MyDisplayName2000 Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Was looking at some new LED bulbs and discovered the bulb itself is plastic. This obviously stops a lot of the lumens as its frosted. Stops a lot of the light plus does not direct it. I took an hacksaw and began sawing along the seam were the plastic bulb is fitted onto the LED and the circuit for it. It came off a treat, hoovered up the plastic from it and am thinking of using it for the clones, imagining that I've now got a lot more light as the yellow LEDs can be seen clearly when the light is off. Anyone else messed about with household LED bulbs? I've used CFL household bulbs to raise seedlings and clones and small mothers. Here is an intact bulb and one I hacksawed.... Bad photo but the light given off is very bright for a little 15W LED bulb. 6200K, lumen advertised about 1500 but should be more now.... 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanics Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 I use them in combination with CFL's and they do fine however I found them to be best when mixed with some 2700K (50/50) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledgrowlights-Adam Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) Yeah they work great. But id suggest to leave the lens on. A bare led will have a beam angle of 120, or tighter, this means you will now need height to not fry your plants. The diffused lens does exactally that, its defuses the light, to give an indirect beam angle and so less chance of frying young plants. Edited November 8, 2019 by diyleduk 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Openairbud Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 I've just finished a full grow with 6 x 13watt household leds. 2700k. It was an experiment really but worked great for me. This was with tops cut off. But if I was to do it again I would start with tops on as diyled says. Seemed a bit harsh to start. 32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROCKSTEADY6 Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 10 minutes ago, Openairbud said: 6 x 13watt household leds Smashed it openairbud. Great work mate. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Openairbud Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Cheers dude. Cant tell in that pic but the plant top left didn't like the lights. All top leaves were quite pale, any leaves hidden or a bit lower down were healthy. All other plants were fine. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyDisplayName2000 Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 4 hours ago, Openairbud said: Cheers dude. Cant tell in that pic but the plant top left didn't like the lights. All top leaves were quite pale, any leaves hidden or a bit lower down were healthy. All other plants were fine. That is an excellent grow considering what you used. Deserves plant of the month just for the fact you grew it with basic LED bulbs. Brilliant photo. Any idea of the yield per watt? I'll bet it beats an average HPS grow watt for watt. @diyledukAppreciate the advice my man. It is quite hot for 15W, actually hotter than your Scope LEDs I'm just messing about with these household LED bulbs but if anyone was on a real tight budget they could grow something with them, save the money they might have spent and bought a more pro light off your good self. I see the diffusion point but frosted plastic will block out a fair bit of light and maybe limits the actual lumens or Umol. I've seen LED bulbs in clear plastic but they were expensive with some filament shaped LED in there mimicking old fashioned bulbs. If anyone used 10 of these 15 watter LED bulbs, they could be 'air cooled', maybe drill out a cheap air cooled 600W shade or make something up from some old barn lamp. Its a classic potheads project. I do love tearing things apart and making something new from the parts. I'd like to see someone use a light meter to test the LED bulbs with the bulb on and then with it sawn off. The heat IS an issue from these very basic LED if you saw off the bulb. That said the light from the sawn off bulb is impressive for what it is. I guess its a compromise between the extra light gained and the heat we would need to perhaps dissipate. Ten of these in a 60 by 60 tent would bring up the temps but no more than 150W of HID. Raised temps from lights is a good thing in Winter and saves you heating the actual room if you use central heating. Got a few 2700K ones, they come in all wavelengths, saw 2000K, 2700, 4000K and more. My only reservation is safety. I'm not sure if sawing that bulb off makes it more risky. Manufacturers will likely not promote this method of getting more light from your LED bulb. Maybe I'll dig deeper and try and prise the LEDs and driver out of there. Reminds me of an old hippy I knew growing in the 70s/80s with fluorescents. Those people were laughed at but all the fantastic lights we see today come from those initial grows. We can only wonder what staggering innovations are in store for us. I'm expecting CRI of 100 to come in