# Supercoley's DIY LED Luminaire Mk III



## GreenNeedle

This is a little belated but I thought I would add it 

The MkII version was still working well after 3 and a half years. It hasn't been ditched. All the electrics and LEDs have been re-used in my emersed cupboards meaning that now all 11 of my aquariums are lit by LED.

Originally I was looking for a slimline unit and planning on either using MDF (painted white) or using some steel sheet that I have left over from another project. First I found the TMC modular mounting with the tiles and thought something similar but then.........I stumbled upon the 'Vitrea Bridge' and instantly fell in love with it.






With the Vitrea costing circa £1000+ for my size I decided to try and do something myself whilst using the Vitrea's design to house my electrics. Mine will have much less LEDs and wiring is a lot cruder. I will be using 3 seperate plugs each going to a driver that runs 6 x 3W. A total of 18 x 3W LEDs. Of course mine won't have the controller or anything techincal either.

Rather than a glass sheet I will be using acrylic.

So with the design decided upon I drew up a plan of where I want the LEDs over the tank and then came to the measurements of the acrylic piece I will be needing.





The Opti-white is 80cm x 40cm and the acrylic are for the lighting is 60cm x 28cm. Adding 3 cm to each end to fit in the 'brackets' I ordered a 12mm thick piece of acrylic with the dimensions 66cm x 28cm.

When the acrylic sheet arrived I set to work on it, drawing out the LED positions and then routing some 21mm holes for the lense holders to fit in.












The holes now routed ready for the lense holders I started to polish the edges of the sheet as well as the holes that I just routed.

The pictures below show how the sheet looked from P240 right through to P1200 and then using some car scratch remover. You can clearly see my keyfob through 28cm of acrylic. Even through the full length of 66cm you can see through it although very distoted.

Also all the lense holes are now looking great through the edge of the acrylic sheet.



































With all the electrics now wired up and tested (sorry no photos of it working) It was time to line up the heatsinks. Because the LED stars have to line up perfectly with the lense holders I am using a thermal adhesive on the rear of each star and then pushing the heatsink down onto the stars whilst they are in position.

You can see just how slimline this unit is. The MDF above and below is 18mm. There is a 2mm or so gap between the heatsink and the acrylic which means you do see some of the 'ugly insides'. I will be adding a piece of aluminium strip attached to the front heatsink to hide this gap. This strip will be the depth of the heatsink + 2mm to hide the gao. It will look like it is part of the heatsink.








The heatsinks are now stuck to the back of the stars and looking good. The aluminium strip is not added yet. This unit looks really slick already and you can see how so with it on top of my fruitbowl.

I now set about designing my brackets. These will be made in 3 sections:

The first and second will be a sandwich of 3 x 12mm pieces which are 28mm wide, the same width as the the acrylic sheet.

The first of these sandwiches has the centre piece 3cm set back from the top and bottom pieces and will take 3cm of the end of the acrylic sheet.

The second of these sandwiches has the centre piece 2cm set back from the top and bottom pieces and will slip over the rim of the aquarium.

The third piece is the curved 'arm' that sits at the front rear and centre between each sandwich.






 


 


 

The 3 sections are now cut and they are tested structurally. By that I mean that they are merely placed into position with no glue at all. The sandwich placed on the rim. The angles placed on the bottom sandwich and then the acrylic sheet with the upper sandwich is rested on top.

It stands up perfectly merely from the downward pressure of the acrylic sheet and it's electrical content. So the pieces are glued together and the whole unit is left to set in position. This will also make sure that there is no warping. It would be very annoying if when set this unit wobbled. I would rather have to work on the brackets afterward if they don't line up perfectly in terms of my planning. The most important thing is that the sandwiches are in the correct places..






 


 


 


 


 unit is left to set in position. This will also make sure that there is no warping. It would be very annoying if when set this unit wobbled. I would rather have to work on the 

I've now started on shaping the brackets. A lot of sanding involved. Once I have the smooth curves sorted I will be adding wood filler into the corners where the angle meets the sandwich so that I can get it to flow from each section into another.












 

IT IS NOW SEPTEMBER 2012

I decided to fit the unfinished brackets to the unit just to see how it looks.

It's pretty much finished in terms of the actual unit however the brackets still need a little filling work and painting plus the 'power cord' is not seated into the bracket yet. On the right hand bracket the cord feeds into the right hand bracket on top of the acrylic and then comes out of the back of the bracket. In these pictures you can see the 'power cord' trailing over the front of the light unit.

