# My homemade Aquasky with par data



## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

Tried to mimic the Aquasky design as close as possible as I like the look. No dimming just on and off. Tried to get as close as possible to the 602 when it came to output.

Bridgelux EB Gen 2 strips x2 5700K 80CRI
Meanwell APC-35-700 driver/power supply (supplies a fixed 700ma to strips)

These strips are designed to not require a heatsink. I tested them by leaving the light on for an hour and acrylic was barely warm. Don't mind the dirty tank and light. Have to clean it up and polish the acrylic on the light a bit.

Nice and sleek with crisp white light.





2 strips




Driver/power supply with quick disconnects




And the best part, the PAR data. Another fantastic thing about these EB strips is that their lumens per watt output is out of this world. The PAR data you are about to see is from a light that is only using ~27 Watts. That is less than half the 60W of an Aquasky 602.

Tank is a little taller than a standard 60P at 15.75 inches. The light itself is 5 inches tall. Distance from led diodes to bottom of tank is 20.25 inches. The middle readings are actually 9 inches above the bottom of tank so a little bit higher than mid.

bottom center




bottom front




bottom rear




bottom front corner




bottom rear corner




middle center front




middle center




middle front corner




As you can see the amount of PAR this thing puts out based on the wattage draw is outstanding. The light distribution is also dead even at the bottom. This tank is going to be an iwagumi with the carpet TBD.


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## rebel (14 Mar 2018)

Such clean design!! Love it. 

1. Did you use a CNC to cut the acrylic?
2. I thought 5700k should be slightly warm rather than crisp white?


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## Danny (14 Mar 2018)

Sounds great but I can't see the pictures...


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## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

rebel said:


> Such clean design!! Love it.
> 
> 1. Did you use a CNC to cut the acrylic?
> 2. I thought 5700k should be slightly warm rather than crisp white?



I cut the acrylic by hand using table saw and routed the channels for the strips as well using a router table. My father-in-law has a huge woodshop so I have all kinds of tools at my disposal. As for 5700K being too warm I've found it varies by light. Light is definitely not as white/blue as the ADA as those are 8000K but I prefer it closer to 6000-6500K.



Danny said:


> Sounds great but I can't see the pictures...



That's weird rebel can see them. I changed a setting at imgur but doubt it will change anything.


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## alto (14 Mar 2018)

Well done

Have you measured PAR through just air or water as well?

Pictures loaded fine for me


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## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

alto said:


> Well done
> 
> Have you measured PAR through just air or water as well?
> 
> Pictures loaded fine for me



Just air as I just built the light. I am cleaning the tank up this weekend and setting up the stand. I will take some water measurements when I clean it up. Although the PAR should go up some underwater.


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## zozo (14 Mar 2018)

Nice! But 1 question? How did you mount the strips to the acrylic? I also made a few desings in the same material 10mm cast acrylic. 1 standing as yours and 1 hanging..

The thing is on the long term.. Note: Acrylic plastifies at a rather low temperatur, i believe it's about 110°C cast temp. I experienced that a constant 45°C that's about half the temp still makes the acrylic relatively softer than it already is. Than gravity will take it's toll and it might start to bend down in the centre.

For example i mounted the strips bolted with aluminium led strip profiles to the acrylic. The led  strip is in the absolutely ridgid profile.. But i actualy miscalculated to screw position. After a half a year getting warm i saw the acrylic bend.

Actualy in your case if the strips are flexible and directly mounted to the acrylic than you can expect this to happen over time.





Than it's beter to place the led strip into a ridgid alu profile and glue this profile in it's intire legnth to the acrylic plate. The aluminium will not bend and prevent the warm acrylic to do so. If you screw the profile to the acrylic than put the outside screws as far outside as possible and one in the middle. I did put the scres 10cm from either side and the acrylic started to bend left end right from the screw. Only a milimeter but it did bend. The strip and profile never got any warmer than 42°C.


