LED Housing.

Ever think of housing your DIY LED fixtures?

Well I am and was wondering on some ideas on what I should use or if you used something personal and how did it work? Or where could I get a empty shell unit somewhere where so I can put in my own LED's/Guts?

Thanks.

 

I typically just use black acrylic; it’s easy to make a custom enclosure of just about any shape or size…

 

Whatever you do here, you must consider thermal management. You need lots of surface area to cool the diodes; hence why/how a heat sink works.

I don't mean to at all discourage you; I'm certain there's good unexplored ideas out there.

 

Yep I understand I have 2 6x20 heat sinks from Rapid LED with 2 fans per fixture and will be making decent vents for air movement. I'm just stuck on what type of design and materials I should be looking for. Something sleek would be top notch.

 

If your fan is approx as wide as the heat sink, one fan per heat sink is plenty.

 

No its not as wide that's why I have two per unit.

 

Ah, you're only looking to enclose the heat sink. I thought you were planning to use something neat and clean in place of the heat sink.

In which case, I second the motion for black acrylic.

 

ahhh, ok I'll look around to see if I can find something neat. I may even look into aluminum..

 

When I did mine I used acrylic for the top and bottom with aluminum radiator guard around the rest of the fixture. Light weight and you can make it as tall or thin as your heat sink/ ideas will let you. Fairly cheap to. http://www.3reef.com/forums/led-aquarium-lighting/my-cree-led-build-updated-led-pics-2-23-12-a-113012.html

 

Thanks for the pics of your model, I actually have a great idea! Thanks.