DIY leds Discussion Thread for all your how tos and doubts and anything related

[Aristoned]

Antifreeze is just that; it's there to keep the water from freezing if temperatures drop below 0 C. It does not improve heat transfer and in fact reduces the heat transfer capacity compared to water alone. If your water circuit never goes outside the building, it's an unnecessary complication.

Nah, I don’t think I would ever have a use for antifreeze in the cooling system. If anything I would want something that would increase the affinity of the fluid as well as break the surface tension. I would also invest in a reservoir and a chiller to maintain a stable temperature to achieve 99% emission.

I paid for the chip, I want all of it.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Don't use coolant. Alloy is already a poor choice as it's near half the thermal conductivity of copper (225 vs 400) and coolant is to stop the water taking on heat. So it will reduce cooling efficiency further still. My 16v mk2 golf/rabbit would just boil without coolant to stop the water getting so hot. It's added to stop pockets of water turning to steam, which has no use in a cooling system. It's not to cool the engine in a matter the layman might think.

A bottle of inhibitor is $10 and found in your central heating system. Fernox perhaps.

That's only true with convection and air cooled type heatsinks, etc. Copper heat pipes for sure, which actually work better than copper water blocks. ..They boil a tiny amount of steam inside to work..





When it comes to liquid cooling though, you're only gonna increase the temps by a few degrees by using aluminum components (blocks/rad) compared to using an all copper based loop. Its not really worth the cost to upgrade IMO, and isn't gonna cut your coolant temps in half just because copper is 2x better. There are plenty of side by side comparison videos showing copper isn't that much better than alum in cooling loops, but some don't mind paying the premium for better materials. Its not like you could swap an aluminum radiator for one made of copper that is half the size, and expect to have the same performance..

Air cooled heatsinks are a different story though! Copper (especially heat pipe tech) is better for sure..

 

[Drop That Sound]

Whats wrong with using coolant? In case of leaks over the plants? I get that..
50/50 is cheap though, and can be obtained at any nearby gas station. Many a PC water cooling enthusiast don't mind using it either, and been running regular old green glycol 50% antifreeze engine coolant for years with absolutely no issues at all. Has all the corrosion inhibitors you need already for a mixed loop. Meanwhile, the other guys use expensive WC specific coolants and additives, and sometimes/more often than not have problems all the time with gunky loops and nasty looking CPU cooling blocks.. Have to do res changes every year.


Bonus: I found that you can add a few drops of the cheap UV dye they sell down at the auto parts store, for finding coolant leaks with a UV light. Its completely compatible unlike some of the special PC cooling dyes they sell, that contaminate the loop. Give your coolant a nice neon green glow with some extra UV leds, if you're into that sort of thing..

Or, you can try adding your own biocides\corrosion inhibitors, and running distilled water. Add some drops every few months for maintenance. Be careful though, as they might strip all the nickel plating off your fittings, etc.. Oh wait, we're talking about liquid cooled grow lighting, without fancy $300 water blocks inside a custom PC case that need to look in top shape.. Yeah, might as well just run water with some hardware store biocides, and maybe a few drops of an inhibitor if you have mixed metals in you your loop.


I'll just stick with the same coolant that keeps my vehicles running for decades, and that I know works great, even if its not getting frozen outside like my rigs do in the winter..

 

[Aristoned]

That's only true with convection and air cooled type heatsinks, etc. Copper heat pipes for sure, which actually work better than copper water blocks. ..They boil a tiny amount of steam inside to work..





When it comes to liquid cooling though, you're only gonna increase the temps by a few degrees by using aluminum components (blocks/rad) compared to using an all copper based loop. Its not really worth the cost to upgrade IMO, and isn't gonna cut your coolant temps in half just because copper is 2x better. There are plenty of side by side comparison videos showing copper isn't that much better than alum in cooling loops, but some don't mind paying the premium for better materials. Its not like you could swap an aluminum radiator for one made of copper that is half the size, and expect to have the same performance..

Air cooled heatsinks are a different story though! Copper (especially heat pipe tech) is better for sure..

Copper > Aluminium where it comes to conductivity, copper can hold more heat and expend the heat faster.

