The far red thread

[Hybridway]

really your leds have IR ? what leds are those ?

My LED employs CREE XP-C2 & XP-E2, 5 watt diodes circular around my CXB-3070's which are ran at 50 watts. Each circle of 5 watters has one IR diode & 2 reds, the rest are cool white & blue.
My other LED shows IR in its spectral graph but no mention of what type diodes. Couldn't find out from the company either. The COBs are 4 point stars w/ flat ends. That company puts their select spectrum in one diode rather then mixing mono's.
Here Is an example of the second growth spurt in Original BlueBerry & GG#4. The above picture is under the HID & this next one is too but off to the side receiving my select Floro spectrum. See what I mean? Here's the GG below. The OBB actually fully receeds & the hairs all turn orange, then a day or two later all the new growth starts w/ new white hairs & the Calyxes turn into large pine cones Kind've. But gain about 1/4 in size to what they were. I'm sure it's genetics w/ that particular strain. Still it only happens were its getting hit hard enough by the bulb. My theory is its induced by the IR or Far-Reds in the HPS bulb.
I'm glad my LEDs have IR & Far-Red but is the little bit in the CXB's & the 6, 5 watt diodes going to be enough? If in fact that is the case here.
Really glad this thread is up. Props to RAHZ for thinking of it!
Any more opinions folks? Really would like to know for a fact if anyone happens to find scientific data or has lots of experience testing such theories.

 

[Airwalker16]

@8/10 im still eagerly awaiting a how to! And yes, my lights are on your run of the mill timer with 15 min increments.

 

[VegasWinner]

after what I am seeing and hearing, I am planning to use the far red the entire bloom period it looks like. I have 18 far red 3W diodes mounted on my panel. So we shall see soon. peace.

 

[8/10]

@Airwalker16 Okay, this is what I got so far. It's just a diagram still, but it shows what goes where. The relay normally has three pins for output, 1 and 2 are connected when the power is on and 2 and 3 are not connected when the power is on (you have to try it out to find which one is which if it doesn't say on the relay).

Also, the driver powers the leds AND the timer, so make sure there are at least 5v to spare on the driver. My driver is 600mA and 12v max and my leds draw ~6v., so the timer works with 6v and 600mA (in my case). I think there's more information on power consumption on the timer info page on ebay, which I've linked to previously in this thread.

It's important that you try things out first, so test the relay and it's power supply to check if it turns on and off when you power on and off, and which pins are closed and open etc.... Then plug your driver into the fr timer to see if it powers up. If it does, you can see if it starts when you touch a wire on both the + input terminal and the signal input terminal, (timer has to be powered up before giving the signal)

Then you can connect the led string to the + and - output on the timer, to see if they turn on when you give the signal with a wire from + input terminal to signal input terminal.

Programming the timer is easy and you'll figure it out under testing. I set it to start when it gets signal and stop after 600 seconds.

 

[8/10]

I've got something going on with one of my three plants. It's an unkown strain from mr. nice's dreamtime selection (random strains). Has anyone seen this before with adding far reds?
Bud sites are tiny and with very little pistils. I'm considering pulling this one to leave more room to the others, which are doing great by the way. Many and long pistils, short node spacing and overall looking great.

 

[Airwalker16]

@Airwalker16 Okay, this is what I got so far. It's just a diagram still, but it shows what goes where. The relay normally has three pins for output, 1 and 2 are connected when the power is on and 2 and 3 are not connected when the power is on (you have to try it out to find which one is which if it doesn't say on the relay).

Also, the driver powers the leds AND the timer, so make sure there are at least 5v to spare on the driver. My driver is 600mA and 12v max and my leds draw ~6v., so the timer works with 6v and 600mA (in my case). I think there's more information on power consumption on the timer info page on ebay, which I've linked to previously in this thread.

It's important that you try things out first, so test the relay and it's power supply to check if it turns on and off when you power on and off, and which pins are closed and open etc.... Then plug your driver into the fr timer to see if it powers up. If it does, you can see if it starts when you touch a wire on both the + input terminal and the signal input terminal, (timer has to be powered up before giving the signal)

Then you can connect the led string to the + and - output on the timer, to see if they turn on when you give the signal with a wire from + input terminal to signal input terminal.

Programming the timer is easy and you'll figure it out under testing. I set it to start when it gets signal and stop after 600 seconds.

So the led lights And 12 v are inyo a power strip, which is plugged into the timer. And the far reds driver is always plugged in

 

[8/10]

Yes, the main lights and 12v are on the same power strip on a 12/12timer. And the far red driver is always plugged in with no timer.