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## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

zozo said:


> Nice! But 1 question? How did you mount the strips to the acrylic? I also made a few desings in the same material 10mm cast acrylic. 1 standing as yours and 1 hanging..
> 
> The thing is on the long term.. Note: Acrylic plastifies at a rather low temperatur, i believe it's about 110°C cast temp. I experienced that a constant 45°C that's about half the temp still makes the acrylic relatively softer than it already is. Than gravity will take it's toll and it might start to bend down in the centre.
> 
> ...



I can take a temp reading on the strip itself after running for a couple of hours and see. The Aquasky 361 on my daughter's tank has a heatsink that gets pretty hot during the day and I don't see the acrylic bending. I will let you know how it fares long term.


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## zozo (14 Mar 2018)

gus6464 said:


> pretty hot during the day and I don't see the acrylic bending.



Than it likely is mounted correctly with something rigid.  Could be the PCB.

Here you see what i mean and where i did the construction mistake. And it only shows after about a year of beeing operational.
But this is the hanging one, i made a same one standing as yours, but didn't use it long enough that one is still straight. 

Acryic base and the leds are in the ridgid alu profiles.




Here is the constructional mistake detail.

Right hand side the arrow points to the screw used to bold the profile to the acrylic. Horizontal arrow points the distance the screw is towards the centre of gravity and to the support point, in this case the cable set. At the left hand arrow you clearly see what gravity did after a year warming up and cooling down. Do you see the bend and the gap? The mistake was, not placing a screw at the end where the left arrow points.




The standing fixture has the same flaw, but ii used it only a few months and is still ok, but i bet after a year it will show the same.

And as said this didn't get warmer than +/- 42°C. 

If your led strip is a flexible PCB and glued directly to the acrylic, it probably going to do the same after beeing warm enough for long enough.


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## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

zozo said:


> Than it likely is mounted correctly with something rigid.  Could be the PCB.
> 
> Here you see what i mean and where i did the construction mistake. And it only shows after about a year of beeing operational.
> But this is the hanging one, i made a same one standing as yours, but didn't use it long enough that one is still straight.
> ...



I didn't glue it. It's just attached with 3 screws and nuts with plastic washers in between the screw and nut. 2 screws are at the very ends of the strips and one in middle. This is a pic of what the strips look like up close. This is the Gen 1 and Gen 2 is what's on the light now but the housing strip is the same and Gen 2 just has more diodes.








And then a side by comparison of Gen 1 and Gen 2. I routed channels in the top acrylic to seat the strips.


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## zozo (14 Mar 2018)

That should do it..  Couldn't see on the pictures..


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## gus6464 (14 Mar 2018)

Temp after 2 hours.

First is directly on the strip itself.
108.2f so 42.7c

And the acrylic right above the strip.
91.4f so 33c

I think because then strips aren't glued on and just lightly bolted they are not passing much heat to the acrylic. I guess time will tell after running the thing 7 hours a day for a year.





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## mow said (14 Mar 2018)

If the acrylic does bend over time just use a heat gun or a blow dryer and straighten it again job done. Btw good job and I'm sure you can control this light with a cheap tc420.


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## niknaksky (20 Mar 2018)

Looks really good where did you buy the bits from?


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## Barbara Turner (24 Mar 2018)

Good job, Looks really good, 
My LED's  runs alot hotter than that but I went down the smd route. 

how did you measure PAR values?


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## gus6464 (24 Mar 2018)

niknaksky said:


> Looks really good where did you buy the bits from?


I got the acrylic from a local shop that sells their scrap for cheap. The LED strips and the power supply I got from arrow.





Barbara Turner said:


> Good job, Looks really good,
> My LED's  runs alot hotter than that but I went down the smd route.
> 
> how did you measure PAR values?


I used a seneye to measure par.

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## gus6464 (27 Mar 2018)

Tank is filled. Happy with the color of the diodes.




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