DIY leds Discussion Thread for all your how tos and doubts and anything related

[Aristoned]

This is just for a veg light BTW, to replace a +450w 8 lamp t-5.

I have low head room in my veg space too, otherwise I would go with fewer and higher wattage bulbs instead. I might in my flower room, with my upcoming BXEB strip light builds.


So yeah, thats why I want to use more bulbs, and spread them out evenly for this particular application. Its basically gonna be a multifuctional air layering & veg combo light, that I can try out different spectrums or ramp up the heat. Be able to dim down or up to a few hundred watts if needed. I haven't seen any grow fixtures like that, that I can remember anyway, with that many smaller bulbs for the best coverage.. Just regular household or landscape or reptile habitat applications, and not usually grow related..

.
Most do use higherr wattage spot type bulbs if supplementing like you suggest , but I want to try something different.
I'm no stranger to using a crap load of big 250w red heat lamps to help finish off huge outdoor plants (and lighting the whole sky up in the evenings) so they don't mold up either.. Also have somewhat higher wattage incadescent bulbs burning year round 12 hr or so a day for the last decade, for my reptile setup. I appreciate the older tech, and still rely on those bulbs every day.

Here's my plan to add 5 more bars to my screw in LED bulb fixture, just for the supplemental halogen/incandescents, etc. 14 of them, if I omit the center bulb.

View attachment 19169681
I wish mini 20w CMH or even HPS bulbs didn't cost a fortune..

Oh, and AC wifi or manual microcontrolled dimmers sure can make a simple light circuit a lot more challenging and fun to build

I think you can get away with IR incandescent and LED.

It would probably be a lot cheaper.

I think it was $18 for the dimmable lamp and $12 for the UVA/IR combo. They have IR x2 as well. I know you like the halogen, but this cost difference may make them not as useful. Kinda like the LED star boards that came and went. Then COB’s came then LED strips, now we are on thin LED strips.

Times change fast.

 

[Drop That Sound]

24v sound good too, and possibly a good compromise between the pros and cons of 12v and 120v bulb types. I could use cheap nonair cooled LRS 24V drivers for super effecient operation. Paying special attention to the tungsten filaments, and they look the best! Drop proof. I almost wanna get those, and still use 12v anyway, just so they last longer. Going 24v limits my options compared to all the other 12 or 120v types of bulbs though. Its no secret that "krypton" incandescent bulb tech was really just 240v bulbs sold as "super long 10y life" 120v versions. Guessing thats the same for halogens too?
Why would 10-25w incandescent IR heat bulbs be any better than the more efficient red coated halogen IR bulbs of the same wattage? They're all cheap 50 cent to a dollar bulbs I'm gonna be replacing often enough anyway.

I ... don't really care much about the spectrum. I just want to make up for the lost radiant heat that my t5 fixture puts off. It has around 264w of LEDs as is, which aren't all that efficient to begin with, so I figure I'll add another 1-200w of halogens or whatever, with precise dimming controls. I'm just telling myself that btw, so I can refrain from spending a fortune on multiple types of small lightbulbs, some that even put off blue light with special iridescent coatings, etc..

Like, I'm not supplementing my LEDs with incandescent lights.. Now its more like i'm supplementing my badass incandescent halogen digitally controlled light panel build (w/ 10 different spectrum options?) with a bunch of cheap screw in LED bulbs, lol.


EDIT: These look nice. Built in gold plated reflectors..

 

[Ca++]

35W Halide, $30 used.
They were king of clothes shop and showroom lighting, before LED. A shopfitter might still see them quite often. Though it's probably just random shit to have about. Needing more work, to do anything with them.

The array beams holding 3 heaters, might be better 10-15% longer. I never get near the reflectivity I want from walls. Or quite the same temperature beside them,

Here's a random idea. Are HID headlights not MH. Under $20 for a pair of 35w, and it's 12v. Be great to see them with little dutch barn reflectors. I would definitely like that post.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/610zGEoDtPL._AC_UL480_FMwebp_QL65_.jpg

Shame they don't do dim-dip

 

[Drop That Sound]

 

[Ca++]

I doubt any filter, is a good filter. That's pretty much all we are looking at. Light removed, to leave the remaining colour.

 

[Drop That Sound]

"Heat projectors"..

 

[Ttystikk]

I think you can get away with IR incandescent and LED.

It would probably be a lot cheaper.

I think it was $18 for the dimmable lamp and $12 for the UVA/IR combo. They have IR x2 as well. I know you like the halogen, but this cost difference may make them not as useful. Kinda like the LED star boards that came and went. Then COB’s came then LED strips, now we are on thin LED strips.

Times change fast.

What's the advantage to "thin" LED strips?

 

[Rocket Soul]

What's the advantage to "thin" LED strips?

You can achieve higher diode density with blux eb slims than you can with the regs, iirc correct you could fit in around 350 diodes on a 40mm wide 2 foot alu angle. Thats around the same density as hlg diablo boards, which put 666 diodes on a standard qb pcb which would originally take 288.

