I decided to try go above and beyond with these lights and try produce something professional.
It all started here, with this first version:
This is where I first started playing with 3D design. The idea was an enclosed heatsink + fan + LDD-H drivers in the enclosure. I went and got it all 3d printed and we ended up with V1:
The colours were good, the light was bright and everything remained nice and cool. This light is over my tank today and has grown plants really nicely.
However, I discovered a few issues:
a) Not great ventilation. The small air ducts annoyingly creates a wooshing noise from the fan which is otherwise silent.
I printed in PLA - This is fine if the fan never fails, however I accidentally unplugged it once. The enclosure basically melted. c) The mounting system isn't great - I didn't think about how I was going to mount it when I designed the enclosure and so I had to improvise. The way I ended up mounting it works, but isn't that great.
d) The internal wiring is a mess. 2 channels have recently failed probably partially due to this.
So keeping these issues in mind I have redesigned the entire light - This time using my own aluminium MCPCB's with custom made drivers and even a wifi card add on if I want that (in future), an open heatsink and a tank mounting design. It is way more compact due to the PCB and a thinner heatsink I can use due to the better ventilation.
Here are some Fusion screengrabs:
The LED spectrum I've used for this is also different - This time I have focused more on Chlorophyll peaks and the CRI - The end result should be about 6500K and ~90+ CRI according to Spectra. The WiFi card that can add on is on a stackable pcb - There is a 3.3v regulator on the main PCB to feed it if I add it on. It only adds 7mm or so onto the design. I know little about coding however I knew nothing about 3D design before I began this project so I'm sure I'll manage if I go that route.
I'm sending the PCB's off to be made and assembled pretty soon, as soon as the manufacturers get back to me. Once I recieve those I'll be sending off the 3d files for the enclosure and mounting parts to be printed, likely in ABS this time.
More updates then 