But, you’re using water. Water beats Aluminum and Copper without even waking up.

 

[Aristoned]

Whats wrong with using coolant? In case of leaks over the plants? I get that..
50/50 is cheap though, and can be obtained at any nearby gas station. Many a PC water cooling enthusiast don't mind using it either, and been running regular old green glycol 50% antifreeze engine coolant for years with absolutely no issues at all. Has all the corrosion inhibitors you need already for a mixed loop. Meanwhile, the other guys use expensive WC specific coolants and additives, and sometimes/more often than not have problems all the time with gunky loops and nasty looking CPU cooling blocks.. Have to do res changes every year.


Bonus: I found that you can add a few drops of the cheap UV dye they sell down at the auto parts store, for finding coolant leaks with a UV light. Its completely compatible unlike some of the special PC cooling dyes they sell, that contaminate the loop. Give your coolant a nice neon green glow with some extra UV leds, if you're into that sort of thing..

View attachment 19176822



Or, you can try adding your own biocides\corrosion inhibitors, and running distilled water. Add some drops every few months for maintenance. Be careful though, as they might strip all the nickel plating off your fittings, etc.. Oh wait, we're talking about liquid cooled grow lighting, without fancy $300 water blocks inside a custom PC case that need to look in top shape.. Yeah, might as well just run water with some hardware store biocides, and maybe a few drops of an inhibitor if you have mixed metals in you your loop.


I'll just stick with the same coolant that keeps my vehicles running for decades, and that I know works great, even if its not getting frozen outside like my rigs do in the winter..

We don’t need ANTI-FREEZE in our systems, our systems do not freeze.

If you absolutely have to put a chemical in there find Water Wetter, you will run cooler with that and distilled water.

Using the Ethylene Glycol based anti-freeze only increases the fluids capacity for heat energy before boiling, the fluid is also used under ~1 BAR of pressure.

I doubt we would be able to measure the difference between just water and the anti-freeze mixture in the system unless we looked at your wallet.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I got some 20a 300w DC-DC buck/boost converter modules coming, to upgrade my new PC ATX supplemental power supply (specifically the 8 and 14 amp 12v rails) into the ultimate multi channel variable CC/CV driver/supply. And nicer pots, instead of the small little onboard trimmers. So I can control either finicky LEDs that need precise current on one of my rails, or dim down incandescent bulbs on another, or whatever. I also have another 3.3 and 5v rail (the ATX actually needs a decent 5v load to work properly), and will be ordering a few more lower input voltage types of buck modules to regulate them too. My converters will all be put in another box with more air cooling, and will probably have about 6-8 potentiometers on the side to dial everything in, lol.

I'm having too much fun with this light..

 

[Drop That Sound]

We don’t need ANTI-FREEZE in our systems, our systems do not freeze.

If you absolutely have to put a chemical in there find Water Wetter, you will run cooler with that and distilled water.

Using the Ethylene Glycol based anti-freeze only increases the fluids capacity for heat energy before boiling, the fluid is also used under ~1 BAR of pressure.

I doubt we would be able to measure the difference between just water and the anti-freeze mixture in the system unless we looked at your wallet.

I'm using it anyway, just because... why not? I'm not worried about boiling of freezing. Engine coolant is perfectly blended with biocide/inhibitors, and can last inside your loop for 6+ years without ANY maintenence..

EDIT: You do have to change your coolant in your vehicle every so many years, because it breaks down & wears out and eventually doesn't protect from freezing below a certain temp. However, when using coolant for a custom WC loop thats inside all the time anyway, we don't really care right? . Can keep on going for 3 more years before changing it out, unlike in your rigs that subject it to way harsher conditions..

 

[Drop That Sound]

My sealed PC CPU AOIs are all mixed metals, and last that long without maintenance too though.. One is going on 7 years (with CPU overclocked to 4.8ghz @ 1.3v+ 24/7), and I barely hear the pump humming sometimes.. I'll probably just add engine coolant when i add a new inline pump, and go another 7-8 years. lol

 

[Aristoned]

I'm using it anyway, just because... why not? I'm not worried about boiling of freezing. Engine coolant is perfectly blended with biocide/inhibitors, and can last inside your loop for 6+ years without ANY maintenence..

