My DIY LED circuit board/puck

[kaserpick]

Hey everyone,

I just finished my second design. I etched the board and reflowed the LED's, myself. My plan is to complete another (already etched) and install these into my DIY T5/LED hybrid fixture.

Here's the board:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/13e8ae42d90e6a9f44f3694bd02d88d6.jpg

It consists of the following emitters:
5 Royal Blue, Luxeon Rebel 3w
5 Blue, Luxeon Rebel 3w
2 Green, Luxeon Rebel 3w
1 Lime, Luxeon Rebel 3w
1 Amber, Luxeon Rebel 3w
1 Red/Orange, Luxeon Rebel 3w
1 Red, Luxeon Rebel 3w
1 Indigo, SemiLED
1 Violet, SemiLED

The two blue's have separate channels. All other color groups (red, green, violet) have their own channels, giving a total of 5 channels.

I'll be using two of these boards in conjunction with 2-3 Bridgelux Vero10’s.

Here's some color shots (I haven't completed the driver yet):
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/45ad2f70c636fb682b4f9c97982c5ebd.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/3de04169fd273ea6abae560cb1c8da62.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/eb84809d7f4ff0d374a8bb4234f76f2d.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/0f9ac9b9e88808e8aed4662f9951eac1.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/c41bbd6de629b28613365e20adacb2b3.jpg

Here's the light fixture so far:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/08B75C21-E608-4FB6-BE9B-79696E944D39.jpg

I'm still mounting the T5 reflectors. There will be 4 T5's: 2 ATI Blue Plus and 2 ATI Coral Plus.

*Please Note: The board has a couple of names on it. One is a company name I might use someday, but I don't see myself manufacturing these. It was just something fun to add, to make it mine. :)*

I am calling this board the CHAMELEON 3.0.

[_shorty_]

That's too cool. I have a feeling this thead is going to get some attention. ;)

[ravi197699]

very nice, is it possible to add more led's to this board ?

[_shorty_]

very nice, is it possible to add more led's to this board ?

he probably designed the circuit on his computer, so technically could have put as many as would physically fit... however the more densly you pack them, the more you have to worry about heat dissipation and LED lifespan.

[kaserpick]

That's too cool. I have a feeling this thead is going to get some attention. ;)

Thanks, Shorty! I'm really excited to see how it looks ver the tank. I can't wait for this fixture to be done...it's taking forever!

very nice, is it possible to add more led's to this board ?

he probably designed the circuit on his computer, so technically could have put as many as would physically fit... however the more densly you pack them, the more you have to worry about heat dissipation and LED lifespan.

That is correct. I could add more to the design. In fact, the 2.0 version had 45 LED's, mostly Cree. It put off way too much heat though. I redesigned, scaled the total number back to 36 (since I didn't need white), and divided that into two boards, giving me 18 per board. This allows for two 'point' sources instead of 1 large one, and it's much better for heat dissipation.

Thanks!

[kaserpick]

I have to admit it; I'm genuinely surprised that there hasn't been more thoughts on this.

[vega77]

Cool build ;)
Do you gave any heatsinks for the leds ?
Running diy t5 +leds myself. 100w led + 4x80w t5. Picture of led t5 configuration ?

[Dapg8gt]

I know nothing about the board or how you got it like that =).. But man the fixture looks awesome. Will you be using ATI reflectors? Air cooling the t5? What did you make the case out of? True carbon fiber or a wrap over aluminum?

I'm guessing you printed the board on a printer but how is it cooled? Does that attach to a standard type heatsink? If these questions are rookie in the led dept I understand if you would rather defer me lol..

I'm thinking of adding leds to my powermodule but looking at the rapid Aurora pucks as of now..

[kaserpick]

Cool build ;)
Do you gave any heatsinks for the leds ?
Running diy t5 +leds myself. 100w led + 4x80w t5. Picture of led t5 configuration ?

Thanks! I currently don't have heatsinks, but I'm not running them. I plan to buy a 2.5" x 34" heatsink for the LED's. There will be a total of 128w: 2 x 54w for the two boards @ 700mA, and 2 x ~10w for the Vero10's @ 350mA (if I only use 2). It's a 3' fixture, so the T5's will be 4 x 39w.