The far red driver, which is always on, powers the far red timer. So the far red timer is also always on, it's just waiting for the signal to start counting and give the power to the far red leds.

And the signal is given by the relay which is powered by the 12v, which is on the 12/12 timer. So when the 12/12 timer shuts off the power to the 12v, the relay closes the switch and the far red timer gets the signal to start.

In the diagram, you can see the relay closes the switch when main lights are off. The wires that are live in the diagram, are marked with yellow dots or lines.

I've got something going on with one of my three plants. It's an unkown strain from mr. nice's dreamtime selection (random strains). Has anyone seen this before with adding far reds?
Bud sites are tiny and with very little pistils. I'm considering pulling this one to leave more room to the others, which are doing great by the way. Many and long pistils, short node spacing and overall looking great.

Forget about this, I yanked it.

 

[Airwalker16]

This is the timer: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231728005174?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

And I found the relay in a box of old electronics, but this looks very similar at first glance: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-DC-10PCS-5Pins-RELAY-Coil-Power-Relay-PCB-SRD-12VDC-SL-C-/272079662154?hash=item3f59362c4a:g:rqYAAOSwKrhVWq9p

The relay is powered by a 12V charger and it connects the wires to the fr-timer when the 12V is shut off along with the rest off the power at lights off. I can post a diagram or something later.

Are you SURE these relays from ebay will work? Cause I dont wanna buy them if they wont work. And I think I get the jist of this. Only thing I could use some more detail on, is how to wire the 12v to the relay and the relay to the timer. And one more thing, the diagram shows brownand blue wires from the 12v. But those are better recognized as just the prongs directly on the 12v that plug into the power strips outlet right? I plan on just using an old phone charger and cutting the barrel off to expose red and black wires like this.

 

[Airwalker16]

Also, I plan on using 12 rapid led cree xpe2 solderless far reds on an lpc 35-700. Will I have enough space left for the timer? The 5v?

 

[Yodaweed]

I've got something going on with one of my three plants. It's an unkown strain from mr. nice's dreamtime selection (random strains). Has anyone seen this before with adding far reds?
Bud sites are tiny and with very little pistils. I'm considering pulling this one to leave more room to the others, which are doing great by the way. Many and long pistils, short node spacing and overall looking great.

I think those might be bad genetics or your plant is trying to reveg.

 

[8/10]

Are you SURE these relays from ebay will work? Cause I dont wanna buy them if they wont work. And I think I get the jist of this. Only thing I could use some more detail on, is how to wire the 12v to the relay and the relay to the timer. And one more thing, the diagram shows brownand blue wires from the 12v. But those are better recognized as just the prongs directly on the 12v that plug into the

No, I'm not sure. I can only tell you what worked for me, but there are a couple of unknowns here. Maybe someone with some more knowledge could chime in on this, such as what amp range the far red timer can work on. I'm running 600mA and that works, but the lpc is 700mA. I assume it would work just fine, but I'm not sure. Also, there might be some unknowns here that might mess things up for you, so you'll just have to try it out or do some more research.

That said, I think it will work. The relay is actually pretty simple to wire. The three pins on one side I'm sure about, but the two on the bottom you'll need to test which one you use, cause I don't know if it's top or bottom view on the diagram. The one I drew in on the diagram below was just a guess. It could be the adjacent pin you should use. test it out.

I could only find the datasheet for the xpe, not the xpe 2, but assuming it is the same 2.2v@700mA you have 2.2 x 12 = 26.4 so you have plenty of volts to run the timer. I think this should work too.

And the brown and blue wires are normal AC wall outlet current, as you said. plugs into the wall.

2Yodaweed, Yeah, never seen that before. Grown three plants out of mr. nice dreamtime mix now and it's been shit every time. The other mr. nice strain is superb tho.

 

[VegasWinner]

No, I'm not sure. I can only tell you what worked for me, but there are a couple of unknowns here. Maybe someone with some more knowledge could chime in on this, such as what amp range the far red timer can work on. I'm running 600mA and that works, but the lpc is 700mA. I assume it would work just fine, but I'm not sure. Also, there might be some unknowns here that might mess things up for you, so you'll just have to try it out or do some more research.

That said, I think it will work. The relay is actually pretty simple to wire. The three pins on one side I'm sure about, but the two on the bottom you'll need to test which one you use, cause I don't know if it's top or bottom view on the diagram. The one I drew in on the diagram below was just a guess. It could be the adjacent pin you should use. test it out.

