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

[Aristoned]

I'm ordering a couple of the smaller 150w 8-10a DC-DC buck/boost modules too, that will accept the lower 5v input from the same ATX PSU I'm using.

I'll need 2 of them to split the load from the 5v 20a rail, unfortunately.. I can't find any single 15-20a buck/boost combo modules that accept lower voltages like 3.3 and 5v. Just 6v and up, unless I go with a buck or boost only specific module..

Not sure if the bigger 20a 300w modules will even work with 5v input yet (might try later), but that would be nice if they did, so I could use one single bigger unit like I am on each of the 12v rails.

I'm cool with having a bunch of modules stuffed into an air cooled box anyway, and will have upwards of 5-6 different variable low voltage CC/CV controlled channels for all the different kinds of LEDs/bulbs on my newest rig.

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Do you do this to save money or is it for control?

Do you do this because you enjoy building your own?

I’m honestly curious, I have no objection to anything you’ve been doing or have proposed to do. I just haven’t built a powering-unit since I was building my own HPS ballasts.

 

[Drop That Sound]

The real question, is why aren't you guys all over these cheap buck/boost modules for LED grow lighting projects?? Like, 6$ for something that's upwards of 97% efficient at dialing in the perfect amount of current.


Add one or 2 of them to an LRS meanwell power supply with external potentiometer mods,, and sounds like a DIY LED builders match made in heaven..

 

[Drop That Sound]

What's the combined efficiency - computer PSU and buck boost converter?

Here's the PSU i'm using. Nothing special, or coming with a high efficiency gold+ rating, etc. I have a spare one as backup too, otherwise I might have chose a different atx supply with a different rail configuration.. Like, I have ones with a single 12v rails with more than 40-50 amps..

I honestly don't care much about efficiency at this point, or if I pull more juice than the 432w t-5 light I'm replacing for my little veg space.
. The more heat it generates the better, which was the whole point of adding the extra incandescent circuit to my LED bulb fixture. I chose to use a multi rail ATX supply with more than 5 different outputs, and now I'm kinda happy I did, as if I was lead to this decision by some unseen force.


I can add anything I want to my fixture now, and power any kind of light tech from whatever channel or C or V settings I want.

. I might squeeze every last watt I can from the PSU with extra future LED modules, and also for the water cooling setup im adding to cool my precious screw in bulbs, lol. Built in circulation fans, etc.

I've already got my base spectrum down, now its just play time!

 

[Aristoned]

The real question, is why aren't you guys all over these cheap buck/boost modules for LED grow lighting projects?? Like, 6$ for something that's upwards of 97% efficient at dialing in the perfect amount of current.


Add one or 2 of them to an LRS meanwell power supply with external potentiometer mods,, and sounds like a DIY LED builders match made in heaven..

Meanwell drivers are peace of mind. I’ve never worried about one failing let alone starting a fire. I don’t mind paying a bit more to keep my home from burning down.

That isn’t to say it will happen, or that you are taking a risk, it is just that I prefer to have something with a case. A driver that is widely used and easily replaced makes me sleep right next to them at night without a worry.

 

[Drop That Sound]

Yeah, I trust meanwells too. Probably the only main brand of power supplies I'll ever really buy, as far as I know. There's a few other good brands\knockoffs out there too. My biggest peice of mind is growing in a modified RV trailer on wheels, that's parked outside.

I never owned any of the dimmable LED driver versions like the MW hlg or xlgs or whatever other models though.. Just the regular smps types os supplies.

This is my attempt to make something cool and functional with the extra money (and then some, lol) I "saved", by using a PSU I already had laying around. Its kind of forcing me to get into LEDs more in a way, by having all the extra untapped channels to play with. Otherwise I would have slapped an LRS-150 with a 3$ voltage buck module to power my little LV halogen bulbs and called it a day. Now I have so many ways to install different LEDs, to the same fixture, no matter the current\input requirements.

I also trust ATX PSU's more than anything though, and all the extra built in protections. I know they aren't really the best..(or are they?!) I been running them things non stop for decades at this point, in too many PC builds to count. I get\have them practically free, and adding a few buck boost modules to them is all I might ever really need again, to power so many different projects. Go from 3.3, 5, or 12v up to 60v if needed.

They have much bigger DC-DC converter modules too, even +1200w verions. Some with built in LCD ammeter screens and better pot meters with bigger knobs already, etc. I'm having fun, and thats what counts!

 

[jonesfam7715]

I've used some of the old buck boosters with varying results in the past, that was 5 + years ago tho, I'm sure they got that shit figured out by now, the higher powered power supplies like the LRS 600 in 36v or 48v are around 93% efficient where a 350w is around 87%. I've used meanwell LDD dc-dc modules to do seperate channels with success but it gets pricey. I hope these newer Amazon buck booster modules work well for you, keep us updated with the results good or bad.

