DiY LED - Cree CXA3070

Maybe they are Z2s. The tray of 20 that I received had a Z4 sticker on it so I assumed they were Z4 however I had ordered Z2 at the time.

I

Westnewton said:

Maybe they are Z2s. The tray of 20 that I received had a Z4 sticker on it so I assumed they were Z4 however I had ordered Z2 at the time.

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Id have to assume Supra is right. My z4 is like the one on the left and z2 is like the one on the right looks like yours do with the wavy edge of the circle. Either way z2 is still pretty kick ass if thats what they are.

Your lightbar looks pretty cool, I like how you cut out circles for the modules to fit in on the bar. Turned out nice.

Sorry for the slight diversion

If you guys don't mind, I could use some input

I am choosing WHITE spectrums for BML LED 600 Spydr.

Trying too make it applicable for both veg and flower

Would you mind telling me what you think of my choices?

Please PM me to prevent further jacking

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-report-details/?partNo=PS3690S101DGGCGAEDEAGCGGD

DiyKindaGuy said:

I experimented with blue led only in veg... it seemed to me that they were growing slower then the ones with white mixed with blue... also the blue leds made the leaves darker green and the thickness of the leaves was increased as well... so if would suggest only vegging mother plants with completely blue... i was able to keep a mom for six months under two feet with lots of lst though...

★★★kushed_out★★★

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I was not suggesting using just blue. my current light gives me 31% blue 31% green and 34% red I like my plants short and bushy with a lot of leaves and a strong stem when I take them into flowering.blue light also stimulates the plants immune system protecting them from disease and insect. the proper mix of white leds seems to be able to give what ever spectrum is desired and the whites are more efficient than most monochromatic leds a cheap 25000k cold white produces 110 lumens per watt at full power and 49% of its output is blue ( 54 lumens per what in blue light) the royal blue chinese leds only produce 40 lumen per watt. all leds suffer from droop so efficiency goes up at lower power levels. I do not know how much it increases with chinese diodes because I have not been able to find data sheets on them

Here are three side by side, a plants point of view

Westnewton said:

Here are three side by side, a plants point of view

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Thats awesome!

Westnewton, I love it!

Turns out cheap Harbor Freight tools can be dangerous. This thing exploded in my hand when making a crimp. The metal actually snapped and crushed my own finger between the handles. Luckily no major harm done but could easily have broken the bone. I have made about a thousand crimps with this thing so I guess it fatigued the metal? Of course it was not designed as a crimp tool but worth mentioning.


For most crimps I use this thing


Time to try out some better tools

Damn that sucks, good thing you have all your fingers intact still for more LED projects.

Well, they did warn you to wear safety goggles

.....I used (for many years ) to use my front teeth ,for grimping wires ...
A really bad habit ...
(Yes ,tiny parts of the edges of my front teeth ,are missing ....
Giving 'em a 'sawy' look (if one looks closely enough-hope none does that ...another bad habit ...
Looking at people's teeth ... Anyway ....I used to have one of these ..." Stanley" brand ,I think ....
It was quite sturdy piece of tool ... (Lost it somewhere ..) .....

Search for brands like " Knipex " or the much cheaper (but of good quality ) "Pro's Kit " ,
regarding electrical tooling like grimps ,pliers,wire cutters,etc ...


( Most of my 'electronics' tools are from "Pro's Kit " ...I'm totally satisfied ...

I do have a wire cutter from Knipex ..You really do not want to hear the price ...
Let me say simply ,that you can purchase a small electronics tool kit from Pro'sKit ,with the same amount of money ...But Kinpex tools have German Quality ...Tools made to last for a lifetime ... )

http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=groups&groupID=1363
http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=groups&groupID=1299
http://www.proskit.com/crimpers/electrical

And since we're to the tools issue ...
Supra ,I hope that you will allow me for some 'stardust interference / noise " ...
(I promise it will be last time ! ... )


Well ....

DIY with leds / cobs / cogs / etc needs kinda of specialty tooling .....
Please ,have a look at my basic set :


Starting From Top Left :

- Grounding/ Earthing WristWrap . : Simply put . You never work with leds ( or any CMOS device ) without wearing one .And of course the other end goes to your house's ground .(usually through a bench device like a i.e. bench psu or
oscillloscope ...Any earthed device /appliance ) .I got plenty of Oslons that I've fried just by touching them -ungrounded-...And discharging my 2-3 KV static on them ....Bye-bye ...

-Nitrile Gloves : I prefer them over latex .Better grip.no dust/allergies/sweat/smell .Way more durable.
Withstand chemicals,solvents,acids,high temps ...they offer better protection .Did I say better grip & fit ,also ?
It plays a huge role ,when handling tiny & sensitive devices like leds/cobs ...


-air pump : From photography shops/equip. (to blow digital sensors clean ) ...
You do not blow with your mouth ,to clean the chip .
(spit leaves stains on LES ..let alone nicotine,tar,thc,chips,ketchup,coffee,etc ...)
Neither you use a kitchen or any other cloth ...
Cleaning with a soft hair small brush ,dipped in IPA ,should be used as
'last resort /extreme cleaning ...In case you dropped your CXAs in the mud..... )


Further down from pump ....

-9 double sided tools ,used mainly for soldering .(6 x Pro's Kit )
http://www.proskit.com/soldering-assy/electronics/6-pc.-soldering-aid-set?cPath=65_91&

Looks like dentist's tools ,but ain't ..
It's a LED DIYer's micro -soldering tools ....

