Building New Panels - Sharing the Process

[xmobotx]

Xm, did you see my post in the other thread asking you about your driver?

i did answer here and;

meanwell apc-16-700

24v .7A

yeah rrog; w/ a press it may not be as much difference but for me i found the bigger bit was a little longer, more arduous process and hard on the bit shoulder >probably took 35-45 seconds to drill the hole in 1 operation >compared to 2 3-4 second operations using a tiny pilot. either way; a punch is probably a good idea -i know i have some irregular holes from drift {too lazy to go get the punch}

 

[rives]

Regarding drilling- Googling this a bit, higher speeds are suggested, and for aluminum, WD-40 or 3in1 Oil will work.

I will see if a pre-drilled hole is needed or if the punch works.

Neither of those is a cutting/tapping fluid, but may work for you. Energy Release has an excellent one but it is hard to find, Tap Magic, Rapid Tap, etc.

Good luck.

 

[rives]

i did answer here and;

meanwell apc-16-700

24v .7A

I saw that this morning. I wouldn't expect problems with a Meanwell on power-up, but was concerned that you might have been using a lower quality driver that has some drift while starting.

 

[rrog]

OK- all holes are now drilled. 100 of 'em. 'Twas fast and easy-peasy. All holes are within that thick base. No fins to deal with.

Also tinned all 50 LEDs. That was also crazy fast.

I can see wires running all over the place... I wonder if hot melt glue would work.

 

[W89]

hi buddy, damn this thread confuses me.. good luck tho

 

[hempfield]

...
Also tinned all 50 LEDs. That was also crazy fast.

I can see wires running all over the place... I wonder if hot melt glue would work.

I know what are you saying :



I noticed that cutting wires at the exact length gives a more aesthetic finish of the LED panel (but this requires more time - and I did not had enough when I built my panel). If the wires are just a little bit longer they tend to twist and the entire panel looks more chaotic.

L.E I just found some old pictures taken when I have build the panel :

 

[rrog]

Any way to secure long wires to the sink? That's quite the panel!

 

[hempfield]

If they are short enough you don't need to secure them (soldering points are strong enough) , but if you really want to do this, some small pieces of duct tape should be fine ( everything can be fixed with duct tape )

 

[rrog]

I'm going to try hot melt glue

 

[cimenk_hel]

hempfield how powerful are those? Seems like a lot of cooling to do...?

Which reminds me, I wonder if running xml's at low enough current would allow you to attach them onto a heatsink right next to each other and get by with just a light breeze on the heatsink? Surely running them at 700mA and less would not cause much heat at all?

 

[rrog]

I'm running them at ~2.1A. That's a lot of $$ just to run them at 700mA, in my opinion. I'd rather cool. I have 50 of the XM-L's oing on a mongo 10 x 22 sink. With fans

 

[hempfield]

I'm going to try hot melt glue

You can give it a try, by if your heatsink has a shiny surface the hot melt glue will not stick to well and easily fall out.

hempfield how powerful are those? Seems like a lot of cooling to do...?

Which reminds me, I wonder if running xml's at low enough current would allow you to attach them onto a heatsink right next to each other and get by with just a light breeze on the heatsink? Surely running them at 700mA and less would not cause much heat at all?

There are 200 LEDs, 1W and 3W chips and the total drain power is 285W (more pics here). I have 6 fans (12V, 80x80x25mm) conected in series, dpowered by 48V (which mean 8V/fan) and the temperature in the center of the heatsink does not exceed 42 degrees Celsius.

You can have the XM-Ls mounted very close to each other if the heatsink is designed to disipate enough power (you must read 'heat'). If a XM-L is driven at 2000mA, this mean a 6W power consumption. If the real efficiency of the LED is 30% (up to 40% when driven at 700mA), it means that the heatsink must dissipate 0.7*6=4.2W transformed on heat.

L.E I just uploaded some older pics to the LED panel album

 

[rrog]

I have different hot melts. I'll try and see.

EDIT:

Headed to Radio Shack to get a work box for the drivers.

The drivers are Mean Well LPF-90D-42. 25-42V, 2.15A, 90.3W

Each running 10 Cree XM-L.

Just double checking 3 specs:

1- Each will have a fuse on the AC side. I have 150VAC in my notes from something. Just confirming this is correct.

2- Each will have a MOV on AC side. Cover legs with heat shrink. Not sure what size.

3- Also Zeners (on AC side?) 45V or up.

Thanks for any eyeballs...

 

[W89]

RROG you got any pictures of what you are doing? I'm really interested in the process, I'm going to do some research for sure and hopefully make my own, I'm good with my hands and love to DIY but I think I will need to spend a while looking up various things

 

[rrog]

W89- No pics. I don't have a secure photo account any more.

 

[rives]

Rrog, I think that you might have gotten the voltage ratings twisted up a bit. The MOV should be 150v, and small glass fuses are usually rated for 32, 125, or 250v - either of the two higher ones will be fine.

These are the MOVs that I use - http://www.mouser.com/Search/Produc...0BPvirtualkey57610000virtualkey576-V150LA20BP

Why don't you use the picture storage on here rather than an outside account? Is there something that should concern me here that I've stepped over?

 

[rrog]

Thanks Rives-

Well, I went to Radio Shack. What a complete waste of my time.

I was able to pick up hook-up wire and some 250V fuses. No MOVs, No clean way to connect AC, no Zeners. I had hoped to ask them questions regarding all of this but no luck. Not sure why they are in business, really.

So my wiring challenges for today:

1- Connecting the single AC cable to a distributor of some sort. I suppose I'd need two, one for hot and one for neutral. 1 AC in, and distributed to the 5 drivers.

2- I bought fuse holders, which seem to be the jankiest things. Bend the ends up and solder. They look like junk. So I'm still in the market for some quality fuse holders.

3- MOVs. I can order them (thanks for that link, Rives), heat shrink the legs, and then what? I've not found a tutorial or video on connecting these. I assume some sort of block like for the fuses.

4- Zeners. Same confusion as the MOV's. I understand that I need 45V or higher, but assume these work themselves into a block of some sort?

Again, I had hoped to get all this clarified and purchased today since I'm on a roll, but no-go.

Thanks!

 

[rives]

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103986

The above are one style of terminal block that is economical and works well. I don't know why they wouldn't have had one, even my local RS stocks them and they don't have much! You can connect/distribute everything using these. The fuse holders that have the pig-tails attached are probably the easiest to use, and would also work well with the terminal block.

Mouser has a myriad of options for all of this stuff.

 

[rrog]

So those terminal blocks would be OK for AC distribution, The zeners and the MOVs?

 

[rives]

Yes. On very small leads, you might have to solder a short piece of wire onto the end to get a good connection to the terminal block, it depends on how tight the clamp will get.