DIY LED Light Fixture

[Funkmotor]

Well, I'm probably not the first person on the planet to do this, but I've just spent some time figuring out exactly what sort of LED's are in the amazing(ly expensive) Solaris lights.

Turns out they're using Luxeon K2 emitters, which at 135 lumens for 1000mA is easily more than 80 lumens per watt, which is what they advertise.

They use three types of these LED's - White (6,500K), Blue (470nm) and Royal Blue (455nm).  The Solaris ratio of White/Blue/Royal is 12/9/4.

I've priced out 3 White, 2 Blue and 1 Royal as well as the dimmable LED drivers and the lenses.  Except for the driver, I'm sure the LED's and lenses are the same thing.  3/2/1 gets me close to the same spectrum as the Solaris...just a bit more blue.

This will cost me roughly $200 to get to my door, and then I'll need to mount them to an aluminum strip, wire them all together, connect the drivers to power and some sort of microcontroller (which can handle the dimming and timing and all that), and then find some sort of enclosure for it.

The 6 LED's would put out roughly 411 lumens of light...about the same as a 12W Compact Fluorescent bulb. 

If we extend those ratings to the 25 LED arrays that the Solaris uses, they should be producing about 1665 lumens, or about a 30W CF.  They put two of those arrays over a 2 foot tank so that would be good for 3330 lumens, or about 100W of Compact Fluoro.  That's bright.   

To me, that makes sense to their marketing claims of the lights producing more PAR than visible light...meaning the tank isn't so bright but the things in there that are photosynthesizing are still going about their business.

To build a 25 LED array would cost about $150 more in electronics and more in soft costs, and this would essentially be a dry run for that.  I would probably cannibalize this one. 

The question is, should I do it?  And if I do, does anyone want to know about it? 

[Julie]

Current USA just came out with an LED light too.
Sounds very interesting and would like to see the results.

[SuperT]

I would like to see your results as well.  I've read about this close to a year ago before deciding on my t5s.  I guess what turned me away was cheap LEDs (on the market at the time) burning out too quickly and how to wire them so any defective/burned out ones could be replaced easily.  I think I still have a few bookmarks with attempts made by others if your interested I can send them to you.

Terry

[babblefish1960]

I would probably cannibalize this one. 

The question is, should I do it?  And if I do, does anyone want to know about it? 

By all means, rip it apart and build something else, that is how all this equipment came into being in the first place, because hobbyists with other interests figured out how to adapt or invent other things that we all take for granted now.

Take lots of pictures and document everything you do, it could well become a how-to article.  Make sure someone gets a picture of you plugging it in, then the rest of us will know if the directions are good or not.

[Nirodim]

Definitely interested, was thinking about doing the same.  Let me know how it goes for you

[Funkmotor]

Well, I've determined the LED parts I need.  I'm going to get everything from either luxeonstar.com or ledsupply.com.  Not sure which way I'll go, as luxeonstar has everything I want but the prices are a tad higher.  I have to wait to have the ca$h for this, so it's a built-in delay for thought.

LEDs:

3x	LXK2-PW14-V00	Luxeon K2 6500K White
2x	LXK2-PB14-N00	Luxeon K2 470nm Blue
1x	LXK2-PR14-Q00	Luxeon K2 455nm Blue

There is also the option of the LXHL-PRD5 "Dental Blue" LED at 460nm which would be more exact on wavelength, but those are $56 each and that's just a bit much for this experiment.

Lens Bits:

6x	FHS-HWB1-LLK2-H	Fraen wide beam lens w/holder
2x	FTS-SK2	Ring spacer for K2 lenses

I am positive these are the same lenses and holders used by the Solaris.  And I suppose that notwithstanding, they do look like very good lenses.  They are built such that the LED itself is almost enclosed beneath the lens, making it an easy job to then completely seal the LED in there to protect it from splashes.  Looks like I'll be shopping for some Lexan and the right-sized hole saw...

Driving Bits:

3x	3021-A-I-1000	Buckpuck 1000mA AC/DC Dimmable LED Driver
3x	3021HEP	Wiring harness for Buckpuck w/built-in adjustment pot

I'll also need some sort of power supply, but I hope to scavenge that from somewhere.

The harnesses are just for the initial wiring and testing phase, and though all the selected LED's can take up to 1500mA they achieve almost maximum output on only 1000.  And a lot less heat.

I could have gone with the Xitanium 120V 25W 1050mA Dimming Driver which takes direct house current and also accepts a 0-10V input for dimming, which would fit very, very well indeed with my desired GHL-Profilux setup.  But, regardless of the 10 week delivery wait, these are $90 each and I would need at least two of them.  Just a bit too much for my blood.

That means that I will have to figure out how to take the 1-10V from the Profilux and turn that into TTL or resistive control for the Buckpuck driver.  So there will need to be some sort of microcontroller in there unless I can find an easier way around it...like a digital potentiometer or transducer.

Maybe I'll get the Xitanium's anyway and have it done with.  Whatever else I build/buy will surely cost money.

I will also be needing aluminum to mount this all onto, as well as fans and heatsinks to wick heat away.  I was thinking that with just 6 LED's the heat produced wouldn't be that great...and Radio Scrap will certainly have general-purpose heatsinks perfect for this.

After that there's the enclosure.  Off to look at aluminum extrusions...

[Alchemist]

Check out the website dealXtreme for high power LED's, they have great prices usually...

http://www.dealextreme.com/

True Cree Q5 bin emitter (guaranteed by DX)
- Cree Flux/Color BIN: Q5 WG
- 3.7V typical driving voltage
- Manufacturer Rated 228 Lumens at 1000mA input current:
350mA: 107~114lm
700mA: 171.2~182.4lm
1000mA: 214 ~ 228lm

Thats a lot of lumens per LED but I can't see the colour temp for these,....anyway have a look, these things are $10 per unit.