My DIY LED grow light

[medmaker420]

looks killer vukman!

loving the updates on this light and your grow is moving along and the girls look AMAZING brother.

sending positive growers karma your way

 

[Husky Jackal]

Nice work man, I'm curious about the final step too.
I would trade some of my crazyness for some of your patience and knowledge to build a panel like that...
All the best !
Peace, HJ.

 

[vukman]

Hi Gang:

UPDATE!!!!...........I'm having a problem with the reds....both the 630 and 660 wave lengths. This is leading me to believe that the company I bought them from does not have access to good quality reds.

I have to admit that the whites and blues are excellent and are holding up very well during testing. The testing is not being done in the tent yet but rather I'm turning it on and off every 10-15 minutes just propped up on the floor. I don't want to put it in the tent only to find that things are messing up on me.

The problem with the reds is that they keep going dim for some reason. Then I replace the dimmed out one only to see another one burnt out!!!!!!!! This is happening with both the 630s and 660s so...........I guess there is no skimping on some things...

Oh well,,,,,live and learn. That is what testing is all about.. I have around 8-10 to replace and yes, I received the new replacement drivers as well....

This is a picture of the 660s and as you can see, some are dimmed out and some are not even on!!!!!......<<<<<again...LOL

 

[Baino]

hey mate.. hope you'll get it fixed soon.. looks good and looking forward to see the final result.

 

[vukman]

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

Hey hey hey....WHO THE MAN!!!!! LMAO>>yeah right..

OKay, got it all going finally...

There's the wattage and amperage draws as well on full power..
I didn't take a picture but after 10 minutes of all lights on, I put my hand on the back of the heat sink plate and didn't even feel any warmth....That was without the fans on as well.......

Tomorrow is 7 days of flowering so I'll put my baby in there for a week and see what happens.............

Thank you all as always for following along.... I'll post the wattage and amperage draws onto the table I started earlier..

I will also make a full and detailed list of all materials used and costs involved....please give me a few days for that, I have to find all the bills and paperwork and the place is a mess....

 

[Baino]

sounds good mate.. and its interesting to see how the plants will accept the light in the following weeks..

 

[PetFlora]

Be mindful that switching lights at this stage could be a bit of a shock. Your grow was adapting to your current conditions now Bam, a whole different spectral balance for her active hormones to process, and adjust to.

Consider placing her 12" farther than you normally would for ~ 6 hours, then drop by 6", then by 3"s. Repeat until the fixture is where you want

Oh, and nice job. Very excited for you. A smell a new thread

 

[vukman]

Be mindful that switching lights at this stage could be a bit of a shock. Your grow was adapting to your current conditions now Bam, a whole different spectral balance for her active hormones to process, and adjust to.

Consider placing her 12" farther than you normally would for ~ 6 hours, then drop by 6", then by 3"s. Repeat until the fixture is where you want

Oh, and nice job. Very excited for you. A smell a new thread

Hey, thanks for the heads up..To be honest, I didn't think of it from that point so I do owe ya big time.. Don't know about a 'new thread' per se but will have to see how it goes.

Again, as always, thank you all for following, lurking, commenting...etc.etc.. You are the ones that get me going and gave me the ambition and drive to finish when I really didn't have to drive on my own...

 

[hempfield]

Speaking of a new thread, suddenly I have an idea: why we don't start a thread called Most afordable DIY LED lights, design, implementation and results, in which we can put together all this precious information.

The goal would be not only the best lights, but the cheapest ones that give good to extraordinary results in diferent setups.

It's just a stoner tought ...

 

[Baino]

Speaking of a new thread, suddenly I have an idea: why we don't start a thread called Most afordable DIY LED lights, design, implementation and results, in which we can put together all this precious information.

The goal would be not only the best lights, but the cheapest ones that give good to extraordinary results in diferent setups.

It's just a stoner tought ...

i think its a good idea.. i would love to build some led in the future, and a thread telling how to do things would be perfect.

 

[vukman]

Day 1 with new light

Day 1 with new light

Hey everyone:

Well, to paraphrase an old saying.."It's D Day".........

I'll post some pictures here of what the grow looks like with the 'original lights' and then with the new 'DIY LED".....

