DIY LED grow light help wanted

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Heat-Sink-Cooling-Fan-for-150W-High-Power-LED-Lamp-/370853915234?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56589daa62

This is a sick @$$ fan n heatsink. Says its for 150w but id try it on a 300w.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-100-Watt-White-High-Power-LED-Light-Lens-Reflector-Heatsink-Cooler-Fan-/360480669392?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53ee527ed0

I see this and I picture Ironman.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-High-Power-LED-Cooling-Fan-Aluminium-Heatsink-/200904535300?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec6d7ed04

This one should be good on a 150w panel. And its in my price range.
3 of the $5 pc fans/sink probably wouldnt be as affective as this single led cooling system.

That CPU cooler won't cool that mcpcb, it's not big enough. Yes, it should be able to dissipate the Watts, but you'd need some type of heat spreader to get the heat away from the LED's and to the CPU cooler. Otherwise only LED's that sit directly underneath, or close to, the CPU cooler will see its effect.

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why r u still on this? in my previous post i linked you the Kind of heatsink you would Need...

Those are all CPU coolers being sold as LED multichip heat sinks, some of which are insanely overpriced. You could even use a liquid cooled CPU cooler if you wanted. No idea how many Watts that would dissipate.

300W multichips are larger than your average multichip, though, aren't they? No idea if they would fit on any of these CPU coolers. Also, most Warm White multichips have a CRI of ~70-80. You'll probably want to supplement with 630-660nm if you're buying Chinese multichips. If you're looking for a high CRI Warm White multichip check out the Vero by Bridgelux.

Vero 29, 90 CRI min - 10,000 lumen
Vero 18, 95 CRI min - 4,000 lumen

lax123 said:

i mean, what i did and would do again: get a large flat heatsink (like this but bigger maybe http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Med-Lg-Aluminum-Heat-Sink-Amp-Led-Heat-Exchanger-Transistor-Ham-Radio-DIY-/181230339468?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a322b858c), attach leds mounted on star on the bottom of it, wire leds yourself, get some CC Drivers (i have those linked, several Drivers allow you to enable different light Clusters), attach fan/s on top of the heatsink, drill some holes in it to be able to Mount it and done.

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I agree, this type of heatsink would be better. Throw a couple fans on top and it will dissipate the heat in a larger area than those small cpu heatsink/fan combos. DIY LED's on the bottom side and wire them the way you want to comply with the driver/power supply that you will be using. There are many LED DIY videos on youtube doing exactly that. Good luck.

DIY LED Multichip Builds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSPnDY557AA

Have you ever thought about going for light bars?

I am trying to get my 1st one built over winter. This one will be roughly 85 watts total [72w's of LED's] and maybe cover every 1.5 sq. feet, that's what I will size it for any way.

[1]Bridgelux RS 4000k-4500k [36w 18.6v@2A's.] [BXRA-4500] [4000+ lu @18.2v-1.75A]

and [1] Bridgelux RS 3000k [ 36w] [BXRA-30's]
and then..
Meanwell HLG-100-36A or C -[A or C has adjustable voltage/current]

and then....16" of this...http://www.heatsinkusa.com/7-280/

Abiqua said:

Have you ever thought about going for light bars?

I am trying to get my 1st one built over winter. This one will be roughly 85 watts total [72w's of LED's] and maybe cover every 1.5 sq. feet, that's what I will size it for any way.

[1]Bridgelux RS 4000k-4500k [36w 18.6v@2A's.] [BXRA-4500] [4000+ lu @18.2v-1.75A]

and [1] Bridgelux RS 3000k [ 36w] [BXRA-30's]
and then..
Meanwell HLG-100-36A or C -[A or C has adjustable voltage/current]

and then....16" of this...http://www.heatsinkusa.com/7-280/

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Nice links and multi-chip video before that Abiqua! Good stuff! Thanks!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Case-Fan-12V-DC-50CFM-PC-CPU-Computer-Cooling-Ball-Brg-3-Pin-80mm-25mm-Black-/170875554320?pt=US_Computer_Case_Fans&hash=item27c8fa0a10

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100W-White-LED-High-Power-Light-Lamp-Chip-100W-Power-Driver-Supply-AC-85V-265V-/370887785163?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&var=640119336849&hash=item565aa27acb

Plus the heatsink you posted earlier. 7 5"x5" for $20.+ shipping

Hey guys check this out: http://www.ebay.com/itm/wdm-2x-9-1W-9-3W-HighPower-LED-Heat-Sink-Aluminum-Base-plate-9-leds-series-/180756041784?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a15e65038 Now imagine putting say 4 of those on a large, square, aluminum heatsink cooled with fans. You fill the 4 base plates with the colors you want and cover each one with a large reflector and lens combo to focus the light at a better angle. Any thoughts?

JohnNeedsMeds: Secondary optics should be avoided if possible, imo. You'll get me to say yes to the reflectors sooner than the glass lenses, though. Still, 3W diodes packed that closely together will easily be enough light to flower plants. I don't quite see the need for secondary optics.

Abiqua: That video depicts virtually exactly what I did for a few of my own multichips. They work like a charm in my veg tent. If the multichip had 45mil dice, >80 CRI, and was ~2700K it could probably flower a plant alright, too.

Bumping Spheda said:

JohnNeedsMeds: Secondary optics should be avoided if possible, imo. You'll get me to say yes to the reflectors sooner than the glass lenses, though. Still, 3W diodes packed that closely together will easily be enough light to flower plants. I don't quite see the need for secondary optics.

