DiY LED - Cree CXA3070

Have you looked at Super Capacitors? Some wild YT videos

SupraSPL said:

Thnx abiqua I will check out those links,

Kakamika, I am on the case trying to find a small 12Vpower supply, 80% or better efficiency for a good price. I will need 2, one for each flower room. Each one will be powering 6-12 140mm fans.

Regarding flowering spectrum, the theory I subscribe to is 15-20% blue (PAR Watts) half red, half deep red and the rest white. That is how I build my RWB modules but the 3000K is low on blue, low on deep red and high on white. Not perfect but should be better than HPS spectrum.

WDIK, they do get hot and if I understand correctly keeping them as cool will improve reliability. I mounted mine on a board so they get cooled by convection at the least.

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SupraSPL said:

Thnx abiqua I will check out those links,

Kakamika, I am on the case trying to find a small 12Vpower supply, 80% or better efficiency for a good price. I will need 2, one for each flower room. Each one will be powering 6-12 140mm fans.

Regarding flowering spectrum, the theory I subscribe to is 15-20% blue (PAR Watts) half red, half deep red and the rest white. That is how I build my RWB modules but the 3000K is low on blue, low on deep red and high on white. Not perfect but should be better than HPS spectrum.

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Thanks for the spectrum info, I'll add that to the concideration list

About the power supply, I wouldnt go too cheap on them, you'll either end up with something from china thats not really 80%+ or it wouldn't be as protected as it should.
stick to something with a brand, I can recommend Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, Enermax and I'm sure there are a few more out there that are decent.
some have better cable arrangments if that matters to you. costs more too... eventually you want something thats easy to handle and maintain and that will hold for years.

Edit:
I dont know how far apart your rooms are, but if they're close by you could use only one power supply - you'll have to run a cable from one room to the other but one power supply
should be able to handle a lot more than 12 fans. you just need two controllers (or more...)

Good call on the heat management ideas melllo

PetFlora I dont know much about super capacitors I will look into it more. What application did you have in mind?

kakamika, i will test them thoroughly to check their efficiency. If I end up having to spend more I will do what it takes. My rooms are side by side but they are on a flip flop so unless I could configure a 12v timer or flip flop, I would need a pair. I am going to statr with these. I love the idea of adjustable voltage but I guess that depends on the efficiency. 12V makes the fans loud Id like them to be nearly silent.

Hmmm - for less than $5 you can get the MeanWell http://www.trcelectronics.com/View/Mean-Well/RS-25-12.shtml
$11.70; 2.1A; 81.5% efficient; small adjustable voltage range

Worth the difference?

Thnx Smokey! I will report back once I test the cheapos.

Mellodrama said:

If the drivers are warm on the outside, they're hotter inside. Don't put them in a box. Heat is the enemy of all electronic devices. Hanging vertically on a wall, probably fairly close to the ground where it's a bit cooler, would probably be OK. Hanging vertically on the wall with a small fan blowing across them would be better. If your grow area isn't too hot, maybe you could kill two birds with one stone and place the drivers downstream of a fan that's jostling the plants?

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Thanks. Planning to have the drivers outside the tent so will hand them on a board on the wall. Should be easy enough to mount a 12 volt fan to blow some air over them. I have a Mean Well driver coming for the fans.

SupraSPL said:

Good call on the heat management ideas melllo

PetFlora I dont know much about super capacitors I will look into it more. What application did you have in mind?

kakamika, i will test them thoroughly to check their efficiency. If I end up having to spend more I will do what it takes. My rooms are side by side but they are on a flip flop so unless I could configure a 12v timer or flip flop, I would need a pair. I am going to statr with these. I love the idea of adjustable voltage but I guess that depends on the efficiency. 12V makes the fans loud Id like them to be nearly silent.

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well, your options are much cheaper than mine, and I mean that in a good way.
I just happen to have a few relatively new PC power supplies I can choose from laying around here. If I had to buy one I'd probably go with your suggestion, or the meanwell somkey suggested (thanks!).

regarding the effeciency, its not all about the power consuption, at least not for me. eventually it all adds up to costs and thats what I'm looking at.
fans have moving parts, therefore a relatively short life time. some fans move air better than others, some have better speed control, some are more silent than others. its a matter of finding the most effecient solution while keeping costs
as low as possible. not a simple problem, but its well worth thinking about every part in the system - from top to bottom.

if you have temprature controled fan speed then they will rotate less, will be more quite and possibly consume less power - eventualy extending the life of the fans.

btw, did anyone try out regular heatsinking with aluminum sinks in comparison to high/mid range copper/aluminum CPU heatsinks with heatpipes?

p.s

Sorry if I keep sticking to the computer parts departments, but I know these far better than anything else. I really think that the problems we are trying to solve were discussed many times in other communities only for a very different purpose - CPU Heatsinking.

SuperCaps can replace 12v batteries when a recharging system is incorporated

SupraSPL said:

Good call on the heat management ideas melllo

PetFlora I dont know much about super capacitors I will look into it more. What application did you have in mind?

kakamika, i will test them thoroughly to check their efficiency. If I end up having to spend more I will do what it takes. My rooms are side by side but they are on a flip flop so unless I could configure a 12v timer or flip flop, I would need a pair. I am going to statr with these. I love the idea of adjustable voltage but I guess that depends on the efficiency. 12V makes the fans loud Id like them to be nearly silent.

