DIY led grow

[Positivity]

Did a price breakdown of this new light. Missing a few things like molex connectors, 12v power supply, carclo reflectors (crappy fit..will be changing), and custom osram reds...but otherwise almost every part I used and approximate cost.

Not too bad, comparable with most of the good 400w options.

Here's the parts breakdown..

$100 Heatsink...24" x 10" from ledgroupbuy.com.

Could be cheaper from heatsink USA depending on shipping

$320 for 8 cxa 3070 leds

$240 for 2 200w drivers from Futurelightingsolutions

$16 for 2 Potentiometers 200k...can be found for a few dollars but these look to be a higher quality (probably got ripped off but I was tired of part shopping)

$6 switches

$14 rubber grommets for wiring into box

$40 for 2 fans. Lot cheaper options but I like these. They are fast and come with a speed control

$7 terminal block

$15 utility box

$19 fused and switched c14 AC inlet...

$20 for 8 ideal cxa 3070 led holders

$8 for 8 ideal reflector adapters

$40 for 8 ledil Angelina reflectors

$8 thermostat. Shuts light off in case of overheating


$853...call it $900



Misc....14g wire, 18g wire, 22g wire, 1 piece aluminum angle, 1 piece flat aluminum strip, hex head metal screws, 12v dc power supply for fans, handle, wire sheathing, heatshrink, solder

 

[stardustsailor]

Do the sum ,bruv ...
Total ?

 

[Positivity]

Pulled one of my girls at day 60. Could have used a few more days but it's time finish this round up. Gnats took their toll..took a few weeks of gnatrol to knock them down.

Not to mention my new nute regime needs some tweaking. Been using botanicare pure dry nutes this round. Just one top dressing mid flower...other than that just the blumat water drip. See if I can dial this in...I don't care for always feeding and mixing things

At this point I'd say in my light setup...the flower trigger knocks a week off of a fast flowering strain and two weeks off a longer strain. Who knows what it will do with a pure sativa..

 

[Positivity]

Do the sum ,bruv ...
Total ?

Forgot I could go analog with addition..calc was MIA

 

[Positivity]

So I did some thermal junction testing today on my cxa light.

Used a thermometer with thermocouple kapton taped to the junctions.

It's a green light on the coolsilver thermal pads for me. Performed equally as well on the thermal junction temps as arctic silver 5. I was initially at 47c so I decided to try the arctic silver on one of the cxas to see if I could cool it further. After a messy time with the grease...I ended up at about the same place...within a degree or two...with the coolsilver slightly cooler.

When I removed the cxa with coolsilver pad it was stuck good and flat to the heatsink with a even covering..nice. And it came off really easy as a bonus.

Ambient was a hot 30c. Heatsink was about 37c. Leds were coolest in the middle as expected with those cxas at 41c. The ends where they are closer together..47c.

The osram hyper reds on sinkpads averaged 44c with the coolbond thermal adhesive pads. Better than I expected for those small leds running at 1a. They also bonded solidly enough after I cycled the heat a few times with the fans on low. I'm pretty happy being able to move leds around and still maintain a decent Tj.

I left the light on for about a half hour with no fans to see how hot it would get...within reason of course. The Tj seemed to stabilize at around 60c. So even if my fans knock off I doubt my thermostat will ever kick in to shut down the power. Thermostat is set at 95c. Went too high on that I think.

This heatsink can't get them cooler then 41c I don't think..

So in summary. I had my doubts about these pads but they are performing and made my job easier and cleaner.

 

[PetFlora]

P, that's great 411. Perhaps the weakest of weak links on all leds, but especially the cheap chineee crap

 

[only1realhigh]

Good day POS, I finally got into and registered here. I sure wish I had found all this information before I got started on my project. A nice load of information for sure, but you gave me a lot of help and still giving, thanks so much for your kindness.

 

[Positivity]

Anytime bro..lots to learn here. Hope you find some inspiration to finish up that nice project of yours

 

[Positivity]

Budporn time

Luxeon standard red bin h4w. It is a worthy led. Producing nice nuggets. Not quite sure I like it as much as the luxeon deep red bin ex6 though. Either way..Philips makes good leds in the red range for sure

Homemade soil mix with a top dressing mid flower of botanicare pure bloom. Blumat watered. Set it and forget it

 

[only1realhigh]

Now that is some fine looking bud positivity. I can really get into growing that for sure, darn my mouth is watering and my nose is itching already, LOL

I

 

[churchhaze]

I think you've basically converted me. I'm looking into a similar white COB + 660nm + 730nm trigger system now.

I think I'm going to go ahead and try. I ordered some C99 seeds, and I'm in the market for parts. It looks like besides delayed flowering, your latest run may also may have a reduced final yield.

Sorry if I only glanced over, but how many COB's are you running in series per "chain" and what is the highest voltage you need?

What is the highest voltage going across the chains? Is it possible to just use 170V rectified and smoothed from the wall to avoid using a transformer, or is that too dangerous?

At this point I'd say in my light setup...the flower trigger knocks a week off of a fast flowering strain and two weeks off a longer strain. Who knows what it will do with a pure sativa..

 

[Positivity]

I think you've basically converted me. I'm looking into a similar white COB + 660nm + 730nm trigger system now.