I could only find the datasheet for the xpe, not the xpe 2, but assuming it is the same 2.2v@700mA you have 2.2 x 12 = 26.4 so you have plenty of volts to run the timer. I think this should work too.

And the brown and blue wires are normal AC wall outlet current, as you said. plugs into the wall.

2Yodaweed, Yeah, never seen that before. Grown three plants out of mr. nice dreamtime mix now and it's been shit every time. The other mr. nice strain is superb tho.

have you considered using a 12v/12w 1 LDD driver that are used to drive 5v fans to drive your device with 5V since one fan does not use all the power anyway instead of tapping into led driver for power, tap the 12/12 driver. fans run when the lights run on the same timer circuit and plug normally. I have my 12/12 driver combined on the same plug as my led drivers. peace.

 

[8/10]

have you considered using a 12v/12w 1 LDD driver that are used to drive 5v fans to drive your device with 5V since one fan does not use all the power anyway instead of tapping into led driver for power, tap the 12/12 driver. fans run when the lights run on the same timer circuit and plug normally. I have my 12/12 driver combined on the same plug as my led drivers. peace.

I'm not sure what you mean, but this could be done in a lot of different ways. I would like to use the 12v power supply for more than just the relay for example, maybe a couple of fans could fit in as well. Also the timer is programmable, so there might be another setup which is more beneficial than what I'm currently using. But once things are setup and working, it pretty much stays that way in my experience

 

[VegasWinner]

I mean you are using power from the LED driver HLG-185H-XXXX and taking current away from Cob's., versus taking current away from current fans already installed and possibly getting power from a driver like this one, I use for fan power ->http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&productId=2142061&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&CID=GOOG&gclid=Cj0KEQjwlLm3BRDjnML3h9ic_vkBEiQABa5oefQNIy4qqewS3WpRe5tQXZNCkfuZXopJO5_8gqh-zzwaAiGc8P8HAQ

available dc power from 5-10vdc readily available if you are using these in your lighting system. I have them installed between my drivers and plugged in with the driver Ac side so the fans are powered along with the lights and their timer. peace.

 

[8/10]

I am taking away power from the far red driver, that's right. But my cobs are not involved with the fr relay timer circuit. Also, the power supply to the fr timer has to be separate from the 12/12 circuit, otherwise it shuts down at lights out... third, I'm not entirely sure but I think the fr timer has to be powered by the same power source which it is supposed to control, so if I remember correctly I couldn't power the timer with a separate power source and have it control the fr leds and fr driver with the output + and -... Seem a little strange, tho. Why not have it control a relay switch that is separate from it's own power source? (when they made the timer)... I might be wrong on this.

All in all it works for my setup. I get the far red I need and there's one less power supply to the equation. I just installed a couple more fans on the main lamp and now I'm at the point where I just want to take it all out and reconfigure the whole thing, which is becoming more and more a mess of wires and duct tape. I'm leaving it now until this grow is finished, then I'll take a look at the timer setup again. You have a point with not wasting precious driver juice...

Is that your setup btw?

 

[VegasWinner]

I am taking away power from the far red driver, that's right. But my cobs are not involved with the fr relay timer circuit. Also, the power supply to the fr timer has to be separate from the 12/12 circuit, otherwise it shuts down at lights out... third, I'm not entirely sure but I think the fr timer has to be powered by the same power source which it is supposed to control, so if I remember correctly I couldn't power the timer with a separate power source and have it control the fr leds and fr driver with the output + and -... Seem a little strange, tho. Why not have it control a relay switch that is separate from it's own power source? (when they made the timer)... I might be wrong on this.

All in all it works for my setup. I get the far red I need and there's one less power supply to the equation. I just installed a couple more fans on the main lamp and now I'm at the point where I just want to take it all out and reconfigure the whole thing, which is becoming more and more a mess of wires and duct tape. I'm leaving it now until this grow is finished, then I'll take a look at the timer setup again. You have a point with not wasting precious driver juice...

Is that your setup btw?

Fan power not led power

 

[VegasWinner]

Myself I am going to leave the far red on and deal with the stretch. Less work for me. I was just thinking about your situation for power. Priority for me is lights power priority over controls power. I don't cross them.

 

[VegasWinner]

I posted a picture of my setup peace

 

[LordRalh3]

Thoughts on this piece?

https://www.kiwilighting.com/20w-ir-730nm-led-emitter

Seems legit and the price is great?

 

[BOBBY_G]

you get what you pay for

dollar for dollar, cutters top-bin xpe stars and triples prob put out more light, and are also solderless

also you can spread them out better