20W Epistar DIY LED

[panayiote73]

I have a fluval edge in the office and really needed a new light. I weighed the options and found this to be the most cost effective presuming it doesn't fail. Below are the components I purchased from eBay; Epistar 20W LED chip 16K, 90 - 120 degree adjustable beam lens, Intel Celeron LGA775 cooling fan, LED driver (not pictured). Spent just under $40. Most expensive thing was the lens. I could've saved $10 if I bought a fixed angle lens but I didn't know which one to buy.

View attachment 92074

 

[Turbosnail]

Nice setup so far can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[panayiote73]

Now that I figured out how to manage attachments here are a few more:

Below is the chip and lens. Lens is 2 pieces, it telescopes to change angle.




Next is the chip sitting on the cooling fan, there's that thermo glue between the chip and fan to transfer heat.



The bottom part of the lens then goes on top of the chip.

 

[panayiote73]

In the previous post you see four holes in the bottom part of the lens. I marked these holes with a sharpie, then I took my drill and made 4 holes in the cooler. The cooler is aluminum so it's not terribly hard to drill through. I will say this though have patience because I pushed too hard and broke 2 drill bits inside the holes. I'm not going to bother removing broken bit. Only option is to buy another cooler but honestly 2 screws is good enough, very solid.

 

[panayiote73]

On either side of the chip there are tabs labeled (+) and (-). I attached the corresponding wires from the plug I'll be using with my LED driver.


The other side looks like this:

 

[panayiote73]

I grabbed my laptop power supply since my LED driver hasn't arrived yet. The power rating was similar so I plugged it in. One thing I would not recommend is staring at the chip when you test it. I've been seeing blue spots and light flashes for the past 15 min or so. This thing is super bright! You can't tell by pic because my camera compensated for the excess light but trust me this thing lit up the entire room! Can't wait to fit it into my Fluval canopy. I'll post a pic or 2 of the tank once I get that far. Overall this took me about 45min to 1hr. I'm not an electronics whiz or anything. Very doable for just about anyone.

 

[jason401]

Awesome job!

 

[s_kelley]

Nice job, that adjustable optic is pretty cool looking. How are you planning on mounting/hanging it over the fluval?

 

[panayiote73]

I played around with mounting the light to the fluval canopy today. The lip at the top of the fluval tank casts a shadow if the light is above it. When you bring the light below the lip you can't get the coverage you want..... I'll have to get creative tomorrow didn't have much time to spend on it today.

I borrowed a lux meter today and the chip was putting out between 9800 and 10000 LUX a 12" above the sand. I actually don't know what that means ......

 

[willray]

Excellent job! Love the adjustable lens. Have you seen the "hybrid" LED's that have some actinic to them?

 

[panayiote73]

I've seen the hybrids, very cool!

I'm doing research and shopping around for a combination of Epistar chips right now. I'd like to build something in the 200W range with full spectrum including actinics. The new setup will have multiple drivers and dimmers. These chips I believe are the tip of the iceberg as far as what's to come in the future.

 

[DBLeite]

Really nice job!!
sweet build..

I have 3 of the 100 watt hybrid chips that I diy'd last fall. I love them.....
I really like the adjustable lense, those weren't available when I made mine.