Troubeshooting DIY LED

[Stones]

Thanks for all the pointers guys! I was using rosin core solder and did pre-tin all of the terminals on the LED pcb's but I didn't pre-tin the tips of the wire. I'm going out to pick up a better soldering iron and some thinner wire here tonight so I'll let you know how i make out.

I've done a few small soldering jobs in the past (LED moonlights) and have never had any issues but I guess there is a first for everything...

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

like most said keep you screws and soldering job is clean no loose wires or solder touching the star. And it is better for agonizing drilling and tapping into the heat-sink for if any problem arises later with individual led.
check some of the work i done on my arrays.

here is another

[martinmcnally]

Well my prayers have been answered. This might help you too:

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...or-CREE/Detail

[GMGQ]

I agree with the others, the soldering connections seem to be the problem. You need to tin the pads of the LED, tin the wire, then solder them together.



Helps a LOT if you have a high wattage soldering iron. You want to heat up the target, not the solder wire. Then touch the solder wire to the target, and let the solder melt onto it.

Careful of the flux (the clear stuff that comes out of the solder wire). If the flux is coating the pad or the wire, then that could be preventing a conductive connection. Don't be afraid to give the wire a good yank after you've soldered it. It should be ROCK SOLID. If it comes off, then obviously the connection was poor.

[mike31154]

If you enjoy soldering and builiding your own arrays with heatsinks, wiring, screw tapping, mounting, fine, but if not, more and more options are appearing on the market that are plug & play without breaking the bank. A net search using "High Power LED E27 base" will yield a multitude of info on LED options with conventional screw in type bases. Some of them will work straight off your household AC while others work with a 12VDC supply. Personally I like the MR16 two pin 12VDC form factor. You could arrange a bunch of these with little effort since they push in to the MR16 base very easily and it's not as large a connector as the conventional household E27 screw in base. I can see this being somewhat more water resistant as well, with a small rubber gasket over the base which you would then push the lamp pins through. You could also run them directly from a 12VDC source like a deep cycle battery, provided you have a reliable way of keeping the battery charge at the required level to run the number of lamps you plan to use. No drivers converting AC to DC to run your LEDs, which are after all DC devices. You could also add a potentiometer to dim the LEDs directly in line with the voltage source. The electronics geeks could make this dimming feature automatic, I'm sure. Below are just a few links showing what's available these days. A little more patience, these things will start dropping in price as LEDs slowly start replacing the CFLs which replaced the incandescents in our homes. If/when one of these burns out, yank it & replace it, simple.

If you're still keen on assembling the parts required to DYI a soldered array, knock yourselves out, but I'm waiting a little longer and will build either an E27 or MR16 based lighting system when the price & availability of this form factor drops in price a little more.

http://www.ledlightbulb.net/store/in...dex&cPath=4_31

http://www.dhgate.com/15w-high-power...b9aa25384.html

http://www.ledlightsworld.com/mr16-1...ight-p-99.html

I know this doesn't help solve the problems with your current LED job, but so many folks are getting caught up in this DIY LED array craze when there are easier options on the horizon.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by mike31154

If you're still keen on assembling the parts required to DYI a soldered array, knock yourselves out, but I'm waiting a little longer and will build either an E27 or MR16 based lighting system when the price & availability of this form factor drops in price a little more.

http://www.ledlightbulb.net/store/in...dex&cPath=4_31

http://www.dhgate.com/15w-high-power...b9aa25384.html

http://www.ledlightsworld.com/mr16-1...ight-p-99.html

I know this doesn't help solve the problems with your current LED job, but so many folks are getting caught up in this DIY LED array craze when there are easier options on the horizon.

I think your missing the point here. your first eg is 90 to 180/bulb and still are a 60 degree output so you will need a fair amount, and they come in cool, nutral and warm white.

the second eg is not practical for a fish tank as it is a 360 design so 70% of you light is going where you don't want it.

for the third eg 9 bucks each ya they will work but color is limited as they are for household track lighting and they still have a transformer.

the point of people building them there selves is

1, to save a tone of money. for 200 to 500 you can buils a system that would retail for 800 to 3000.

2, custom aplication. you can pick your lense, spacing, and color combanation.

3, features.. all the examples you showed are non dimable.. I was looking at leds for my lights down stairs and non dimable ones are 10 bucks each.. dimable ones are 30 bucks each for a 40 watt bulb replacment.

another issue you have to look at is what lind of LED are they using and you also need outdoor rated LEDs fixtures or they will burn out quite quickly. there have been sever house hold lighting products comming out laitly with cheep LEDs which use substandard methods of altering the color because it is way cheeper (like paint on the surface of the LED) this has been flaking off and causing color shifts ect.. when the people are building there fixtures they are using Cree for the most part which has way more out put than say a edison LED of the same wattage. so it not just about conveniance.

Oh and there also the "I built it myself" factor which to some is very satisfying

Steve

[mike31154]

I simply provided the links as an example of what's available currently and if folks are willing to wait a little longer, or contact the manufacturers for different colour options, I'm sure they would be able to assemble something suitable. I did a quick search and threw a couple of links out there for people to get the idea. It's an alternative if you're prepared to do additional research. Getting away from pure DIY a little, I know, just pointing out that there are other ways to build LED fixtures for salt water aquariums apart from soldering.