The Guide for a Perfect RGB Light with PMMA fiber optic cable

Liteglow - get out there and run the fountain - the worst than can happen is the stream would freeze in a perfect clear arch. Then stop the water and you can enjoy your display all winter long.

This is probably the best laminar jet show I have ever seen. Cutters and Lights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjNZ__TDVMA&feature=PlayList&p=1F83A2EC969FBD6B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=44

Yeah, that is really good, but they are using the OASE professional nozzles. You can buy them too for about $4000

Yes, looks Nice, very nice! My brightness is close to that, not as bright, but i think arround 20% less. They use the same tecnology like the pentair jet. 5W rgb LED inside and a special plexi rod to rtansport the light, verry effective but not easy to build.

Now these might really produce some serious light.

http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php?cPath=19_24

Yes! Light is great! But i am not shure how large the output glass is. the smaller it is the better, if you use 3mm fiber cables. if they larger than 3mm you loose a lot of light. But give a try.
The luxeons i use has a 5mm glass lens and the real light source is 2.3mm inside.

do you need one fiber optic cable per led? or can you buy a cable that has 3 or 4 strands in it?

Hi, the best is one fiber per led. If you can find a strand with 3 solid fibers at least 3mm each, this is ok, but you cant find it on the market as much i know.

I'm a noobie to laminar - and am still considering my building plans.. so please be gentle.

I have a question about the PMMA Optic Fiber link.

Most designs I've seen you all build have 3x 3mm fibres through (what looks to be brass or copper) pipe - I assume sealed-for-leaks internally with silicone.
I suspect the reasoning for fibre is related to getting a way to connect the source LED connected.

I am wondering why not use 3mm PMMA solid rod down the middle of the unit and terminating the LEDs mounted to the back?

I suspect that the Rod will be cheaper than the Flex.. and if you mounted the LED's to the back of the rod at varying hights or even slight heating the rod to bend the ends apart - might assist the optical seperation and mounting?

This is just an uneducated idea and I haven't tried any of this.
Is there a reason why this wouldn't work?
I suspect that Rod will be cheaper than Flex (still awaiting confirmation of this in Australia)

BTW: There has been plenty of work on dimming/switching lighting setup at http://doityourselfchristmas.com/ (look for SSR/Dimming)
You might want to have a look at how they do the PWM controlling of LEDs. You could even add a Triac/SCR/OptioIsolator to activate your cutters remotely too.. ? Just an idea..

Sorry if this appears a stoopid question... I am trying to learn the ways-of-water-in-laminar

There are no stupid questions! This is a very friendly forum. RIGHT GUYS! RIGHT? TELL HIM IT'S FRIENDLY Just kidding.

So you are saying just using 3 3mm solid pmma, or cast arcylic? I'm sure that would work. I'm tested out some .5" solid cast acrylic and it worked just fine. I found that with the larger diameter the flux seemed to be less. I have not proof, other than just looking at it, but that's very subjective.

I don't have a metal pipe for mine. I just use heat shrink and silicone in the middle to seal mine up. It's pretty nice, and compact. The hard part is during assembly it can be difficult to get the lighting core (fiber assembly) to line up in the middle.

The flexible pmma isn't that expensive. I purchased a whole bunch from China and will sell it for a couple of dollars and change a foot. I know there are some other websites that will sell it for something like that too.

John wrote:I have not proof, other than just looking at it, but that's very subjective.

Ah ha... the DIY thing... I love these forums for exactly this reason!
It sounds like a plan... at least something to try...
I haven't built ANYTHING yet... (still trying to find some plans.. so far I am thinking a 90mm PVC test (be your 4" I think)..its easy to get, cheap and easy to work with...)

The heatshrink/silicon idea got me thinking.. althought aluminium/brass pipe is prety cheap/easy to get too
re: centralising
Is there a reason why you guys don't glue the straws together - silicone? That might allow a forming factor and keep its shape - whilst eliminating the retaining grill many seem to use.

John wrote:The flexible pmma isn't that expensive. I purchased a whole bunch from China and will sell it for a couple of dollars and change a foot. I know there are some other websites that will sell it for something like that too.

I have an aussie supplier getting me a price - right now I have no idea what it would cost in AUS... if its way too expensive.. might have to order it OS... I'll keep that in mind..
right now I want to try quick and simple... then the bug will bite (as they always do when I start these projects )

I finally got my 5 watt RGB LEDS from - http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php.

ProLight 5 Watts Pure Green LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Blue LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Red LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF):? Min 3.75V, Typ 4.40V, Max 6.20V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

These are the suggested specs - do you feel I can drive them harder or should I stick with the specs.

give us some pictures of the led in action :-)

covewi wrote:I finally got my 5 watt RGB LEDS from - http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php.

