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Water cooled LED fixture


paul b

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Alan, I have made some stills, but don't tell anyone. I would rather make wine.

I just came back from the surgeon who took out the stitches in my palm and knee but he said I was over doing it and need to rest more because the knee is swelling up. I won't be able to get to the Bronx for the acrylic so I won't be able to install this for a few days. It is completed as much as I can but more work is needed when I put it over the tank because I need to make more counterweights to lift the cooling system as it is all connected. The radiator and fans will hang off the back of the tank and will be connected to the LED frame with solid PVC pipe so that part will rise and fall with the fixture on a counter weight system as my lights are on now. I need to build that in place and custom build the weight. I also need to get 2 PVC unions so it is easy to remove this thing from the tank if I need to without unscrewing everything. If this all works well as I think it will, I may build another more compact model where everything will fit into a self contained enclosure above the tank. Just for fun of course because I have an idea.

This is the heat exchanger under construction

2015-02-21%2022.33.58_zps2mzsmpdk.jpg

 

Corking some wine.

Coralwars025.jpg

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Paul, I hadn't checked up on this thread for a couple of weeks but wanted to make a comment.  

 

Not only is this a cool light, but I think it could be very useful if applied to an algae reactor type of system.  Lighting a reactor or a reef from under the water would be a real step forward for the hobby, and dissipating LED heat without condensation could have some really great applications.

 

So keep up your creativity, it is very inspirational.  And it looks like lots of fun.

 

And let us know when your book is ready for the public.

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Dave. I am not sure what you mean by lighting the reef from under water but that is something that is very easy to do. The problem to be solved is keeping algae off the lights.

I also think this could have other applications and I am thinking about them. Today I went to Home Depot and to my surprise they had a 6'X4' piece of plexiglass just like I need for the splash guard on my fixture. It was $60.00 which I thought was to much as I only need a piece a foot wide. Then I found a broken piece where both ends were broken off and there was no plastic on it so it had scratches. I brought it up to the cashier and they said they would give me 10% off. I said, are you kidding? This is like 2/3rds of a piece of plexiglass and it is all scratched and all you can do with it is throw it out. So I brought it to the service desk and they gave it to me for 50% off. I am in the process of cutting it to size and polishing the scratches out. I am hoping that Monday I can install this if all goes well.

By the way, the book has been out for over a month here. http://www.saltwatersmarts.com/avant-garde-marine-aquarist/If this link is not allowed, delete it and shoot me.

Edited by paul b
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A friend gave me fifty lenses for my new water cooled LED fixture. They made a big difference and now I don't go blind when I open the front of the tank. They also cut down on the scattered light that was going all over the place as I hate to see the back of the tank. I still need about 20 more lenses and I did drop some in the water, they don't float and I can't find them. I will eventually.

The lenses didn't push on like they are supposed to because I didn't wire them the way they were meant to be wired. They came off a printed circuit board and I have wires soldered to them that does not allow the lens to fit. I solved the problem by cutting off the sides of the lens to make room for the wires. That allowed the lens to fit but they were very loose so I had to epoxy them to the LEDs which was easy.

Here is the cut lenses along with one that is not cut.

2015-03-02%2003.53.26_zpshdiliyt9.jpg

 

The lenses once again let the back of the tank go dark as I like it. I still need more lenses but all of the front and rear LEDs have lenses on them

 

2015-03-02%2004.53.27_zpsehs8fza9.jpg

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A friend gave me fifty lenses for my new water cooled LED fixture. They made a big difference and now I don't go blind when I open the front of the tank. They also cut down on the scattered light that was going all over the place as I hate to see the back of the tank. I still need about 20 more lenses and I did drop some in the water, they don't float and I can't find them. I will eventually.

The lenses didn't push on like they are supposed to because I didn't wire them the way they were meant to be wired. They came off a printed circuit board and I have wires soldered to them that does not allow the lens to fit. I solved the problem by cutting off the sides of the lens to make room for the wires. That allowed the lens to fit but they were very loose so I had to epoxy them to the LEDs which was easy.