Sorry, at the moment I don't have a pic of the configuration. The LED's will run down the middle of the fixture, with the T5's on either side.

[kaserpick]

I know nothing about the board or how you got it like that =).. But man the fixture looks awesome. Will you be using ATI reflectors? Air cooling the t5? What did you make the case out of? True carbon fiber or a wrap over aluminum?

I'm guessing you printed the board on a printer but how is it cooled? Does that attach to a standard type heatsink? If these questions are rookie in the led dept I understand if you would rather defer me lol..

I'm thinking of adding leds to my powermodule but looking at the rapid Aurora pucks as of now..

Thanks for the kind words!

Yes, I'll be using ATI reflectors. Also, the body is aluminum, bent with a hydraulic brake, and wrapped with carbon fiber vinyl. I thought about doing true carbon fiber, but the design/build was already going to be involved with the other challenges. I decided it would have been too much.

The board design was printed on a transparency and transferred to the board using the photoresist method. The cooling will be done with a 2.5" x 34" heatsink with two fans. Don't worry about your questions; we're all here to learn. :) I'm learning this stuff as I go as well.

The Aurora puck is pretty cool; if I didn't do this, I would have gone with that. Mine's not better, but I like the challenge of creating and learning new things. I feel like it's a little bit of an addiction. :p Anyway, Powermodules are amazing. Out of curiosity, why are you Wanting to add LED's. I know I'm doing it for fun and versatility as well as shimmer, but I'm always curious why others want to go the T5/LED hybrid route.

[Dapg8gt]

Thanks for the kind words!

Yes, I'll be using ATI reflectors. Also, the body is aluminum, bent with a hydraulic brake, and wrapped with carbon fiber vinyl. I thought about doing true carbon fiber, but the design/build was already going to be involved with the other challenges. I decided it would have been too much.

The board design was printed on a transparency and transferred to the board using the photoresist method. The cooling will be done with a 2.5" x 34" heatsink with two fans. Don't worry about your questions; we're all here to learn. :) I'm learning this stuff as I go as well.

The Aurora puck is pretty cool; if I didn't do this, I would have gone with that. Mine's not better, but I like the challenge of creating and learning new things. I feel like it's a little bit of an addiction. :p Anyway, Powermodules are amazing. Out of curiosity, why are you Wanting to add LED's. I know I'm doing it for fun and versatility as well as shimmer, but I'm always curious why others want to go the T5/LED hybrid route.
Thanks for the response great ingenuity on the aluminum housing. I have experience and access to a full sheet metal shop and never even fathomed to build my own housing from scratch like that.. ATI reflectors?

I'm thinking of going the hybrid route a bit for aesthetics (shimmer, color) but mostly for control. I have a 48" 8 bulb over my 105g SPS and honestly it's too much light.. Fiddling with bulbs like actinics to drop the par gets me away from the color I prefer lately. my fixture is maxed out height wise and already to the point of too much spillage... Plus it's cool =). I like to diy things but it has to look good.. Yours Def has the last part covered..

[kaserpick]

Thanks for the kind words. :)

I definitely can understand the control aspect. When I first started this light, it was suppose to be T5's with LED supplementation. Now, it's shifting toward LED's with T5 supplementation, for the control and shimmer.

[Fieroguy19]

This is a really cool project. Can you give us more details on where to get boards to make our own? What type of power supply and drivers are you using?

[zachts]

Neat project. What type of PCB board is that? If it is just a single sided fiberglass board? you'll have problems keeping the LEDs cool enough running any more than a 100 or so mA thru them, especially those violets.

Heat won't transfer thru the fiberglass very effectively without a board designed using thermal vias and a solid copper back side (unless you are using a MCPCB, perhaps you did, but I didn't know you could etch those?)

Cool project though! Which Vero's did you get? they have some awesome looking 5000k and 5600k versions boasting 90 CRI with very good spectrum distribution for a purely phosphor based led array.

[kaserpick]

This is a really cool project. Can you give us more details on where to get boards to make our own? What type of power supply and drivers are you using?

Newark sells this type of board. It's MCPCB; in this case that means three layers: copper, dielectric material, and aluminum backing. If you go to their website, search for AAT10. It's not cheap, but cheaper than having a single MCPCB design manufactured.