 

[Aristoned]

What's the advantage to "thin" LED strips?

Diode count.

BLX EB2’s (2’) have 111 diodes.

BLX EB3 Slims (2’) have 119 diodes.

I can fit two EB3 Slims where only one EB2 will physically fit.

EB3’s are more efficient and produce plenty of light at nominal, they also run cooler.

The difference between 1” strips and 12mm strips is more than a factor of 2.

EDIT: photographed below you will see 50W of BLX EB3 Slims @ 29” producing 200 ppfd on the right and 218 ppfd on the left.

Yes, almost 2.5’ away @ 50% power and I’m still getting 200+ ppfd!

 

[Rocket Soul]

Diode count.

BLX EB2’s (2’) have 111 diodes.

BLX EB3 Slims (2’) have 119 diodes.

I can fit two EB3 Slims where only one EB2 will physically fit.

EB3’s are more efficient and produce plenty of light at nominal, they also run cooler.

The difference between 1” strips and 12mm strips is more than a factor of 2.

EDIT: photographed below you will see 50W of BLX EB3 Slims @ 29” producing 200 ppfd on the right and 218 ppfd on the left.

Yes, almost 2.5’ away @ 50% power and I’m still getting 200+ ppfd!

Very nice plant structure. 4000k?

 

[Aristoned]

Very nice plant structure. 4000k?

Yes.

4000K 80 CRI.

I wanted to get as close to sunlight as possible, these do that with 200 lm/W @ 700 mA. Right now these are running ~400 mA, which means each strip is producing WAY more than 200 lm/W.

The photograph above is 100W max, the photograph below is 150W max. The photograph of the Kush was taken just now from over the 150W, the 150W is running ~113W with 500 ppfd @ ~18”.

 

[Neferhotep]

WAY more than 200 lm/W

The current / flux line from 0 to 100 % is nearly straight so it's a littlebit more

Edit: now that I think of it: we actually need a power / flux line but we don't have that. The power / flux line will be somewhat more curved indeed.

 

[Aristoned]

The current / flux line from 0 to 100 % is nearly straight so it's a littlebit more

I’m estimating:

~397 mA
~99% emission @ ~27°C —> (101% @ 15°C)
~230 lm/W



$27 driver + $57 LED strips + $15 Aluminium

 

[Ttystikk]

You can achieve higher diode density with blux eb slims than you can with the regs, iirc correct you could fit in around 350 diodes on a 40mm wide 2 foot alu angle. Thats around the same density as hlg diablo boards, which put 666 diodes on a standard qb pcb which would originally take 288.

Are there lenses for these? I'm a big believer in lenses...

 

[greyfader]

"Heat projectors"..

you dirty lizard lover!

 

[Rocket Soul]

Are there lenses for these? I'm a big believer in lenses...

I honestly dont know, but i dont think so. In any case lenses would very likely be very expensive. For lensed leds i only see two options: either lensed cobs, if you want loads of diodes go for something like the citi clu1825; 450 led dies per cob. Or going directly for lensed diodes; some manufacturers go market led diodes with a 90 or even 60 degree light spread, already at diode level. But i cant think of a single topline diode that incorporates this; and last time i saw someone doing something with optics it was expanding spread rather than focusing.

 

[Aristoned]

Are there lenses for these? I'm a big believer in lenses...

YOU DO NOT WANT TO FOCUS ANY BIRDGELUX PRODUCT.

You will quickly realize how far you will need to place the source of light.

Seriously.

2.5’ @ 50W = 200+ ppfd

Half that distance and increase the ppfd by 2x.

 

[Ttystikk]

YOU DO NOT WANT TO FOCUS ANY BIRDGELUX PRODUCT.

You will quickly realize how far you will need to place the source of light.

Seriously.

2.5’ @ 50W = 200+ ppfd

Half that distance and increase the ppfd by 2x.

Yeah, I do need to focus the light. The example you gave is very relevant to my situation, where the distance from chip to canopy is 2.5-3 feet.

My Cree chips currently run at 54W and use 90 degree lenses. There are two pairs of chips on each module, effectively lighting a 2'x3' footprint. No plants have burned because of this arrangement.

 

[Aristoned]

Yeah, I do need to focus the light. The example you gave is very relevant to my situation, where the distance from chip to canopy is 2.5-3 feet.

My Cree chips currently run at 54W and use 90 degree lenses. There are two pairs of chips on each module, effectively lighting a 2'x3' footprint. No plants have burned because of this arrangement.

Test it for your conditions.

The Haze was light burned a bit, I had to raise the luminaire. The Vero’s are probably going to be close to 36” away. I’m not familiar with CREE performance, but the BLX COB’s run 70W and don’t need lenses.

Try it and see, I went with the SE COB’s to “soften” the intensity and use the tent walls to redirect light down. It was advice from Tasty LED when I first purchased my Vero Gen 7’s.

It would be interesting to see the comparison between the CREE & BLX performance.