My LED Zeppelin

[Chris023]

Welcome to my LED build!

"When forming Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page approached Keith Moon and John Entwistle and asked them to consider joining the new band he was making...Kieth said, 'that would go over like a lead balloon', and John added,'more like a lead zeppelin!'".

I have had read/heard many many people in this hobby say basically the same thing about LEDs. Here's to proving them all wrong (hopefully ;-)...with a little, maybe even a bit corny, tribute to The Mighty Zep.

I have been researching and saving and researching and saving for this build for quite some time now, and it has finally come to a reality. This is my Swan Song.
I have put "A Whole Lotta Love" into this build, and it seems like "Ten Years Gone" since I started.

I did create a prototype a few months back to put over my frag tank to see how the corals would react. Seems to be working out fine, so for the display "The Song Remains The Same" just need to scale it up a bit.





Well, I don't want to "Ramble On" like a "Fool in the Rain" too much here, so lets "Rock 'n Roll".

I have been running T5s on my 150 gallon (60x24x24) reef pretty successfully for a few years now. Here is a pic of the tank before the build.




I figured I would need a new canopy to house the LEDs as my original one would only allow me 6" above the water and I didn't want them that close. So I started to build a new canopy.
Here are some real rough guidelines/planes I used (please forgive the use of power point)




I wanted a light weight, very accessible tank. I started with a basic frame that would sit on the tank.








Ensured it was well glued and screwed.

[Chris023]

Then I added panels to the corners to hold the doors. I also added them to the bottom front and sides to keep the frame from shifting off the tank. Glued and screwed.







In order to keep it light weight, I used plywood for the doors and top. I also added some molding to help keep it's shape.








Fitting test.






Some Kilz on the interior and black satin paint.

[Chris023]

Attached the doors with hinges and the top will just sit on the top lip for easier removal of the LED rig if needed.










With the canopy done.... time to start on the rig!
I got some channel on the larger side to help with cooling. I went with 8 channels of 6063 1/8 inch thick by 1 and 3/4 inch wide by 1 inch tall channel.
It came pretty raw, like it had been "Trampled Under Foot", so I had to run a few different grits of sand paper over it with a palm sander, and hit it with some fine steel wool. Shined up pretty nice, although it did have some nasty scratches in it when delivered, but "Hey Hey What Can I Do".

[Chris023]

So the plan is to use 96 Cree LEDs, 64 Royal Blue and 32 Neutral White. Driven in 4 parallel strings of 12 by HLG-150H-48B (times 2). My prototype uses Cool Whites, and I have noticed some of the colors seem washed out. Not sure if it is the Cool Whites or some other issue with the frag tank. Anyways I am going with Neutral. Here are a couple more cheesy Power Point diagrams of the layout and spacing.






Measured and marked the holes using one of the LEDs as a jig.








Drilled the 192 holes




Once the holes were drilled, I pre-screwed in the screws to 'thread' them. This was the most horrifying part of this entire build. I used these screws, which didn't get through the 1/8 inch thick channel all that easily.



Many screws were bent, and heads twisted off. I had to do this by hand as a drill was hard on the screws. So after a few hours and one bad ass blister later, I was quite "Dazed And Confused". I probably could have gone about this step better.

[Chris023]

Using these homemade brackets to rest the rig in the canopy. Easy removal if needed.












Pre-tinned the stars






Screwed the stars

[Chris023]

Wire stars together










Ran wire to strings)



Wired power to the drivers










Power test... ONLY AFTER DOING CONTINUITY AND SHORT TESTS ON EVERY LED!!!

[Chris023]

Mounted the optics and added a splash shield. I used aquarium silicone to mount the optics. I found this quite difficult to get them on as straight as possible as the opening on the optic is a perfect fit over the LED chip, however there are little solder points that fix the chip to the star, which causes issues for getting the optic to sit nicely.






I mounted the drivers, blocks, fuses, & resistors in a plastic aerated drawer tie strapped to egg crate. The egg crate is then tie strapped to the bottom of the drawer. I also used egg crate to close off the top. I used large 'L" braces as makeshift heat sinks for the drivers.

[Chris023]

After doing a test with the rig in the canopy, I found the channels getting very hot. Even with an open back and such large channels, there seemed to be not enough air movement to keep things cool. As soon as I took the top off, the temp dropped at least 25 degrees. So some fans were in order. I didn't have much room to try to blow air down the channels from one end, so I decided to mount on top and blow down. This actually worked out extremely well. I feel plenty of air flowing down all channels and the rig is quite cool, not even warm.

[Chris023]

Okay... Let's "Bring it on Home"
I am using a Reef Keeper Lite with a ALC module to ramp up and down.

[ensiferum321]

Holy.....

Your tank, and builds..Never cease to amaze me.

Bravo Chris, bravo.

[LotsaFishies]

wow.

what an amazing, and absolutely gorgeous build. Very well thought out, beautifully executed. Amazing craftsmanship.

How are your corals responding?
Is it brighter than your original lights?
Able to share with us how much it cost to build?

[uxdesigner]

Awesome build! Did you use the new XP-E's?

[av619]

Id like to know the cost too if you want to throw it out there...
Your tank is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep us posted on your success or dismay!

[UpliftedMoFo]

Very nice...I'm ashamed that I bought a pre made moonlight now

[jessegarcia28]

Wow. Simply amazing Chris. Looks like ur getting a good spread even better than ur t5s.
Lmk when ull start fabricating these bad boys