LED FAQ) Building and DIY

[Dion]

Looks great man and I'm in a similar boat with limited tools which is basically: 30+ year old drill, dremel, hacksaw, wire strippers, screwdriver and pliers. Work with what you got and your's looks great, no one is even going to see some minor drill errors on a heatsink .

And Dion, love that setup, looks very clean/professional. If I were better with metal I'd try that for housing but cutting some 1/16" aluminum with a hacksaw gets old quick (so much that I want to make a top frame for the case but just can't bring myself to cut more ).

Edit: Dion, gotta ask, that's (4) 3070's right? Do you have them spaced about 10-12" (25-30cm) apart (looks like 3.5-4ft strip)? Just wondering since that's sorta what I aimed for in mine as far as COB spacing, figured roughly 1sqft per COB.

thats 4 cxb3590x CD bin driven @ 1.75A


yeah its a 3.7 ft long or smth it was designed for a 4ft wide growspace(https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=65280)
110cm long (43 icnhes) the cobs are spaced out unevenly so that the centre doesnt gett all the light

the ones on the end are 25cm from the next cob and ones in the mid are about 29cm(off the top of my head cant remember exactly)

so yeah 10-12 inches

even spread is one of the biggest advantages with LED
btw you have room for another cxb3070 on each of ur drivers

the casing is not needed- i prefer not to have it on my lights but this is for some one else

glue gun is your friend if u wanna keep cables outa the way and so they dont rip shit out in a stoner moment

i like to switch things up all the time so i just have little hooks all along the ceiling of my grow tent(yes its DIY i build it with wood and panda film lol) to run cables/hang lights

 

[jesbuds]

Ah I see and yea it's totally a personal thing for me. I know I can build something that is functional and enjoy it but when I build something that's functional AND looks good, I'm proud.

 

[jesbuds]

Pots!

Pots!

Just wanted to add this note because I did not fully understand it before building things. On the HLG series drivers with dimming (can't speak for others if the same), increasing resistance between the DIM+ and DIM- is what increases amperage, wasn't getting this at first because it seems opposite to me but does explain in datasheet (and seems so obvious now).

Also be sure to measure your pots, found that my '100k pots' max out around 85-90k (forgot tolerance) so in essence I made my driver a max ~1200ma (1400 * .85) BUT because I also threw in the 10k resistor in front of the pot, it'll hit close to the max/the max. I should have measured my pots prior to installation but lesson learned.

Last pot note, if it's a generic 3 terminal pot use one of the outer and the inner terminal, the third terminal isn't required. Switching which outer terminal you use switches which way to turn the pot for increasing/decreasing resistance.

 

[jikko77]

have them spaced about 10-12" (25-30cm) apart (looks like 3.5-4ft strip)? Just wondering since that's sorta what I aimed for in mine as far as COB spacing, figured roughly 1sqft per COB.

i do recall some interesting read about it.
it was on another forum.
supra or someone else into his post.

i'll try to be clear as much as my english skills allow me to be:

spacing them at 30cm, measuring from the center of the light emitter, should grant the best cover, since one of it should be enough to cover a 50*50 cm space. the height was a 160cm iirc...

in that way you got the best "light" distribution avoiding "blank" spot or decrease in performance, it has something to do with the "light" distribution, but i can't recall the exactly number or quote, nor i've the will to find that particular post

that said, the support i'm building is 60 cm long, it should be just enough for a 90*50cm space.

i'd like to have some measurament tool for chack that, or know someone with it...

 

[jesbuds]

Your English is pretty spot on mate, better than most native English speakers I see online (plus about the only thing I can say in another language is "No hablo" ). Thanks for the great info, planning on running the 6 COBs in a 120x60cm area and my fixture itself is ~66x38cm.

