Just a quick showcase of the 1 day build converting an old aquarium hood light into a 20 watt led light. Im not sure what was originally in the place of the current leds but I assume it was either a t5 or a t6, but as I want to set up a planted tank, I would have to replace the basic lighting anyway. The tank is a 20 liter bow front, and now has 20 watts pumping through it , haha slightly overkill. The whole project cost less than $30 including 3 spare leds.
Parts:
Heatsink (cut in half for each led): http://www.ebay.com....=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
LEDs: http://www.ebay.com....=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
40mm Fans: http://www.ebay.com....=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
A 12v 2a Switching power supply
An Acrylic Sheet
Power adapter head
Tank lid
The aquarium led initially looked like this, you can see the 5 mounting points at the center of the image.
The heatsinks, leds and fans all parts that were purchased cheaply off of ebay.
Rough layout of how I wanted to mount everything.
Drilling holes in side heatsinks.
Mounting LEDs.
Finished LED mount arm.
Test fitting.
LED wiring, all in parallel including fans. Notice most wiring is hidden in center heatsink, and the joints between each arm heatsinks and center heatsink are cemented with heatsink cement.
Make acrylic cap.
All finished, mind the finger
Bright! Muuuuucch brighter in person.
All done!
Alright in conclusion, everything worked out reasonably well. I am no electronics genius but I know a little, and hopefully enough for this to last into the future. Next time I would leave out the fans as I am quietly confident that there is no need. They honestly dont get too hot for concern with this many heatsinks. Thanks all for reading the post, any/ all feedback/ questions are welcome.