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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Input on a basic labby design and power source

Joined
Jun 7, 2009
Messages
118
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0
Ive been seeing the I7 heat sinks in a lot of builds! and it looks so cool I want to do a build with one ^_^. But in such a way I will never be tempted for it to leave the house ;) and have plenty of room to upgrade as diodes improve.

Im thinking of a 1 watt 445nM module pressed into the I7. Powered by a computer power supply I have laying about. But id like it to look nice and "dangerous" so it can never be misused ;).

I drew a basic picture in like 2 minutes..Please dont hate on my poor artistic abilities :(

The idea is, having a flanged conduit that scews to the heat sink surrounding the module, bolting to a rear housing containing the driver and a computer power supply perhaps. Maybe even with a nice "brick" heat sink on the PSU housing to make it look extra cool..

Lazzzeeerrr.jpg



Is it a bad idea to place a computer power supply into the same enclosure as the driver circuits? Should there be an ideal air space? do you think the PSU fan will move enough air through the non air tight enclosure. Or maybe one or two fans in the housing to ventilate it will be fine...or just a brick sink to carry conducted heat from the housing it self.

The PSU should be readily usable as currents and diodes improve allowing to swap out more powerful modules as they become available.


I also need to figure out the relationship regarding input current and voltage..on a driver circuit. And how to properly convert the PSU. Im sure even though the PSU on computers is variable load you cant just hook it up to a driver circuit ..and trust the driver circuit to sort everything out right?

Id need a specific voltage/current from the power supply..going into the driver to make sure its ideal..?
 
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Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
5,438
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It's okay to keep them in the same box, but make sure they're both ventilated, and the drivers heatsinked. If the drivers get very hot I would not rely on the PSU to provide air movement.
 

Benm

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Joined
Aug 16, 2007
Messages
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Its cool, but its total overkill. These heatsinks have thermal resistances in the order of 0.3 - 0.5 K/W. Considering a 445 will burn about 5 watts of electrical power at 1 watt output, you're looking at a temperature rise of 1.5 to 2.5 degrees over ambient.

Obviously thats all very nice, but doesnt really justify such a huge heatsink - you'd be more than fine with something 5 times smaller.
 




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