Advanced LED Development Thread.

[IGrowWithLEDs]

but I will tell you how things are going with me. I haven't done anyhting in a while bc of not being able to use the forums and also not having enough money to do much, plus my child was diagnosed as autistic and have had to spend a lot of my time with it. But I am getting back into the swing of things again. I'm looking to purchase LED's right now. I'm doing a small tomato grow right now.

I have already worked out how I'm going to do the pwm and overdriving, and I've even tried it out on a small array, but once I get more LED's then I'll post my results and probably make somethign available for people to invest into instead of these "rape you up the ass" LED grow light companies online.

SO not much to report of now, but soon. And thanx for asking

 

[1toke]

hook me up with a schematic and hardware list and i'll be a guinea pig for ya.

My g/f is working towards a degree in speach pathology, and works with speach pathologist. She loves the autistic kids she gets to work with. I hope everything is going well with your son/daughter.

check out this thread for some nerdy idea's im interested in .. may be of some interest to you.

 

[IGrowWithLEDs]

Hey, 1toke, I read in that other thread that you already have your feet in the water, so to say, with programming pic's and stuff and that your quite electronically inclined aswell, I could always use the help and suggestions. My plan is a picaxe 28x or 40x (i'm doing my basic testing with a 08m right now), and an LCD, and a true timer circuit, a keypad of a sort and a interface programmed in.

With my current testing I am just using about 7 watts of led's, and no lcd or interface. I pretty much just quickly program about what the duty cycle is and thats it. I'm not hugely familiar with the picaxe language bc this is my first time using it, but I am familiar with qbasic so it kinda helps.

I know once I do get all the parts for the full setup, I'll probably be able to make it all happen, but i'm not sure if it would be correct especially without an oscilloscope. I'm a nerd on the computer end, and I can learn things quick, still an amateur when it comes to component level electronics, but I know that I can make anything happen when i try.

So any advice is helpful.

 

[Pirate138]

LED's seem great all except the high price. $300 for 125 watt LED damn! so to replace my 400w i would need to fork out over $600. i guess maybe one day the price will drop but until then im stuck with hps.

 

[LED_experiments]

you are calculating that cost in a wrong way. look at the life time. hps is recommended to be replaced at least every 3 grows. if you grow non-stop, using hps for flowering - 60 days of 12/12, you need 2 bulbs per year. leds have much longer life time - 100.000 hours, after 50.000 hours they still emmit 70-80% of initial light output (if driven properly). if i translate that in years, 50.000 hours = 11+ years of 12/12 cycle. so you should buy 2 hps lamps per year, 11 years - 22 bulbs (plus maybe one or two balasts and ignitors). calculate the costs for hps lighting for 11 years and you will see that led growing is not that expensive. in fact it is cheaper than hps

 

[marx2k]

So i'm gonna buy 3 of these, i'll keep you guys updated.

http://store.thatcrazynight.com/product_info.php/cPath/22/products_id/30

Those look affordable. I'd like to see how that turns out. Are those for flower or veg?

 

[Poodo]

Led christmas lights

Led christmas lights

Christmas leds come in red and blue are they strong enough? It seems like a cheep why to get alot of leds?Will this work?

 

[LED_experiments]

most probably not. those xmas lights are not that intensive than leds we are using for growing. they most probably have coloured lens (to get the colour), which is not so good. we are using water clear lenses, where the material combinations used in PN junction give you the colours you are looking for. ok, if you take a lot of them, you maybe will get some growth, but no big results. in that case you will use much more power and still get almost nothing. it also depends what xmas leds are you looking at, but most of them are useless.
so if i make the long story short: xmas leds are good for your xmas tree, in the drobe they should be disconnected from the main and put in the box untill next xmas.

 

[squib]

Good god this is all overwhelming. I did a few test grows with LED's in the states but found the same results, veg was great but flower was lacking. It seems I made many mistakes that most beginers make, not close enough, not enough watts, no green light etc.
After reading for the last few months I still am lost on programing and what may provide increased efficacy. Green light must be added for sure, but it seems that the overall light intensity of LED's is still lacking.
Im here in Korea and after talking with a few CEO's and LED companies I have a programer, LED company and design company that is willing to work with me to run some test lights.
Problem is Im still unsure as to whether I should be pursuing full spectrum power LED's and try to match wavelengths acording to sunlight as it changes with season (including trying to match the conversion ratio of Prf to Pr based on sleep cycle). Or if I should be trying with 3 or 5 watt white Luxeons and supplementing increased red for veg and changing the ratio to increased blu over the course of the grow cycle. Seoul Semicon is also a possibility with their 110 lumen Ultra bright white LED's.
I could use some direction from those that have much more experience than I. I have connections and a modest understanding of biology, light and LED's but I need some help.
-squib

 

[FrankRizzo]

I stumbled across this website for all you led folks. I've only spent a few minutes on it so I'm not to sure how legit the info on it is. It does compare all the new led lights out there. The guys not growing mj, but there seems to be good info on it.

http://www.greenpinelane.com

 

[sarek]

2008 cutting edge LED tech, i pasted this from a dead thread I posted a couple months back. These parking lights have GREAT potential. Remember, parking lots are where 80% of HPS lights go. Cree is the semiconductor mfg of these (like Intel) that then go in many other companies fixtutres (like Dell).

It's 2008 and this company is HOT, kickin butt and great product

http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp_outdoor_app.asp

XLamp® LED Applications: Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor lighting refers to all the lights that illuminate streets, roads, parking garages, and parking lots all over the world. Most of these lights use high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting because it offers high light output at a low cost.