It can cause organ failure. Your kidneys can give out.

I’m sensitive to poisoning, I will always exercise extreme caution with substances that are harmful to our bodies.

When ever I think about death by poison I think Stalin and the Bolsheviks. That is enough motivation right there.

 

[Neferhotep]

I can understand people wanting to use some food grade cooling loop additive (it exists?). I myself would use car stuff. Use plain tap water if you want galvanic problems and a dirty cooling loop.

 

[Ca++]

Stepping out of my zone here, but the temp difference across the metal, would be twice as high, using aluminium instead of copper. If that's 10c instead of 5c, it's not particularly important, but there is no reason to make it worse, using coolant instead of inhibitor.
The water jacket isn't the full picture by a long way though. If the LED strip uses alloy, then the copper would have little gain. I imagine it's copper though, as it matters a lot. Chip cooling was (and perhaps still is) the limiting factor for chip building. In reality, the board has spread that out enough, to make alloy usable. Using more alloy, you can get the performance of less copper. Conversely, you need half as much copper. Which only really need cover the chip footprint. As that's all that needs cooling. So if a thin strip uses just one row of 3mm chips, then rolling or pressing the pipe is a real option.

I'm not fond of gluing brass fittings into alloy box, but I know it will hold a couple of bar. It works, but I keep fishing for a better way, that includes faster construction. It's all academic though. I use the QB so should build a water block of QB size. Which is like making a shallow box. Or a sandwich with maze-like filling. Or just switching to cob's on the many cheap water blocks available. The HLG QB just uses a flat plate, so blocks on the back would be easy.

I like the chat. Be nice to see something completed, and I can see it coming

 

[Drop That Sound]

Either way, whatever coolant you use, whether glycol based or water with a decent WC loop sure beats air cooling with heatsinks for removing heat from delicate LED chips. Whether or not you are trying to regulate the environment\ambient temps or dialing in VPD or whatever the case.. getting the heat away from the chips as fast and effeciently as possible should be the real objective. To add as much life as possible.

We grow weed in a garage in tents right? We also pull our vehicles in and out, and most the time they don't leak any coolant.
Glycol based chillers are used all the time for brewing beer, and also in custom grow setups.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I'm not scared to drop a stainless steel coil down into a reservior full of nutrient solution that is circulating with glycol.. I wouldn't add the fittings to the coil right over top of the res though, just saying..

 

[Ca++]

Whats wrong with using coolant? In case of leaks over the plants? I get that..
50/50 is cheap though, and can be obtained at any nearby gas station. Many a PC water cooling enthusiast don't mind using it either, and been running regular old green glycol 50% antifreeze engine coolant for years with absolutely no issues at all. Has all the corrosion inhibitors you need already for a mixed loop. Meanwhile, the other guys use expensive WC specific coolants and additives, and sometimes/more often than not have problems all the time with gunky loops and nasty looking CPU cooling blocks.. Have to do res changes every year.


Bonus: I found that you can add a few drops of the cheap UV dye they sell down at the auto parts store, for finding coolant leaks with a UV light. Its completely compatible unlike some of the special PC cooling dyes they sell, that contaminate the loop. Give your coolant a nice neon green glow with some extra UV leds, if you're into that sort of thing..

View attachment 19176822



Or, you can try adding your own biocides\corrosion inhibitors, and running distilled water. Add some drops every few months for maintenance. Be careful though, as they might strip all the nickel plating off your fittings, etc.. Oh wait, we're talking about liquid cooled grow lighting, without fancy $300 water blocks inside a custom PC case that need to look in top shape.. Yeah, might as well just run water with some hardware store biocides, and maybe a few drops of an inhibitor if you have mixed metals in you your loop.


I'll just stick with the same coolant that keeps my vehicles running for decades, and that I know works great, even if its not getting frozen outside like my rigs do in the winter..

Coolant reduces system efficiency.
$8 treats 100L, allowing for a couple of drain-downs. There is really nothing to save. I don't know how much less effective coolant would be, but I do know the projects cost.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I vape through a gallon of propylene glycol every few years (not really, but I swap for fresher gallons and keep saving the rest for cooling loops) in my DIY e-juice. It is somewhat dehydrating, but I'm still alive

 

[Drop That Sound]

Coolant reduces system efficiency.
$8 treats 100L, allowing for a couple of drain-downs. There is really nothing to save. I don't know how much less effective coolant would be, but I do know the projects cost.