 

[Dion]

i do recall some interesting read about it.
it was on another forum.
supra or someone else into his post.

i'll try to be clear as much as my english skills allow me to be:

spacing them at 30cm, measuring from the center of the light emitter, should grant the best cover, since one of it should be enough to cover a 50*50 cm space. the height was a 160cm iirc...

in that way you got the best "light" distribution avoiding "blank" spot or decrease in performance, it has something to do with the "light" distribution, but i can't recall the exactly number or quote, nor i've the will to find that particular post

that said, the support i'm building is 60 cm long, it should be just enough for a 90*50cm space.

i'd like to have some measurament tool for chack that, or know someone with it...

so u mean to have all lights 30 apart?
so 4 cob fixture would be 90cm(between cobs? if so yes thats what i was aiming for i just felt the middle could go for some space

let me explain

if u space cobs 30cm apart the overlapping between those cobs will have higher intensity than the last cob on the edge- the inner side will overlap but the outerside not
so ive spaced them like this making the fixture 110cm long

but solid info-like what i said at the bigging of this thread to use a cob per sq ft

 

[Dion]

Just wanted to add this note because I did not fully understand it before building things. On the HLG series drivers with dimming (can't speak for others if the same), increasing resistance between the DIM+ and DIM- is what increases amperage, wasn't getting this at first because it seems opposite to me but does explain in datasheet (and seems so obvious now).

Also be sure to measure your pots, found that my '100k pots' max out around 85-90k (forgot tolerance) so in essence I made my driver a max ~1200ma (1400 * .85) BUT because I also threw in the 10k resistor in front of the pot, it'll hit close to the max/the max. I should have measured my pots prior to installation but lesson learned.

Last pot note, if it's a generic 3 terminal pot use one of the outer and the inner terminal, the third terminal isn't required. Switching which outer terminal you use switches which way to turn the pot for increasing/decreasing resistance.

true that i feel like i wanna add an extra 10k resistor lol but i tested the driver without the pot and its maxed

 

[jikko77]

if so yes thats what i was aiming for

you got it, yeah that's what i've read about.
the overlaping part isn't much thing, but you're limited to 50 max 60 cm deep.
than you've to try to position the cob's on the midline of the tent.

let me see if i can be more clear with a pic.
this suck... i'll update once i've found it ...

i didn't fount the post i were talking about.
but here something else that may explain it better than i can:

there is a you tube user called: growmau5, he give out some nice piece of advice.

in one of his video he talked of this pannel:

http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/PAR-Map1-PDF-1.jpg

PPF: 720µmols
PPFD 3’x3’ avg: 865µmols/m^2/sec
LED’s: - 6x - CXB3070-0000- 000N0HBB35G
Spectrum: 3500k white
Optics: 90º reflectors - remove the reflector and u should get some minor value for a little bigger area -
-320w and 1.46a. @240v

in the faq they says:
What size area does the CX300 cover?

A: The CX300 emits 720 PPF. For high light intensity vegetables, flowers, and medicinal herbs, a 3’x3’ to 3.5’x3.5’ flower/bloom footprint is ideal as a standalone fixture and provides 630-865PPFD average for optimal growth rates.
Using multiple fixtures can increase coverage ability with crossover light.

- cut in half the pannel and it should be enough for 1m*50cm coverage. there is some other info on rollitup, but looks like i can't find it ...-

 

[hilux phantom]

So I am a pc builder and I have tons of cooling parts laying around ad I can get stuff cheap so i am going to watercool some cobs with real waterblocks and watercooling equiptment and take a ton a heat away for maybe 2x the cost of arctic coolers at the most..
The thing is the blocks I am set on using(got them for a good price and the size is right) would fit 2 of these or 2 of the 3590s with atleast enough space between them to makke it look clean. the thing is I am wondering if I am gonna run super good bins and etc these are going to be in pairs spread around the flowering room for supplemental/replacement lighting.

"anyways what happens if they are closer than 12inches like 1-2inches apart,"I guess is what I am trying to ask..is it gonna be bad? I mean with the waterblocks I am using heat wont be an issue.. itd be probably 10-20degrees over ambient at most(probably less with my parts and knowledge..)

 

[hilux phantom]

and what color temps should I use for only flowering btw?
4:1 3500k to 5k?
sorry I am sure this has probably been answered before I just want to know for sure, as I have read alot of different things.

 

[krood]

Quick question about the driver, should the driver be as close as possible? Like how you guys have the drivers mounted to the lights frames? Or could i run another five feet of wire and set the drivers ontop of my tent to keep heat out? Thanks in advance!

