300w LED + Alien Blackberry grow

What up. Been lurking around the led threads and finally decided to do a grow thread with my new LED. I’ve been on the fence for a while and decided to take the leap after seeing some success with other peoples grow. After doing much research, I decided to get some quality parts instead of ordering the ones made in china. The Chinese fixtures are cheaper initially but who knows what is under the hood? Could be a sweet ferrari body with a kia engine lol. Anywho, on with the show. I decided to go with a shorter strain and chose the Alien Blackberry for that purpose. It finishes anywhere between 2.5-4’. Soil will be the grow medium. I’m curious how much yield will result from this light.

-This is a legal prop 215 grow-

This is what I will be working with
· 1” thick foam walls with reflective material
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=15358-46086-451156&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3365576&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1
(originally was going with a tent but concerns with heat retention made me reconsider)
· 15 Alien Blackberry clones
· Soil
· 1 or 2 gallon pots
· 300w custom LED from LEDSUPPLY.com
*Carbon scrubber & fan will be added before the flip*e edges.

Let’s start with the ladies. Some are already much taller than others and that might play into shading so I’m going to set the taller ones on the edges.

Here is the LED fixture. I forgot to put on some shades when I turned it on – super bright.


It fluctuates between 309w and 311w

Building this was a true learning experience. Thankfully ledsupply had some great techs that helped me through the build. I took some photos and made instructions.


I went with a 3' makersled heatsink from ledsupply.com


Here are the parts & materials I used to make the fixture.

• (1) MakersLED Heatsink Kit w/ Hanger – from LEDSupply for $49.92/Ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/makersled.php)
• (36) Deep-Red Luxeon Rebel LEDs – from LEDSupply for $6.94ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/07040-pdred-c.php)
• (9) Red Luxeon Rebel LEDs – from LEDSupply for $5.28ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/07040-pd000-f.php)
• (9) Red-Orange Luxeon Rebel LEDs – from LEDSupply for $5.28ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/07040-ph000-g.php)
• (1 Royal-Blue Luxeon Rebel LEDs – from LEDSupply for $4.60ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/07040-pr000-b.php)
• (1 Warm-White Cree XM-L LEDs – from LEDSupply for $7.94ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/creexml-ww220.php)
• (6) 700mA FlexBlock LUXdrive Drivers – from LEDSupply for $17.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/0a011-d-v-700.php)
• (3) 1000mA BuckBlock LUXdrive Drivers – from LEDSupply for $17.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/0a009-d-v-1000.php)
• (3) 1400mA BuckBlock LUXdrive Drivers – from LEDSupply for $17.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/0a009-d-v-1400.php)
• (3) 24VDC 4.5AMP Power-Supplies – from LEDSupply for $34.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/24vdc45a.php)
• (1) 12VDC 1.0AMP Power-Supply – from LEDSupply for $9.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/12vdc10a.php)
• (3) Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy – from LEDSupply for $15.99ea (http://www.ledsupply.com/asta-7g.php)
• (75') Red 24AWG Stranded Wire – from LEDSupply for $0.25/ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/24awg-wire.php)
• (50') Black 24 AWG Stranded Wire – from LEDSupply for $0.25/ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/24awg-wire.php)
• (30') White 24 AWG Stranded Wire – from LEDSupply for $0.25/ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/24awg-wire.php)
• (20') Blue 24 AWG Stranded Wire – from LEDSupply for $0.25/ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/24awg-wire.php)
• (30') Orange 24 AWG Stranded Wire – from LEDSupply for $0.25/ft (http://www.ledsupply.com/24awg-wire.php)
• (12') 2 Conductor Shield Wire – from LEDSupply (http://www.ledsupply.com/accessories.php)
• Heat-Shrinking Material – from LEDSupply (http://www.ledsupply.com/accessories.php)

Tools, Equipment and resources needed to get the job done

• Solder Iron & Solder
• Wire Strippers
• Tweezers
• Hand-held Drill
• Latex Gloves
• Philips Screw Driver
• 10mm Wrench
• Wiring Schematic
• FlexBlock Data Sheet (Boost-Only Mode Wiring Diagram)
• Red, Black & Blue Sharpie Markers

Here are some general step by step of what I did to build it. I might have missed a step but pretty sure I covered everything.

