LED-WATER-HEATSINK

[LedElk]

Hi, Unforgiven, thanks for the reply!

And I get what you're saying. I definitely agree, but it was such a hassle finding the right pieces to fit the pipe/surface-area/cost/time equation that I kind of got fed up with it and settled for the next best thing... I'm not a highly experienced DIY'er, so that is a lesson learned!

Now, as for copper Ts, why would they fit any better? Are you suggesting that I could solder the gap and that would do the trick? If not, the problem with the size difference is the out-dated dimension of the pipes, not the Ts. If I could do it again I would do that. I'll head down to the plumber store and see if they have copper Ts, as I do have the receipt for the chrome ones. I'm "that guy with the lamp-whatever-project" now, so It's probably no big deal.

Buying new pipes would also be a solution. Now that I think about it, you meant soldering the gap, right?

Oh, by the way, can you solder copper with a 60w iron?

Weezard, thanks for the lamp advice, I'll be keeping a very close (not too close!) eye on stretching and all, but as I'm a newgrower myself, I don't have alot of reference-points to refer to... There's the issue of R/B-ratio-stretch too consider also, right?

Well, I'm learning for sure!

[Mal420xl]

you can as long as its not silver solder and you dont need that. i havent had any stretching issues with my leds so far, in fact as long as i keep them in the sweet spot they just started filling in underneath big time. being primarliy indica helps on that tho i can only imagine how much better that would be if i hadnt had ph issues at first. admittedly i have not had any sativas yet. but i think they would be lovin these things.

[LedElk]

While I got you guys here, I have yet another pipe-issue.

I'm going to bend these thin pipes into a spiral as shown in my first post, but how would I mount them into a single pipe? I've got up to 8 of these "strands".

Attachment 290388

[Mal420xl]

well i cant remember the name for the fitting, maybe junction....no..... crap they use them in automotive and industrial coatings applications. they use for metered mixing and filtering systems etc. they have varying numbers of ports that flow into one outlet. not sure but i suppose as long as its low pressure you could try fit them all in to one threaded fitting and make a solder cap around them where they go in. weeeeeezard this sounds like your realm....of which you seem to abound.

[LedElk]

That sounds like it would do the trick, mal. Soldering is probably the way to go with metals, but would those fittings need to be copper? Can you solder copper and brass? or chrome and copper?

And one general DIY question: In the field of adhesives, is epoxy generally top dog? Seems like it is a versatile and strong applicant.

Mal, what type of LED lamp are you using? I'm looking forward to trying out the RnB-ratio to find the "sweet-spots"! adjusting the height and all... gon' be good! I'll be doing scrog by the way. fast first round, then Perpetual H with good mother-bonsai.

We'll see how this project turns out. I have had some issues with half-assing and over-thinking. I've got a strange combo of theoretical detail-fixation and sloppy practical application going on

[Mal420xl]

That sounds like it would do the trick, mal. Soldering is probably the way to go with metals, but would those fittings need to be copper? Can you solder copper and brass? or chrome and copper?

And one general DIY question: In the field of adhesives, is epoxy generally top dog? Seems like it is a versatile and strong applicant.

Mal, what type of LED lamp are you using? I'm looking forward to trying out the RnB-ratio to find the "sweet-spots"! adjusting the height and all... gon' be good! I'll be doing scrog by the way. fast first round, then Perpetual H with good mother-bonsai.

We'll see how this project turns out. I have had some issues with half-assing and over-thinking. I've got a strange combo of theoretical detail-fixation and sloppy practical application going on

gotta be careful on mixing metals and water especially moving water. think weezard mentioned something about that earlier. if the solder will stick you can do it but that doesnt mean you should.

epoxy in a lot of ways is like solder. it has to be able to grab a hold of something to stick or be able to etch a spot it can hold on to. find one that is for heat and water and you should be ok. i will mention some have funky chemicals that out-gas
from somewhat moderate heat depending on where its used it generally wont matter tho.

i have a blackdog bd360 in my veg tent and bd700 for my flower tent. the closest i can get the360 to the plants is 14 inches once they get a little bigger. i havent had a flowering plant under the 700 yet but the co. says without co2 its around 18+ depending on the age of the plants. and it will fry them like nothing....i had to see what would happen....didnt i?

[low_rdr]

I must put my $.02 in here.