Here is the cut lenses along with one that is not cut.

2015-03-02%2003.53.26_zpshdiliyt9.jpg

 

The lenses once again let the back of the tank go dark as I like it. I still need more lenses but all of the front and rear LEDs have lenses on them

 

2015-03-02%2004.53.27_zpsehs8fza9.jpg

I just crawled out of the rock I must have been living under and found this thread. Excellent job. That full tank shot is impressive.

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Thanks. That is not quite a FTS. The camera left off a foot on each end. My tank is long and low like this

Merge2015_zpsd2f600cf.jpg

Edited by paul b
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Too late as I now have half the lenses on and will get the rest tomorrow. But the photo above is my old lights with lenses. It is hard to take that picture of my tank because the tank is so long and low. That picture is 4 pictures that my camera stitches together.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I started Building the heat exchanger for my water cooled algae scrubber LED light. Of course I could have bought one for half the price, but anyone could do that.

2015-03-23%2004.41.43_zpsfjjtjobk.jpg

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(edited)

I won't. That "Use That" printed on my ruler is for another project that I build all the time, and I forget the dimensions.

It is actually for building these things.

 

2014-04-09130006_zpsc02053d8.jpg

 

feeders001.jpg

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I realize it is hard to tell what this thing is, but it is my water cooled LED fixture for my algae scrubber. The red LEDs will be mounted on the back side on copper disks and the thing will transfer heat passively to the fan operated radiator through convection. It is in this shape because I only have 2" of space in front of the scrubber so the radiator needed to be mounted off to one side and slightly above in order for the heated water to rise to the heat exchanger. After I get it wired and installed I will take another picture which hopefully will clarify how it works. (If it works)

Water%20cooled%20algae%20scrubber_zpsbvu

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Having seen your ideas come to life on these posts, I have no doubt that it will work.  

 

Interesting microscope on your table.   There was a guy named Leeuwenhoak (or something like that) who, I think, used a similar model of microscope to examine stuff from his pond in Holland.  He worked so much that he managed to find and describe most every small thing that existed.   Your microscope looks like it dates from around the same time frame.

 

I think that was some time during the 1700's.  

 

That's a joke!  Amazing that your microscope appears so old and well cared for.

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That is my antique Baush&Loumb microscope and it is from the early 1900s. It is very sharp. Here is a new born brine shrimp.

 

Lovely brine shrimp, but are you sure it's really newborn? I think it's already depleted its yolk sac.  :tongue:

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What do you know? It works! I am running a test now to see if it gets hot.

If it works and stays cool for an hour, I will make the splash shield and install it.

2015-03-31%2006.18.40_zpsr759bsoo.jpg

 

 

 

While I was waiting for this to warm up, I made some stuffed calamari that will knock your socks off. They are in season now and are all over the place.

 

Stufed%20Calamari_zpsnr3fbivk.jpg

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I installed the water cooled light for the scrubber.

 

I am not sure if I will keep it on as I want to see if any salt water splashes on it. Of course it is copper so that wouldn't be a good thing and I may add another acrylic panel on the back of it.

2015-04-02%2003.05.41_zpsbghoat4o.jpg

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  • 11 months later...

I am happy to report the water cooled LED fixture has worked "almost" flawlessly. I did have to replace two (I think) LEDs but I did get them from an old fixture and I don't know how old it was but I know many of the LEDs on it didn't work. I still have a bunch of them left over and they are not to difficult to change.

 

I have also been building other Steampunk stuff since then as I am in Steampunk Mode lately. I love anything metal, especially copper or brass. This first light is PVC and painted to look like aged brass. The second one was a red fire extinguisher. In both lamps the valve turns them on and the first one has bubbles generated in the water.

 

 

 

 

Steampunk%20Lamp_zpsaq7sniul.jpg

 

 

 

 

Steampunk%202_zpsbcr18ixi.jpg

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