Also the aluminium strip on the front heatsink hasn't been added yet so you can see the 2mm gap between heatsink and acrylic. I think it looks cool so far.

So nearly there bar the cosmetics 











Over 2 years since this LED unit was finished it is now finally in action. I should add that during the year I altered the wiring in the unit.

Originally I had wired it to work as 3 seperate sets of 6 LEDs from left to right. That meant I could turn the left 6 on, then the centre 6, then the right 6 and create a sunrise and sunset effect.

However I decided to do away with that idea and go for a bit more flexibility with what I can use the light for. I wanted to be able to use more or less light over the tank if I wanted and for that I need the lights to be in linear banks across the length of the tank rather than only having the flexibility of having one side turned on with the rest of the tank in the dark.

So now the central row of lights are on 1 driver and the front and back rows are on a seperate driver. This means I can use low light by just using the central bank of LEDs or medium to high light by using just the front and back with the central light turned off or I can use super high light by using all 3 rows.

The luminaire is now in action over my 140 litre aquarium which is in it's initial 4 weeks DSM stage. I am using all 3 anks of LEDs and will probably continue with all 3 when I flood the aquarium as this will be a hi tec setup with full CO2 addition.


















Andy


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## Dantrasy

wow, what a build. the finished product looks amazing. thanks for posting.


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## Bhu

A serious craftsman! The finished look is stunning! Well done wish I could be bothered to be so creative and imaginative with such success...


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## Sk3lly

Very impressive thought process and craftsmanship. Top notch!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ian_m

Fantastic.

How have you sealed you MDF against water attack ? I have never achieved long term success sealing MDF from water, you obviously know different.


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## Martin in Holland

This is absolutely amazing. ....I want one


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## Wallace

Wow!

Stunning, simply stunning. 

I have nothing more to add. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GreenNeedle

Dantrasy said:


> wow, what a build. the finished product looks amazing. thanks for posting.





Bhu said:


> A serious craftsman! The finished look is stunning! Well done wish I could be bothered to be so creative and imaginative with such success...





Sk3lly said:


> Very impressive thought process and craftsmanship. Top notch!!





Martin in China said:


> This is absolutely amazing. ....I want one





Wallace said:


> Wow! Stunning, simply stunning.I have nothing more to add.



Thanks for the compliments guys.  Much appreciated.



ian_m said:


> Fantastic. How have you sealed you MDF against water attack ? I have never achieved long term success sealing MDF from water, you obviously know different.



Fingers crossed time   I have pondered that but am hoping that the acrylic paint has done the sealing job.  Its like encasing the wood within plastic.  At the end of the day I think it will be a better bet than some of the pros that use PVA in bathrooms. lol.


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## ian_m

SuperColey1 said:


> use PVA in bathrooms


PVA in bathrooms should never be used by pro's, I know it is. Main issue is it seals things and prevent breathing and adhesion of other products. The pro disaster favourite is to PVA a plaster wall before tiling, which prevents the tile adhesive drying (drying not setting) and prevents the adhesive soaking in and bonding. 99% of tile disasters are related to PVA sealing before tiling....My last house, the plaster walls in bathroom had been PVA'd to allow wallpaper to stick (wallpaper in bathroom ????, what a mould attractor???), and only discovered when the painting the plaster surface and the paint came off. Plaster was removed and replaced and paint then stuck fine.


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## GreenNeedle

When I decided to redo my bathroom, I removed the tiles and the plaster came with it.  I had to fill up all the plaster holes, let the whole bathroom dry out for a couple of weeks and then properly tank all along the shower walls   I've read a lot of PVA disasters when researching that project.  No idea why so many use PVA drop water on it and it turns to mush.


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## Julian

Very nice! How much did it all cost?


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## GreenNeedle

Mmmmm.  Without working it out I think it would be around the £140 region not including cost of electric used or emery paper etc.

Rough guide from memory:
12mm Acrylic sheet was about £35 delivered
LED stars, lenses and lense holders were about £50
wire and shrink tubing were about £10.
The 2 drivers were about £30

all including shipping costs.

MDF was from leftovers I had, then there's wood glue, emery cloth, and probably about 4 cans of acrylic spray paint.

And on top of that probably 30 to 40 hours of labour at minimum wage...................i.e. free


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## Alastair

Beautiful Andy. Stunning light unit and looks the part mate


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## X3NiTH

Superlative DIY!