First the idea is novel, as nobody has pointed out so far, completely unnecessary, unless you go with 1000 (3w) diodes but very novel.
Second, epoxy is decent as long as you scrape both surfaces before use. But I swear, I don't wanna hear you using epoxy anywhere near this heat sink.
Third, use the right parts for the job. If your using copper tubing, use copper fittings, there are TONS of online stores that are super cheap on parts.
Fourth, Use solder on your pipes, don't use the stupid caulk, high pressure or low pressure, use the soder, after each piece is made, submerge it in water and turn an air pump on it, pressurize it, and make sure there are no leaks.
Fifth, use a pipe bender to make your coils, coil them around a 2" pipe - If you feel a pipe bender isn't needed and you choose to do it by hand, make sure the coils are super tight, as close to air tight as you can get.

Sixth, and this most important, not only for your personal safety but for your freedom, DO NOT 'half ass' anything on this project. Water and electricity is one area of DIY that NOBODY half asses for very important reasons - ADDED to this reason, your using metal tubing, which means your creating one large electrical conductor, the fact that you haven't taken condensation into consideration is a HUGE red flag.

Seventh (yes, there is more) - what kind of boards are you working on for your LED's? Which transformers and lights are you using?

Finally - I've been working on a design for an LED light panel for a CO2 grow that should give enough penetration to any grow no matter what strain your dealing with. As soon as I'm done with the design it's off to get the patent. If you can create something that would be of use for me for cooling, that would be great. I'm planning on pushing this idea to large companies coming into the commercial end of things, the heat-sink could actually serve two purposes in my application, however would need a slight modification for the type of grows I'm considering... At any rate, don't half ass it, there could be possibilities.

[LedElk]

Yeah, the "voltaic joint" phenomenon. Lots of stuff to keep in mind here, but it normally dawns on me before I make the mistake. I will definitely be careful with placing the lights too close at first, then it's just a matter of resisting sweetening the sweet spot

[LedElk]

Hey low_rdr! The project is unnecessary compared to a normal aluminium heatsink, but It's what I had lying around and I thought it would be a cool (npi) thing to do. I really appreciate your advice and as I'm actually quite serious about security (despite the cirucmstances) I'll do the copper Ts+solder. No epoxy!

My cab is actually lined with drywall as fire-proofing. Not that it makes it safe, but safer than a wooden-cab, right? The last thing I want is a fire. I even considered water-balloons as an automatic fire-extinguisher You know, condensation hadn't occurred to me, partly because as weezard pointed out, that the rig would be hotter than ambient temp so it won't happen. But then again, I am probably in the deep end here. Good thing I've got you guys here to look this thing over!

About the lamp itself:

(I was going to ask before mounting all this, so I'm only 87% sure it will work)

9 LedEngin LEDs total

4x10w 623nm red
3x10w 660nm red
2x10w 460nm blue

powered by

2x Meanwell APC35-700

35W 15-50V 700mA


That's it. I hope I got this right, as it was pretty expensive stuff. It's still packaged, though.

[low_rdr]

The rig will ONLY be hotter than the ambient temp during lights on.

What voltage are your emitters? The ones I'm using are 6-7v and my wavelength varies between 620-630nm

What I'm seeing though is you have two 35 watt transformers, but 90 watts worth of lights.

Using multiple transformers is perfectly fine, but you can't use more power than you can transform. Luckily the transformers you have are protected so they'll switch off, but you'll need another transformer - You can get a pack of 10 of those transformers for roughly $70, I haven't seen 5 packs any lower than $50 though. As far as your emitters, what brand did you get?

I got 200 of the prolight star 10w's for $515 and 100 of the generic blue 460nm's for $200, giving me a whopping (cry) 80k lumens on a 3k power drawl. Mine are all still in the boxes until I get the design down pat and ready to patent, but lately I've only had a few hours a week to put into it.

the 3k watts are being broken into 4 switchable pieces at 750 watts each, each using a 800 watt Ablecom PWS 801-1R

The red and blue will be seperated, so the panels will be 2 solid red, 1 solid white, 1 mixed (so it can be switched from full spectrum veg to full spectrum bloom) I haven't ordered my soldering boards yet which is why I was interested in what your source was. I can have them printed for about $45 each, but I'd like to find a cheaper source if I can, I know I can get fully wired 12x12 blanks for $13, but I need 36x12 panels