TerrapinBlazin
Well-Known Member
I’ve been posting about the build process over in grow room design, but that forum doesn’t seem all that busy and I’m hoping for some final thoughts now that it’s done over here in DIY, which I just discovered today.
This was kind of a lot for my first DIY light build, but I’m glad I jumped into the deep end. Altogether the light uses 4 3000k cxb1820 cobs (that I salvaged from some lights I bought from Lowe’s back when I didn’t know much about lighting) and two Atreum “quantum boards” (HLG has that name patented but it’s the same shit) with 288 Samsung lm310b 3000k diodes in each board.
I got B series drivers (HLG-240h-54b for the boards and HLG-120h-48b for the cobs) and set up a dimmer box that controls both lights, and I installed a switch box to control each driver with toggle switches, so each driver can be operated completely independently.
So I’m making this thread just to review. My goal with this build was to make something that would replace my 600 watt HPS in my closet. Taking into account the total wattage of the drivers and the insane lumen per watt rating on the boards, I think it will be sufficient. If we assume a 600 watt HPS produces about .9 GPW and that these modern LEDs produce 1.5, then they should give me a pretty identical yield.
Now I want to know how to get the most out of this light. I ordered another board and a HLG-120h-54a driver for it and I’m going to use that for the tent. I know that LEDs need to be closer to the canopy than HPS lights, but I can’t have it so close that I lose coverage. I also read that with LEDs you should shoot for at least 32 watts per square foot of canopy, and my canopy is about 7.5 square feet (6 plants in 7 gallon nursery bags trained through a trellis) which puts me comfortably above that number.
Here are some pics. I may still work on it some more, but any more work I do on it would be purely cosmetic, like a nice finish on the wood and definitely a bigger box for the potentiometers.
Thanks for reading. I’ve been interested in building an LED light for the entire year, and finally got it done with a little over two weeks left. This one was complicated, but I knew that if I completed this light that I’ll be able to build anything that I can afford the parts for. Now I should be good on lights until I decide to further ramp up my indoor growing, and that won’t happen until I have a bigger house.
This was kind of a lot for my first DIY light build, but I’m glad I jumped into the deep end. Altogether the light uses 4 3000k cxb1820 cobs (that I salvaged from some lights I bought from Lowe’s back when I didn’t know much about lighting) and two Atreum “quantum boards” (HLG has that name patented but it’s the same shit) with 288 Samsung lm310b 3000k diodes in each board.
I got B series drivers (HLG-240h-54b for the boards and HLG-120h-48b for the cobs) and set up a dimmer box that controls both lights, and I installed a switch box to control each driver with toggle switches, so each driver can be operated completely independently.
So I’m making this thread just to review. My goal with this build was to make something that would replace my 600 watt HPS in my closet. Taking into account the total wattage of the drivers and the insane lumen per watt rating on the boards, I think it will be sufficient. If we assume a 600 watt HPS produces about .9 GPW and that these modern LEDs produce 1.5, then they should give me a pretty identical yield.
Now I want to know how to get the most out of this light. I ordered another board and a HLG-120h-54a driver for it and I’m going to use that for the tent. I know that LEDs need to be closer to the canopy than HPS lights, but I can’t have it so close that I lose coverage. I also read that with LEDs you should shoot for at least 32 watts per square foot of canopy, and my canopy is about 7.5 square feet (6 plants in 7 gallon nursery bags trained through a trellis) which puts me comfortably above that number.
Here are some pics. I may still work on it some more, but any more work I do on it would be purely cosmetic, like a nice finish on the wood and definitely a bigger box for the potentiometers.
Thanks for reading. I’ve been interested in building an LED light for the entire year, and finally got it done with a little over two weeks left. This one was complicated, but I knew that if I completed this light that I’ll be able to build anything that I can afford the parts for. Now I should be good on lights until I decide to further ramp up my indoor growing, and that won’t happen until I have a bigger house.
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