I have not decided what model power supply, but it'll be by Meanwell. I will be using LDD-700H Meanwell drivers for each channel. The Vero10's will be parallel on a single LDD-700H.

Neat project. What type of PCB board is that? If it is just a single sided fiberglass board? you'll have problems keeping the LEDs cool enough running any more than a 100 or so mA thru them, especially those violets.

Heat won't transfer thru the fiberglass very effectively without a board designed using thermal vias and a solid copper back side (unless you are using a MCPCB, perhaps you did, but I didn't know you could etch those?)

Cool project though! Which Vero's did you get? they have some awesome looking 5000k and 5600k versions boasting 90 CRI with very good spectrum distribution for a purely phosphor based led array.

Thanks for the tip! I found that out half way through my first version. I was amazed at how high it made the cost jump. My board is MCPCB material, aluminum backed with a dielectric layer to insulate the copper, yet still transfer the heat to the aluminum.

I currently have the cooler Kelvin Vero's. Your at least the fifth person that I have found that has said great things about the warm ones. It's making me think of switching. :)

[Tonio125]

Very nice project kaserpick :dance:

As Zachts said, I wonder how you'll be able to transfer the heat from the leds to the heatsink ....
The leds composition is excellent and you add the brand new lime led, great !

I hope to try this lime led in a few weeks.

[_shorty_]

I didn't realize you made the case too. Looks great! Was the carbon fiber wrap easy to apply without bubbles underneath? I was just thinking about a cover for my fixture. That's a very finished professional look.

I wonder if there is a coating you could use to seal your traces?

[Tonio125]

Newark sells this type of board. It's MCPCB; in this case that means three layers: copper, dielectric material, and aluminum backing. If you go to their website, search for AAT10.

I saw it : CIF AAT10 PCB,PROTOTYPE, ALUMINIUM . I understand better now, thank you for the information.

[zachts]

Newark sells this type of board. It's MCPCB; in this case that means three layers: copper, dielectric material, and aluminum backing. If you go to their website, search for AAT10. It's not cheap, but cheaper than having a single MCPCB design manufactured.

I have not decided what model power supply, but it'll be by Meanwell. I will be using LDD-700H Meanwell drivers for each channel. The Vero10's will be parallel on a single LDD-700H.



Thanks for the tip! I found that out half way through my first version. I was amazed at how high it made the cost jump. My board is MCPCB material, aluminum backed with a dielectric layer to insulate the copper, yet still transfer the heat to the aluminum.

I currently have the cooler Kelvin Vero's. Your at least the fifth person that I have found that has said great things about the warm ones. It's making me think of switching. :)

Thanks, I'll have to look into those PCBs didn't know they existed.

The vero's I'm suggesting are the "Cool White" ones. Just they have a 90 CRI instead of the typical 70 CRI (part number BXRC-*50G1000-*B-*04) They don't publish the spectral graph but you can get it from asking them directly. More green and red, less yellow in the spectrum, and broader range than the standard cool white.

[kaserpick]

Very nice project kaserpick :dance:

As Zachts said, I wonder how you'll be able to transfer the heat from the leds to the heatsink ....
The leds composition is excellent and you add the brand new lime led, great !

I hope to try this lime led in a few weeks.

Thanks for the kind words, Tonio! I was excited to try the lime; I like the color, but I wish I would have also included cyan, instead of the second green.

I didn't realize you made the case too. Looks great! Was the carbon fiber wrap easy to apply without bubbles underneath? I was just thinking about a cover for my fixture. That's a very finished professional look.

I wonder if there is a coating you could use to seal your traces?

Thanks man! The vinyl was super easy to put on; this particular kind is by 3M. You just need something to smooth it with, to make sure you don't get bubbles. I also cleaned the metal with alcohol before applying it.

At work, I've worked with circuit boards that are designed to be in harsher environments. I notice that they use a clear silicone to cover through holes and other exposed copper. I've been seriously thinking of doing this, as salt creep would wreak havoc on this board, if it was exposed. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks, I'll have to look into those PCBs didn't know they existed.

The vero's I'm suggesting are the "Cool White" ones. Just they have a 90 CRI instead of the typical 70 CRI (part number BXRC-*50G1000-*B-*04) They don't publish the spectral graph but you can get it from asking them directly. More green and red, less yellow in the spectrum, and broader range than the standard cool white.

