[bowbros]

Is that speaker wire? Is this a finished light?

I like things a bit more contained as a finished product!

yes it is 18 gauge speaker wire, the led draw relative low current so this wire works great, the only thing i will do to finish this is to drill 1/2 inch holes to run the wires through. i use 1/2 inch pvc water line as conduit to make a slick contained unit when i get ready to place this on the boat i will post a picture of how to run the conduit and mount on a pontoon. i would do it today but here in Southwest Missouri we have snow and -10 wind chill.

 

[water snake 2]

like the setup would have run the wires from back side but an easy build and simple that is good would need protection if you run through grass or brush maybe a clear cover over the chip for bugs but said they were water proof.

 

[bowbros]

Is that speaker wire? Is this a finished light?

I like things a bit more contained as a finished product!

yes it may not look like a $200+ fancy store bought light but it gets the job done and it costs less than $60. no it might not look good on a high dollar boat but it will help get some people into the sport that don't have a chunk of money to lay down for a fancy rig.

 

[bowbros]

this is what it looks like with 30 watt chips, 4 on each side.

 

[water snake 2]

View attachment 120889 this is what it looks like with 30 watt chips, 4 on each side.

just think what 100 watts would do. when you order chips you have to state if you want 12 volt,24 volt or 110 is this correct or not.

 

[bowbros]

just think what 100 watts would do. when you order chips you have to state if you want 12 volt,24 volt or 110 is this correct or not.

these chips are 30-36 volt dc, that s why i use a power supply, check out the Facebook post at the top of this thread www.facebook.com/bowbrosbowfishing it shows the chips and the power supplies that i use in the pictures of the build
Thanks Danny

 

[GaryBriggs]

yes it may not look like a $200+ fancy store bought light but it gets the job done and it costs less than $60. no it might not look good on a high dollar boat but it will help get some people into the sport that don't have a chunk of money to lay down for a fancy rig.

If that came across as an attack I apologize, I'm asking have you made any that are in more of a traditional housing?

 

[water snake 2]

these chips are 30-36 volt dc, that s why i use a power supply, check out the Facebook post at the top of this thread www.facebook.com/bowbrosbowfishing it shows the chips and the power supplies that i use in the pictures of the build
Thanks Danny

I,m a little slow on some of this electric stuff when you say you use a dc boost to run off 12 volt battery is this in addition to the driver or is this the driver that you use all my leds are 12 volt setup some will go higher like they say 12 to 30 volts but I,m using 12 volt chevy alts to keep everything charged. I have about 1300 watts of leds that I have about 16 hundred dollars in them bought going 3 years ago most of them.1300 watts of your setup be about 650 dollars kinda like that. one other question if the chip itself gets covered with bug residue or mud ok to clean with windex and paper towel,

 

[froghunter]

snake you could take your stainless pot idea and bowbros chip idea and build a cheap light!

this definatly has potential but i was looking on amazon and have found 50watt leds for 27.00$. that would be hard to compete with. the chips are cheap but the houseing could up the price a little depending on what "look" you wanted. i need some new lights but am waiting on garrybriggs led review before i pull the trigger on anything.

 

[bowbros]

You can Use the power supply for 110 volt systm or the dc boost to run off a battery

 

[bowbros]

So far I haven't put these in a factory style housing they have worked good the way they are also I haven't been able to find any housings online to buy. I am assuming that you could upgrade lower power lights with these chips. So far I have tried them on the dc boost and they work with it set from 27 to 32 volts without a problem. Guys this is just a simple way to hopefully get more people into our fun sport. These can be modified to fit any platform I hope people try it and improve it
Thanks Danny

 

[water snake 2]

So far I haven't put these in a factory style housing they have worked good the way they are also I haven't been able to find any housings online to buy. I am assuming that you could upgrade lower power lights with these chips. So far I have tried them on the dc boost and they work with it set from 27 to 32 volts without a problem. Guys this is just a simple way to hopefully get more people into our fun sport. These can be modified to fit any platform I hope people try it and improve it
Thanks Danny

the dc boost not quiet clear on is this like converter between generator and your light and the battery?

