[effox]

How big of a heatsink am I going to need for this thing. I'm hoping someone who has experience with this product would be able to answer this question. I'm not buying it until I know it could fit into my biocube without excessive heat and if the heatsink dimensions would be feasible to cram in there.

Thanks in advance to any who can assist!

 

[effox]

Here is a link to the item in question. I've emailed other sellers, but they give me extremely STUPID answers, like use the corresponding heatsink based on the voltage.

Does anyone know what kind of heat this gives off? A 3w is hot, so I don't know what kind of heat sink is necessary to keep this operational for 10-12 hours a day.

 

[effox]

Apparently it requires a tower CPU heatsink and fan. What practical usage could be, I no longer have a clue.

 

[Jonney_boy]

wow, that's a LOT of cooling.

Having said that, i've seen work lamps with the 50w heatsinks on them and they don't seem to have a huge heatsink fan.

I too am curious as to how well these chips work on a fish tank, would love a pair of them lighting up my 75 gal.

Another route to take would be a bank of 3w cree Q5's..... they seem to be proven and "cheap" for aquarium use.

 

[tony1928]

I'm thinking of using one of the www.rapidled.com's DIY kits for my 8 foot x 3 foot tank. Going to build an aluminum frame to attach the LED pcb's to it. LED's definitely require some kind of heat sink, but I"m not sure you need to go heavy duty CPU/audio equipment class heat sinks unless the density of the LED's are sufficiently high.

 

[Jonney_boy]

WOW, that is the first time i've seen led kits that seem to be geared for aquariums......

having said that, are there any reviews on how well an R5 bulb works on a planted tank? I know they where saying a while back that the Q5's (which where best at the time) had a nice spectrum for growing plants (a nice peak in the blue an a smaller peak in the red). The R5's do put out a LOT more light an the Q5's tho for the same wattage.

 

[effox]

I'm looking at a 10w, pushing 1000 lumens as opposed to the 100 lumen 3w's.

I was really interested in getting that 50w, but I can't be bothered to try to dissipate that kind of heat exchange in a biocube, I'd melt'er down to the ground I'm thinking.

I've got 1w's, they're definitely not enough for aquarium use, the 3w's are nice, but the 5w's are probably where it's at if you ask me. I've got one 5w in my cree flashlight, I'd buy your fish white canes if you bought those blinders.

 

[effox]

oh, and buy one cree and compare it to a ebay special asian no-name. I can see the difference between a 3w noname and a 5w cree, but I don't believe side by side 3w's you'd be able to tell the difference, and they're about 2 to 4 dollars cheaper each LED.

 

[Jonney_boy]

Every company will have different lines ("bins") of led's....

Cree's are separated by Q1 - Q5 then R1 to R5........

The Q1's will put out MUCH less light than a r5 bulb... .. personally i'm using a Q5 3w cree flash light at home too and it puts out roughly 230 lumens.

I'm not sure personally how well the R5's work (they put out a lot more light than a Q5 but are also 3w) as i've not had a chance to look at their output spectrum yet. I do know a Q5 will work well in a aquarium if given enough of them.. In the fourm before the crash there was a write up about a DIY hood using LED's, and it worked GREAT.

 

[effox]

I saw that one, it looked great, that's what inspired me to go a DIY led route.

I've ordered a 10w to see how well it can be cooled, and how bright it will shine. I might purchase 2 more if it yields good results.

If not, into the project box it goes, which has now turned into a cabinet in itself.