Oh, I see. I didn't realize; I was thinking the cool whites were around 6500K. I need to fire these up to see them first hand. I love that they are made to accept a connector already. It makes it super easy. Do you know if these are designed to be used with a thermal grease or adhesive? I'm thinking grease might be a better choice.

[zachts]

Some light reading :) (pun intended)
Thermal grease is the best. There is an aluminum pad on the bottom of the chip, the plastic top side just protects the array and provides the mounting holes. Be careful not to crank them down to hard or you could damage the housing.

http://www.bridgelux.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AN36-Optical-Consideration-for-Bridgelux-Vero-Arrays.pdf


http://www.bridgelux.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AN32-Vero-Series-Electrical-Drive-Considerations.pdf


http://www.bridgelux.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AN31-Handling-and-Assembly-of-Vero-LED-modules.pdf

http://www.bridgelux.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AN30-Thermal-Management-of-Vero-LED-Modules.pdf

[kaserpick]

That's good stuff, Zachts! Still working through the second article, but I see they DO NOT recommend parallel. After reading why, it makes sense. I was honestly hoping to run them on one driver, but I think I'll have to use 2 LDD-350H's, since I can run them in series on one. Then again, I could just buy a separate Meanwell AC to DC driver combo, like what's offered at Rapid LED.

[perkint]

If running a few, you can swap them round to try and get roughly matched sets on each parallel string, but it's only possible if you happen to have ones which can be made to match (more likely the more you have).

Tim

[fakir]

@kaserpick: that is awesome work. Could you please explain how the power ratings affect the density of the LEDS like if I will use the 5W LEDs instead of 3W LEDs do I have to increase the spacing between the LEDs as far as heat dissipation is concerned?

[kaserpick]

@kaserpick: that is awesome work. Could you please explain how the power ratings affect the density of the LEDS like if I will use the 5W LEDs instead of 3W LEDs do I have to increase the spacing between the LEDs as far as heat dissipation is concerned?

Thanks for the kind words!

With these 3W LED's, I wouldn't got much closer without using a heatsink with very efficient cooling power. The spread I have seems fine with a large heatsink and good cooling fan. That being said, I would certainly want to space out 5W emitters a bit more for better dissipation. BUT, keep in mind that I'm learning as well. I'm not an electrical engineer; while I can do high level mathematics, I have no training in this field, whatsoever. I say that so that you'll take my advice with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I hope that helps to some extent!

[kaserpick]

I would like to update that I have finished the T5 part of the fixture. It's over the tank now, but the LED part is not complete. My Radium bulb was 15 months old and seemed to be encouraging algae growth. Because of this, I opted to run the new fixture with just the T5's. I've finished mounting the new chip and the two Bridgelux Vero 10's onto the heatsink. I wanted to do two of the chips, but I don't need that much lighting. I'm also concerned about adding too much heat to the heatsink. Finally, I also wanted to save one of the boards for an all LED pendant that I'm designing. I'm hoping to finish mounting the LED's by the end of the week. When I do, I'll post pics!

[Tonio125]

Hi Kasey,
Any new updates ?

[kaserpick]

I've been procrastinating, Tonio. :p

Currently, the light, in which the puck will be installed, is being used on my display tank. I just haven't taken it down for the install, yet.

[Tonio125]

No problem ;)

Keep us inform.

[_shorty_]

I've been procrastinating, Tonio. :p

Currently, the light, in which the puck will be installed, is being used on my display tank. I just haven't taken it down for the install, yet.

Get-ER-Done!! :) I too am interested in an update whenever you end up getting around to it. I understand though. I keep prioritizing other stuff over finallizing my own light fixture... but, it's working, so I'm content for now.

[kaserpick]

I'll have to see if I can finish the LED part on Monday. I should have the entire day to do so.

For now, here's the light in action (T5's in operation only):
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/B2DB724D-F207-446F-BC6F-9BE4D8A9A640.jpg

All channels lit at 1%:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e253/kaserpick/67F97DCA-3DBF-4087-A2FD-FF66C98B9C19.jpg

I apologize for the iPhone photos. :)