Heatsinks for DIY LED lamps

Dloomis514

Well-Known Member
I would add that if you are using active cooling, something like computer heat sinks, they are not simply cooling the heatsink, they are also adding some air movement to your grow area which is important. The only reasons I see to go passive are, you really want it to be quite, or you are extremely worried about power consumption.
Quiet would be a good reason too :)
 

Snapper

Well-Known Member
Anyone know approximately much metal will I need to run a single CXA3070 at 1.4a? Would a decent sized CPU heatsink be enough to cool it passively or wouldI need more?
 

alesh

Well-Known Member
Ahh, makes sense. Could you use a thermal fuse (or this) attached to an actively cooled heat sink (idk, maybe just use kapton tape or something to keep it attached) as a fail safe for the fan?
You could, although I'm not sure where you'd attached it. But your best option is to design the whole fixture in a way it doesn't exceed absolute maximum rating of any part even if a fan fails.
People there try to run their LEDs usually at/under Tj 50°C. But you can run it at Tj 140-150°C for days without permanent damage.
 

sforza

Well-Known Member
Quiet would be a good reason too :)
Using a fully passive system would be quite quiet.

I am testing out using an active sidewinder system. And sort of like the fellow who uses a belt and suspenders, an Ideal COB holder and kapton tape. Initial test results seem to indicate that it will run fairly cool. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get my tuna fish can mounted for a reflector and I will good to go.

Sidewinder side.JPG Sidewinder.JPG
 

nogod_

Well-Known Member
laziness ftw.

Using a fully passive system would be quite quiet.

I am testing out using an active sidewinder system. And sort of like the fellow who uses a belt and suspenders, an Ideal COB holder and kapton tape. Initial test results seem to indicate that it will run fairly cool. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get my tuna fish can mounted for a reflector and I will good to go.

View attachment 3375343 View attachment 3375344
 

akaki

Well-Known Member
i'm i bit confused can somebody help me for choosing the right heatsink. For each heatsink i want to mount 3 vero 29 at 200w i dont want to use cpu heatsink because i wll need 15 of them (big mesh...)any advise? i will use active cooling 2-3 fans each heatsink .
 

sforza

Well-Known Member
Good question DP. Maybe with a PSU like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Coolerguys-100-240v-Molex-Power-Adapter/dp/B000MGG6SC/ref=pd_sim_e_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XS6ZPDFAG8ES4PTN872

and then with some fan power splitters you could put together a plug and play setup.

My strategy has been to cut the ends off the fan and the PSU and make my own connectors and splitters, but it is time consuming
This is a plug and play fan splitter, allowing you to use up to six fans off of one power supply:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007S3T4O0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They also make a version that will run up to 8 coolers from one power supply. They are not cheap, but time is money.
 

sforza

Well-Known Member
laziness ftw.
Right. No tapping or soldering. No math either. As someone else mentioned, using the rule of thumb. Put my thumb on the heatsink and see if it feels hot or cool. I have an IR thermometer, but I some doubts about its accuracy when taking readings from shiny bare metal. For shiny bare metal is seems to read lower than what my thumb is telling me.
 
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