Big DIY LED project finally done!

Discussion in 'LED Aquarium Lighting' started by mmakay, Dec 17, 2011.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

Page 1 of 2
  1. mmakay

    mmakay Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Messages:
    222
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA
    A couple of months worth of work are now hanging proudly over my tank. I have to say, a light this size should only be tackled if you are seriously committed DIY'er. It's more work than it looks....

    There are 96 Luxeon Rebel emitters on 32 three-up stars 20mm in diameter. Each star has a Neutral White, Blue and Royal Blue. Mixing is basically perfect because the LEDs are so close to one another.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    The controller is built into an old Pelican case I've had sitting around. It's a tad overbuilt, hehe. It allows for each of the colors to be controlled independently, and does sunset/sundown ramping. The program is based on the Typhon sketch that you can read about on that other reef site. ;)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    #1
    1 person likes this.

    2. Click Here!

  2. Meanie

    Meanie Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2011
    Messages:
    181
    Location:
    Pataskala, Ohio
    Very nice job!!
     
    Meanie, Dec 17, 2011
    Meanie, Dec 17, 2011
    #2
  3. exactlyobp

    exactlyobp Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2011
    Messages:
    3,984
    Location:
    Cedar City UT
    You drilled a pelican case!! GREAT job!!
     
    exactlyobp, Dec 17, 2011
    exactlyobp, Dec 17, 2011
    #3
  4. Matt Rogers

    Matt Rogers Kingfish

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2000
    Messages:
    13,466
    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Very impressive - I'd be proud of that.
    That controller is intense. What all is going on in there?
     
    Matt Rogers, Dec 17, 2011
    Matt Rogers, Dec 17, 2011
    #4
  5. ingtar_shinowa

    ingtar_shinowa Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2009
    Messages:
    7,072
    Location:
    Billings Montana
    really cool! Make a video of color cycling!~
     
    ingtar_shinowa, Dec 17, 2011
    ingtar_shinowa, Dec 17, 2011
    #5
  6. BoostLED

    BoostLED 3reef Sponsor

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2010
    Messages:
    0
    Location:
    United States
    That's an excellent job. Would love to see a video of that fixture! :)
     
    BoostLED, Dec 17, 2011
    BoostLED, Dec 17, 2011
    #6

    7. Click Here!

  7. reefwerks

    reefwerks Flamingo Tongue

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2011
    Messages:
    109
    Location:
    Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
    Beautiful heat sink...where did you get it?
     
    reefwerks, Dec 17, 2011
    reefwerks, Dec 17, 2011
    #7
  8. mmakay

    mmakay Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Messages:
    222
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA
    So... <deep breath>

    Starting in the "power section" I've got 3 24V power supplies; one for each color. Two 80mm fans blow across everything to keep things cool. At the bottom you can see a smaller PS that provides 5V to the brains and 12V for the fans. The heatsink I mounted the LED on also has 12V running to it so I could add a fan there, but it runs so cool I won't need to.

    All the smarts live on the case's "lid". The blue board is the Arduino. The smallest board is the real time clock (so power interruptions don't effect the schedule). The medium board just past that is a power bus to simplify my life. The largest board is the LED driver. I etched the board myself using old school nerd power. It holds three banks of four (12 total) CAT4101 constant current chips that feed the LEDS. The last component you see is the back of the LCD display.

    Easy, right? ;D


    I did more than that! Everything is mounted using threaded brass inserts melted into the plastic, so I can easily replace components if need be. No point in spending all that time and money to house it in a shoe box!


    I'll work on a video. I'm in the middle re-writing the code, so maybe I'll throw in a routine to do a short disco routine....
     
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    #8
    1 person likes this.
  9. mmakay

    mmakay Feather Duster

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Messages:
    222
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    mmakay, Dec 17, 2011
    #9
  10. reefwerks

    reefwerks Flamingo Tongue

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2011
    Messages:
    109
    Location:
    Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
    reefwerks, Dec 17, 2011
    reefwerks, Dec 17, 2011
    #10
Page 1 of 2