True, and I do get that its geared more for certain applications. Better left for chiller loops, and vehicles that might overheat or freeze like it was designed for. A few degrees is all we're talking though.. Not enough to stop me from using it for custom loops. I like having clear tubes, and not worrying if the biocides will keep the nasties away, or actually do more harm than good. 50/50 antifreeze engine coolant still works great for whatever loops.

I gotta replace a pump on my old PC AOI, and know what my logged temps are all the time. I'll let you know what the new temps are when I seal it back up with regular 50/50 antifreeze someday soon.






Or, the new screw in led bulb cooling system going on my poor ultimate mans LED grow light right now, haha

 

[Ca++]

I vape through a gallon of propylene glycol every few years (not really, but I swap for fresher gallons and keep saving the rest for cooling loops) in my DIY e-juice. It is somewhat dehydrating, but I'm still alive

I'm not too fussed about the toxicity side of things either. Though glycol is antifreeze, and we also get antifreeze with corrosion inhibitors added. Which is the bit we need.

I wonder if I could get a milling bit in my router. Bit of flat bar, with a half round in the back, might be nice to fit a round pipe.
I need to walk away, before I'm setting up a foundry. I have already been looking. Sand casting saddles seems possible, and we can buy the saddles to make the mould with. Be alright for cobs.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I got a 25' spool of 1060 grade soft bendable aluminum tubing on the way, in 1/4 inch. I figured out how to scrape the injection molded plastic layer off the sides of the SILs (screw in LED bulbs), and expose the bare inner aluminum housings. Its a little thicker than a beer can on some bulbs I got, so easy to damage without a custom jig I'm setting up..


Gonna wrap a few turns around each bulb with the tubing, and possibly just braze them on better with a soldering iron, instead of a torch. I'll know soon if I even have too, If my coils are tight enough.

Kinda like they do with DIY RC electric motor "coil" jackets.

 

[Aristoned]

I can understand people wanting to use some food grade cooling loop additive (it exists?). I myself would use car stuff. Use plain tap water if you want galvanic problems and a dirty cooling loop.

I vape through a gallon of propylene glycol every few years (not really, but I swap for fresher gallons and keep saving the rest for cooling loops) in my DIY e-juice. It is somewhat dehydrating, but I'm still alive

I'm not too fussed about the toxicity side of things either. Though glycol is antifreeze, and we also get antifreeze with corrosion inhibitors added. Which is the bit we need.

I wonder if I could get a milling bit in my router. Bit of flat bar, with a half round in the back, might be nice to fit a round pipe.
I need to walk away, before I'm setting up a foundry. I have already been looking. Sand casting saddles seems possible, and we can buy the saddles to make the mould with. Be alright for cobs.

What @Ttystikk and I are trying to say is, using any type of anti-freeze chemical is a waste of money since it does nothing in our application.

We want to expend heat, the anti-freeze will inhibit your ability to exchange heat, period.

What you have done is spend money to make your cooling loop less efficient.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I'm not fond of gluing brass fittings into alloy box, but I know it will hold a couple of bar. It works, but I keep fishing for a better way, that includes faster construction. It's all academic though. I use the QB so should build a water block of QB size. Which is like making a shallow box. Or a sandwich with maze-like filling. Or just switching to cob's on the many cheap water blocks available. The HLG QB just uses a flat plate, so blocks on the back would be easy.

I like the chat. Be nice to see something completed, and I can see it coming

I can't use 2 part epoxies, or I a break out in contact dermatitis for weeks. I'd be gluing fittings in the ends of the square tubes all day long if I wasn't allergic..

I'll know if my new 1000w water cooled induction heater coil makes perfect weld\braze joints for my linear WC'ed strip light blocks ( 1/2 aluminum baluster decking rails, perfect size for bxeb gen 3 slims) soon enough..

Stick the end of the square tube and fitting in the coil, and wazzam! Perfect induction brazed joints.