with a single watt putting out 4 umol in a few years time. Its mostly a matter of saving people from starving as LED grows and hydro are essential to feed the world. Nice that growers here are in some small way helping that future to arrive. In the meantime, if your struggling with the everyday goings on then rest assured that a man or women with a hacksaw and a LED bulb (or without the hacksaw) is able to grow a plant in a cardboard box lined with mylar with some cheapo extractor. I grew my first plants without extraction or air movement with a set of curtains shaped like a box thing. Three and a half oz and I thought I was king. Only those who had been to Holland knew what this funny looking green bud was. Then I put a computer fan in a biscuit box for an extractor and doubled my yield. Third crop I bought a nice Ruck fan and the fun began. That's why I like to see any DIY here. We all start at different levels and many might think they are priced out of growing. Truth is anyone who smokes cannot afford NOT to grow. You could budget a hundred quid or less and have a grow together. Hope to see more examples of people messing with the LED bulbs to grow. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledgrowlights-Adam Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 All fun and games experimenting. Just remember it not low voltage DC. Dont touch it whilst its on You can find some decent size grows about aswell as smaller micro grows. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
botanics Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 @MyDisplayName2000 I leave the globes on mine bud and they veg them decent enough These above were vegged into those finals under house lamps and in 7.5 litre finals. They did ok in the end too (bloomed under halide for three weeks at 250 W then sodium for three weeks at 400 W then switched down to 250 W because it was too warm at the time and finished off with 10 days of halide at 250 W) 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Openairbud Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 @MyDisplayName2000 Thanks dude It beat my cmh gpw yield by alot, the first 3 plants together went over gpw without counting the 4th. I've touched a bulb by accident, gives a belt! This is the best looking 2 plants 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyDisplayName2000 Posted November 8, 2019 Author Share Posted November 8, 2019 @Openairbud You've done a fantastic job, praise goes were its due, no more or less. That you done it with a light system costing pennies per watt makes it even better. A set up like that would be ideal struggling with funds/space and so on. Maybe we should be selling 150W LED systems on fleabay for 50p a watt. Send em a few bulbs, a hacksaw and some bulb holders. Best set up I've ever seen for the price. That it beat CMH is amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Openairbud Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 6 hours ago, MyDisplayName2000 said: Truth is anyone who smokes cannot afford NOT to grow. You could budget a hundred quid or less and have a grow together. Amen, wish my mate would listen to this, instead hes still paying through the nose for ok bud! For the price of half oz or so he could be set up! There is more info regarding these style bulbs around the net, that's where I got the inspiration to give it a go. Like you said you can stick these bulbs anywhere, my grow box is 2 old kitchen carcasses stacked on one another, it's about 450mm square. Gives me more than enough smoke. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EatonMess Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 This thread is brilliant. Gives me the encouragement I need to use the 6500K 18W LED in my clone/veg cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranec Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 @EatonMess 6500k may be a bit cold - I started my first seedling off under a 15w 5000k bulb and it grew happily enough, just very very slowly - swapped the bulb for a 65w 4000k veg board from @diyleduk and she took off 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EatonMess Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Ranec said: @EatonMess 6500k may be a bit cold - I started my first seedling off under a 15w 5000k bulb and it grew happily enough, just very very slowly - swapped the bulb for a 65w 4000k veg board from @diyleduk and she took off Thanks @Ranec! Changed it up for 4000K instead on your advice, nice one. Might go with two though considering you said growth was slow. I'd like growth to be slow, as I'm looking to take clones about a week before flip so realistically looking a 9 weeks minimum in veg which is quite a while. So want growth slow and steady - but not painfully so. Nice bushy plants in their finals before going into the flowering fridge. Very much looking forward to trying out my CXM-160; got a trial auto under it currently but dying to get the photos going! Edited December 4, 2019 by EatonMess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now