( scrapping,moving,twisting,holding in place,bending ,putting in place,flux cleaning/scraping and many more ..... )

Someone said soldering CXA's is tricky ...Well it depends ...From experience to tools used ....
For reference of soldering " difficulty" :

Mostly I'm using those 9 tools (at cases ,not all of them each time ,some most often ) ,in order to solder SMD
parts to PCBs with a simple ,ordinary solder iron (with not so fine ,flat tip ..)...
Sitting on the cathode of the CXA is a 1206 package resistor ...( 102 = 10 +2 x 0 =1000=1K ) ..
I'm manually soldering ,both ends with a solder iron ! ..But I use the right tools to manage it ...
(have to hold the smd res in place somehow ...) ..Nearby is a set of ceramic smd caps and a set of 10K res
( 103 = 10 +000 =10000=10 K )...The two copper colored tubular little s...eh...things ,
are the most commonly used signal diodes ,the 1N4148 ...
Above them is a 3.3 Volt regulator ( 5VDC=> 3.3 VDC ) ,( useful for microcontroller applications )..
All of them tiny ....

And soldered manually,by hand ,with a common solder iron ...
And some aid of 'specialty' tools for micro-soldering ....

The CXA soldering pad area ,is enough for me to camp,play football ,throw a party ,have a pic-nic ...
LOL !
Ok ...It does not pose any " problem' ..(at least to me ...I'm used to soldering way-way smaller parts/areas/pads/etc )

Enough with that part ....


Going left is two pairs of wire/pin cutters .( Pro's Kit )
http://www.proskit.com/precision-pliers-and-cutters/full-flush/5-precision-cutter-flush-cut?cPath=5_28&
Caution: You never use these to cut anything than copper and no more of 1 mm in Dia .
They are precision cutters ( really ..Can take a hair .and precisely cut it -razor sharp- in tiny pieces ...
They are not supposed to be used to cut anything else .Only unsoldered / protruding wire strips,pins,tiny stuff ...


And going upwards ...The most crucial tools ..
The handling tools ...
Leds need metalic tools for handling ..
In order to dissipate ESD ...
Under any circumstances ,you never handle leds,using tools with isolated handles .
Led handling tools have to be dissipative .

So...
-An reverse action, precision tweezers,with flat point ..( Pro's Kit )
http://www.proskit.com/reverse-action-tweezers?cPath=22_84&
-Long ,needle point tweezers ( Pro's Kit )
http://www.proskit.com/tweezers/multi-purpose/tweezer-straight-sharp?cPath=22_84&
-pointy precision nose-plier ( Pro's Kit )
http://www.proskit.com/precision-pliers-and-cutters/needle-nosed/5-needle-nosed-pliers-w-esd-safe-handle?cPath=5_9&


..
...
....
End of transmission ....

Great info thnx SDS!

Supra,I have a little problem. I bought this cheap power supply for the fans and it won't start the 4 fans unless I pull the little adapter off and plug it back in. I got the smallest wall wart one,12v,2a,24w
I can leave the fans on 24/7 for now but if I loose power to the house and it comes back on the fans won't start.
Any ideas?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251444264797?var=550359081904&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A capacitor to give them a jolt when they first come on?

Mohican said:

A capacitor to give them a jolt when they first come on?

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What size and where would I get one and how is it wired up?

Bummer! Ya the 24 hour idea is a good idea to get you through until you get a replacement. I like the capacitor idea but as simple as it is, above my knowledge.

Worst case scenario I can vouch for this PSU with (4) 140mm fans. It is adjustable from 8.4V-13V.

SupraSPL said:

Bummer! Ya the 24 hour idea is a good idea to get you through until you get a replacement. I like the capacitor idea but as simple as it is, above my knowledge.

Worst case scenario I can vouch for this PSU with (4) 140mm fans. It is adjustable from 8.4V-13V.

Click to expand...

So the same size would work fine 12v-2a-24w, how long did it take you to get one from Hong Kong ?

Yes for whatever reason it works although it may vary since these units are not manufactured precisely. The capacitor thing might be simpler than I thought. It is just in parallel on the DC side. You could find capacitors of that size in scrap electronics.


"When using a series resistor to slow your computer fan, you may find that the fan is unable to start when powered on. You can overcome this problem by placing a capacitor in parallel with your resistor. This will give the fan the required kick to get it spinning. It will have no effect on the fan speed once started. 470-1000uf 16v should be plenty but you can experiment with different values. A higher value will give more kick. Make sure the capacitor's positive terminal is towards the power source when your resistor is in the positive lead of the fan."

SupraSPL said:

Bummer! Ya the 24 hour idea is a good idea to get you through until you get a replacement. I like the capacitor idea but as simple as it is, above my knowledge.

Worst case scenario I can vouch for this PSU with (4) 140mm fans. It is adjustable from 8.4V-13V.

Click to expand...

what diy is better overall in your opinion, the 3070s or the r-w-b? I am trying to decide if I want to add 3070s to the sides of my magnums with horts, do 16 3070s, do 4 r-w-b, or do a combo of the 3? money isnt an issue I just dunno what way to go and have a few weeks left to figure it out. whatcha think?

I suppose that what it comes down to is how much work you are willing to do. The 3070s are very easy and quick to assemble (except the sanding part if you plan to flatten your heatsinks). There is no doubt that 3000K produces great results on its own. That said, adding some deep red and deep blue may improve the quality of the buds even further but increases complexity. So I settled on something like this (COBs should be spread further apart)



When I was mixing HPS with LED I set them up side by side because the HPS needed to be so far away from the canopy that the LED modules would block the HPS light. Another option is to surround the canopy with LEDs and HPS in the center. So mounting the COBs up high with the HPS would be problematic. For reference my COBs are only 8-12" from the canopy.