was planned because I am going to wrap the whole out side of the 1/4" plate with some 1/4" x 2 1/2" flatbars.

[The Grizz]

I cut some 2 1/2" strips out of a small sheet of 1/4" aluminum on my tablesaw, then cut a notch into them for my 1/8" clear acrylic cover.









Added a 1/4" x 2" strip across the front but have to add something below the groove to hold the acrylic flat.

LED side:


Fan side:

[The Grizz]

Added a couple pieces of 1/2" square tube to mount the fans onto the heat sinks.

[The Grizz]

Laid out all the LED boards from Modular LED for one heat sink and came up with this so far.



LED legend

CW - XP-E Cool White
CW HEW - XP-E Cool White High Efficiency
NW HEW - XP-E Neutral White High Efficiency
HN - XP-G Cool White ( used for high noon kit )
RB - XP-E Royal Blue
B - XP-E Blue
G - XP-E Green
R - XP-E Red

[Delphinus]

Are those tig welds because it's aluminium and whatnot?

[claymax]

excellent. just great. this is LED deliciousness

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Are those tig welds because it's aluminium and whatnot?

No tony not TIG welds, I have an aluminum spool gun for this type of work. It's easier to tack with the spool gun vursus needing to use 2 hands for the TIG.

[Hustler]

I wish i understood better what this does and how it all works.... Its slow at work and i have a bunch of plate and flat bar just waiting to be cut up.... Just dont know what im even planning for other then dimentions LOL
is there a specific spacing that works best per foot or thickness of plate ect?
Is there maybe a guideline to follow for us LED newbs...
Looks amazing bro.... Hope i get the invite next time i stop in your kneck of the woods

[The Grizz]

Heres's the piles of LED stuff, LED's, optics, connector, fans & power supplies, 1 EVG Profiilux controll board, adhesive and what nots.



Drivers, 5 - 120w, 2 - 75w & 2 - 38w (still need to pick-up from Martin)

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by Hustler

I wish i understood better what this does and how it all works.... Its slow at work and i have a bunch of plate and flat bar just waiting to be cut up.... Just dont know what im even planning for other then dimentions LOL
is there a specific spacing that works best per foot or thickness of plate ect?
Is there maybe a guideline to follow for us LED newbs...
Looks amazing bro.... Hope i get the invite next time i stop in your kneck of the woods

I just used what Martin had figured out for a 48"L x 24"W tank to get an idea of what I needed & asked Martin what he thought I would need. I was going to go with 4 - 12" x 12" heat sinks but decided to go with just 2 - 39" x 12" so that I had a 6" difference on all 4 sides of the tank & between each heat sink.

Any time your down here drop me a line.