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DIY LED lighting MkII
17th May 2010
Following on from the original DIY LED lighting article I decided to improve upon the unit. Click the link below for the original article:
http://www.greenneedle.co.uk/LED1.html
I'm not changing the electrics at all so in essence the 'lighting' will still have been running since January 2009. This will still be the same actual piece of kit as such but I am changing the 'housing' and generally prettying the unit up.
So onto what I shall be doing. The case will be made from 6mm MDF. I will then be using lense holders and 45º lenses. You will not be able to see into the underside of the unit anymore. I still maintain that lenses are not ideal for a planted setup as it uses less LEDs and the lenses restrict the 'spread' of light. The reason I am using them is more to do with the aesthetics of the unit and also to remove the glare.
The electrics will now be accessed from the top rather than from the tank side and then there will be a lid to 'seal it.
I will be reducing the fans from 4 each side to 3 as they will fit nicely under some vents I have. The vents will have some material behind them made for cooker hood extractors. Why? Because without this material the fans draw lots of dust much like you get inside your PC. The material will allow air in but block dust.
I will be removing all the old cut up T5 reflector 'heatsinking' and using heatsinks that are designed for these LEDs.
For the external aesthetics the underside will have 15 circular holes for the lense holders to fit into and also 2 slots backed by some perspex for the moonlight cold cathodes. The finish on this underside, which is set back from the sides of the case, will be black and then lacquered and polished so it 'mirrors' the tank below it.
The sides, front, back
and lid will be veneered with ash so that it matches the bookcase and tank cabinet.
Onto the build:
I got a nice sheet of MDF from my local DIY store. This cost £5. Onto this I measured the tank footprint and marked out a section 80cm x 34cm. Then I measured the same grid as the lights were in before i.e. 15 equal areas 5 from left to right and 3 front to back. In the centre of each area I marked where the lense holders will go and then where the moonlights will be.
Out came my router and I hand routed these holes to the exact diameter of the lense holders. The moonlight slots are slightly shorter than the length of the cold cathodes because I want to hide the end blocks and wiring from view.
Finally for today's work I measured out the sides, front and back, cut them, lined up the 3 fans on each end and marked out their holes. these were then routed and the fans fitted so I have the holes there.
