Voltage Regulation / Circuitry for 72-LED array?

Hi, new to the forum here but I've got some burning questions that I'm rather eager to have answered. I'm new to electronics and I'm trying to pick up the knowledge necessary in order to get some of my inventive ideas off the ground. I'm hoping I can find some help here. (*crosses fingers...*)

I'm trying to build this array of 72 LED lamps, arranged in a tessalating pattern such that the arrays can be mass produced in grids of basically any size while maintaining light output and energy consumption balance. Anyhow, I'm curious what sorts of voltage regulation and whatnot I should employ in my cicuitry in order to ensure -reliable- operation. Just general information about voltage regulation and fusing and ensuring proper voltages and whatnot. Thanks.

Also, what's the best way to align typical 5mm LED lamps on a PCB? What are the proper hole spacings, etc? All of the miscellaneous Radio Shack boards I have around with pre-punched holes are organized such that the LEDs are just BARELY too close together, so they get kind of lopsided/hung up on the little lip around the bottom edge. Aside from taking off the bottom lip with my dremel, does anybody else have a suggestion for where I can get a pre-punched board that have holes spaced far enough apar to acommodate me? Or perhaps direct me to a place that could custom-make such a board for me?

If you want any more details please go ahead and ask. I'm a little nervous about letting my ideas slip to just anybody, but I feel like I'm hitting hard limits with my own capabilities, so I'm trying this venue. hope it works. =)

This MAY help you.
http://www.resurgentsoftware.com/perfect_led_light.html

Good luck
Henry

What power input ?

Originally posted by moraino:
This MAY help you.
http://www.resurgentsoftware.com/perfect_led_light.html

Good luck
Henry

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I think 'may' is a severe understatement. Many thanks!

What's your application for 72 5MM LEDs?

Have you given any thought to a Luxeon? The 1-watt units are the equivalent of 10-15 or more 5mm Nichias in a single package, and the 5-watt units would be the equivalent of 50 or more 5mm LEDs. (Unfortunately, though, 5W whites are almost impossible to come by.)

Originally posted by Entropy:
What's your application for 72 5MM LEDs?

Have you given any thought to a Luxeon? The 1-watt units are the equivalent of 10-15 or more 5mm Nichias in a single package, and the 5-watt units would be the equivalent of 50 or more 5mm LEDs. (Unfortunately, though, 5W whites are almost impossible to come by.)

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'd considered the Luxeon series of bulbs, but I actually ended up going with <a href="http://www.eled.com">eLED.com</a>'s line just because they were cheap in quantity and quantity is what I needed for individual LEDs. In the case of using Luxeon bulbs, I wouldn't have to buy many of them and as such wouldn't even get a bulk discount. I spent $11.74 on 12 blue LEDs and $14.85 on 60 red ones; total w/ shipping was $32.17 for all 72.

I'm doing hobbyist-level curiosity-driven research into the way cells and plant life respond to the 660nm and 470nm wavelengths of light. NASA has done similar research on the space shuttle and I'm just curious to see if I can get any appreciable results here on terra firma without buying a pre-built light array from some scientific research company.

Dale Wheat sells various IR LED lights and the PC boards, in 6, 36 (round) and 72 (rectangular)
shape, they can be opoulated with other colors of choice. He also mentions possible medical use of IR and red LED light here:

http://www.dalewheat.com/products/IR/

I've used (and abused) these boards for a lot of my LED experiments and projects.

The boards are available separately, and are less expensive than the same boards sold by B G Micro.

/ed b

I forgot to mention previously, the PC boards are
arranged: 36 LED, 4 series strings of 9 plus resistor, all in parallel. The 72 is 12 series strings of 6 LEDs plus resistor, in parallel.

Of course, etch cutting and wire jumpering can be done to accomodate other circuit arrangements.

/ed b