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## jy_oc_hx

Absolutely stunning.  And a ridiculous cost saving. 
You can flame the edges of the Plexiglas to clear them (much more fun than the sanding option and a damn site quicker). 
It also works for removing some scratches..... if you have any (i couldn't see any in the photos, but accidents do happen).


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## Edvet

Superb job Grats!


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## Richardbunting

jy_oc_hx said:


> Absolutely stunning.  And a ridiculous cost saving.
> You can flame the edges of the Plexiglas to clear them (much more fun than the sanding option and a damn site quicker).
> It also works for removing some scratches..... if you have any (i couldn't see any in the photos, but accidents do happen).



Can you demonstrate this please?


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## jy_oc_hx

Video of Plexiglas flaming.  
I have only done it on 6mm Acrylic with a small gas cat soldering iron (with gas flame attachment).


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## ian_m

However you only do this on visible edges (ie in the light fixture). You do not do it if you are going to glue the edges. Hah just watched the video which repeats the comment about not gluing.

My mate made an acrylic tank years ago, by gluing acrylic sheets and flame polished the exposed edges.


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## jy_oc_hx

Yeah i agree.  But the application in this thread is ideal for it. 
The smooth edge would be no good for adhesion.


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## GreenNeedle

Looking at that video the flame method doesn't look as good as mine.  His edges look like they are rippled slightly.  I don't have a blow torch either


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## Crossocheilus

Hey supercoley great build,
Could you possibly tell us where you bought all of the materials from? 
You've got me thinking about a hung version of this for my 90cm tank...


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## jy_oc_hx

SuperColey1 said:


> Looking at that video the flame method doesn't look as good as mine.  His edges look like they are rippled slightly.  I don't have a blow torch either


If it is the pristine glass like finish you want then doing it your way is the correct choice.  In the past i've even gone down to P3000 W/D to remove the scratches from a protective display cover i made.
It was purely the speed thing that attracted me to the flame method.  That and i like to use the blow torch attachment for my soldering iron wherever i can.


Crossocheilus said:


> Hey supercoley great build,
> Could you possibly tell us where you bought all of the materials from?
> You've got me thinking about a hung version of this for my 90cm tank...


I'll second this.  I have a Rio 180 with standard T5 that i want to replace.


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## GreenNeedle

jy_oc_hx said:


> If it is the pristine glass like finish you want then doing it your way is the correct choice.  In the past i've even gone down to P3000 W/D to remove the scratches from a protective display cover i made.
> It was purely the speed thing that attracted me to the flame method.  That and i like to use the blow torch attachment for my soldering iron wherever i can.



YEp I want to see through it depthwise. lol.  I went to P1200, then moved straight onto car scratch remover, then finished with car polish.



> I'll second this.  I have a Rio 180 with standard T5 that i want to replace.



Not where I bought the original acrylic sheet but I've just bought some from these guys as it was cheaper (free delivery)
http://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk

These might nor be the original sellers because that was 2012 but a quick search finds the following:

LED stars:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-3W-...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item5660ec0ee4

Lenses and holders (I use 120degfree lenses like these):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20x-LED-L...al_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item51c3fd8a6e

Long heatsinks (you have to contact them for 600mm long ones.):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-600mm...mponents_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item3ce9e9942b

Driver running the front and rear series of 12 LEDs ( I think it is this driver.  very similar if not):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IP67-LED-...UK_BOI_Lights_Lighting_ET&hash=item58b478260a

Driver running the centre row of 6 LEDs (can't find the one I bought but this should be OK:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AC-85-265...ing_Parts_and_Accessories&hash=item3a841949d9

Wire is wire, plugs are plugs.  Don't need to link to them.


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## jy_oc_hx

Thanks, this will be my next project.


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## DivZero

Great build with a stunning result!


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## Christos Ioannou

stunning result, stunning savings also! 
amazing. will also be my next project! will be looking for Arduino controlled led drivers too.


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## Christian Walker

Absolutely incredible !


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## GreenNeedle

Thanks for the interest and the compliments guys.  Thought I would add some pics of it working over the flooded scape:







My daughter is more interested in the light than the scape. lol:


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## GreenNeedle

Many thanks. It is still working but the 18 LEDs proved way too fast growth. Not algae problems but pruning every other day is not my thing 

I am now running it with just the front and back rows on and it is still growing pretty fast.

I should add just to address the concerns of MDF swelling. The acrylic paint seems to have done it's job of sealing the MDF very well. There is no swelling. The only thing I have had to do is wipe some mould off the bottom of the inside rails once. It was on the surface only so wiped straight off with no stain.


