55 gallon DIY LED display build (from groupbuyled.com)

[joelespinoza]

My heatsink for my 55 gallon DIY LED project came in today, its probably going to be a bit before the rest of my stuff comes in but I figured I would start the thread. Here is what I ordered from groupbuyled.com (who by the way are AMAZINGLY helpful):


2 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive 5g
◦ 1 x OEM Digital Multimeter DT-830B
◦ 3 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA
◦ 7 x CREE XT-E Royal Blue XP-G Neutral White 3 UP
(Color: 2x XTE Royal 1x XPG Neutral, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)(This product is available for pre-order only)
◦ 7 x 3UP - XT-E XP-G Optic- 2 pack - 40 Degrees
◦ 3 x 10K Ohm 1/2 watt Linear Taper Potentiometer Easy Solder
◦ 1 x Solid Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet - White
◦ 1 x Stranded Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet - Black
◦ 2 x Solder Tube 10g (63/37)

$404.20 shipped.

10.000" Wide x 46" Long Heatsink

Heatsinkusa.com:

10.000" x 46" Fin Height: 1" Base Height: .300" Weight ~23lbs (because overkill is underrated):

$170.10 shipped.

[kerry]

Nice heat sink!!!

[joelespinoza]

It took a while to get everything in, some stuff was backordered and I changed the order a bit, I added violet/red/turquoise LEDs for extra color, but these could be considered optional. Here was what I got total (I subtracted prices for stuff that was optional):

6 x CREE XT-E Royal Blue XP-G Neutral White 3 UP - $162.00
(Color: 2x XTE Royal 1x XPG Neutral, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

6 x 3UP - XT-E XP-G Optic- 2 pack - 40 Degrees - $31.50

2 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive 5g - $13.98 (only needed 1 -$6.99)

1 x OEM Digital Multimeter DT-830B - $8.88 (could have left this off -$8.88)

5 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA - $185.00 (if you leave off the violet/red/turquoise LEDs only need 3 - $74.00)

1 x True Violet LED - 420nm - $27.00 (optional - $27.00)
(Quantity in Package: 6 Pack, Optic Degrees: 60°)

3 x Deep Red - 660nm - $11.94 (optional - $11.94)
(Optic Angle: 60°, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

3 x Turquoise - 495nm - $15.00 (optional - $15.00)
(Optic Angle: 60°, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

4 x 10K Ohm 1/2 watt Linear Taper Potentiometer Easy Solder - $12.00 (If you leave off the violet/red/turquoise LEDs you only need 1 for white LEDs IMO -$9.00)

1 x Solid Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet - White - $5.75

1 x Stranded Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet - Black- $5.75

2 x Solder Tube 10g (63/37) - $8.50 (One is plenty -$4.25)


Subtotal:
$487.30

Insurance for shipping:
$14.13

Grand Total:
$501.43 (what I paid)
$344.37 (what it would cost to just have Royal blue and Neutral white LEDs)

[joelespinoza]

The stuff from groupbuyled.com:


The LEDs glued on to the heatsink (groups of 3 are violet/red/turquoise):


All the LEDs tinned and the first string of Royal Blues wired and tested (all I had time for tonight before it got dark):


More to come tomorrow.

[joelespinoza]

LEDs Wired:


Blues and Violets on:


Neutral Whites, Greens, Reds on:


All on:

[joelespinoza]

Not quite done yet, but getting close.

Old lights (with some daylight):


New Lights white on full (No daylight):


New Lights white on lowest (No daylight):


I am going to get 2 more 3up LEDs and optics for the middle, and I am also going to get 6 more Royal blues. I can easily add all those with existing drivers.

[Ace25]

Looking good!!! That is one BEAST of a heatsink! You are never going to have to worry about heat with that big boy, and certainly won't be needing any fans with it.

Did you just setup the tank? Why is it so cloudy?

[joelespinoza]

Looking good!!! That is one BEAST of a heatsink! You are never going to have to worry about heat with that big boy, and certainly won't be needing any fans with it.

Did you just setup the tank? Why is it so cloudy?

Yea, the heatsink weighs almost 25 lbs by itself, so its passivie cooling ability is pretty great. I also have a big ceiling fan thats always on in that room and the house is always kept around 72 degrees so I dont see it ever being a problem. After being on 12 hours the heatsink right next to the LEDs is not even body temp and just a couple inches away frm the LEDs the heatsink is room temp, it doesnt feel warm at all.

Its always cloudy. I feed blended oysters (and other frozen food mixed in) and it makes the tank very cloudy. I wrote about it in the post SM has about $5 oyster feast, but there really isnt a resolution. Basically I just dont have enough filter feeders to feed what I am feeding. I should go get some prawn roe and feed my fish that, but I have been to lazy to go get it. I am going to go buy all of a friends livestock today, so hopefully he has some corals that will like it.

[Ace25]

Not sure if you found this out by now, just thought I would mention it for others though. Hot glue does not hold down the wires on a heatsink for most people. I know, it was the first thing I tried as well thinking it was the ideal solution. Problem ends up being the heating and cooling of the heatsink makes the hot glue just pop off the heatsink in about a weeks time. Maybe you will get lucky since your heatsink is so large you won't have the heating/cooling issue I am speaking of, but for most of us "normal" people who don't buy the biggest heatsink possible using hot glue doesn't work well (which buying a giant heatsink is good thing and I think it looks nice on your tank, very slim without fans, just most people aren't willing to spend that kind of $ on a hunk of metal, LOL).

[joelespinoza]

It probably depends what kind of hotmelt glue you use, and how hot the heatsink gets. That being said I did not use the high temp nice hotmelt glue, its just the cheap craft stuff from Wallyworld. So yea, hopefully it will stay on, if not its not a huge deal. Most of the wires are tight enough that they will be ok by themselves if the hotmelt glue pops off, The few that I left lots of slack in are going to additional LEDs (already ordered), and there will be a bit of reorganization once they come in. The first string I wired I didnt think about skipping every other LED and bringing the chain back, so I have 1 4 foot wire that will probably just get glued to the plastic cover when it is made, unless I get a wild hair up my ass to resolder all those LEDs, which I might.

On the heatsink front, my thinking is that massive heatsink cost $170 shipped. When you factor in the cost of fans ($13 each for 120mm fan+silencer, so at least $26), The cost of the powersupply for fans ($10), the fan controller ($10) the cost of electricity for a decade(4 watts/fan, 12 hours/day for a decade at $0.12 per kW/hr ~ $42, and the cost of a smaller heatsink ($88.69 for a 5.886" x 46" Heatsink), I could have paid about $177. So over the course of the fixtures life I would have paid at least $7 dollars more (assuming 2 fans was enough and the fans and powersupply never had to be replaced in 10 years) for the inconvience of increased cleaning schedule (from fans pushing in dust), and the increased noise level of any and all fans. To me buying a larger heatsink seems like a bargain.