DIY Marineland LED Fixture

G

gaberosenfield

So, I'm a saltwater noob. I just set up my first salt water tank at the beginning of January. But, being a college student, I wanted to go the cheapest route possible on most things. I've DIYed my whole light set up. I'm running three 10 watt 20000K LEDs in a piece of crap (eventually to be replaced/redone) diy fixture. But I'm posting to share my other DIY light. It's eight 3 watt 453 nm blue LEDs mounted in a gutted 18" marineland double bright fixture. The best part is that there's room for more LEDs (assuming heat generation doesn't limit it to the 8 LEDs already mounted).
[attachment=2]DIY Marineland Fixture Top.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]DIY Marineland Fixture Bottom.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]DIY Marineland Fixture ON.jpg[/attachment]
I got the marineland fixture broken off ebay for $30 shipped and the 8 blue 3 watt LEDs with driver for another $30 off ebay. The glass cover panel I got for free from my roommate who works with glass. A few more bucks for thermal grease, solder, and wire and this fixture cost me a total of about $63. So, if anyone has a broken marineland or similar LED fixture, let me know and I can take it off your hands or turn it into one of these in exchange for frags or something :)
 
Pretty cool. How hot do they get? If the glass isn't tempered and the fixture really heats up, it could break. Other than that, congrats!
 
Well, now that its been running on my 20 gal for 2 days I can see that it wouldn't be a good idea to add any more leds to the same fixture...bummer. It gets to be quite warm, but never too hot to keep your hand on it. I'm sure the glass won't break at theses temperatures, but since the fixture is so slim, there isn't much way I can think of to include active cooling. And I would start to worry if it got much hotter. I might be able to squeeze in 4 more 1 watt leds or 1 more 3 watt led, but more than that would produce too much heat for my comfort level without active cooling. Still, I love the look of these fixtures, which is why I modified one in the first place. Thanks for the compliment! It means a lot coming from one of the DIY masters :)
 
Hmm, I do have some tiny computer fans lying around...of course, I'd have to mount the fans on the inside of the fixture so that they wouldn't ruin the slim form factor, but I could do that! I could drill one hole in the center of the fixture and then drill holes in the plastic side covers so that the fan could suck air in from the sides and out through the top. Now I want to do it! I'll post if/when I accomplish this.
 
Today, with the help of my roommate, I completed my DIY marineland LED light fixture. It has eight 3 watt blue LEDs and three 10 watt 20000K LEDs (sold as 20000K, I don't really think they are...but they are VERY "cool" white). It also has 2 cooling fans which, unfortunately, had to mounted on outside of the original fixture, somewhat damaging its aesthetics... But it still looks pretty good. I still have to run the fans' wires through the fixture (right now their wires are just coming off the top) but, other than that and mounting all the drivers in a metal box in the cabinet under my tank, the fixture is complete. I measured the temperature of the fixture after it was running for 5 hours or so: less than 50 C. So no problems with over heating. The cost is still ~$63 for me, because I had all the wires and thermal paste and stuff on hand and my roommate provided the tools :)
[attachment=2]DIY Marineland Fixture 2 Top.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=1]DIY Marineland Fixture 2 on Tank.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=0]DIY Marineland Fixture 2 ON.jpg[/attachment]
 
Looking good..................you could always get the LED lit fans to put on top [smilie=smile.gif]
 
No these fans............wont give much light off but will add some cool effects to the top

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Silent-140mm-R4-L4S-10AB-GP/dp/tech-data/B001QZ6TBM
 
Are you close to plano? I have a couple brand new ones i would sell you for a frag. Or better yet help me build my leds. Getting ready to order the leds but have not decided where to order from yet.
 
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