Hey everyone, it's great to get another thread going. I was forced to take a little break from growing (again!) and as a result I've downsized temporarily.
I built a 4x1.5x4ft cabinet. It's still a little rough and unfinished.
I'll be lighting it up with a DIY Quantum Board style setup. I honestly had NO IDEA these things would be so bright. I was chomping at the bit to see how bright they are, so I wired them up and plugged them in and was instantly blinded.
Miller High Life for proof of my downsizing
I got 6x4ft strips and they will be mounted on 1in wide heatsinks once my thermal paste come from China. It's the only thing I'm waiting on, grr...
Mounted the heatsinks onto aluminum C channel. The drill was a little slidey, but the heatsinks are parallel and evenly spaced.
I havent used a pop rivet gun since middle school.
I'm running these at 73% of their rated max with a 320 watt, 1.75 amp driver. Even unmounted, the diodes are warm, definitely not hot, I can keep my fingers directly on them without it hurting.
At this configuration, the power draw is just under 260 watts. I'm getting over 160 lumens per watt for a total of 41595 lumens. This is taking into account the 94% electrical efficiency of my driver.
Going forward, I'll be buying these diodes on a tape and reel rather than premounted on these strips. Going the tape and reel route, I can get these for about $0.12 per diode, maybe even cheaper from alibaba.
Total cost for the light was less than $300.
I'll be growing 2 different phenos of Island Sweet Skunk with lots of worms and recycled soil.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Stay tuned, much more fun to come!
I built a 4x1.5x4ft cabinet. It's still a little rough and unfinished.
I'll be lighting it up with a DIY Quantum Board style setup. I honestly had NO IDEA these things would be so bright. I was chomping at the bit to see how bright they are, so I wired them up and plugged them in and was instantly blinded.
Miller High Life for proof of my downsizing
I got 6x4ft strips and they will be mounted on 1in wide heatsinks once my thermal paste come from China. It's the only thing I'm waiting on, grr...
Mounted the heatsinks onto aluminum C channel. The drill was a little slidey, but the heatsinks are parallel and evenly spaced.
I havent used a pop rivet gun since middle school.
I'm running these at 73% of their rated max with a 320 watt, 1.75 amp driver. Even unmounted, the diodes are warm, definitely not hot, I can keep my fingers directly on them without it hurting.
At this configuration, the power draw is just under 260 watts. I'm getting over 160 lumens per watt for a total of 41595 lumens. This is taking into account the 94% electrical efficiency of my driver.
Going forward, I'll be buying these diodes on a tape and reel rather than premounted on these strips. Going the tape and reel route, I can get these for about $0.12 per diode, maybe even cheaper from alibaba.
Total cost for the light was less than $300.
I'll be growing 2 different phenos of Island Sweet Skunk with lots of worms and recycled soil.
I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Stay tuned, much more fun to come!