• Organize Materials
  
  – Double-check all part#'s & quantities
• Add Solder to ALL solder pads on EVERY LED
• DOT LED location on heatsink w/ appropriate color sharpie markers
  
• See LED Schematic
• Measure, Mark & Divide the heatsink into equal 3rds (DOT 1-foot at a time)
• “Approximately” (start 1” in from end and space DOTs 2-inches apart)

• Apply Epoxy & Place LEDs

1. Set-up correct pattern of LEDs before applying epoxy
2. Mix appropriate amount of Epoxy (5-minute cure time) – Shoot for 8-LEDs every 5-minutes
3. Hold LED in left hand between index finger and thumb
   
4. Apply Epoxy down center
   
   , Rotate 25-degrees in fingers and Epoxy down Center
   
   , Rotate opposite direction 50-degrees and Epoxy down center
5. Place LED over appropriate DOT on heatsink
6. PUSH down with Right hand
   

• Solder 1st Circuit (1st Foot) – Repeat Steps for 2nd & 3rd Circuit (2nd & 3rd Foot)

1. Check LED/WIRING Schematic
2. Wire Royal-Blue LEDs:
   
3. Wire Deep-Red LEDs:
   
4. Wire Reds & Red-Orange:
   
5. Wire Warm-White LEDs:
   

• Complete EACH circuit with Positive & Negative Wires
• For the Positive Wire use the appropriate COLOR WIRE for the color of the LED (Red Wire for Deep-Red Circuit, Orange Wire for Red & Red-Orange Circuit, White Wire for Warm-White Circuit and Blue Wire for Royal-Blue Circuit)
• Use Black for ALL Negative connections

1. Cut ALL these wires long enough to run to the side (where drill holes will evenutally be) and be run up through the heatsink with enough wire to work with
   

• Drill Holes for Wire (See above pic for reference)
• There will be six holes per side
• Run Positive & Negative wires neatly and in the straightest path to the side of heat-sink and determine where all the holes need to be drilled. Mark & Drill.

• Run Wires through Drill-Holes & Tape to the side of the heat-sink
• Solder Positive & Negative wires to Positive & Negative Output Wires of APPROPRIATE LED Driver:
• (700mA FlexBock for Deep-Red in Boost-Only Mode)(700mA FlexBock for Red & Red-Orange)(1000mA BuckBlock for Royal-Blue)(1400mA BuckBlock for Warm-White)

1. Connections are made by stripping back both wires, adding heat-shrink tubing to wires
   
   , Solder wires together and cover connection with heat-shrink
2. Cut away excess wire before stripping to save space
   
3. Cut away dimming wires and tape over end of wire
   
4. Special Connection must be make for Deep-Red Circuit (see FlexBock Datasheet for Boost-Only mode connection diagram)
5. 
   

• Cut excess wire
• Don't use yellow
• Attach ALL REDs, Attach ALL Blacks
• Strip off barrel plug on 12VDC 1.0AMP fan power-supply and expose wires, wire with writing is Positive
• Attach and heat-shrink RED wires to positive wire on power-supply
• Attach and heat-shrink BLACK wires to Negative wire on power-supply
• Hide excess cords and wires along edge of heat-sink and run plug out with the other wires
• Attach rubber end plugs (use soap and water)
• Attach end caps
• Attach Hangers

alright, update time.

some things i noticed about this led fixture... it keeps the room warm. i don't need to exhaust the heat out. also, the leaves stretch very nicely from the light.

I have a blackberry kush and super lemon haze clone in the herd also

2876 is blackberry kush

2875 is super lemon haze

the last one is alien blackberry

What was the final cost on the light fixture? Looks great!

I really like how you epoxy the drivers to the heat sink. Nice thinkin'.

Happy growin'!

awesome shit dude! cant wait to see this play out...

i been looking to built something nice like this but been too lazy to map it out, good looking out!

sexy box there , jealous that people know how to make their own LED lights