Pico LED Plans

m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
Anybody ever see the Kessil LED fixtures? Here is a quick diy version.
http://www.ledsupply.com/alk-lh-15w.php
View attachment 10876
http://www.ledsupply.com/03021-d-e-1000.php
View attachment 10877
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-3up/
View attachment 10878
http://www.ledsupply.com/12vdc20a.phpView attachment 10880
http://www.ledsupply.com/03021hep.php

http://www.xmounts.com/index.php?productID=1045
View attachment 10879

You will still need 5v power supply for potentiometer, optics, thermal adhesive, 1/2 male to 1/4in female npt reducer and mount for flex arm. I'm gonna build one of these fixtures soon. After a bit of paint this LED fixture is going to be compact and strong. Just thought I should share.

I will be building one and posting PAR results as soon as I can get a meter.

LED $12 + $2optics
Case $25
Driver $12 + $5 pot
Power supply $14 +5v pot supply
Flex arm $22-$30

Adhesive $6
Reducer for flex arm $6
 
m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
A bit more like $130. I own adhesive potentiometer, power supply, LED and flex e arm. I'm sure you can get a few components cheaper. My expense will be around $70.
 
m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
There are many reasons why this may or may not be better than a par bulb. The first for me is light spillage. This will have optics on it. It will also be dimmable. @ only 9w it won't be super strong, it should have the potential to light tanks up to 3 gal. I'm gonna give it a little paint job and drill the case for the pot dial. I'll be ordering parts in a few days.
 
Hyperlitexr50

Hyperlitexr50

Member
At only 9w have you looked into the more powerful gu10 bulbs from china? That could save you more money that you could spend on corals.
 
m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
I will do a build thread. Maybe just update first post. It's going over a deep blue 2gal. 8 by 8 cube. I'm building a custom filtration system for that. Similar to the tunze internal filters. Gotta buy acrylic. It's still more of an idea.
 
fwadiver

fwadiver

New member
kessil is way more than a 3up star, they are using 50W emitters :)

if you wanna do a 3up that heat sink is super overkill, use a 3up star on a tiny $3 aluminum heatsink and get a 3x3w chinese driver for $6 you can have the whole thing done for $25
 
RedDevil.258

RedDevil.258

Active member
The case/heatsink may be overkill, but if its affordable then why not. Again I am not familiar with the exact dimensions. If I was working on one, I would just worry about the way the fixture looks of such a small cube tank.

Cool build Matt lookin forward to it.
 
m.miller1547

m.miller1547

Active member
fwadiver said:
kessil is way more than a 3up star, they are using 50W emitters :)

if you wanna do a 3up that heat sink is super overkill, use a 3up star on a tiny $3 aluminum heatsink and get a 3x3w chinese driver for $6 you can have the whole thing done for $25
Click to expand...
Apparently you don't know much about LEDs and heat. These stars will overheat on that little single heatsink. You will also need a fan and have to build a fixture to house it. The driver is very important. If you want a cheap eBay driver then expect it to fail when u least need it to.

This is for the deep blue tank.

Kessils are mush more powerful. I understand that. They are also $250. I'm going for a pico lamp with small form factor. Thanks for the imput, but I have allot of experience and I've found that cheap shortcuts get you in the end. You could build this quality pico light for much less than purchasing any comparable unit. This will also be an awesome spotlight for a larger tank as well.
 
tinman

tinman

Well-known member
Matt, i still love your diy nuvo skyelight fixture :)

so what are you doing with your jbj unibody fixture ?
 
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