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DIY - 204W LED Build


hlem

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I'm in the process of replacing my lights, currently running T5 with along with some reef filteration brand LEDs, with some custom LEDs.

 

The plan is to cover an area of 24"x30" and 30in deep. I will make 3 of these fixtures to cover my 265gallon, 84in tank.

 

After seeing Chau's (taiscici) 50W build, I knew I had to go this route, mainly due to the color, it was exactly what I've been looking for, (very watered down 409 glass cleaner color), and of course, a lot cheaper than cree LEDs.

 

I went through about 3-4 designs around the 10W and 50W chips, but after talking to Chau and getting his ideas and suggestions, I went with the 100W as the main focus and 10W and 3W as supplements.

 

The 100W 20,000K is the main light source. To the left and right are 2x10W 10,000K for growth (high noon light), and above and below are 2 strings of Royal Blue of various spectrums; 445nm, 450nm, and 455nm, why have just only 1 spectrum when you can get 3 :biggrin:

 

My parts list: everything from Ebay (the list is for per fixture, so everything listed, i've ordered 3x)

 

LEDs:

1x100W 20,000k color chip

2x10W 10,000k color chips

28x3W Royal blue of 3 different RB spectrums, 8x445nm, 12x450nm, and 8x455nm (surface mount LEDs)

 

Drivers: (no dimming, i'm going to have to acclimate my corals very.. very... slowly)

1 driver for the 100W

2 drivers for the 2x10W, 1 driver per 10W

2 drivers for the 28x3W, 2 lines of 14x3W

 

Heatsink from HeatSinkUSA:

5.88"x10"

 

Fan: this will be mounted directly behind the 100W chip, pointing downward.

1x120mm

 

Lens:

All leds will have 90 degrees lens.

 

Everything is ordered. A lot of the parts have arrived. Just waiting for the 100W, 10W and their drivers.

 

Here is my drawing of the build plan (not exactly to scale)

 

3W LEDs are 0.25in from the top and bottom edge of the heatsink and ~1in apart

100W is dead center

10W will be 3-4in from the left and right side

 

204W+LED.jpg

I'll post pics of the actual build as I put it together.:cool::cool:

Edited by hlem
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I'm also building a smaller version of this for a frag tank.

 

10x3W blue, 2 strings of 5

10W 20,000K center

2x3W 10,000K noon

 

i'm going to get that one done first :)

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that may actually fit under the hood of my aquapod.

 

keep in mind you need some airflow and a fan. the fan add another 1/2in height, but more importantly is the airflow to push the heat out.

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I'm wondering if your heatsink will be enough- I run 2 of the Ecoxotic 100w dimmable LED's and the heatsinks on them are massive. 4" thick. All those 3w emitters bunched closely together in such a small area will create a considerable amount of heat. I hope the fan is very powerful.

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zygote2k, i think you are right. the ones i see with the lights bunched together still had a heat sink muchlarger with the cluster in the middle. maybe if it is not running at 100% it wont get as hot so as to reduce the life of the leds.

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I'm wondering if your heatsink will be enough- I run 2 of the Ecoxotic 100w dimmable LED's and the heatsinks on them are massive. 4" thick. All those 3w emitters bunched closely together in such a small area will create a considerable amount of heat. I hope the fan is very powerful.

 

I did a quick calculation and this heatsink won't cut it with a fan that size. Where you stand right now, assuming 30CFM from the fan, room temp of 80F, temp of the LEDs at 100C and based on the dimensions of the heatsink, you can get 84W of heat dissipation. Double the number of fans and you get 140W of dissipation.

 

You need to boost the number of fans, size of the fan or airflow of the fan big time for that heatsink to work.

 

EDIT: a 15" heatsink (same profile), with three 30 CFM fans will get you 283W of dissipation. This all also assumes you run at 100% with the LEDs which requires ~200W of dissipation.

Edited by icecool2
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I did a quick calculation and this heatsink won't cut it with a fan that size. Where you stand right now, assuming 30CFM from the fan, room temp of 80F, temp of the LEDs at 100C and based on the dimensions of the heatsink, you can get 84W of heat dissipation. Double the number of fans and you get 140W of dissipation.

 

You need to boost the number of fans, size of the fan or airflow of the fan big time for that heatsink to work.

 

EDIT: a 15" heatsink (same profile), with three 30 CFM fans will get you 283W of dissipation. This all also assumes you run at 100% with the LEDs which requires ~200W of dissipation.

 

hmm... i havent calculate it in that much detail.

 

This is the LED's spec when running fully

3W running at 680mA, 3.4V

10W at 900mA, 12V, <65F working temp

100W at ~3.5A. 30-36V, <65F working temp

 

Fan airflow is 38.4 CFM, 1200RPM

 

I have considered putting 2 fans on the heat sink, and there is definitely enough room for it, so if need to, i can easy add a second. but let's see if one is enough since I will not be operating all the LEDS all together all the time. Blue on for ~8-12hours, 10W on 2-4 hours around noon time, and 100W on for 6-8 hours. 1 hour before the noon light or so.