The future of outdoor lighting is LEDs. With the launch of the XLamp XR-E LED, XLamp LED light can offer real value to the outdoor lighting markets for the following reasons:

Long lifetime & good lumen maintenance
Efficacy level equivalent to metal halide
Directional light output
Great performance in cold environments
Better for the environment
XLamp XR-E LEDs in Street Lighting
Since XLamp XR-E LEDs have typical luminous flux of 80 lumens per LED, it takes fewer than 100 of these LEDs to equal the useful light output of a typical streetlight.

Cree is actively pursuing the application of LEDs to street lighting and has built a prototype fixture that meets the IESNA Type II Short standard. We have only just begun! We are confident that LEDs are fully capable of achieving all IENSA streetlight patterns.

ok here is an even better link 180watt street lamp http://www.lumecon.com/docs/RELUME_keyline_SPEC.pdf

and the specs and light pattern 48 high powered LEDs
http://www.lumecon.com/docs/R40_11_8_2007.pdf

19 x 14 inches......pretty good size right off the bat.

Not sure of the wavelengths

 

[Dinix]

I saw something on page 3 or so concerning Autoflowering strains. There is apperantly something magical about the right ratio of light waves when our favorite plant goes into flower... We apperantly havn't got that quite down right. I don't think AutoFlower's need that magical ratio.... Has anyone really tried using an AF strain and documented the results? Sure the genetics have been kinda weak on potency in the past, but this is another part of our culture that's evolving.

Maybe we'll never get that ratio quite rite... but here's an idea... we've tweaked and tweaked on nm this and intensity that. We've pushed those little diodes to the limits of thier design and then some... but cannabis is also an adaptable sort.. Maybe we could tap into the new breeding stock and find the right PLANT that will go with the LEDs, instead of finding the right LED's to go with the plant?..

Most of the grow's i've seen have been super small 1-3 plant opperations. I know the technology is coming along, but in reality, 900 LED's for a handful of plants is not going to satisfy the general public. Autoflowers on the other hand..... You can fit a bakers dozen in a 2X2x3 space. Utilizing the LED's low heat output, and the need for the LEDs to stay close to the plant surface to be effective, this could optimize the super small space.

As a matter of fact.. I have 10 of the new Diesel Ryders on the way via shipping. I'm going to ask for recomendations on LED panels.. I used to do electronics, but i'm too rusty to sit around and solder 600 LEDs to a board, and then set up a power supply and all that crap... any suggestions?

 

[Dinix]

someone beat me to it.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=84458&highlight=lowryder+led

even still, the points are still the same. reverse thinking

 

[Guest]

You can get red and blue CREE XRs for 4.55US now, so with a bit of DIY you can build something like the Procyon for a lot less money.

I;d like to see some figues on the total light output of a 5mm LED run at a constant 20mA, a constant 30mA and at 100mA with a 10% PWM supply, I have my doubts that using 10% PWM will actually produce more overall light than running the LEDs constantly.

You can buy 100 decent brightness 5mm LEDs for as little as 4 bucks, so for folks willing to get the soldering iron out, it's cheap to experiemnt. Constant current supplies can be produced using a voltage regulator and a resistor. I use 5v 1A regulators with 220R resistors to produce a steady 22.7mA current, which is slightly overdriving the 20mA LEDs, but they are rated for 30mA max, 100mA peak pulse, so the extra 2.7mA over their regular 20mA operating current shouldn't cause any issues. The resistors are 3c each, the regulators 40c, I use one regulator/resistor combo to power four arrays with 4 LEDs each, I'll get pics online shortly of my DIY designs.

 

[Guest]

Anyone try these yet?
http://www.1000bulbs.com/T8-LED-24-in.-Tubes/

 

[knna]

Anyone try these yet?
http://www.1000bulbs.com/T8-LED-24-in.-Tubes/

That kind of linear led modules probably are going to be the future of growing, because the slim shape allows to control led junction's temps way better. But currently, as most leds products, they arent enough efficients to worth the investment. 640lm from 8w is similar to current fluorescent lights for at least 1/20 the price. We need more efficiency to take back the initial excess investment.

Decent for people having heat issues, though.

 

[Guest]

Please Forgive me for asking a possibly stupid question.

I see so many people say LED costing 1000$ when I look at led I see .50c or so. How many LEDS must you use per plant, I mean why not put 10 or so on a flexy pipe cleaner and wrap it around the plant, that is 5$ per plant

Maby the device that makes the LEDs overdrive or Blink costs 500$ or somthing?

Anyhow could you please clarify and maby say about how many LEDS are needed per plant and what makes them blink to do the 1% duty cycle? I would be happy to run experiments for LEDs if this could get cleared up.

I deffinatly have enough plants to experiment on

 

[a6grow]

hey guys, i found this factory that makes LED grow lights, was wondering what opinions yall had on their products? i am planning a CFL grow and was interested in purchasing a couple of their low watt LED bulbs (they should be able to just screw onto the same sockets as the CFL's, right?) to supplement the blue spectrum for veg and the red spectrum for flowering.

i am not 100% sure if its ok to post this link, but will do so below and if its a problem, admins please let me know and i will take it off.
http://bsled.en.alibaba.com/group/50408424/LED_grow_Light.html
you can do a search online as well, Shenzhen Baisheng Optoelectronics Technology.

i was thinking of ordering some custom specs if possible, can anyone fill me in with some tech info? i want to get like 2 blue spectrum LED bulbs and then 2 red spectrum LED bulbs. obviously i want them to supplement my CFL's as much as possible. i will document my grow with pics if i do end up going this route and of course i will share the info.

thanks everyone in advance.

 

[followtherabbit]

Just saw these 600 W LED grow lights, but dang its like $2.5 grand! lets hope that within the next year or two prices will be slashed to at least a third or quarter of that...

http://www.indooragriculture.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=29

 

[Chomas]

A giant SOG setup with all LEDs would be interesting to see