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

The Grizz · #1 12-13-2011, 12:48 AM

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 · #2 12-13-2011, 12:52 AM

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

The Grizz · #3 12-13-2011, 01:07 AM

Quote:

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 · #4 12-13-2011, 01:31 AM

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 · #5 12-13-2011, 01:42 AM

Quote:

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.

madkeenreefer · #6 12-13-2011, 02:11 AM

Looks solid. How many watt are the 136 leds ? I would maybee think of putting another fan to help out with the heat as you may find the transfer lacking from the 1/4 sheet to the 1/8 flat,

Cant wait to see it running over a tank should produce some good light.

The Grizz · #7 12-13-2011, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

Looking good so far.

Are you at all concerned that a slight warpage in the base plate will cause an airgap and render that portion of the sink less effective than those next to the welds?

Quote:

Originally Posted by madkeenreefer

Looks solid. How many watt are the 136 leds ? I would maybee think of putting another fan to help out with the heat as you may find the transfer lacking from the 1/4 sheet to the 1/8 flat,

Cant wait to see it running over a tank should produce some good light.

There is no way that these will warp, as soft as aluminum is it will actually take a little more heat to warp . Total watts of the LED would be 408w @ 100% which I doubt I will even get close to that.

I am looking for a product I heard about that is similar to Silver Solder. It a matter of heating it up & pouring it in to fill any gaps.

waynemah · #8 12-13-2011, 08:01 PM

This looks awesome so far! The heat sync is a massive beast, love it.

When looking into the acrylic, did you manage to find some that doesn't pull out some of the light's spectrum? When attempting to make lids for my tank I ran into this issue and ended up scrapping the project. $200 worth of acrylic lying around now

Are you planning to put any bracing in for the acrylic? That stuff likes to bow like crazy in higher humidity and temp.

Chowder · #9 12-13-2011, 08:12 PM

Looks pretty impressive so far. Out of curriousity what is the weight of that beast?

Chris

Seth81 · #10 12-14-2011, 02:55 PM

Just out of curiousity, but why are you using red and green LED's? Red shouldn't only be used if you are growing plants. Not too sure why you would want green either...

I built my own DIY LED fixtures, I should probably make a thread too. I wish I knew how to weld, and made my own heat sinks.... I am jealose of your heatsink! The cheapest I could find was still expensive and not custom to my tank (heatsinksusa.com just in case anyone was curious.