 

[GaryBriggs]

snake you could take your stainless pot idea and bowbros chip idea and build a cheap light!

this definatly has potential but i was looking on amazon and have found 50watt leds for 27.00$. that would be hard to compete with. the chips are cheap but the houseing could up the price a little depending on what "look" you wanted. i need some new lights but am waiting on garrybriggs led review before i pull the trigger on anything.

It's coming bro, building the deck right now and lights should be here Monday!!!

 

[whiteriverrambo]

just got it a couple of days ago i hooked it up to four chips( 2 of these units ) it seemed to work great, it didn't heat up much and the chips are bright. i will have to run them outside for a night or so before i can recommend it but it is showing promise

run them against a wall or something and leave them on for a week. take a picture of the wall every 12hrs or every night. if by the end of the week your last day picture is as bright as your first day photo Id say your not getting any heat damage.

 

[Istickem]

Good luck on the life span on those led.
Not near enough heat sink, your junction temp must be very high, which will vastly decrease light output.

 

[water snake 2]

Good luck on the life span on those led.
Not near enough heat sink, your junction temp must be very high, which will vastly decrease light output.

you talking the spot where the chip is riveted to the sheet?

 

[whiteriverrambo]

I hope you do the test. the biggest worry I have about your contraption is the dissipation of heat. just about every problem ive seen LED's have has came from excess heat. weather its a loose wire or low contact from the heat sink or the heat sink being to small. its their downfall.

what worries me is most mfg. use cheap magnesium injection molded housings. The higher quality mfg. will use some of the same alloys but with increased attention to adding fins to the housings. Mag alloys won't dissipate heat as well as straight aluminum and a small finned heat sink will dissipate heat better than a large sheet. as far as the chips go you may get by with your design for a little while but I fear over time you chips will burn up. its not the immediate operating temperature that kills the chip its the duration temperature that ruins them in the end.

Ive looked into doing something like what you trying because IMO factory housings are a joke. They weigh more than they should. They almost all have their own drivers. And the reflectors are not functional. The only reason for different housing sizes is to reduce the temperature created by larger chips.

Try the 2 lights you have set up. if they fail try to find some finned heat sink and attach it directly behind each chip, the larger the better and don't forget to apply the contact grease before you attach it.

 

[whiteriverrambo]

you talking the spot where the chip is riveted to the sheet?

yes that's what Istickem means. the 2"x2" square behind the chip will get very hot and cannot dissipate fast enough. the only resolution is to attach a finned heat sink to the back. the thinner the fins the more there are the better. you have to create a environment that pulls heat away from the chip very fast.

 

[Istickem]

you talking the spot where the chip is riveted to the sheet?

Yep, there is a reason they have those large housings with heat sink fins

 

[water snake 2]

I hope you do the test. the biggest worry I have about your contraption is the dissipation of heat. just about every problem ive seen LED's have has came from excess heat. weather its a loose wire or low contact from the heat sink or the heat sink being to small. its their downfall.

what worries me is most mfg. use cheap magnesium injection molded housings. The higher quality mfg. will use some of the same alloys but with increased attention to adding fins to the housings. Mag alloys won't dissipate heat as well as straight aluminum and a small finned heat sink will dissipate heat better than a large sheet. as far as the chips go you may get by with your design for a little while but I fear over time you chips will burn up. its not the immediate operating temperature that kills the chip its the duration temperature that ruins them in the end.

Ive looked into doing something like what you trying because IMO factory housings are a joke. They weigh more than they should. They almost all have their own drivers. And the reflectors are not functional. The only reason for different housing sizes is to reduce the temperature created by larger chips.

Try the 2 lights you have set up. if they fail try to find some finned heat sink and attach it directly behind each chip, the larger the better and don't forget to apply the contact grease before you attach it.

Rambo have a question or maybe two ifa chip is suppended in air and turned on will it just over heat and burn up also if heavier alum sheet was used say ,o90 heavy enough to weld to and put a series of fins on the backside and leave front open would that work?