 

and also my basement, usually stays around 70F in summer time, so pretty cool year round.

 

thanks for the heads up though, I will be test it slowly, one string at a time and make sure it's enough. :cool:

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I'm wondering if your heatsink will be enough- I run 2 of the Ecoxotic 100w dimmable LED's and the heatsinks on them are massive. 4" thick. All those 3w emitters bunched closely together in such a small area will create a considerable amount of heat. I hope the fan is very powerful.

 

 

Rob, do they stay super cool to the touch or warm? I dont mind if my heat sink is warm when on. As long as they are not burning hot.

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With the room at 70F and with 38.4CFM, you'll get about 97W of dissipation. Even if you aren't running all of the LEDs at the same time, that can't support your 100W chip alone. That being said, you always design for the worst case (all on at 100%) and that gives you 204W of needed dissipation. Testing slowly isn't really a good approach when you know going in that you have a problem. You essentially can run the LEDs at max of 50% with this setup. You could save yourself money and get lower power LEDs since you can't get the full benefit of the ones you are using.

 

Not trying to argue, just making sure you are getting your money's worth.

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With the room at 70F and with 38.4CFM, you'll get about 97W of dissipation. Even if you aren't running all of the LEDs at the same time, that can't support your 100W chip alone. That being said, you always design for the worst case (all on at 100%) and that gives you 204W of needed dissipation. Testing slowly isn't really a good approach when you know going in that you have a problem. You essentially can run the LEDs at max of 50% with this setup. You could save yourself money and get lower power LEDs since you can't get the full benefit of the ones you are using.

 

Not trying to argue, just making sure you are getting your money's worth.

 

I dont see it as arguing :) on seeing you are concern, appreciate it.

 

Will two fans be enough? If one is for sure not enough, then I can just put 2. If two 120mm isnt enough, I can still fit in two 140mm.

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(edited)

OK, good :)

 

Two fans gets you about 170W. What's the CFM of the 140mm?

 

~47 CFM for a cheap one, it can go up to 70 for a more expensive one.

 

but I really want to stick with this 120mm because it's only ~15dBA, the 140mm brings me up to over 20dBA per fan, unless I spend 4-6 times more for a high CFM and low dBA 140mm fan...:blush: might have to be the way...

Edited by hlem
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The fan on mine is 19dBa and I really can't even tell it is running. With the other ambient sounds of the tank, you need to get close to hear the fan.

 

At 47CFM, with two fans, you are right around 210W. If you can get to around 55CFM, you should be good. That's around 270W. Keep in mind, these are rough calcs.

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a few pics.

 

the three 5.88"x10" heatsinks and 6xpcb for the 3W - 6 strings of 14, along with their drivers, 6 total.

upper left are 3 bags of lenses, 98 pieces. the smaller heatsink is for the smaller version of this build.

IMG_0262.JPG

 

for size comparison. the single 3W is sitting on a dime.

IMG_0261.JPG IMG_0259.JPG

 

Here is the semi completed smaller version. so far only the 10x3W with the lens. I tested it yesterday for about 10-15 minutes, and it's bright... and stayed cool by just sitting on the heatsink, no adhesive yet. i will attach it to the heatsink with the thermal adhesive compound when the rest of the other pieces are ready.

IMG_0263.JPG

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Looking good so far Ha. 100W is going to be very hot on that heat sink make sure you have enough fans to cool it. I think your tank is going to look so bright. Good Luck!

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(edited)

Looking good so far Ha. 100W is going to be very hot on that heat sink make sure you have enough fans to cool it. I think your tank is going to look so bright. Good Luck!

 

thanks chau.the only reason I went with 100W cause you said it pop so much more than the 50W. if it burns, i'm blaming you :rolleyes: jk....

Edited by hlem
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thanks chau.the only reason I went with 100W cause you said it pop so much more than the 50W. if it burns, i'm blaming you :rolleyes: jk....

 

I think you will be amazed how bright 100w will be. I have warned you that it's going to be very hot so can't blame me :). I think 2 fans will solve the problem.

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I think you will be amazed how bright 100w will be. I have warned you that it's going to be very hot so can't blame me :). I think 2 fans will solve the problem.

 

sounds like a plan. i'll double it then.

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(edited)

Completed putting all the 3W together onto their PCB and tested!

IMG_0265.JPG

IMG_0266.JPG

 

Lens on

 

IMG_0267.JPG

IMG_0268.JPG

 

POWER UP!!!

IMG_0264.JPG

 

Tested all the strings and all their drivers. Everything worked.

 

Left it on for about 5 minutes, and it was definitely hot to the touch, but not burning hot. But I have not attached it to the heatsink, was just standalone heat with just the PCB.

Edited by hlem
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