 

[Neferhotep]

why aren't you guys all over these cheap buck/boost modules for LED

A dedicated LED driver I expect to have a well regulated current. A cheap converter may have voltage spikes that hurt LEDs in the long run.
I'd rather spent some more money for professional equipment, such as timers, relays, drivers and the like.

 

[Aristoned]

Yeah, I trust meanwells too. Probably the only main brand of power supplies I'll ever really buy, as far as I know. There's a few other good brands\knockoffs out there too. My biggest peice of mind is growing in a modified RV trailer on wheels, that's parked outside.

I never owned any of the dimmable LED driver versions like the MW hlg or xlgs or whatever other models though.. Just the regular smps types os supplies.

This is my attempt to make something cool and functional with the extra money (and then some, lol) I "saved", by using a PSU I already had laying around. Its kind of forcing me to get into LEDs more in a way, by having all the extra untapped channels to play with. Otherwise I would have slapped an LRS-150 with a 3$ voltage buck module to power my little LV halogen bulbs and called it a day. Now I have so many ways to install different LEDs, to the same fixture, no matter the current\input requirements.

I also trust ATX PSU's more than anything though, and all the extra built in protections. I know they aren't really the best..(or are they?!) I been running them things non stop for decades at this point, in too many PC builds to count. I get\have them practically free, and adding a few buck boost modules to them is all I might ever really need again, to power so many different projects. Go from 3.3, 5, or 12v up to 60v if needed.

They have much bigger DC-DC converter modules too, even +1200w verions. Some with built in LCD ammeter screens and better pot meters with bigger knobs already, etc. I'm having fun, and thats what counts!

EVGA makes the best power supplies.

They also made top tier video cards until Nvidia’s internationalism took over.

 

[Rocket Soul]

I kinda like that idea BTW, having a full on analog mixer style control board. With I dunno.. like 30 channels, one for each of the specific wavelengths of possible LED diodes? With fine and coarse CC/CV adjustments on each channel if needed. So you can mix up whatever perfect blended spectrums you want, just like a music producer mixing and mastering tracks, but for grow lighting instead.

I know... They got digital micro controlled LED grow light setups like that now, that you can alter the spectrums, probably even with touch screen controls, or wirelessly through an app, etc.... Probably limited to a few select fixed settings though..

I can mod my dc-dc converters and add digi controls like in the above videos too, but I want that nostalgic old school analog hardware feeling when I tune my lights. With knobs and faders. No wait, I want both!

The way i think and design re extra channels is grouping them by the plant response i want rather than having each nm at a dial. So i put 640/660/680 on the same channel if i want a red/flower response or even keep them separated in 640 and 660+680 if i want separate channels for chloro A and B. Or grouping UV in a way so that i have more 400>385>365, simulating how the suns uv spectrum looks like.

Having everything on different channels just seems like a way to confuse and chase your own tail. Each one to their own though. Cool work on the buck LDDs! I might hit you up for advice on that at some point.

 

[Aristoned]

The way i think and design re extra channels is grouping them by the plant response i want rather than having each nm at a dial. So i put 640/660/680 on the same channel if i want a red/flower response or even keep them separated in 640 and 660+680 if i want separate channels for chloro A and B. Or grouping UV in a way so that i have more 400>385>365, simulating how the suns uv spectrum looks like.

Having everything on different channels just seems like a way to confuse and chase your own tail. Each one to their own though. Cool work on the buck LDDs! I might hit you up for advice on that at some point.

Based on plant cell growth I would adjust the count of diodes against the proposed maximum current for balance. 14:1 or 15:1 seems to be the sweet spot. I’ve been able to achieve similar results using the 3000K 80 CRI with the 2700K 97 CRI. Now that I have two extra 2700K 97 CRI chips I’m thinking about adding them to the 3000K panels I’m making. With the ELG-100 I can power one COB with no dimming capability on 120V AC. The panel will run an XLG-240 for 20W per strip. Then, I can use a splitter to add a second identical panel to under-drive @ 10W per strip while using top and side-illumination. If I couple that with the 2700K COB I should have 310W of red for 5 sq. ft. Then if I add in another 100W of IR I’m sitting around 410W for light and heat.

Before I needed 750-1500W just for heat, on top of the heat needed for the home.

 

[Neferhotep]

Having everything on different channels just seems like a way to confuse

I don't think it's confusing. But my question is how will you know what exactly you are doing? Every channel needs a watt meter so you can keep track of what you are doing.
So which meters are good?

 

[Aristoned]

I don't think it's confusing. But my question is how will you know what exactly you are doing? Every channel needs a watt meter so you can keep track of what you are doing.
So which meters are good?

Apogee is supposed to be a good brand.

Each channel would need to be tested so each position would be noted prior.

Too much for me.