Okay, the grow is at a full week of flowering and as you can see, there is some flower growth already.

The plants are 2 Blue Satellites and 1 Purple Kush. Don't know if they're 2.2 or OG or any of that shit...just what I mentioned.. I'm not a real big one for dwelling into the genetics all that much.......yet anyway... That might change in the future.

The next posting will be with the new light

 

[vukman]

I might hang 2-24" Sunblaster Fluorescents off the sides of the main light just to give some extra coverage on the ends even though the coverage appears to be okay, extra light never hurt anything.

So there it is folks. I'll be posting and commenting here but the next set of pictures, barring any misfortunes, will be in one week so a comparison can be done....

As always comments, critique and plain old flames are always welcome... heheheh..Thank you all for following........

As for your idea Hempfield....sounds great. I'll get that list of materials ready and post it soon....

 

[vukman]

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

OKay......so it's been around an hour or maybe closer to two now since the new light went it.

I was just checking to see the temperature and see if that fan and air flow is enough.. It is more than adequate!! As you can see by the pictures, I put my hand on the 'fins' and I barely feel any heat. The thing is that I have a house fan mounted blowing air across it so I'm not even using the fans on the light!

I'm getting a laser thermometer delivered. It should have been here already but you know the postal service.... Anyway, when that comes, I'll have numbers for you all....

Here are the pictures and yes, I decided to mount the SunBlaster 24" on both sides..

 

[medmaker420]

great pics and love the diy led panel

I hope you get killer results

 

[vukman]

COST

COST

LEDS

10 NW
10 CW
10 WW
10 BLUE 440
10 BLUE 470
30 RED 630
25 RED 660

Mind you, I bought more LED chips than I used so I still have some left over
Total............$96.10 +customs~10.00
DRIVERS

The small one can be supply 12pcs 3.4V led,or 20pcs 2.4v led----------min
The small one can be supply 18pcs 3.4V led,or 30pcs 2.4v led----------max

The big one can be supply 22pcs 3.4v led,or 32pcs 2.4v led------------min
The big one can be supply 38pcs 3.4v led,or 50pcs 2.4v led------------max

I got 4 small and 2 large...............total......$112.00 + customs...~20.00

METAL

Al. plates were 1' x 2'
1pc....1/16"
1pc....1/8"
6pc....1x1x1 "U" Channel
Total..........~approx $50.00.......Metal Supermarket...cool owner..gave me a deal
2...2' 1/8 threaded rod and nuts.....~$15.00
ELECTRICAL
4 toggle switches $2/ea....$8
3x 25'...22awg $11.00
2 case fans $20.00
ac to dc power adapter.....$25.00
Thermal tape $25 +30shipping =$55.00 +0 customs


So up to now, there is an expenditure of around $420........although I have to admit that a good $100 of that is shipping costs.

I have not included any costs of tools which I had to purchase.

The soldering station was $145 (shipping and tax included)
rivet gun.........$18
small tweezers and small gauge wire strippers.....$25

So that's another $188 on top plus I'm sure there was other stuff...(odds and ends) which I have forgotten

If you go through this thread from beginning to end, the whole process is there laid out. There were mistakes made and drivers blew due to my errors.. I had to relearn soldering techniques and because of that, the process took longer than it should have.

It appeared as though chips were blowing out and dimming but again, those errors were all on me and my shoddy soldering skills.

The light basically cost around $420

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate.. I will get a manufacturer list together as well but I guess the real important ones are the LEDs and the drivers....

LEDs were from http://www.hanhualed.com.cn/
Drivers were gotten from an 'associate' at http://www.szjcxgdled.com/....I don't think they are listed on the site but Andy (associate) sold them to me.. It's the same ones their company uses in their LED panels...

Good Luck

 

[Baino]

he he.. about 420.

 

[exploziv]

great work man! nice skills.

good luck using it!

 

[Phychotron]

cant wait for the results

 

[rives]

So, have you started figuring out Phase II yet? This stuff is as addictive as growing!

 

[Adwarrior]

Great build, very inspirational.

The only thing I'm not clear on is what is the function of the alu "U" channel pieces?
I can't tell from the photos what function it performs. Is it to make the plate rigid perhaps?

Again, great work!