Cree Xlamp Grow-Light Schematic Design (Wanted)

[rosc2112]

Been sifting through the cruft trying to find a schematic to build a grow lamp, using Xlamp LED's from Cree. Their time is now :)

Yes I've seen the extraordinarily overpriced products being offered by businesses. Not worth the money if you can use a soldering kit, imo.

I can solder, but I'm no engineer, so, I'm asking for help in creating a circuit design that balances low cost, simplicity of construction and high efficiency. Preferably with 120vac input (off the shelf ac-dc transformer?)

Any help will be greatly appreciated by many :)

[Weezard]

Aloha Rosc2112,

LEDs are easy to wire.
No gotta be an engineer.:tin foil hat:

Take 5 red Crees, wire in series + to -.
Take 5 more, same thing.
Then wire 3 blue LEDs in series.
Add a 1 ohm 5 Watt resistor to the blue string.
Tie all three strings together (parallel) matching polarity + to +, - to -.

Mount it all on a hefty heatsink.
No gotta calculate, Overkill will do jus' fine.

Feed them from a standard 12.5V DC 4A. power supply.
Will draw about 3.4 Amps.

That will build a quick n dirty, 42.5 Watt grow light ,that will work very well for 2 to 4 plants.

If you want it to last longer, run cooler and be more efficient...

Buy some LM317 variable voltage regulators and wire them as constant current regs.
You'll find the circuit and formula in the datasheet.
Solder a resistor between the output pin and the adjust pin.
Then connect your LEDs + to the ADJ. pin.
Calculate resistor value to to supply LESS than the Imax of your LEDs.
I usually run 'em a 75% -80%, for efficiency.

That what you're looking for?:)

Regards,
Weezard

[veggii]

is this what your looking for

cree xlamp grow light schematic - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cree+xlamp+grow+light+schematic&btnG=Google+Search)

[rosc2112]

[That what you're looking for?:)

That's a good start, thanks :)


cree xlamp grow light schematic - Google Search

Already looked there, with the exact same search terms. Most of those results are about xlamp's specs, or junk for sale, or schematics/designs using standard LED's.

[redline]

Most homebuilders have been going with Luxeon instead of Crees for multiple reasons. I would highly recommend checking them out, plus looking at some other LED threads.

[Weezard]

Most homebuilders have been going with Luxeon instead of Crees for multiple reasons. I would highly recommend checking them out, plus looking at some other LED threads.

What he said!:D

You might want to look at the Ledengin offerings as well.
I'm using Ledengin 15W. 660s and I'm very happy with the results.

Weeze

[SnSstealth]

What he said!:D

You might want to look at the Ledengin offerings as well.
I'm using Ledengin 15W. 660s and I'm very happy with the results.

Weeze

hey weez,

how much would an array of those 660s be with say 10 or 12 in each? or would it need to be less, like 6 LEDs because of power?

db

[rosc2112]

I was under the impression the xlamps were presently the brightest, so it would be "more bang for the buck." Any pointers to comparisons?

What advantages do luxeon have over xlamps?

Budget & limited space are my main considerations.

[Weezard]

hey weez,

how much would an array of those 660s be with say 10 or 12 in each? or would it need to be less, like 6 LEDs because of power?

db

I'm using 5 now.
4 reds, 1 blue and I'm only pushing the reds to 12W.
Using a 10" by 12" cake pan as a reflector, I still need to keep it at least 3" off the tops.
That's a picture of this light on my profile.
From the results with WW and AK47, I can't see the need for more power.
(Yeah, I know, blasphemy!)

I'm pretty sure that the 660nm. LEDs make the difference and allow me to use less than 100W. and still get hard, fat colas.
(Though I may add another blue for shorter internodes)

I think they cost $31 ea for the reds and $36 for the blue.
Don't quote me on the price, it's been a while, and grey ram being what it is...:)
Suggest you goto Mouser.com and do a search for LZ1* for a current price.


The 15W. Ledengins are easy to mount, easy to wire. You can turn out a finished light in, say, 2 hours.

Lemme know if I can help.
Weeze

[rosc2112]

Lemme know if I can help.

I like that cake pan design! Looks about the right size for a 3x3 area?

Care to share a parts list/schem?

