Wanting to do a DIY LED kit

1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
So im thinking i may want to do a DIY kit from rapids! Has anyone ever done one? I figure its simple and easy but i could be mistaken....do they come with directions? Can someone walk me through it if i needed it?
All i need is to buy a soldering kit i think....ive got drill bits and stuff! Also any suggestions? My tank is a 36 bow and its 30" across....I was thinking the 24" kit! With 60deg optics cuz its like 24" deep!
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I'm no expert but I might be able to help with questions.
First and foremost...what is your plan? What capabilities are you looking for in a fixture and what do you want to keep in your tank? Do you already have a fairly basic understanding of electricity and how a circuit works?
Diy led can be as simple or complicated as you wish to make it. If you start simple then it's pretty easy to do. Kits don't come with instructions so it's up to you to do you're own research and figure out how you want to build it.
24 would give you some pretty good light in your tank. There is a general rule of thumb among hobbyists from the collective knowledge gained from the diy led experience. If you're looking to keep SPS then you typically want 1-3w led per 12-15 square inches of surface area of your tank. That basically breaks down to anywhere from 30-36 leds. That's not to say that 24 won't allow you to keep any, but if you want to achieve the most out of your fixture then you might want to step up to the next size kit.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
well im looking at the 23" heatsink and im thinkin the 24 led or 36 led kit....i think the heatsink in that size comes available in both led numbers...lol did that make sense?
I know only from wat ive seen in pics...so i know that i have to hook up the pack things to the wires and than the wires all have to go to the leds...i have to cross em but does it matter where i solder em to the star? Dimmable would be kool but i dont think i need that....ill just raise it up and lower it to acclimate everything...the kits at rapids do come with the 3w crees...
however i ordered one of their par38s last week and in an email he told me they only power em at 2w!
Does it matter how many of those "flaps" on the back of the heatsink theyre are? Is this just for keeping the fixture cool?
Do u think that i could special request them to replace some cool whites with more blues?
Have u ever ordered one of these kits from em? Do u just order everything u want seperate?
Im deff going to get a pre drilled and tapered heatsink!
Idk any suggestions or answers are appreciated 2quills!~
devin
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Well the nice thing about going dimmable is that you can adjust your color temperature and output of the fixture without raising or lowering it. It's honestly not that hard to hook up a pot (potentiometer) in order to do that. But the choice is yours.
Rapid should have no problem swapping out some colors with others, they do it for people all the time. When I get ready to do my build I'll be ordering most of my stuff from different places. Mostly because rapid doesn't yet carry the drivers that I want to use. They did say that could get them for me but their asking price is a little high. But for smaller builds, those kits work just fine.
The heatsinks are just chunks of extruded alluminum. And yes their purpose is for pulling heat away from the leds and dissipating it to keep the leds running cool, or keep them from getting so hot that they burn out. The fins just add more surface area for doing so. Good choice on the pre drilled ones. I'd go for the 36 count one and if you only use 24 then so be it, but at least you'll have room to upgrade if you wish.
Color choice is really a matter of personal choice so it's hard to recommend what you might like. Alot of folks like the classic cool white and royal blue mix. I don't know if you've kept up with the big threads going on else where but alot of folks have moved on from that color choice and have started adding a mixture of regular blue's and neutral whites in with the cools and royals. Some folks like the colors these combos produce better. The neutrals produce a little more of a yellowish color to the eye but they make the reds, oranges and yellows in corals pop alot more than the cools. Plus they produce more usable light for the corals in some of the higher areas of the spectrum, so better growth is being noticed as well.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
good reccomendation their on upgrading later! I didnt even think of that!
I work with aluminum every day so i dont think anything that deals with mounting it will not be a prob....just the wiring part and ive never really soldered much! Just a airsoft gun that broke!
Does it matter wat kind of solder iron i get....theirs diff watts on those and such!
U think the 60deg optics would be okay? too much spread maybe?
The tank is a bit tall....
i think im gonna do it! Plus i gots u guys to help me out with any road blocks i may run into!
U never answered my question about applying the wires on the leds?!?!?
I just have to get one pos and one neg on the star thing? Dosent matter where, cuz theirs like places all around the LEDs...if they even come with that style?!?!
ahhh i guess i never know till i order it!
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1guyDude http:///forum/thread/387256/wanting-to-do-a-diy-led-kit#post_3406017
good reccomendation their on upgrading later! I didnt even think of that!
I work with aluminum every day so i dont think anything that deals with mounting it will not be a prob....just the wiring part and ive never really soldered much! Just a airsoft gun that broke!
Does it matter wat kind of solder iron i get....theirs diff watts on those and such!
U think the 60deg optics would be okay? too much spread maybe?
The tank is a bit tall....
i think im gonna do it! Plus i gots u guys to help me out with any road blocks i may run into!
U never answered my question about applying the wires on the leds?!?!?
I just have to get one pos and one neg on the star thing? Dosent matter where, cuz theirs like places all around the LEDs...if they even come with that style?!?!
ahhh i guess i never know till i order it!
Wellers makes a decent soldering gun. I know Shawn has mentioned it and I've looked into getting one of the adjustable wattage ones. But they are quite a bit more expensive. I think lowes sells a Wellers in the $25-$30 dollar range that works pretty good. I'd probably stay away from the cheap $15 guns.
Either 60 if not 80 degree optics should be fine. Personally I'd probably go with the 80 if you're gonna go with 24 leds to get more coverage. Depends on how high you plan on mounting them above the tank really. 60's are going to be tighter than you think unless you have them upwards of 12"+ above the tank.
The wiring is pretty simple. You have a positive and negative wire coming from the driver. You take the positive wire and hook it up to the postive side of your first led, then you go from the negative side of that led to the positive side on the next one and so on and so forth. You'll see when you get the leds, they are marked.


Dimming Diagram....

Here's a pretty helpful set of videos. Check out all parts 1-4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I_5uh4R_QQ&feature=relmfu
 
cryptics

cryptics

Member
I started my build last night. RapidLED was running a one day sale on drivers and LED's two Saturdays ago but not on the kits
I basically put the 48 LED dimmable kit together manualy with a few exceptions. I picked up the heatsinks from reefledlights. They have a much larger selection of drilled heatsinks and will have splashguards built for them in 2 weeks for $20 or so and full enclosures in September. I also picked up Arctic Silver ceramique thermal grease instead of what they offer because the ceramique does not conduct electricity so cuts down on the possiblility of shorts.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
hmm thxs for the ideas cyrptics...ill prob get that adhesive however their heatsinks are way more expensive! Also i think i can make something up for a splash guard!
More questions....
i noticed the heatsinks come with screws....wat are they for? I though u used the adhesive to attach the platforms (stars)?
Can i paint the heatsink black?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
The thermal grease is not an adhesive. It is used in place of the adhesive when you're securing your stars to the heatsinks via screws. That's what the drilled heatsinks are for, for securing your starboards with screws. Easy removale, for replacement or balancing of strings, changing out colors..etc. The stuff you're thinking of is the thermal epoxy which is an adhesive.
 
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