clear casting resin?

Has anyone played with casting there leds?
I have been thinking about different ways to waterproof some xpg’s with optics for
the front of the boat. “bow fishing”
I have tried looking for some empty housing but are coming up short.

I thought about clear casting resin from the hobby shop.
But wasn’t sure about the sun messing it up over time.
Which can be remedied by taking them off when done or making a cover.

I was going to use a 3.5’’ x 36’’ long heat sink from heatsinkusa.
Attach leds and optics and pour over everything but the fins.

Hope its clear enuf to let most of the light pass thru

Leds and heatsink ordered
Getting resin today

One way or another will find out soon enuf lol

A few years ago I build this:

It is a small 9V light with a rebel led cast in polyester resin, there are some cracks in the resin but that was caused by some shrinking during the setting of the polyester. The led still works fine, and because it is stored inside a box the resin has not yellowed at all.

Djozz, that’s awesome! Love the steampunk look. And shhh, please keep us posted. (Maybe cast an empty chunk and toss it in the yard to give it a test over time…)

That is a nice 9volt mod.

Think I am gonna do one with a toggle on it for the 9 volt.

I might have to cast something and throw it out front…………
As much as I don’t want to as I really need it in a few weeks.

I did find some stuff online that doesn’t yellow so it say but is 170ish a gallon +shipping
smooth-on.com had it same site also has some
Silicone Encapsulation Rubber for DIY Solar Panels
I thought about trying
but the price for that is $445 a gallon. it says it has excellent UV resistance but the price lol
they have some cheaper stuff but I don’t know. only my wallet will tell

WalMart carries an acrylic casting kit in its craft/textile dept. Many craft/hobby stores stock similar casting kits. The epoxy casting resing is more $$$ and as has been pointed out is generally sold in gallon containers. You might check local boating/marine suppliers, they might stock smaller volume packages.

You could try acrylic resin priced between epoxy and polyester :wink:

I've seen some aquarium guys use LED Seal to waterproof stuff. While it wouldn't have the impact resistance of resin, it was waterproof enough to fully submerge the LEDs and wiring.

At $20 a can, it may be worth a try...

I already have a can of led seal thanks for the idea tho.
I really need to be protected from impacts since this is going to located at the front of the boat.
In which some areas it might get hit a low limb or something of that nature.

I had thought about making a acrylic box for the sink, leds and optics to fit in.
Have them loose just a hair and on the back have three set screws to push on the back of the sink
to compress them to the front.

But then the water content in the air that would be caught inside the acrylic comes to mind.
Argon filled box maybe? “then issue with leaks @ set screws?” and heat issues lol

If I go this route I would like the box to be able to be open on the side to be able to slide the sink in
and out for repairs if needed. or optic/emitter swaps.

I was going to just make the box first but the heat issue is what stopped me from doing that.
Since I was going to be using 18 xp-g’s on a 36” maybe more pending on heat management.

I thought about sealing off the sink and leds with resin but leaving the fins exposed.
Putting in a acrylic box and them finding a small 12 pump and plumb a inlet and outlet line to
bring in water and return water to the lake river or whatever.

Looks like I need to work some more overtime at work to cover the trial and error stage that’s
about to take place >)

What about plastidip?

Plastidip

I never thought about that
funny tho as my wife wantsme to dip her fusion hotpink and black.

I wonder how long it would take to setup tho.
Looks like I need to email them :slight_smile:

$73.10 for a gallon of clear from dipyourcar

This stuff can be used to make a clear bra so it shouldn’t fade “yellow”.
But it can be peeled off tho so
I would be worried about the amount of hits from limbs before it trys to lift
somewhere.

plastidip is fine if you can completely enclose something, but it’s not very sticky and will peel at the edges over time.

why not something like a hammond box, a thick chunk of lexan (5mm?) and some smooth silicone baking sheet to make a seal out of? You can get waterproof cable glands and the switch will be on the boat, so any entry points will be well covered. Then just JB Weld a right angle bracket onto the housing to attach it your your boat or pole. matazz (I think that’s he’s name) is a caver and built a light just like that - looks like you could drive a truck over it with no problems.

Tap Plastic also has epoxy resin.

Sounds like a neat project. I like working with epoxy resin because it is not very toxic, but it doesn’t like UV light. I buy from US Composites because they have great prices and service. Their site has some good info that may help you:

Right now I am waiting on drivers from ledsupply and leds from fasttech.
And sink should be here tomorrow if I am lucky.

I looked around and seen that some resins can be dyed so I am thinking bout trying this out.
Throw in black dye and if it yellows it might not be that noticeable.
And just take them off when not in use, or sew up a tight fitting neoprene cover for them.

Since I was taking about the dye I know it will not let any light out.
So I planned on pouring up till about 2mm below the optics lip.

I will need to come up with a mold to where I can have the fins of the sink not encased in resin.
My boys do have tons of playdough lol
I will prolly trim some areas of the fins to hold down three 12v waterproof cooling fans. if I find some
that are really waterproof. Three I bought locally were duds.

I’ve put black liquid shoe polish in epoxy resin with good results. It only takes a small amount to be effective.