heat sinks?

Just wondering if anyone knows of any cheap sources for heat sinks suitable for led lighting apart from ebay? The builds hear have inspired me to give it a shot instead of just thinking about it..... I have a pile of leds and a few drivers on order, thinking of doing a couple of smaller (around 10 led) lights and a larger (maybe 50 led) light.

Should be interesting.....

Heat sinks USA.... unless you are building a kit from Aquastyle - then I recommend getting it from them.

Its a lot of fun and the end results rock!

Though in saying that Led buy group have the best heatsinks I've seen.....if you can afford them, bit rich for my needs....

Thanks will check them out. Not getting they leds from aquastyle, bought them from ebay (there are a lot there, was doing my head in wading through them all finding ones in different colors with the same voltage requirements. Then trying to find transformers. Money ran put partway through so next pay will be heatsinks and maybe some red leds to go with the blue, white and near uv I have coming. Also need some thermal cement to stick the leds on with.

Any tips on the process would be appreciated, I am pretty much a newb at something on this scale. I can solder (not going to win any marks for neatness though, I imagine that will improve with all the practice I am going to be getting with this!)

Kitiara wrote:...Also need some thermal cement to stick the leds on with...

I have a tube of spare thermal adhesive, let me know if you want it and I can bring it at the next club meeting or collecting trip if you're going.

That would be cool, how much do you want for it?

Kitiara wrote:That would be cool, how much do you want for it?

Nothing, these were from my 2nd DIY LED kit and I had hardly used any from the 1st LED kit.

Many thanks. Appreciated

Kitiara wrote:Thanks will check them out. Not getting they leds from aquastyle, bought them from ebay (there are a lot there, was doing my head in wading through them all finding ones in different colors with the same voltage requirements. Then trying to find transformers. Money ran put partway through so next pay will be heatsinks and maybe some red leds to go with the blue, white and near uv I have coming. Also need some thermal cement to stick the leds on with.

Any tips on the process would be appreciated, I am pretty much a newb at something on this scale. I can solder (not going to win any marks for neatness though, I imagine that will improve with all the practice I am going to be getting with this!)

Mate I’m no expert either - though I have gone through ALL options a thousand times.... Not sure what LEDs you are buying but they do vary greatly - your budget will dictate the end result - best soldering etc won’t matter is you buy cheap stuff - they just won’t cut it or last - so can defeat the reason we do it !

Colour matters a lot, as does a quality built LED - from my research - 3 meet the marine aquarium needs - PAR, LUX and consistency in colour reproduction all play vital roles and on the cheaper products just are not consistent - that’s why they are cheap.... IMO only consider CREE, Bridgelux or Luxeon Rebel - they are all great and will do the job for individual component builds....drivers are next and they also open many options - Meanwell rule, Maxwellen do too - there are heaps around but these come from years of people using them and offering feedback - the general consensus is they work reliably and efficiently with low heat and noise.
Kits work out to be great value for money and give you all you need to complete a “quality” build with a small budget – eg: Aquastyle offer the 12 LED kit with Heatsink, LEDs, driver, dimmable and hanging kits for $75.00 – these are 3watt Bridgelux – very bright.....ask the guys at the last meeting there still just seeing little dots in their eyes....

As for the colours to choose – 2 matter – White 4500k , 10000k and Blue and the white only differ from the look you want – again LED BUY GROUP have lots of builds to check out including some great full colour builds to get info from and make up your own mind....

If you need paste I have 3 tubes left over - it goes a long way...and is cheap anyway

Hope it helps - but feel free to ask any questions - no problem happy to help if I can....

I don't know what brand of leds the ones I have on order are, they are the same design as the crees but no brand was advertised. They are pretty cheap though, 50 for under $40 incl shipping for 3w leds for the white and blue. The near uv was a lot dearer at about $20 for 5 (good thing I didn't want many of them anyway) The drivers are also a generic and non dimmable (I don't really need dimmable at al. What I am planning is a small light for my sump, small one for my 2x1.5x1which is currently fresh water (not for long though) a light for my 6x2x2 fresh tank and maybe evenone to convert the nano at work if I can do it in a way that doesn't make a mess of the hood. I think I am going to be busy.....

Saw this link over at the other forum and thought it was interesting -comparison of leds
http://www.1023world.net/diy/spectra/

.

To tell you the truth I didn't notice it was in Japanese - I only looked at the comparison table!

One option is to purchase some aluminum channel from a steel supplier, you can often purchase 20 ' lengths of the channel, and make a more open LED fixture that will require little to no fans.

I have seen a build like that on one of the US forums, was a little unsure as to whether I liked it though.