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## Tim Harrison

Looking good. Acrylic paint...thanks for the info I'll use it to paint the new top for my IKEA Besta "aquarium" cabinet.


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## zozo

Nice project compliments!! Nice update as well i was already wondering how it turned out after a year, reading this topic about 2 months ago for the first time..  Good to know that 18 leds are rather at the high end and 12 will do as good if not better also with the low carpet looking still very pretty. Thanks for the update..


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## GreenNeedle

The carpet is about an inch and a half again at the moment.  Have to get the scissors out again. lol


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## MedicMan

Hope I'm not reviving a dead thread but :

I'm looking at making something similar - maybe not as artistic but definitely as functional! I'm considering perspex sides and top along with aluminium heatsinks. 

I'm hoping to use some 10W LED's but I'm a bit concerned about wiring and wondered if you'd be able to post a guide of some sort on this as I haven't seen this mentioned in your journal.

A wiring diagram would be very much appreciated!


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## bonelias

How does the acrylic react with the heat produced by the leds? Is it bending?

Don't you need fans to lower the heat produced ?


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## GreenNeedle

bonelias said:


> How does the acrylic react with the heat produced by the leds? Is it bending?
> 
> Don't you need fans to lower the heat produced ?



The acrylic is bending but I doubt it has too much to do with the  heat of the LEDs.  I made acrylic lids for my smaller tanks as well as this one and they have bent more than the luminaire sheet.  The centre of the luminaire acrylic is about 2mm larger gap between the heatsink than at the ends whereas the lids have bent 5mm end to end.  The corners of the lids are 5mm above the tank glass than the centre.

I will show this on the next update.



MedicMan said:


> Hope I'm not reviving a dead thread but :
> 
> I'm looking at making something similar - maybe not as artistic but definitely as functional! I'm considering perspex sides and top along with aluminium heatsinks.
> 
> I'm hoping to use some 10W LED's but I'm a bit concerned about wiring and wondered if you'd be able to post a guide of some sort on this as I haven't seen this mentioned in your journal.
> 
> A wiring diagram would be very much appreciated!



I'm pretty sure 10W may well have heat problems however never used anything other than 3W.  Wiring these is pretty simple.  Its a daisy chain.  + from driver soldered to + on first LED, - on first LED to + on second LED, - on second LED to + on third LED etc.  - on the final LED to - on the driver.  So in series the driver + goes to + end of  the series, the driver - goes to the - end of the series then - to +, - to + and you have an LED necklace.

I will update this as I did make a small change to the setup.  The lense holders were originally fitted into the acrylic sheet.  I decided to alter that and have the lenses on the LEDs themselves and making the holes in the acrylic larger.  The heatsinks have some foam spacers on them at the ends which keeps them 2mm off the acrylic.

I also changed the lenses/holders to some clear ones which radiate light out of the acrylic sheet sides now   The black lense holders are gone.


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## zozo

bonelias said:


> How does the acrylic react with the heat produced by the leds? Is it bending?



Depends a little bit on the production process and whatever you make, make it from GS acrylic. If you don't ask or just buy you might as well get XT Acrylic, wich is not realy suitable for machining and more susceptible to bending and cracking because it has internal tensions due to it's production process.

The glass transition temperatur for most acrylic is 105°C, it's getting weak from 85°C to 165°C..  A High power led can get fairly hot 60°C is no exception and even more.
So that's pretty close to the acrylics glass transition point.  where tension releases and gravity slowly start to kick in.. This you have to take in consideration when working with highpower leds and acrylic. 

@SuperColey1 If i see correctly i see you constructed it with a little gap between heatsink and acrylic?? The bending probably would have been less or even absend if you screwed the heatsink firmly to the acrylic without gap, the aloy heatsink would function as a support beam preventing the bending.


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## GreenNeedle

2mm  bend in the middle is OK with me.  It isn't getting any worse.


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## zozo

Yes it's neglectable, i have the same with my first acrylic project, where is a gap between sink and acrylic already at a 45°c at 10 hours a day, also about a few mm.. In the second attempt i left out the gap and it didn't bend it stays as straight as the heatsink is..


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## Emrah

Hello, thanks for the post. Good results.

Can you share K values for leds?


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## GreenNeedle

Emrah said:


> Hello, thanks for the post. Good results.
> 
> Can you share K values for leds?



Very late answer to this but they are 5500K


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