help with home made led lights

[alohamahalo]

5w emitters. 8:2 Reds at 900ma and blues at 400 ma.

[Weezard]

5w emitters. 8:2 Reds at 900ma and blues at 400 ma.

Prolly safe at 4" but I'd give them 8" to allow for growth and leaf movement.

Congratulations on the build, brah.
Feels good to roll your own, yah?

I grew dis li'l pup under 5W. leds;
[attachment=o265358][attachment=o265359]

It was a right li'l wig tightener.

Aloha,
Weezard

[alohamahalo]

Mahalos boolay!!
Yeah its awesome knowing I built it and seeing it work. I feel like a little grom everytime i check the cabinet and see the lights. Haha. Im enjoying this hobby very much so.
mahalos again weez and om. I appreciate all your help.
till the next which will be when I get a comp, internet, and a camera cable all together to post some pics of my girl in the cab and some shots of my lights for you guys.
And to anyone interested in making your own led panels, I say go for it if you have a basic understanding of electricity and soldering. It was a fun projects and even better to see something growing under it.

Have a good day!
aloha & mahalo, over & out!!
Cheeeee hoooo!!!!!

[alohamahalo]

i was trying to post pics of my lights and plant thats growing under it and it wont let me upload them. any thoughts?

[emilya]

i was trying to post pics of my lights and plant thats growing under it and it wont let me upload them. any thoughts?

you need that + after your name to upload directly to the threads. You can create a catalog and reference pics in there or use one of those online picture sites.

Emmie

[alohamahalo]

when i first got the plant. vegged for only a few days.

turned the exposure down cause it was too bright so you could see the plant.

day 3 of flowering.


baby buds. week 1 flowering.

week 2 of flowering. shes blew up. stretching pretty much stopped.

for veg i was running the blues at 90% and deep reds at 60%.
for flowering im running the blues at 40% and deep and far reds at 90%. the far-reds turn on 15 mins before the rest do and turn off 15 mins after the rest acting as a trigger light. the cooling fan for the light turns on and off with the far-reds. my exhaust/intake fans turn on with the lights and turn off an hr after the lights. im 2 weeks and 3 days into flowering and stretching has slowed down and hoping has stopped. my canopy climbed to about 2 inches from the light and no signs of bleaching so i kinda just been letting her go.

-is it bad that the soil takes about 5-7 days to dry out? ive been curious about this and dont wanna get root rot or anything.

ill post some newer flicks when i come across the internet again. haha. sorry. i ran outta time on my friends comp.

aloha and mahalo to you weezard. super stoked! couldnt have done it with out your input.

cheeeee heeee!!!
alohamahalo

[Weezard]

"-is it bad that the soil takes about 5-7 days to dry out? ive been curious about this and dont wanna get root rot or anything."

That's normal for LED grows.

It's a good idea to transplant 3, or 4 times when growing under LEDs because of the slower transpiration and less evaporation.
I start with a smaller pot than usual and up-pot 3 times in veg, then again when I flower.

"aloha and mahalo to you weezard. super stoked! couldnt have done it with out your input."

You are welcome, my friend.
I'm impressed with your build, and results.:thumbsup:
Gonna hang around and watch.:jointsmile:

Aloha,
Weeze

[Wav3F0rm]

(i know, older thread resurrection) hey alohamahalo, do you have a schematic of your build? and all the components used? thanks

[Weezard]

Notatall, this thread needed a :bump2:!
I'm keen to know how the harvest turned out.:smokin:

No schemo needed actually.
It's just LEDs, glued to a heatsink, wired in series, and attached to a commercial led driver for each color.
Keep track of the anodes n' cathodes n' add up the forward voltage drops to size the drivers.
If you can string beads, (and speak solder), you can build a LED array in half a day.


Mahalo fo' bumpin',
Weeze

[Wav3F0rm]

Notatall, this thread needed a :bump2:!
I'm keen to know how the harvest turned out.:smokin:

No schemo needed actually.
It's just LEDs, glued to a heatsink, wired in series, and attached to a commercial led driver for each color.
Keep track of the anodes n' cathodes n' add up the forward voltage drops to size the drivers.
If you can string beads, (and speak solder), you can build a LED array in half a day.


Mahalo fo' bumpin',
Weeze

hmm, i may have missed something in the thread, but, i don't recall alohamahalo posting what he actually ended up using, just what he thought about using. ?? unless the below was what was used in the final design and just wasn't mentioned?

4 x deep red:660nm,5w, 2.8v, 1a
2 x far red:740nm, 5w, 2.6v, 1a
1 x blue:440nm, 5w, 3.6v, 1a
2 x power supply:24v, 6.5a
3 x 3023-D-E-1000PmA Wired BuckPuck (one for each color)

weezard, what up man, thanks for the reply. (gonna go all creeper for a minute) but i feels like i've known you for the longest time, because i've lurked around this place since "the perfect LED grow thread" but i've finally built up something like the courage(more like heat is killing me, and i have to do something about it), so after years of on and off research i'm going to build something(and post every now and then also)(hurray for run on sentences). I think if i can diagnose electrical gremlins in many a auto, as well as run new harnesses, i should be able to figure this out(been soldering for years nows).

Yeah, basically, i'm rreealll leery about ordering something from china and hoping i got what was advertised/asked for, as well as having really weird dimensional requirements(not being able to find something commercial to fit).

then not wanting to build a current regulator/diving into how i think that stuff works(because i'd rather buy a buckpuck--which also does neat things for getting rid of extra voltage, and doing so very efficiently, but still finding specifics on that). Buying a bench supply just to build a few small arrays doesn't seem logical.

wow.. went a little overboard on that there post. so, here is where i'm loosing this battle a little bit. lets say 5w LEDengin 660s min Vf=2.48 max Vf=3.44, ok, so thats 1volt ether way, which is a sizable amount with anything more than 3 emitters in a string, without testing each emitter.

Next issue is driver, i've been reading through, and yeah those meanwells, but their current output is way over 1000mA(but 12v is good for a small string). So, ultimately, there is my killer, finding a power supply with the right numbers to fit these LEDs.

Then, ok, buckpucks for current regulation and they come in 1000mA formants, and are(supposedly) good for up to 18w strings, and, in the process are good for cleaving off extra voltage and do so very efficiently(forget the science/electrical theory behind why). right.. so, why haven't i just bought the stuff and built it with that "knowledge" in hand... because. wwayyy to much theory for me to be blowing up $10 emitters.... xD lol

Honestly, bluntly even, i'm just looking for a A goes into B. Unfortunately, i ether have huge wholes in my understanding(aside from smaller but, still very noticeable wholes), and i am unable to find a driver that meets my needs, or i missed something that says they are "smart" and adjust for you(which i'm nearly positive they don't)

yeah..