[redline]

2 disadvantages of the Crees.
1. Their red and blue have a very narrow bandwidth and deliver almost zero power at the desired 430 and 660nm wavelengths. The Luxeons do a pretty good job of this. However, if you are using LED engin 660 nms.

2. They are only rated up to 700ma, same as the Luxeon K2. However the Luxeon III is max rated at 1500 ma.

A possible advantage of the Cree is the narrow focus compared to the Luxeon. I will have to see if that can be put to good use.

Does anyone know if the bare CreeX emitter can be hand soldered on the top side? It looks like it does have top pads.

I will check availability through suppliers when I get a chance. Sometimes you will see very good options available on spec sheets, but you cannot buy the higher quality bins through suppliers. LEDengin is probably a good example of this.

[Weezard]

I like that cake pan design! Looks about the right size for a 3x3 area?

Care to share a parts list/schem?

It's pretty simple really.
let me dig around in my attachments and find my old schematic
<rustle, clunk> Aha!
The LEDs are 4 Ledengin 15W 660nm in the corners.
The center LED is a single Ledengin blue. My next light will use 2 blues.
The LEDs are actually an array on a chip with 2 leads + and -, on a long flexible printed circuit.

I used Arctic silver thermal epoxy to mount them.
Works well if you buff the surface to a shine first and spread it thin.
Also polished the back and used the same epoxy to mount the heatsinks.
LIke B. H. says," it works a treat" :)
I eventually added a few heatsinks glued to the back and got the average temp down to 90 F.
The fan blows down onto the back of the light and laptop power supplies are ideal for driving the CC regs.
I use one of the regs as a voltage regulator to drive the fan from the 19V. source.
The original design had a PWM dimmer on the blue. but I ended up driving it at max so when the dimmer fried I just jumpered around it.
When I add the second blue, I'll replace the dimmer for internode distance control.

I started stressing about what else a plant needs and got stalled hunting for an exact mix of exotic LEDs.

Finally ran low on meds and said screw perfect!
Next grow I'll add a couple CFLs and see if yeild increases at all.
I suspect it will be wasted watts, but, time will tell.

Used a power connector from a computer hard drive for quick disconnect from both supplies.
Comes in handy.
Wear shades for the smoke test, I did some damage to my eye while measuring current.
I use arrays of 300, 10mm. high output LEDs for vegging and an HGL 14W. kit for clones.
The soil grow was quite good, but this grow, using Bubbaponics is outstanding!

Havin fun yet?:D
Weezard

[Gheizen64]

Wow, i checked Ledengin for 15 W Red led, but i don't understand, why blues source cost Thrice as much? (90 bucks each vs 30 for the deep red ones)

I'm thinking my ideal configuration (1 feet x 1 feet of space), would be 2 15 W Ledengin Deep Red, plus 2 or 3 5W blue led from trueopto (nice stats, founds here (http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Optoelectronics/Power-LEDs/5W-MR16-LED-Lamps/82256)) and maybe 1 UV or 1 white lamp if i can find a good one...)

Welcome everyone! :hippy:

[Weezard]

Wow, i checked Ledengin for 15 W Red led, but i don't understand, why blues source cost Thrice as much? (90 bucks each vs 30 for the deep red ones)

I'm thinking my ideal configuration (1 feet x 1 feet of space), would be 2 15 W Ledengin Deep Red, plus 2 or 3 5W blue led from trueopto (nice stats, founds here (http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Optoelectronics/Power-LEDs/5W-MR16-LED-Lamps/82256)) and maybe 1 UV or 1 white lamp if i can find a good one...)

Welcome everyone! :hippy:

Posts are just evaporating here!:wtf:

I posted the part number for the 15W blue and an URL to the page.
Maybe they didn't like that?!

Humph!
Not going to waste much more effort on a board that swallows my work.

Here's the # LZ4-00B215 Blue, 15W. $36.


Ticked off:mad:
Weeze

[rosc2112]

Weezrd:

Dunno what happened to your link, maybe ads aren't allowed here, could you send it to me in pvt?



$90 for a LED? Yikes! Might as well buy hps! :/

[rosc2112]

Actually, I just ordered a mouser catalog, looks like they have em pretty cheap. :)

[Weezard]

Actually, I just ordered a mouser catalog, looks like they have em pretty cheap. :)

That part number runs $36 at Mouser and is actually 4 5W. leds in series, on a substrate with a single lens.
So, that price is about right if the 5 watters cost $9 ea.
Considering that the bulk of the wiring is done and those 15W. point sources have good penetration...
Looked like the simplest path to me.
Played around with a lot of lesser leds in arrays but see no virtue in hard work just for the sake of hard work.
Used a 24V laptop supply to power the 4 reds and a 19V supply for the single blue. (keeps the heat under control if you only have to drop 4 volts versus 9 volts).

Hope that you'll take what I learned so far and run with it.
This is far from "The Perfect Light".
It's more of a Redneck Solid State Photosynthesis Phacilitator.:)

Would love to see some improvements like a built in timer, some warm whites, perhaps modular construction with a powered back-plane, maybe aimable plug ins with say 3 reds and a blue each and a high current battery back-up UPS would be very nice as well.


Take lots of pictures for this thread, please.
It'll save you a lot of typing.


I'll just lurk around here and kibitz if ya don't mind.

Aloha,
Weeze

[aaaaaaa]

Hi Weeze,
I got some 5w 660s and a few blues from a while back, still haven't gotten around to making a light. The reason I ordered the 5w ones is because they are the most efficient, but now that I think more about it maybe I shouldve gotten the 15s. Much easier to deal with a couple 15wers than a whole bunch of 5s, much easier power supply wise too. So anyway how do they grow? You say its enough power, how many plants are you growing? Is 660nm really as good as its cracked up to be?

[Weezard]

Hi Weeze,
I got some 5w 660s and a few blues from a while back, still haven't gotten around to making a light. The reason I ordered the 5w ones is because they are the most efficient, but now that I think more about it maybe I shouldve gotten the 15s. Much easier to deal with a couple 15wers than a whole bunch of 5s, much easier power supply wise too. So anyway how do they grow? You say its enough power, how many plants are you growing? Is 660nm really as good as its cracked up to be?

Depends on who does the cracking.:D

I have 2 45W arrays. One with 5s and one with 15s.
Both use 660 nm reds. They both grow great "Tomatoes".
2 large bushes per lamp about 4 sq. ft. ea..
Large, firm, juicy, stanky, "Tomatoes":)
The 15s grow more on the lower branches seems to be the main difference.
I did get better penetration with the 5Ws when I added 30 degree lenses.
Once I factor in time, effort and include lens cost, the 15W leds look like the way to go.
Now I'm waiting for some bright company to start making 50-75-watt
660/470 nm. single substrate arrays bonded to a peltier junction with two leads, or even better wired to an E27.
(Don't want much, do I?):)

I also have a 45W array of 5 Watters w/635nm. reds.
There I have a double blind that says.
Woo-freaking-hoo gimme two!
When the 660s come a shinin' through

The 632s work OK, but you need more wattage for similar results.
So, from personal experience, from a very small sample,
660nm. won, hands down!:thumbsup:

Aloha,
Weeze

[aaaaaaa]

Glad to hear the 660s grow nice tomatoes. Enjoy your closet grown tomatoes Weezard:D

[solarman]

Hi from new forum Member ( From UK )
Excellent forum been looking into making LED grow light myself for a while and found this thread very interesting!

As electricity is very expensive in the UK ( around 13p / 21cents per unit )this is of huge interest to Me so I thought I would join in the experiment ..
The 15w leds look ace great work WEEZARD

:thumbsup:

[solarman]

I have found 20w amber 585 ~ 595 nm led @ £6 ($9.64) each Clearance items was £15 Do You think they are worth a try for a first attempt ?


You help would be great :D::thumbsup::hippy:

[Weezard]

I have found 20w amber 585 ~ 595 nm led @ £6 ($9.64) each Clearance items was £15 Do You think they are worth a try for a first attempt ?


You help would be great :D::thumbsup::hippy:

Aloha Solarman:)

50 p. per Watt is a very tempting price.
I'd like to see an experiment using them.
I do have some doubts based on their wavelength.

But there's some who think they are a missing link.

If you add them, and outgrow a bi-color lamp with the same cost of operation, we all learned something good.
Even if there's no change at all, we all learned something.:cool:

Got any specs on those leds?
Would you be into logging a grow with them?
I'd subscribe and hang out on da porch for dat.

Regards,
Wee Zard

[solarman]

Here is the data sheet

http://www.electronelec.co.uk/datasheets/Edison/EdiPowerv1.0.pdf

Got 4 today + heatsing & lm317's Think the heatsrink I got is way to small but the leds look ace!

I could do with a little help choosing the right resistor for the adj voltage regs + do i need one wired for each led?
I will start building the unit this week and upload a photo !

Your help is much appreciated
Thanks
WeeZard
:thumbsup:

[solarman]

â??heatsing & lm317's Think the heatsrink â?? woops very heavy sesh last night!:wtf:


I have just ordered 2 red 2 blue 10w ledâ??s to compensate spectrum will I need a separate power supply ,I have a 15v laptop power supply ?

Cheers!

[solarman]

Doh! Iv ordered 7v 10w :jointsmile:

[Weezard]

â??heatsing & lm317's Think the heatsrink â?? woops very heavy sesh last night!:wtf:


I have just ordered 2 red 2 blue 10w ledâ??s to compensate spectrum will I need a separate power supply ,I have a 15v laptop power supply ?

Cheers!

I went over the spec sheet.
Was surprised to find errors.
They seem to have transposed the min. and typ. ratings on at least one chart. tsk!
You'd think they'd hire a spec sheet editor.
Nothing critical.

Your problem will be the LM317
Max current for the 317 series is 1.5 A.!

You can use a pass transistor with the 317, or just write it off and get a higher current voltage rectifier like the LM375.
You'll want 1.8- 1.9 A for full output.

The amber led's Vf is typ. between 10 and 11 volts so a 15V supply would do.
On the blue emitter the min. voltage is 16V. the cc supply needs about 2v. of "headroom" so a 19V. supply would be my minimum for that.
Each star will still need it's own regulator because of the high current draw.
I see you are still posting as I type.

"Doh! Iv ordered 7v 10w "

Huh? Sorry, to be so dense, but what are you saying here?

Might wanna slow down a bit, brah.
Haste makes waste.
Aloha,
Weezard

[solarman]

Sorry Weez not quite with it today
:wtf:

""Huh? Sorry, to be so dense, but what are you saying here?

Might wanna slow down a bit, brah.
Haste makes waste."""

I got 2 blue and 2 red leds and noticed the blue is 10-12v & red 6-7v ,soz to sound dumb again Im no expert do i need different power to run blues ?

â?¢ Emitted Color : Red
â?¢ 10 watt
â?¢ Intensity Typ. : 260Lm
� Viewing Angle : 160°
â?¢ Forward Voltage : 6-7V
â?¢ Forward Current : 1000mA
620~630

â?¢ Emitted Color :Blue
â?¢ 10 watt
â?¢ Intensity Typ. : 600Lm
� Viewing Angle : 160°
â?¢ Forward Voltage : 10-12V
â?¢ Forward Current : 1000mA


I did notice the 317s would not be enough Il just get the 375s thanks for the advice I would be screwed without it ! :D

I will try and calm down a bit now :D been dieing to have a go at a led lamp but the high led prices kept me away until now

Thanks again for the help weezard

[Weezard]

"""Huh? Sorry, to be so dense, but what are you saying here?

Might wanna slow down a bit, brah.
Haste makes waste."


Not tryin' to harsh your creative rush here, brah.:)
Just sayin' buy the leds first, than sit down with a pencil and do yer figgerin' before you order the power supply parts.

No wanna admit how big a pile of unused part I have accumulated by purchasing without a solid plan.:o

Once your design is clear we'll figure out how to feed it, yah?
:rastasmoke:
Best
Weeze

[solarman]

Sorted mate no problem ! :thumbsup:

Well the plans coming together (A Team pun) I have found HDD cooler on flee bay that should do as my heatsink fans included only 3 Quid ...On the way ;)

Hopefully photos attached:stoned:


In theory My future plan is to try & make led supplementary light that would work of a HID hood say 250w via solar panel ( obviously trying to run before i can walk ) .. Imagine the potential !

Whats ya thoughts Weeze ?:thumbsup:


Cheers for the help Weeze :D

[BeFree]

Now I'm waiting for some bright company to start making 50-75-watt
660/470 nm. single substrate arrays bonded to a peltier junction with two leads, or even better wired to an E27.
(Don't want much, do I?):)


I vote Weez opens shop and let us bring the business to you.

I'll make way with a couple 55w arrays.

begood Weez.

be

[solarman]

Used this to Calculat Resistor

MetkuMods - Because you love your hardware! (http://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&n=1&path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng)

came up with this

http://www.welwyn-tt.com/pdf/datasheet/WH.PDF

[solarman]

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/22509.pdf

[Weezard]

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/22509.pdf

Are you planning to use this as a voltage regulator?

W.

[Weezard]

"I vote Weez opens shop and let us bring the business to you.

I'll make way with a couple 55w arrays."

Nevah gonna happen, B.
I is re-tired.:rasta:
Was tired yesterday, will prolly be tired tomorrow.
Got friends beggin' me to build lights for 'em.

But, I'm a short-timer and will not go back into harness while the sky is blue and the ocean, warm.:jointsmile:


My life is so excellent now that nobody can afford to buy any of it.

'course everyone has a price.
Mine just topped $400 per hour. :D

Mahalo for the compliment, brah.
WeeZard
(onna rock, inda sun.):cool:

[Weezard]

Sorted mate no problem ! :thumbsup:

Well the plans coming together (A Team pun) I have found HDD cooler on flee bay that should do as my heatsink fans included only 3 Quid ...On the way ;)

Hopefully photos attached:stoned:


In theory My future plan is to try & make led supplementary light that would work of a HID hood say 250w via solar panel ( obviously trying to run before i can walk ) .. Imagine the potential !

Whats ya thoughts Weeze ?:thumbsup:

I'll spare you my "thoughts"
That could take years.:D

I do like that HD cooler.
I once glued six 5 W. leds to an aluminum LaCie hard drive case and stuffed it with CC drivers.

[attachment=o219209]
Still have the pup in case I need a spare clone light.

Cheers for the help Weeze :D

Not at all. We all benefit from sharing knowledge, yah?

E. como mai, (welcome):)
Weezard

[solarman]

Are you planning to use this as a voltage regulator?

W.

Yer was thinking of it got Schematic Design from the site but was way over my head :wtf:

'Prob another daft one' but could i use this to run the lot as a quick fix ?

AC-DC 12V, 2A Switching Power Adapter (110/220V)
- Power adapter for all Micro Power Supplies
- AC INPUT:100~240V
- DC OUTPUT:12V 2A 24W Max.
- Power Cord included
- 5mm/2.5mm barrel power jack


Nice one Weeze!! :D

[Weezard]

Yer was thinking of it got Schematic Design from the site but was way over my head :wtf:

'Prob another daft one' but could i use this to run the lot as a quick fix ?

AC-DC 12V, 2A Switching Power Adapter (110/220V)
- Power adapter for all Micro Power Supplies
- AC INPUT:100~240V
- DC OUTPUT:12V 2A 24W Max.
- Power Cord included
- 5mm/2.5mm barrel power jack


Nice one Weeze!! :D

Not safely. :(

Bad idea to use a 2A supply to supply 2A. continuously.
It will run hot, and fail early.

There's an adjustable 12V. 20 A. supply on ebay for $20 USD.
I had to slap a fan on it to keep it out of thermal shutdown for a constant 12 A. draw, but it is rock-steady with the fan.

Switching supplies are relatively cheap so best to go overboard on the powersupply for safety and future expansion of your array.

If you have the budget for it, (About $140 USD.),
I recommend getting a large constant voltage/constant current, digital readout, variable supply for building and bench-testing your lights.
If you only build the one light, you can use the bench supply to feed it, and you are done.
If you build more and better lights in the future you will know exactly what you need in a permanent supply by the readout on the bench supply.

You can find the bench supply by reading through
"Calling out to Weezard for led advice" by Crunchypants, (Dreaded Hermie).

Aloha,
Weezard

[solarman]

Not at all. We all benefit from sharing knowledge, yah?

E. como mai, (welcome):)
Weezard


"I once glued six 5 W. leds to an aluminum LaCie hard drive case and stuffed it with CC drivers."


GREAT MINDS HEY :thumbsup:

I found this for 15 squids :D

http://www.lambdapower.com/ftp/Specs/sirius250.pdf

[solarman]

Hello Again ,. Got all the stuff I need now ( except red blue cree ) ,the power supply look like a quality bit of equipment (UK MADE:) and I think Im going to get a few more @ that price :)
Check out the attached 20w Amber in action ,didnâ??t leave it on long as no heatsink etc .

Do You think I am ok with the 8A supply Weeze ?

Cant wait to get building :thumbsup:


Cheers for all the help Weeze :D

[Weezard]

That should do.
I do hope the regulator's heatsink on the back of the star is a little joke.

It will require, at the least, a cpu heatsink with fan.
Here's a case where more is better.

Aloha,
Weeze

[solarman]

Yer Weeze I ordered the wrong size ,I was going to just use the hd heatsink ONLY but thinking about it I might add another fan + Sink !

Should soon have some more pics


Nice One Weeze :thumbsup:

[solarman]

Wired My ledâ??s in series on The HD Sink Plugged it into My power sup nothing happened so resoldered all joints :jointsmile: still nothing ,Booooooo!!

Any clues am I missing something?

Unfortunately I do not have a multi meter at home

[Weezard]

Hmm, Let's think about this.

You have 4 leds in series.
2 red, 2 blue.
Your spec sheets say red Vf = 10.5V avg.
and blue Vf = 6.5V, avg.

So, 10.5 + 10.5 + 6.5 + 6.5 = 34V.
The total min. Vf is 32V.

So, if your supply is enabled, and you are providing at least the minimum required Forward voltage, betta call da doc, you've gone blind brah.:smokin:
(They warned us when we were teenagers, yah):D

My advice, (in braille of course),
Buy a cheapo meter, horse!

Meter gonna let you "see"
what's up wit 'lectricity.

It's electric, it's expensive,
you should be more apprehensive.
What, you no kea win dis bet?
why you work wit' out a net?!:wtf:

Nice pictures.

Aloha,
Weeze

[solarman]

""" Question Somebody's home but the lights aren't on? """ :thumbsup:

""Hmm, Let's think about this."" lmao :thumbsup: :D

Doh!

Parallel Wiring !!!! :stoned:

[solarman]

:hippy::rasta::stoned::rastasmoke::pimp::D

Sorted!


Will Keep you posted on red & blue when they turn up from far east !


Cheers!! :D

[Weezard]

:hippy::rasta::stoned::rastasmoke::pimp::D


Sorted!


Will Keep you posted on red & blue when they turn up from far east !


Cheers!! :D

Mo'betta now and lookin' good.:thumbsup:
Did not realize all 4 were amber. D'oh!:i feel stupid:
Looks like you have it sorted well enough.
No worry, sometimes I can't even spell parallel.:jointsmile:

It's the nature of the meds.:stoned:
Glad your vision is 20:20 though.:D

tipped to the ritz!:stoned:
Wee 'zard

[solarman]

â??It's the nature of the meds.â?� Very true my friend ! :D

Added a blue 3w Star to the centre of My lamp looks great !
I have now switched off My 14000k 150w & 70w 3600k halides in My veg room and replace them with My new led light + 4 Blue gu10s they have been on for at least 24 hours now over my clones with no adverse effects at all in fact I would say the plants have perked up a little !

I have a Energy monitor and it shows that I am saving about 7p an hour ( was around 15p per hour now around 7p) so Im happy with that ! :D

I am now making another light to hang over my mother plants with 2 amber 2 red and 6 blues


:D



Peace :hippy:

[solarman]

New Light

[Weezard]

Brilliant!


Weeze

[MountainMike]

HI Guys!

As a recovering electrical engineer, I've read this thread with great interest.

But one thing is puzzling me. It's the return on investment.

I can get a 48/50/55 watt red/blue panel grow light on eBay for about $90
... and all I have to do is plug it in.

On the other hand, 3 of the LEDengin 15 watt LEDs will cost over $100

The only thing that I've found that seems to be cheaper is a design that uses 1 W LEDs. The design is currently listed as "96 LED Array plant grow Illuminator DIY kit" for $80 plus shipping

The 12V power supply is not included, but any old PC supply should work.

This design seems to give about twice as many watts of light for about the same cost as the above panels, and you still have the joy of having something to build! :)

- Mountain Mike