Also the wires from my arctic fans are going to need to be lengthened to reach to my wall plug, should i be crimping those? Or is twisting and electrical tape ok?

Jesbuds dig your light, i just finished putting the frame together for eight cxb3070 chips powered by hlg185 1400a drivers

 

[jikko77]

i don't think it wold be an issue.
are u going to use a connector to plug in the cable or just keep it long?

 

[jesbuds]

Quick question about the driver, should the driver be as close as possible? Like how you guys have the drivers mounted to the lights frames? Or could i run another five feet of wire and set the drivers ontop of my tent to keep heat out? Thanks in advance!

Also the wires from my arctic fans are going to need to be lengthened to reach to my wall plug, should i be crimping those? Or is twisting and electrical tape ok?

Jesbuds dig your light, i just finished putting the frame together for eight cxb3070 chips powered by hlg185 1400a drivers

Thanks man, doesn't really matter, can set the drivers further away if you want but closer you have less wires and really these drivers do not put out a ton of heat. They feel warm to the touch when running full power, not hot, just warm.

You can just twist the wires for fans but I'd crimp them on in some way, it's really not something you want falling apart for any reason. In the past though, I have used the twist on crimps with some electrical tape for Fans/DC adapters.

Got the plastic for my case today, now to get to modding it (while trying to not screw it up )

 

[mugenbao]

Quick question about the driver, should the driver be as close as possible? Like how you guys have the drivers mounted to the lights frames? Or could i run another five feet of wire and set the drivers ontop of my tent to keep heat out? Thanks in advance!

Also the wires from my arctic fans are going to need to be lengthened to reach to my wall plug, should i be crimping those? Or is twisting and electrical tape ok?

Jesbuds dig your light, i just finished putting the frame together for eight cxb3070 chips powered by hlg185 1400a drivers

Generally speaking, I would never trust "twisting and electrical tape" for longer than it takes to make sure that everything works. Connectors are cheap, easy to obtain, and well worth the piece of mind.


.

 

[krood]

You guys mean like a wago conector or something like that? And that i should be putting on basically every wire connectors except for the fan connections? Thanks for the replies guys, im so close to finishing this light its painful

 

[mugenbao]

You guys mean like a wago conector or something like that? And that i should be putting on basically every wire connectors except for the fan connections? Thanks for the replies guys, im so close to finishing this light its painful

I used Wago connectors on the wires for the drivers, but those fan wires are tiny so I ended up using a very small crimp connector on those. Next time I'll just use Molex connectors for the fans

If your fans lose power your COB may not fare well, so I figured better safe than sorry

 

[krood]

Ok so im going to get crimps for the fan wires, and try to find 18-22 guage wire to extend the fan wires. I saw some connectors at home depot that looked like wago connectors, do you think those would probably do the job? Or is wago way better? After that, i think im ready to finish assembly.

 

[mugenbao]

Ok so im going to get crimps for the fan wires, and try to find 18-22 guage wire to extend the fan wires. I saw some connectors at home depot that looked like wago connectors, do you think those would probably do the job? Or is wago way better? After that, i think im ready to finish assembly.

I've only used crimp connectors, terminal blocks, and Wago, but I imagine the ones you are looking at are fine so long as they are made for the gauge of wire you're using.

You're going to love your light

 

[krood]

Ok, so what would you recommend for when im going to connect my eight fan wires to a single 12v wall plug? Like a terminal block or something? Because what im thinking is the fan's wire is crimped to another wire extending it, then all of those wires will be connected to the dc power source. ( should be strong enough to power all the fans i went in to radioshack, with the fan and told the guy that i needed to run eight, and he looked over what he had and gave me the one that he said would handle all of them)

 

[jikko77]

You guys mean like a wago conector or something like that? And that i should be putting on basically every wire connectors except for the fan connections? Thanks for the replies guys, im so close to finishing this light its painful

i've tried wago, in the current diy, but they are not for me.
an old mammuth (no idea how is called in english, i think is the same), have done the job, and since they have an hole i cna fix them on the case.

when i talked about connector for the cable i meant a single or double pin molex, something like the one you find into the system board.
they are cheap, more than wago, have a security lock to avoid unwilled unplug and so on.
just my

a 0.75 mm for the fan is more than enough.