DIY led grow

Killer buds @Positivity !

Positivity said:

Stay tuned for red vs white. I actually hope the white kicks butt on it's own..

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Me too...it would make life easier.

Damn.

And then there was white

Well I guess she can run 5 on each driver. Will keep an eye on my driver temperatures. Need to make sure they won't be running too hot like this. But...the dimmers are there if need be.

Noticed quite a few things with the UVA 365nm LEDs. They are strong. May incorporate them in the future run softer and on a timer and stuff but for now they are off. They definitely stress the plant...just too much right now..I think in the right scenario they would still be helpful.



Fans on low..



Fans on high..


Haven't flowered yet, plants have been stressed. Should be soon..

Nice POS 10 COBs, what spectrum and drive current?

Havent been lurking threads on RIU lately going to have to look back the last few pages of the thread and see what Ive missed.

Bueno Time said:

Nice POS 10 COBs, what spectrum and drive current?

Havent been lurking threads on RIU lately going to have to look back the last few pages of the thread and see what Ive missed.

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All 3k at 1050ma. All ab bin except for one z4 and one z2...just used what I had. Worked out well, now almost all my cobs are running except for a couple 3590s I'm working on.

Nice job indeed positivity!, i have no idea how i just noticed this thread....you must post when im not on (which isnt too often lol sad i know) anyways thats exactly how "if i could" would want my diy cob...with the cone style reflectors...had the idea wayyy back but just don't have the cajones hahaha

Finally had some time to work on my veg light. Made a few measuring mistakes but otherwise it went together how I imagined. Figured it would be a little rough on the first try at a boxed light. Going to need to expand the tool collection past hand tools if I want to finish it better.

The cooling was the main thing anyway. Fat chunk of copper to wisk heat away quickly, hopefully the fan cooler will work well with it.

Room for six 3w LEDs in case I feel the need. Wanted this to be a versatile and a easily adjustable light. Probably put my luxeon blues to see if I can promote extra stocky veg growth.

Anyway..hopefully I'll finish it soon..if the wifey lets me..lol.

Don't really recommend this way..lol. Lots of measuring, cutting, and broken bits.

Another fine project you did POS, hope all works for you.

Positivity said:

Finally had some time to work on my veg light. Made a few measuring mistakes but otherwise it went together how I imagined. Figured it would be a little rough on the first try at a boxed light. Going to need to expand the tool collection past hand tools if I want to finish it better.

The cooling was the main thing anyway. Fat chunk of copper to wisk heat away quickly, hopefully the fan cooler will work well with it.

Room for six 3w LEDs in case I feel the need. Wanted this to be a versatile and a easily adjustable light. Probably put my luxeon blues to see if I can promote extra stocky veg growth.

Anyway..hopefully I'll finish it soon..if the wifey lets me..lol.

Don't really recommend this way..lol. Lots of measuring, cutting, and broken bits.

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What is the purpose of the mesh?

Dloomis514 said:

What is the purpose of the mesh?

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Just somewhere to screw things down without making a million holes in the case. The mesh is nice and rigid and can be screwed right into. Mounting points galore..

only1realhigh said:

Another fine project you did POS, hope all works for you.

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Thanks realhigh...just a labour of love...

Eventually I'll get my lighting just how I want it...maybe..lol

That mesh idea is a good one. Would also allow for changes with out leaving drill holes all over, nice POS.

This things going to be way overkill...just how I like it.... I wouldn't go through this trouble for a big setup, it's a lot of work. But I only need one for my veg space so I thought I'd get it how I want it.

My bjb small star connectors found a second life. Figured I'd make it all solder free for easy changes. Color is orange peel black..lol...short in time so I couldn't get the paint job perfect. I did use a etching primer so the paint should be durable enough



Put a thermostat on each CPU cooler to cut out the power to the drivers in case of a fan giving out. The ac line will be running through these so considerable care will be needed running and securing these wires.



Still need to finish the wiring..one more work session should do it. Don't want to rush that at all..

Awesome thermostat setup and badass heatsinks Do you normally ground your them? That should help give you a measure of safety and maybe a GFCI?

SupraSPL said:

Awesome thermostat setup and badass heatsinks Do you normally ground your them? That should help give you a measure of safety and maybe a GFCI?

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Thanks supra

The heat sinks are screwed into the case and the case will be grounded so I'm thinking that will do it. I could put a ground on each one but I'm not sure if that's necessary. My whole setup runs into a gfci for safety sake. I have these thermostats on my current veg light so I'm not anticipating any problems

Sounds like you have you bases covered, looking forward to see what she can do.

SupraSPL said:

Sounds like you have you bases covered, looking forward to see what she can do.

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Trying to cover my bases but I'm still learning so any safety suggestions are always welcome

chocolope is an amazing strain, excellent. A heav y yielder for a mainly sativa plant, with amazing taste and smell, clones very easily, can handle higher temp and humidity very well and has a nice cerebral high too. it responds extremely well in resurrection!!!

Thanks mandragoras...sounds excellent! Really looking forward to some new genetics

Got some DIY stuff done. Put a nzxt fan controller on but it wouldn't control the pwm fans. So I put a 2 wire fan on to replace the zalman CPU cooler 4 wire pwm fan. Works well but now I have to order some better replacements to keep the fan speed up.

So it reports temp on each 3590, one ambient case, and one middle led star and one star at the end. Early readings are about a 8*C rise at the full 1a. So from 30*C to 38*C on the big cxas and about a 3*C rise on the back of the heatsink right behind the stars. 3w royal blues and 430nm violet on at 700ma

Having problems with my current ammeter too...

Can't get it to read out correctly and I'm wondering if I need a shunt for it. If I do I might just scrap the idea..

Coming along....it's not too bad building when your in no rush to light a room..




Full draw