DIY LED

[reeffreak]

I'm debating on gutting my Tek 6 bulb light and doing a DIY LED inside it, but have no clue where to start with the LED, could anyone suggest a site with kits and some ideas on how to do this lol

 

[Poseidon]

Is this for the cube or?

 

[reeffreak]

Frag tank, decided to keep it

 

[Neopimp]

Ledgroupbuy I think had some tutorials or links to builds.

Gut the fixture and fit some fans and heat sink material inside is a good place to start


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[Salty Cracker]

Mine are all from RapidLED.

 

[xxmurrxx]

Dealt with rapid led two times pretty happy with both builds.

The black heatsinks don't look bad either you could probably just sell the tek and hand the heatsinks.

 

[KBennett]

I got mine from StevesLEDs...  No complaints.

 

[MrHermit85]

Aquastyle online here, been running for nearly a year with no problems. I have rapidled heatsinks too.

 

[AdamS]

I really have no idea what you would jam LEDs in a T5 fixture, it doesnt make sense. Sell the T5 and use the money to either make or buy a good LED fixture.

Are you looking to make the fixture dimmable? If yes, what would control the dimming?

Also, figure out how many LEDs you need/want, then buy extra and run them at less mA. If the leds are rated at 1A, they are more efficient and last much longer if you run them at about 70% of max.

 

[TORX]

It would be a sharp looking fixture if you could get a slim heatsink installed in it.

I recommend aquastyleonline dimmable kits for the price. You do have to decide first on how you are going to dim, either Apex, manual or other. Once you know that, start pricing around. I prefer the RapidLED solderless kits with a pre drilled/tapped heatsink because it makes it almost too easy. And of coarse the Meanwell ELN-60-48D drivers because I would dim with the Apex.

 

[AdamS]

It would be a sharp looking fixture if you could get a slim heatsink installed in it.

I agree, but if your T5 fixture is that nice, why not sell it, and buy a completed fixture from rapid? Cooling is the biggest worry for LED's, so putting it in a T5 fixture doesn't seem like that best option, IMO.  But to each their own.

I personally use Rapid LED stuff, heat sinks with Cree LEDS, LDD Drivers connected to a 48V power supply controlled by an arduino. I can prolly get some pics up if anyone is interested.

 

[Marz]

Not to hijack, but I would certainly be interested.

 

[reeffreak]

[quote author=Torx link=topic=8480.msg91059#msg91059 date=1398039595]
It would be a sharp looking fixture if you could get a slim heatsink installed in it.

I agree, but if your T5 fixture is that nice, why not sell it, and buy a completed fixture from rapid? Cooling is the biggest worry for LED's, so putting it in a T5 fixture doesn't seem like that best option, IMO.  But to each their own.

I personally use Rapid LED stuff, heat sinks with Cree LEDS, LDD Drivers connected to a 48V power supply controlled by an arduino. I can prolly get some pics up if anyone is interested.
[/quote]

The T5 fixture isn't nice at all..... I wouldn't  rip apart a perfectly working t5 light. The ballast are shot, for the prices I've been seeing on LED kits I'm probably just going to replace the ballast, can't justify spending 400$+ on LED kit compared to just replacing the ballast

 

[TORX]

[quote author=AdamS link=topic=8480.msg91074#msg91074 date=1398049210]
[quote author=Torx link=topic=8480.msg91059#msg91059 date=1398039595]
It would be a sharp looking fixture if you could get a slim heatsink installed in it.

I agree, but if your T5 fixture is that nice, why not sell it, and buy a completed fixture from rapid? Cooling is the biggest worry for LED's, so putting it in a T5 fixture doesn't seem like that best option, IMO.  But to each their own.

I personally use Rapid LED stuff, heat sinks with Cree LEDS, LDD Drivers connected to a 48V power supply controlled by an arduino. I can prolly get some pics up if anyone is interested.
[/quote]

The T5 fixture isn't nice at all..... I wouldn't  rip apart a perfectly working t5 light. The ballast are shot, for the prices I've been seeing on LED kits I'm probably just going to replace the ballast, can't justify spending 400$+ on LED kit compared to just replacing the ballast
[/quote]

Ah gotcha.  although you are looking at $400 for led, your hydro and bulb replacement plus the new balasts... would pay for itself in a year and last 7-10 years most likely without buying anything.

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[AdamS]

Ah gotcha.  although you are looking at $400 for led, your hydro and bulb replacement plus the new balasts... would pay for itself in a year and last 7-10 years most likely without buying anything.

Very true...this is exactly why I went LED. This also makes me happy to know that you were not planning on destroying a perfectly good T5 fixture.

Although I have had 0 success with any SPS as of yet, and am doing everything else right according to a number of ppl (Salty Cracker and Reef Hero, specifically). I have recently (2 weeks ago) adjusted my lights so that I have mostly all royal blue and UV, some cool white and some warm white through the day but not a lot, and the results so far look good. 

Most of anything that I have read lately about people having success with LED and SPS indicates that they have lots and lots of royal blue and very little white.