I had a couple of Rebel 700mA tri-stars in RGB laying around after a school project where I used light sensors and a microcontroller to PWM them through IRF510 MOSFETs. I had the LEDs, and I had the 700mA constant current drivers. I picked up a cheap "RGB" LED controller off of ebay. I didn't think it would be able to power nine 3W LEDs at the same time, but I still had the IRF510 setup for PWM control, so I was figuring that I would use the low current LED output from the controller to control the IRF510 array (I had driven the IRF510s off of a few milliamps at 5v, so I knew the controller could do it) and then just a 12vdc power supply to power the IRF510s. They're mounted on a Dell Pentium 4 heatsink. I soldered it all up today once I got home from work, and I'm thrilled with how it works. Apparently, those cheap Chinese-made RGB controllers can handle some serious current. The PCB looked durable, but there was about eight inches of 20ga wire, RGB with a common ground, and I was like no way will that wire handle 2.1 amps from when all the LEDs are on. However, it did, so I didn't need to use my MOSFETs at all, I just have the controller directly driving the constant current drivers. This was the RGB controller. Bunch of them similar on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320535777631 The LEDs. I have a red, green, and blue. http://www.luxeonstar.com/Luxeon-Rebel-Tri-Star-LEDs-s/25.htm The CCDs from dx http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13557 Some pics of the build: And a video: Not sure what I am going to do with this thing... I guess it could be used as a case light, but it's really freaking bright, so I'll probably just hide it behind my desk and point it at the wall and ceiling. The LEDs will have you seeing spots if you look at the front.
Luxeon rebels have been used in supermarkets in the UK to replace the lights in the fridges and freezes, in tescos stores I think (useless trivia for you). What sort of power does that lot draw? What do you plan to use them for?
looks pretty cool. why not build your own version of a philips ambilight into the back of your monitor?
I may drop it back behind my monitor. it draws about 27w. Each LED is 3W, and there are nine LEDs in total. An hour of runtime, and the heatsink is very hot to the touch. Probably going to add a fan to it.
