Water cooled LED fixture

[Paul B]

I started making the frame of my water cooled LED fixture. Now I am going to clean it up and connect the LEDs to it, them build a radiator. Does anybody need a water cooled LED fixture? Of course not. It is just very cool.




Here is a better picture

 

[saltkreep88]

Very cool. How are you going to ensure water flows through all the piping? Looks like the way you have it piped it has multiple ways to flow.

 

[Paul B]

That short pipe near the center is not connected, that is just a support soldered on to the outside of the tubing. But you are correct about the flow. The center horizontal pipe, the way it's plumbed will not get much flow. I am going to replace one of the Tees with a restrictor valve which will divert half of the water through the center. I can buy that restrictor but I may build it.

 

[saltkreep88]

That makes sense, will be following this.

 

[Paul B]

I tested the flow and all three pipes get the same flow as determined by the temperature. I pumped how water through the thing and all 3 pipes got hot at the same time so I am good to go. Next I am going to glue the LEDs on.

 

[saltkreep88]

How is the flat mounting area of the leds going to work with the round pipe?

 

[Paul B]

The base of the LEDs is less than a quarter inch. The pipe is 7/8". I presume there will be enough of the base of the LED touching the copper and the thermal cement will fill in the gap. I was going to solder small copper disks to the pipe at the places where the LEDs are secured, but I don't think I will have to do that. I still may do it but I am doing a test first to see if I need to.

 

[myrjon]

. like your thought's ..

after your done maybe get a super model to show it off....

 

[Paul B]

I have been looking for a Supermodel to help me, but so far I have not heard back from any of them.

 

[Paul B]

I had to order the thermal adhesive on line because Radio Shack now only sells I Phone cases and little else. So while I am waiting I am making copper disks out of flattened copper pipe and soldering them on to the tubing to give a flat surface for the LEDs.
I used to have a bunch of sheet copper but I can't find it so instead of driving for five minutes to get some, I am using copper pipe and stamping out copper disks with a Whitney Punch. It only takes a few minutes to make 10 of them.


Here are a couple soldered on with an LED laying on it.

 

[saltkreep88]

Could you have used square copper pipe. I googled it, it exists haha.

 

[Paul B]

Yes it exists, but did you see the price of it? And how long did you search before you found out they don't make fittings for square tubing?

 

[saltkreep88]

Haha I figured you looked into but you never know.

 

[Paul B]

I punched out and soldered on the 70 copper disks that will support the LEDs. Now (if I get time) I will clean it up more and shoot the entire thing with some clear coat because copper turns green and ugly. This way my Steam Punk look will last. But before I do that, I will make and solder on the supports for the plexiglass shield and also the supports to hang it over the tank. I am waiting for the thermal adhesive. I still have to either build or buy the heater core for the cooling.

 

[NJ Corals Direct]

Not only is this fixture a genius idea, it's ascetically pleasing! Very cool project, definitively want to see your final product!

 

[Paul B]

I am going to try to make the wiring ascetically pleasing also but that is going to be more of a choir because I have to cross wires to jump between the whites and blues. Those LEDs are rated differently so I can't just wire all of them in series.

 

[horseplay]

So cool. This is and will be the only one in the WORLD. On the other hand electricians charge $100/hour and this will probably take at least 40 hours to build. Don't even mention the cost of copper. You got to love DIY

 

[Paul B]

I don't know about the only one in the world as I am sure this has been done a few times someplace. As for electricians charging $100.00 an hour. What happened? Did we get a cut in pay?

 

[Paul B]

I decided not to use thermal switches for this project because I have a better idea. Today I built a water flow cut off switch that also allows me to see if the water is flowing visually. What I am planning to do is have the timer that turns on the lights, turn on the water pump instead of the lights. When the water starts flowing through the pipe, The water flow will raise a magnet encased in a glass cylinder that is in a vertical acrylic tube. When the magnet gets near the top of the cylinder, it trips the magnetic switch that turns on the LEDs. When the pump goes off, the magnet will drop, breaking the circuit to the lights. I would like to take credit for this, but I didn't invent it. I saw a very similar switch on the net. With this installed, the LEDs can't go on unless there is water flowing and if water is flowing, the fixture will stay cool. Even if the water leaks out of the system, the lights will not turn on whish is what I want. By looking at the position of the magnet, I can determine if water is flowing.

 

[Paul B]

I built and tested that water flow, sensor/ pump, shut off switch and it works perfect. Now I need to solder on the copper wire management system, glue on the LEDs, wire and test them.