I just take out as much blue as I can and run as much IR as I can without burning the damn thing.

 

[Ttystikk]

I always imagined the best insulation would be none at all. Just fill all the exterior walls and roofs cavities with big flat stacked cross flow heat exchanger panels, in between every stud. All connected, with some way to mitigate all the condensation that will inevitably build up, and keep from molding up. Basically, the entire structure would be one giant breathing heat ex-changer on the outer shell, that retains almost 99% of the heat or cooling inside, while also being ventilated so good it's as if you were outside in the fresh air...

It doesn't work like that. Insulate the walls and use heat exchangers where necessary. I've done a lot of work in this area.

 

[Rocket Soul]

I don't think it's confusing. But my question is how will you know what exactly you are doing? Every channel needs a watt meter so you can keep track of what you are doing.
So which meters are good?

This is also something ive been looking for, a decent amp meter for 100V dc but i cannot find it for a good price.
As for how much to use, mostly channels are on small xlg drivers that has a defined range, minimum 350mA and then up until you hit max wattage.

 

[Aristoned]

This is also something ive been looking for, a decent amp meter for 100V dc but i cannot find it for a good price.
As for how much to use, mostly channels are on small xlg drivers that has a defined range, minimum 350mA and then up until you hit max wattage.

For the XLG drivers I just calculate 50%, 75% and 100%. From there I use a PAR meter and a 50/50 res/pot for higher resolution.

 

[Drop That Sound]

EVGA makes the best power supplies.

They also made top tier video cards until Nvidia’s internationalism took over.

I concur, they make great PSUs, and used to make awesome vga cards. EVGA powers the PC i'm on right now

Nothing will ever top the Voodoo 3DFX video card experience though, from back in the day.

 

[Drop That Sound]

The way i think and design re extra channels is grouping them by the plant response i want rather than having each nm at a dial. So i put 640/660/680 on the same channel if i want a red/flower response or even keep them separated in 640 and 660+680 if i want separate channels for chloro A and B. Or grouping UV in a way so that i have more 400>385>365, simulating how the suns uv spectrum looks like.

Having everything on different channels just seems like a way to confuse and chase your own tail. Each one to their own though. Cool work on the buck LDDs! I might hit you up for advice on that at some point.

I have tendencies to do things certain ways that seem very unorthodox to most people. Or haven't been done yet. There's methods to my madness! I love over complicating stuff too. Keeps me too busy to be out getting in trouble.

I might hookup a microcontroller to each and every converter installed to my fixture at some point, and figure a way to run programs that can turn them on/off, or dimm settings for different channels, etc.

I'm not doing anything much different than many of the of the other people using ATX psu's to build DIY variable benchtop supplies..

Just that, mines built into a light fixture, for bench testing LEDs and other kinds of light bulbs, etc.

It might seem crazy, but its like some of my grow light fantasies are coming true!

 

[Aristoned]

I have tendencies to do things certain ways that seem very unorthodox to most people. Or haven't been done yet. There's methods to my madness! I love over complicating stuff too. Keeps me too busy to be out getting in trouble.

I might hookup a microcontroller to each and every converter installed to my fixture at some point, and figure a way to run programs that can turn them on/off, or dimm settings for different channels, etc.

I'm not doing anything much different than many of the of the other people using ATX psu's to build DIY variable benchtop supplies..

Just that, mines built into a light fixture, for bench testing LEDs and other kinds of light bulbs, etc.

It might seem crazy, but its like some of my grow light fantasies are coming true!

Depending on whom you speak with, what you are doing now will get you into trouble.



I’m with you on testing and innovating, it seems the community lacks that these days.

I’m having a grand ole time with these IR incandescent bulbs, $10 for 250W.

 

[Drop That Sound]

I don't think it's confusing. But my question is how will you know what exactly you are doing? Every channel needs a watt meter so you can keep track of what you are doing.
So which meters are good?

I'm gonna be using one single LED backlit ammeter that has a built in 20 amp shunt, mounted to my control panel. Surrounded by knobs

So yeah, it's perfect for my ATX psu that only has a max of 20a for each rail anyway. Like it was meant to be. I also have the same type of meter that has big external shunts, for 50 or 100a. You can see one in operation over in the great pyramid thread, lol.

I'll wire a multi switch circuit up so I can use the single ammeter. Simply flick a switch to observe whatever channel\converters output I want, which shouldn't even be needed all the time once they're all dialed in. Will be nice to have though!

I did think about adding a separate ammeter for each channel..

 

[Drop That Sound]

This is also something ive been looking for, a decent amp meter for 100V dc but i cannot find it for a good price.
As for how much to use, mostly channels are on small xlg drivers that has a defined range, minimum 350mA and then up until you hit max wattage.

Check out the sp-vm100a, by spartan power. Looks like they have a newer model now than the one I got.