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kakamika said:

btw, did anyone try out regular heatsinking with aluminum sinks in comparison to high/mid range copper/aluminum CPU heatsinks with heatpipes?

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Both I an Supra have used aluminum heatsinks with success.

I used the Arctic Fans from Amazon:




Supra used giant passive heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com:

Gaius said:

Both I an Supra have used aluminum heatsinks with success.

I used the Arctic Fans from Amazon:


Supra used giant passive heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com:

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Love the pics.

yours looks close to what I want, passive cooling is just too bulky for me. I was thinking about testing some "high-end" computer cooling equipment.
such as: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835116018
or even something like: http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2614

wondering if anyone tried these. although pricey*, they come with pwm controlled fans, will last practically for ever and they're have a very low profile. I was thinking about placing them on a rack with adjustable arms.
I'll upload the sketches when I'll actualy start building it

(*same case as before- I have some really nice computer gear laying around... making a good use of it )

IMO, all aluminum pc heat sinks work fine but copper base has better heat dissipation and work better.
I spent a little bit more on the front end on these but I'm also driving chips at a higher mA and was seeking
lux rather than efficacy. I am also using in <2sf.

If I were to go Heatsink USA blocks, then I would probably use a 2x2 copper shim to mount a cxa holder
and either screw or adher plate to block. I would still actively cool block.

As has been stated previously, we are all pioneering new technology and at this time R&D for our application
is in its infancy. Great threads on this board for alls input.

Your application (limited sq ft) is a good example of when to run harder. Copper base will spread the heat to the fins quicker but hopefully they used a good thermal interface between the copper and aluminum because that would take some work.

In this pic the center module is dissipating 100W (4 COBs) with active cooling and the surrounding modules are dissipating 50W but they are both running at about 43% efficiency. The 100W module was so successful in terms of Tj I plan to abandon passive cooling from this point forward. This is the first batch of ladies (in several years) that will be 100% LED.

SupraSPL said:

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Doctor octopus's fusion reactor grow in action here.

S, Great work on chip modules! It would be interesting if you made an adjustable
railing system for blocks to roll and lock on for different positioning.

Threatening to destroy the fundamental laws of nature! Or on the other hand I would be happy with .75 gr/W lol. I was only getting .3-.4 gr/W with the 600HPSX2 in there. Eventually I would like to get much higher but that depends on the varieties and how well I can get my ferts dialed in.

Thnx mtn. The modules are hanging from a railing system made of 2X3s. They are hanging by 16 gauge galvanized wire and 10# zinc chain so height is adjusted that way. Angle is adjusted by where the vertical connect to the zinc chain as you can see on the modules on the right. Horizontal positioning is adjusted by moving where the verticals grab the 2X3s. There are hooks every few inches to choose from. In the center of all that is the ceiling fan, which turned out to be a convenient place for the 12V power distribution for the heatsink fans.

You are right on, ease of adjustability is very important because if it is too much work I know myself and I won't keep up on it long term and canopy management would suffer. I plan to add more modules but for this size canopy 400W seems to be doing the job. The other flower room has a bigger canopy at the moment so it is 300W LED + 600W HPS.

Got a box of (10) 140mm fans for $18. Hooked them up to the 100W COB heatsinks and running them at 5V until I get the adjustable power supplies. The active 100W heatsinks are actually running cooler (23C) than some of my passive 50W RWB modules (up to 26C). Ambient is 20.4C (69F).

140mm fans. Nice. Any more of those left from the vendor? Are you happy with the quality?

I did some googling and askin' and was instructed to get our XGS190 further away from the plants. At least a foot, and that's on the lowest setting. In those latest pics of yours it looks like your lights are almost touching. That's a mixture of R/W/B emitters and COB's, right? Have you experimented with distance and decided that's where they need to be?

So far I have hooked up 3 of them and no complaints on quality. Silent and smooth, moving lots of air. I will check to see if there are more available that was a darn good deal.
Power distribution for the fans


I adjust the height to be as close as possible while trying to make sure the entire canopy is well lit and also that no light is being wasted. That ends up being just a few inches in some cases and up to a foot in others. Closer on the edges and higher in the center. Every run I am working with a wide variety of varieties so it is almost impossible to keep an even canopy but I don't stress it, just try not to make more work for myself.

Just installed another 200W of COBs and removed the last HPS . Flower room 1 is up to 400W LED and flower room 2 is up to 500W LED. Still a long way to go because I have enough RWB LEDs to build 4 modules (200W) and they are very tedious to solder.



Then I have to update some of my veggin lamps. They are still using old osram golden dragons, reds, deep reds and 6500K

After reading this thread and Gaius's I've decided to go DIY instead of buying premade. Got a bit of reasearch to do as I really have no idea what I'm doing yet, but I just wanted to say thanks for motivating me!

I'll be replacing two 1k lights over three 3x4 flood tables in a 5x10 tent on a perpetual cycle (strictly flowering, I veg in another tent I already converted from t5 to cree globes) Any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome!