Cree Xlamp Grow-Light Schematic Design (Wanted)

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 :)

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

is this what your looking for

cree xlamp grow light schematic - Google Search

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Originally Posted by Weezard

[That what you're looking for?:)

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That's a good start, thanks :)

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Originally Posted by veggii

cree xlamp grow light schematic - Google Search

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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.

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.

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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

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Originally Posted by Weezard

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

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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 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.

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Originally Posted by SnSstealth

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

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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

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Originally Posted by Weezard

Lemme know if I can help.

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

Care to share a parts list/schem?