I think I'm going to go ahead and try. I ordered some C99 seeds, and I'm in the market for parts. It looks like besides delayed flowering, your latest run may also may have a reduced final yield.

Sorry if I only glanced over, but how many COB's are you running in series per "chain" and what is the highest voltage you need?

What is the highest voltage going across the chains? Is it possible to just use 170V rectified and smoothed from the wall to avoid using a transformer, or is that too dangerous?

Converted? What are you using now?

flowering is a bit slower. Not seeing a increased yield from the longer flowering either..just a little slower growth everyday. The 730 does work nicely

The yield should be similar..got 2.5 off the first plant I pulled. The rest should be similar, maybe a bit more on the bubba if I let her finish.

The cxa 3070 run about 37v. The oslon hyper red run at about 2.6v. So my largest string is 4 cxa 3070 and 12 hyper red...179v. The other string just has 4 cxa 3070..148v.

I don't know about any alternative driving options. I just use the inventronics drivers and they've been making these builds easy and mostly trouble free. No leds have fried from normal use and no drivers have fried out yet. So I just keep using what works for me basically..

 

[Chronikool]

I just use the inventronics drivers and they've been making these builds easy and mostly trouble free. So I just keep using what works for me basically..

Good point bruv...I think this is very important for newer folk getting into DIY'ing. (not directed at anyone specifically) Simple is the way i do it aswell....(this is a little bias actually...because my electrical knowledge is limited...) But it makes trouble shooting any problemz easier and most importantly it providez light to your canopy. 1) adequate cooling 2) good thermal transfer 3) electrical isolation (safety) of live wires...<<<<< 3 most important thingz right there....(in termz of not blowing you or your LED's up) Choosing the spectrum (mixing) is the fun part....

 

[Positivity]

Exactly. Just by opening up a commercial light you can learn a lot.

Where and what are they grounding. How are they managing the wiring. What kind of connections are they using. How are the switches or dimmers laid out. How large is the heatsink. How good is the fan cooling.

In almost every area...if you take your time..you can use a better part. Even my ac input has a fuse in it..nice little extra you dont see on most commercial stuff.

And after reading up on high voltage. It's important that you ground all metal parts that can come into contact with a live wire. In my case the heatsink. .

 

[Positivity]

As for the lower limit ...
You can skip the trimming pot and have a simple 1/4 W resistor ..
A lower current limit,is something good to be there .
Driving leds too low (*below a limit ..) is not advisable ,by led / chip manufacturers..
Leds/ chips run 'unstable' and nasty things may/can occur ...

Just brilliant I tell ya..

Dimming is up and running. Two options now. No resistor lets me go down to 20w from 204w. Maybe I can just not go all the way down to 20 and have a little larger range.

With the 1/4 W resistor it only dims down to 90w. Maybe I installed it wrong? I thought it would go a little further than that..maybe that's why a trim pot is better? Need to look into that.

Either way, both ways work..awesome.

Without resistor and a 200k potentiometer..

With resistor and pot..

 

[Bueno Time]

I had been subscribed to this thread and wasnt getting notices for some reason but I just went through the whole thread today. Awesome stuff to learn about the different wavelengths you have used over several grows.

Are those latest pics of the flowering plants in the 2x4 Lighthouse tent? What exhaust fan are you running on your tent?

 

[MarCus M.D]

hello. I am planning to buy leds to make my own panel.
I have a 4x4x6.5 tent '. How many need to take the entire space of the tent? Which are recommended? I have read that Osram and Cree have good relation price / performance, is there any particular model that is better than another? And where recommend buying?

thanks in advance

 

[Positivity]

hello. I am planning to buy leds to make my own panel.
I have a 4x4x6.5 tent '. How many need to take the entire space of the tent? Which are recommended? I have read that Osram and Cree have good relation price / performance, is there any particular model that is better than another? And where recommend buying?

thanks in advance

All this info is readily available on the first two pages of this forum.

Drivers..https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-leds-how-to-power-them.801554/

DIY led info, ideas, bible...https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-led-cree-cxa3070.789575/

How much watts per 4 x 4...https://www.rollitup.org/t/apache-at600-led-vs-1000w-hps-blue-dream-grow.813412/

Not trying to be short. But this is required reading for anyone who wants to DIY

 

[Positivity]

I had been subscribed to this thread and wasnt getting notices for some reason but I just went through the whole thread today. Awesome stuff to learn about the different wavelengths you have used over several grows.

Are those latest pics of the flowering plants in the 2x4 Lighthouse tent? What exhaust fan are you running on your tent?

Thanks bueno. Just trying to make sense of all these wavelengths once and for all for myself..loose experiments but people can take from them what they want

Pics are current. One 4" vortex HO running 3/4 speed into a splitter and venting veg, flower, and runt area. Try that with hid..lol

 

[only1realhigh]

Pos, getting lost chasing threads, referring to my dimming issue, after re downloading data sheets I got the 3 methods and graphs, dah.......... I made sense of it.
It is a 1k ohm 1/4 watt resistor used with a 10k pot, graph shows it starting out at 100% and as you turn the pot clockwise it drops down to 10% near 9.5 ohm's.
I thought the Vaux went to third leg, middle to Dim +, and Dim - to 1st leg (also shown as top leg) I do best with solid drawings of things. I will play and figure this out after I get a new soldering Iron,,, what model you use ?