LED FAQ) Building and DIY

[Dion]

lol i hear you man .i get like that 2.thank god i dont pick up my keyboard and hop on here.lol
but ya the goal is 3 plus out of this 4x8 tent. doing so at less cost always sounds nice. also i wanna use 2 agromax full spectrum uv , and far red + other monos.im all ears man.what would you do if this was your tent???plan on running GG#4 and grapeape in a gorilla tent lol 8 plants rdwc
yea i was an led hater .but seeing whats going on now and living where i live(desert) these are my only future for now.thnks for you time and those like you.make this place one of the best site around

if u do go with cutter don't get the drivers, they r shitty chines ones that should cost about $20 each

just get the cobs or the cob/heatsink/holder combo

drivers I've always found mouser competitive and easy to deal with, they add tax into the order before you pay so no surprises when the delivery guy arrives


what would I do?

well...considering you live in the desert I assume heat is a major issue, what are the day time temps average?

what I'm thinking is if you could run this room without AC(I'm assuming u must have ac now) then it would make a lot more sense to spend a bunch more up front and drive the cobs super super soft...

if the plants could survive in ambient temp + 5degree celsius... ofocurse if its 40c outside already then no chance.

I PROMISE YOU 1 thing, you will not see any benefit from running monos in flower, better get some extra blues into veg, the spectrum of light has more effect on the morphology of the plant, its leaf and stem ratios and growth patterns than final weight..... i.e. it would add more weight to run those watts in more light rather than monos, they are far less efficient than white cobs and veg is where you care about shaping plants, in flower its all about fat chhicks

of course others will argue, often i couldn't give a fuck what the science says i just look at my plants... my 2c

@jikko brother thank you so much for your kind words, I'm very proud that this thread is helping so many people, that it is the most posted in thread in the LED section and that we managed to keep it from becoming the dick comparison nonsense that goes on in a lot of other forums. even though I do have a beef with ICmag deleting posts of mine that contradict the lies of marketeers on this site the censorship does keep other elements at bay....


i wanted to visit u a few weeks ago actually, my wife and I were in tally but she didn't want to go to the city you are in(won't say more) so i didn't get in touch.... BUT u guys have great food, although I guess you know that hahaha

 

[Koondense]

Hey Dion bro,
do you maybe know what are the max wire lengths for connecting cobs with MW drivers such as HLG185H-C1400?
I see Growmau5 guy has them mounted like remote ballasts separately on the wall, while most diy builds include the drivers on frames. Because of heat it's sometimes better to have the drivers outside of the room. Last time I had them inside but I'm thinking of keeping them out for now and later inside during the winter, if needed.

Cheers

 

[jikko77]

Hey Dion bro,
do you maybe know what are the max wire lengths for connecting cobs with MW drivers such as HLG185H-C1400?
I see Growmau5 guy has them mounted like remote ballasts separately on the wall, while most diy builds include the drivers on frames. Because of heat it's sometimes better to have the drivers outside of the room. Last time I had them inside but I'm thinking of keeping them out for now and later inside during the winter, if needed.

Cheers

hey mate

i've got something on it.
i'll update you asap.



if something isn't clear drop a call

 

[Dion]

not clear...last time we discussed this we decided 1.5m was safe?

I think it depends what driver too, like hight voltage(series wiring) or high current(parallel wiring)


dunno, MW data sheet said 1.5m


@jikko77, what do the graphs mean?

 

[jikko77]

not clear...last time we discussed this we decided 1.5m was safe?
@jikko77, what do the graphs mean?

yeah.
i used 1.5m without issue last time.

that's some safety rule in eu, if i remeber correctly (mostly an idication).

image 3:
gauge in mm2 and max lenght for 350/700mA.

image 2:
power (w), current (variable) for a 24v stable tension, then the max lenght for a certain gauge

image 3:
current drop of 0.7v as "tollerance" for gauge/lenght.

