HEXLight, a DIY Studio Light Alternative
Introduction: HEXLight, a DIY Studio Light Alternative
Hey everyone What's up!
So this is HEX Light
which is a DIY Studio Lighting Setup that consists of a total of 72 High Power Cree LEDs and they are powered by a 12V 5A SMPS. LEDs are driven by two separate LED Driver ICs and this whole setup cost less than 100$ to make which is still cheaper than other similar size studio light available in the market.
Also, huge thanks to PCBWay for Supporting this project, Check out PCBWay for getting great PCB Service at a relatively less cost.
Question, why did I make this huge studio light?
Well, the answer here is pretty simple, I required a proper lighting setup for my current maker setup and all I have were few LED Strips and a small studio lightbox that I recently made, they all were functional but not exactly great.
The main goal here was to increase the lighting setup by not spending much on commercially available lights and make my own version of this studio light with aluminum extrusion and 3D Printed Parts
Supplies
These are the things that we need in our built
* LEDs JK3030 Cree
* 1.5 Ohms Resistance 1206 Package
* 0.47 Ohms Resistance 1206 Package
* 100uf Capacitor
* 63uH Indictor
* SS34 Diode SMA
* DC Barrel Jack
* Custom PCB (which was provided by PCBWAY)
* Custom 3D Printed body
* SIC9301A led driver IC
* Aluminum Square Pipe/Extrusion
* 12V SMPS Power Supply
Step 1: Basic Structure
A few weeks ago, I made this small yet powerful Studio Light Box, In that setup, I used SIC9301A LED Driver IC to driver 3V Cree LEDs.
Studio Light Box Project was pretty handy and useful but it was not enough to illuminate the entire room, that is because of its number of LEDs. I required more LUX which can be acquired by adding more LEDs.
But more LEDs mean more heat generation, so I prepared an Aluminum Extrusion based Light this time which is modeled in a HEXAGON Shape.
I first prepared the Basic Structure in Fusion360 by measuring the Aluminum channel first and then creating its Support Bushes that will hold two channels at an internal angle of 120 Degree. 982
After that, I placed 6 PCBs on each Hexagon side and use its measurement to make a custom PCB in the PCB Designing suite.
Step 2: PCB Designing and Ordering
To make any PCB, we first need to think about what we want to put in that PCB.
In my case, I required 12 LEDs which are arranged in 3S 4P Config. To drive those LEDs, I needed a constant LED Driver IC and to power this whole setup, I required a DC Jack or a battery connector.
After this planning, I started making the schematic of the main board then we Import the Netlist of our schematic to convert this it a PCB File.
All PCB Designing suit works differently but this is a universal step, we first make a schematic, then assign each component their footprint and then convert the SCHEMATIC file into a Board File.
After completing the board, I then exported the Gerber data for PCB and send it to PCBWay for samples.
I received the PCBs in a week and they were mind-blowing. PCB Quality was pretty great and I just loved it, PCBWay, you guys rock!
Check out PCBWay for getting great PCB Service at Less cost- The next Process is the PCB Assembly
Step 3: PCB Assembly
* The First step of the PCB Assembly is to add solder paste to each component one by one.
* Then we gather everything we need (which are LEDs) and place them in the right order one by one.
* Then we Carefully lift the PCB and put that on a Reflow Hotplate, the Hotplate will heat the PCB from Below and the solder paste will melt as soon as the hotplate temp reaches the solder paste melting temp.
* Few LEDs were shorted so one end of the tweezer, we need to move the led back and forth, by doing this, the solder paste between two pads will clear up and the shorting will not occur.
* After this, I carefully removed the PCB from the Hotplate and check the PCB by supplying 12V to its VCC Pads.
Now, we required a total of 6 LED PCBs and two LED Driver Boards.
* LED Driver board assembly process is also the same, I first added solder paste to each component pad and then added the components to it.
* then I added it on the hotplate and let the solder paste melt and that was pretty much it. 472