Abiqua: That video depicts virtually exactly what I did for a few of my own multichips. They work like a charm in my veg tent. If the multichip had 45mil dice, >80 CRI, and was ~2700K it could probably flower a plant alright, too.

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Hey BS. I suggested the lens cuz it seems that some major brands are using them to narrow the angle of the led's a bit better. I do realize there is some loss due to the lenses but think of it like this, if you have say a 120 degree LED then the focus is spread way out so less intensity on the canopy but if you narrow that beam to say 60 degrees, the inscreased intensity of that beam will more than make up for the small percentage of loss through the lens. At least it would seem that way to me.

You mentioned a glass lens over multiple LED's. This means the lens will have to be very large, and thick glass. Your losses will far outweigh any benefit.

The way I see it is if you want the light more intense, move the panel closer to your panels. It has to do with diode spacing and panel height. Leave the secondary optics out of it. Just my point of view.

Bumping Spheda said:

You mentioned a glass lens over multiple LED's. This means the lens will have to be very large, and thick glass. Your losses will far outweigh any benefit.

The way I see it is if you want the light more intense, move the panel closer to your panels. It has to do with diode spacing and panel height. Leave the secondary optics out of it. Just my point of view.

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Hmmm, so even with a large reflector starting at the base of the LED's and flaring out to the lens, there would still be too much loss? Darn! I thought I was onto something.

JohnNeedsMeds said:

Hmmm, so even with a large reflector starting at the base of the LED's and flaring out to the lens, there would still be too much loss? Darn! I thought I was onto something.

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Yes. I would sooner accept a flat piece of glass over the end of the reflector to protect the dice (from being scraped off the board, high humidity, stray water splashes, dirt accumulation, etc.) than a glass lens used to control the beam angle. The lens would just have to be far too thick (in some places ?6-8 times? as thick as just a protective window over the reflector) to accomplish the task. I suspect losses would be generously more than 20%. Aint nobody got time for >20% losses.

Keep coming up with ideas, though, one's bound to stick. You're talking to the crazy guy who built a 100W remote phosphor spotlight for his garden.

Bumping Spheda said:

Yes. I would sooner accept a flat piece of glass over the end of the reflector to protect the dice (from being scraped off the board, high humidity, stray water splashes, dirt accumulation, etc.) than a glass lens used to control the beam angle. The lens would just have to be far too thick (in some places ?6-8 times? as thick as just a protective window over the reflector) to accomplish the task. I suspect losses would be generously more than 20%. Aint nobody got time for >20% losses.

Keep coming up with ideas, though, one's bound to stick. You're talking to the crazy guy who built a 100W remote phosphor spotlight for his garden.

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LOL Thanks BS! What I would still like to do is take a number of plates like the one referred to earlier, fill them with different color LED's, specific nm and Kelvin, and create my own full spectrum panel. I would still want to control the angle of the beams. Perhaps using single reflectors much like the Hans panel, without lenses, but using my own spectrum of lights to fill it out better than Hans. I believe Merryday has most everything I would need and as you mentioned could possibly solder the LED's on for me. That would be awesome!

Yea im getting my order ready with merryday. Shes been alot of help. Cheap heatsink too. But shipping for the 2 heatsinks i want is $100. The heatsink itself is $30 each. I want to use a 48V 10A 480w switching power supply. I know they work i just need to make sure i do it right. Load test it and what not. I only need about 360w but this power supply is $51 free shipping. Most cc led drivers are like $50 for only 200w.
So my question is does anyone have experience with wiring up an led panel to a switching power supply successfully.

Each power supply is for 120 *3w leds.


Now cooling. Been thinking water on cpvc pipes. They can stand 150°F/65°C ofcourse thats not near as high as where u want them. Pumps, pipes and some "radiator" fans will be about $60 for both panels.

Ill try and be neat and draw you guys a diagram on how i think the pipes should run to pick up and release heat

I threw in some purple leds in my specrum (2000k-2100k) i been trying to convert 2100k to nm. I try Wiens Law n get a number not visible to human eye. But on the color chart i see it like at 640-655nm.

Treat them like Neutral or Cool White's. Use sparingly in flower, imo, I think the Blue output on Pink/Purple LED's can and tends to be a little high for our purposes. I actually wonder if they could bleach a plant if kept too close. That said, some Blue plus Deep Red sounds really good for veg, and maybe in flower to keep stretch down in a predominantly Warm White ratio. They have a place, imo, just don't over do them because you are still sourcing Deep Red from a phosphor conversion. There are more efficient ways of doing this, i.e. Red+Blue ratios. The only real downside being your Red wls would probably be much narrower than with phosphor converted Red/Deep Red.

I kinda like the idea of these carclo rereflectors, no glass between things

Haven't proven they are the bomb or anything. They do seem to collect the light that was shooting out sideways and lighting up the walls.

Wish I had a par meter. Could have done a before and after which would have explained a lot.

jackbukc said:

I want to use a 48V 10A 480w switching power supply. I know they work i just need to make sure i do it right.

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Most are wiring up parallel DC-DC buck controllers for each channel and then into your power supply. Rather than just running an AC-DC driver.

That power supply is NOT constant voltage, but IS constant current. That is why most run the buck controller, cheap and easy way to control current without runaway.

Like the Recom's or check here: http://trcelectronics.com