 

[Dion]

thanks DIon, should i go with the cutter sets.or cop them from the kingbrite dude on the baba????

just been cruising the cutter website, I'd stay away from the mau5kits, those sinks are expensive and even more expensive to ship.


may as well get cobs and drivers from jerry/vivi/whatever name they are using at the moment


then check out these guys

http://www.heatsinkled.com/GooLED-11080-Modular-Passive-LED-Pin-Fin-Heat-Sink-Φ110mm-p09749607.html



should be less than $8 each before shipping

 

[cannaisok]

Hi I wonder what kind of dimmer I can use for MW 240-1050B?
I asked vivi but she is offering me a 15dollar remote control but shipping is insane and I already have the chips and driver...
I need a cheapo dimmer from the bay now but im not electrician

ty

 

[Roasty McToasty]

I just use a $1, 100k pot to get full dim on a MW b type driver.

 

[Dion]

Hi I wonder what kind of dimmer I can use for MW 240-1050B?
I asked vivi but she is offering me a 15dollar remote control but shipping is insane and I already have the chips and driver...
I need a cheapo dimmer from the bay now but im not electrician

ty

the dimmer she is offering you is likely a 0-10v power supply regulator thingy which you don't need

all you need is a 100K rotary pot and an optional 10k resistor

i bought these

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fre...esistor-10kohms-0-25W-1-ROHS/32479305609.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pc...ometer-20KB-B20K-Pot-w-Knobs/32359329437.html


but a single pot should be like 20-70c locally


:tippet:


check your growmou5's vid below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx0IigQkRYQ

 

[cannaisok]

thanks a lot.

 

[cannaisok]

ok have the poti, and the resistor.
now i connected driver and dimmer direct without resistor, can u explain what will happen when i connct the 10kohm resist? what is the benefit?

 

[brown_thumb]

The resister prevents the total resistance of the circuit from approaching zero. It will make fine adjustments easier and less abrupt/sensitive.

 

[Dion]

ok have the poti, and the resistor.
now i connected driver and dimmer direct without resistor, can u explain what will happen when i connct the 10kohm resist? what is the benefit?

the resistor means that the Dim+ and Dim- wires will never cross, in theory you should be able to dim down to 10% min


the dim wires touching is a no-no, can (but most likely won't) short out the dimming on the driver

 

[Dion]

It´s very easy to check with an oscilloscope, but i do not own a Meanwell driver.

Rilla.

can you teach me how to find the heatsink in an old fridge without killing myself?


please

 

[GoeRilla]

can you teach me how to find the heatsink in an old fridge without killing myself?


please

???

Rilla.

 

[wildgrow]

I just use a $1, 100k pot to get full dim on a MW b type driver.

Does that mean you didn't wire in a resistor?


I didn't either. I can turn the pots to zero and Im still getting light. Could that be because Im using pots for a guitar? Im sure folks with $1000+ guitars would be pissed if the pots fried the guitar.


Would pots with push on/off work ok for our lights? Thinking of going that route for the next build instead of unplugging one half of the rig.

 

[Roasty McToasty]

No resistor on mine, maybe MW has it built in cause mine won't go below 10% when fully dimmed.

 

[jikko77]

Does that mean you didn't wire in a resistor?


I didn't either. I can turn the pots to zero and Im still getting light. Could that be because Im using pots for a guitar? Im sure folks with $1000+ guitars would be pissed if the pots fried the guitar.


Would pots with push on/off work ok for our lights? Thinking of going that route for the next build instead of unplugging one half of the rig.

no the resistor isn't mandatory, but should be used to get a steady 1v, which is a 10% of the total output. this is 1-10v signal.
with the 0-10v, with a push on/off pot, you need to attach a relay as well to get the on/off.

more info on the driver d.s.

 

[wildgrow]

no the resistor isn't mandatory, but should be used to get a steady 1v, which is a 10% of the total output. this is 1-10v signal.
with the 0-10v, with a push on/off pot, you need to attach a relay as well to get the on/off.

more info on the driver d.s.

Thanks jikko. Good to know for when I eventually expand the rig.

 

[Dion]

???

Rilla.

those last heatsinks u used u said came from a mini fridge?


any model? how do i get it out without killing myself? there is an ocean of old fridges at the rubbish tip