ProLight 5 Watts Pure Green LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Blue LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Red LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF):? Min 3.75V, Typ 4.40V, Max 6.20V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

These are the suggested specs - do you feel I can drive them harder or should I stick with the specs.

Nice Leds and Cheap, Overdrive is strongly not recommended, this leds are working on the limit, but datasheet looks good, junction is about 3.9 mm seems ok for 3mm Fibers.

Thanks

I am thinking of trying to use a plexiglass rod through the center of my fountain instead of the 3 mm cables.
There were too many water leak problems.

I will use short runs of the 3 mm cable to "feed" light into the bottom of the plexiglass rod. Hope this works
Will keep all posted.

Man - I need to start my led education over again its been a long winter.

For the above 5 W LED's - do I set the output voltage to the specs using this calculator - http://www.reuk.co.uk/LM317-Voltage-Calculator.htm

and the set the milliamps to the specs using this calculator - http://www.reuk.co.uk/LM317-Current-Calculator.htm.

It's been a while since I've looked at my circuits but from what I remember you don't have to worry about the voltage, other than your power supply needs to be above the rated voltage for the led. I believe there is some (.7 V) voltage drop across the LM317, but I can't remember for certain.

All you need to do is fix the current to the rated current for the LED. So it appears that your current is 700 mA, which means that you need a 1.8 ohm resistor rated for greater than .88 watts, which means a 1 Watt resistor.

Does that sound right?

http://ledcalc.com

Thats a handy calculator to use for calculating your resistor values when working with LEDs. Remember that the lower voltage you can use the better since it will result in less power and heat dissipated in your resistors but you will need enough to overcome the voltage drop of your LED. (Or combined voltage drop of your LEDs if you have more than one in series)

If you really want to build an LED driver right you can use a circuit like this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Circuits-for-using-High-Power-LED-s/step6/The-new-stuff-Constant-Current-Source-1/

It will guarantee that you keep a constant current source for your LED. The schematic is actually part of a whole tutorial on high powered LED drivers and if you skip forward a few steps you can find out how to use that circuit in conjunction with a Microprocessor or switch.

John and Magic Nozzle -

It looks like 1.8 ohm limiting resistor is correct when using a lm317 voltage reg for these LEDS - Is the DC forward voltage the typical voltage the LED like to run at and
what voltage power supply would be best? Higher that 7 Volts?

I finally got my 5 watt RGB LEDS from - http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php.

ProLight 5 Watts Pure Green LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Blue LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF): Min 5.43V, Typ 7.10V, Max 7.98V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

ProLight 5 Watts Red LED with Star PCB - DC Forward Voltage (VF):? Min 3.75V, Typ 4.40V, Max 6.20V DC Forward Current (IF): Typ 700mA

Could you post a few photos showing how you attached your fiber optic cables to the bottom of the copper tubing?

covewi wrote:Could you post a few photos showing how you attached your fiber optic cables to the bottom of the copper tubing?

its just a lot of silicone and the 4 wires, thats all. Its not 100% water thight, but ok.

Mario, i want to thank you for all the videos and info that you post here and on youtube.
You're nozzle is simply the bomb

It looks really great!!

Regards,

Atmoz

Hi, thnak you, was a great pleasure, iam glad you can use my informations.
Sorry for the delay, i was on holiday

Good luck with your own Nozzle
Cheers
Mairo

Thanks for this guide Magic-nozzle.

I have got some of these luxeon LEDs in to make this with, and I am finding the angle far too wide, they light the whole room up! I have made a simple block to hold the fibre to the diode, but not much light makes it into the diode, and I am not convinced it is bright enough for lighting the stream.

I have found some other diodes called Luxeon Rebel. These diodes are surface mount, tiny little chips that come without the heat sink base. The good thing about these diodes is they have an enormous array of accessories, far more than the Luxeon Star diodes have. You can buy for 20 pence, a 10 degree lens that sticks over the diode on the pcb.

I have ordered a few of these diodes and the collimator lenses and I am going to make up a printed circuit board to solder the diodes to and hold the lenses on.

I have no idea what size or shape the lenses are, and I don't know how suitable they will be for attaching the fibre to, but with a flat bottomed printed circuit board, it will be easy to machine an aluminium base that holds the fibre directly over the lens.

Much cheaper option than then Luxeon Star diodes, hopefully it works out...

Hey, that is great, i was trying many things, i worked also with a fiber injector from faen, specially made for the luxeon leds. the problem is you loose some light in the convertion and its not really brigther than without a lens. Please post some pictures if yours is wirking. Good luck. this leds needs a extreeme cooling device. You can not mount it on a pcb without cooling!

Cheers