My DIY Led panel

[kytaez]

Hi Lean!! Just found this thread after reading all of the Supra ones on the other forums. Well done for actually doing it!! It seems harder to source the parts in UK. Glad it didn't stop you!!

I will switch to all CXB3590 setup hopefully this summer. Just ordered couple 5000k tonight for mother/clones room to run soft. And if they legit will be getting loads of 3000k ones for flowering.

The only thing worries me is that better (more efficient) cobs will become available

Best of luck with your grow!!!

[C0LD]

Thanks guys, I'll jump back to the beginning and have a better read up.

I've tinkered with Pc's in the past but not soldered much.

Just a thought but why don't knock a few up to sell? You have the knowledge, customer base and lack of competition...

[Badders]

I think at the moment, anyone who has enough interest to pursue a homemade LED system will by their nature want to know how it works and consequently how it all fits together.

A useful feature of DIYing cobs is is the full scale control of the lighting system. Everyones groom is somewhat different and being able to design your own lighting system to complement your environment will improve crop efficiency.

+ its actually really straight forward to construct your system physically once you have narrowed down your components (this is time consuming)

decide the starting parameters.

consider;

a) What is your maximum desired Power output for the lighting system,

b) What is your maximum budget for the system

Increasing the number of COBs and driving them softer increases efficiency but increases initial costing

example;

2 x vero @ 1.4A each + driver ~ £40 + £40 ~ 40 - 45% efficient

vs

4x vero at 700mA each + driver - £80 + £60 ~ 50% efficient

It appears that 2 veros would be more cost effective, but that is where I and many other have been mislead. (looks at how many cobs lean is running; this isn't without reason)

Delving into the figure abit more which are available from supra on riu it turns out its best overall for everyone (inc. cree) to get lots of cobs and run em soft.

getting late, gotta watch got.

B

Edited April 22, 2015 by Badders

[olesmokie]

I think at the moment, anyone who has enough interest to pursue a homemade LED system will by their nature want to know how it works and consequently how it all fits together.

A useful feature of DIYing cobs is is the full scale control of the lighting system. Everyones groom is somewhat different and being able to design your own lighting system to complement your environment will improve crop efficiency.

+ its actually really straight forward to construct your system physically once you have narrowed down your components (this is time consuming)

decide the starting parameters.

consider;

a) What is your maximum desired Power output for the lighting system,

b) What is your maximum budget for the system

Increasing the number of COBs and driving them softer increases efficiency but increases initial costing

example;

2 x vero @ 1.4A each + driver ~ £40 + £40 ~ 40 - 45% efficient

vs

4x vero at 700mA each + driver - £80 + £60 ~ 50% efficient

It appears that 2 veros would be more cost effective, but that is where I and many other have been mislead. (looks at how many cobs lean is running; this isn't without reason)

Delving into the figure abit more which are available from supra on riu it turns out its best overall for everyone (inc. cree) to get lots of cobs and run em soft.

getting late, gotta watch got.

B

I second that. Also when you increase the number of cob you even out the spread of light. Instead of coming from one or two light sources it come from 2 or more.

Ive just finished soldering and wiring my diy LEDs ready for my next crop.

Edited April 22, 2015 by olesmokie

[Lean_McSheen]

Thanks guys, I'll jump back to the beginning and have a better read up.

I've tinkered with Pc's in the past but not soldered much.

Just a thought but why don't knock a few up to sell? You have the knowledge, customer base and lack of competition...

@@C0LD, I have thought about it but I struggle for time as it is. Also the price would probably put people off. Then there is warranty to think about, If it broke where would I have it sent to? my home address? No thanks . It also wouldn't have that polished professional look that people like when spending a lot of money. The 400watt build in this diary cost me about £600 with the tools included, I could probably get the parts now for around £400-500, then I'd have to put labor on top and P&P... So the retail cost of something like this would end up being around £700-800. No one is going to pay that in the UK. The good thing about this sort of build is if you scale it down to 3-4 COBs run at 50 watts apiece, you would get a 150/200 watt LED with the efficiency of around 45%, thats a touch more than the 600w/1000w DE HPS bulbs (around 42% efficient). In fact I just did a quick price calculation, the parts for a 150W LED that's about 45% efficient would cost in the region of £250, add labor costs and we're talking around £400 for a 150watt lamp... It would be an amazing light for a small space, putting out around 22500 lumens, and just over 67 PAR watts. I can't find any figures for the efficiency of a 150 watt HPS but they are putting out around 16000 lumens and I know for a fact that it'll not be as efficient at producing PAR. But who wants to pay £400 for a 150watt light? If you only had a small space to grow (say 1.5-2ft²) and you wanted to maximize what you can get out of that space? Then maybe people would be willing, but the HPS is cheap... Small scale is where these LEDs come into their own, but if someone is growing on a large scale, HPS all the way, it would cost too much for LEDs.

Here is the breakdown of the parts for the 150W LED

CXB3070AB x 3 £90

Arctic Alpine CPU coolers x 3 £36

HLG-120H-C1400B X 1 £61

Misc parts I've given to be around £60 (though it would be less than that)

If you wanted a case for the LED's it would cost more still... though i'd suggest hanging them separately so you have more control over light spread on the canopy