help with home made led lights

[alohamahalo]

aloha,
sorry if this has been asked in a different thread but iam a newbee here.
im trying to make a small led grow light with 5w ledengin emitters and was curious if anyone knew of any led drivers w/ dimmers(so i could control the spectrum) that would work well with these. iam using 2 deep reds(660nm), 2 reds(630nm), 2 far reds(740nm), and 1 blue(450nm). i was planning on running each band on its own driver and i wanted the far reds to be on its own power source so i can use it on a different timer.

would they all have to be on there own power source?

what drivers would you recommend?

how many 5w leds could i run on the driver?

and what would be a good power source?


weezard please help. need your advice braddah. i saw you made a similar light with a cake pan or something but cant seem to find that post of yours again to take a good look. cheeeeee!!!

help a braddah out please...

mahalo.

alohamahalo Reviewed by alohamahalo on 12-23-2010. help with home made led lights aloha, sorry if this has been asked in a different thread but iam a newbee here. im trying to make a small led grow light with 5w ledengin emitters and was curious if anyone knew of any led drivers w/ dimmers(so i could control the spectrum) that would work well with these. iam using 2 deep reds(660nm), 2 reds(630nm), 2 far reds(740nm), and 1 blue(450nm). i was planning on running each band on its own driver and i wanted the far reds to be on its own power source so i can use it on a Rating: 5

[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

[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

[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]

Cheeee! Tanks braddah. Preciate em! I was looking over at the thread and saw the post of the cake pan light. That thing is sick. Dope stuff Breh. What kinda driver did you use for that? Are the lights dimmable? What kinda power source you use on em? I basically wanna make the same light you did but with the 2 far reds and on a heat sink aswell. Or you have any recomendations for a diff dimmable driver/power source for these buggahs? Btw im uneducated with electronics. Sorry if i sound stupid.
mahalos braddah
Cheeeeee hoooo!!

[alohamahalo]

what about buck pucks with proprietor? how many 5w leds would one of these drive? are they efficient?

[alohamahalo]

and could be down to buy a more expensive drivers and wanna make sure theyre dimmable. mahalos for the help brah! seriously appreciate em a tons!!! cheeeee

[alohamahalo]

howzem brah. i came up on some money just now and was wondering if you knew of any drivers that you could just wire to the leds. i dont mind spending $20 to $30 per driver aslong as they could drive atleast 2 or more 5w emitters.

[Weezard]

Cheeee! Tanks braddah. Preciate em! I was looking over at the thread and saw the post of the cake pan light. That thing is sick. Dope stuff Breh. What kinda driver did you use for that? Are the lights dimmable? What kinda power source you use on em? I basically wanna make the same light you did but with the 2 far reds and on a heat sink aswell. Or you have any recomendations for a diff dimmable driver/power source for these buggahs? Btw im uneducated with electronics. Sorry if i sound stupid.
mahalos braddah
Cheeeeee hoooo!!

I'm sure it's all in the thread.
But, for anyone passing by, I went cheap n dirty onna current limiters.
Used LM317 voltage regulators an' tricked 'em into behavin' like current limiters.
Ya jus' hang a resistor between the output and your emitters.
I used a 1.25 ohm 10W. because I wanted a little over an amp. if I recall.
When the LED draws current through the resistor, it creates a voltage drop.
If you tie the sense lead of the regulator to the load side of the resistor the regulator will try try to maintain that voltage.
That keeps the current constant .
If you use a high wattage resistor you can avoid thermal creep and it works a treat.
Not the most efficient way, but it works, it's easy, and it's cheap.
'zat what ya wanted to know?

Aloha,
Weeze