Pulled the trigger on DIY Vero. Questions on heatsinking

[Dr.StickyFingers]

So I finally pulled the trigger on ordering myself 8 4000k vero 13's for a cab build.

I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into... so here is my plan and here are my questions...

I plan to run the vero 13s at 350ma giving me ~11 watts per vero so a total of ~88 watts
In addition I ordered some 3 watt 660nm deep reds, 730nm hyper far reds as well as a couple 430nm hyper violet leds (expensive AF for what they are....) from Stevesleds...

Total ~121 watts

My reasoning was that according to the spectrum chart for the 4000k veros it doesnt give off much lights at 430nm and 660nm and those are when chlorophyll A and B peak in addition to 450nm and 640nm? Or I am I just talking out of my ass? either way supplemental lighting cant hurt right?

Here is how I plan to spread em out
Black are veros
Blue are 430mm hyper violets
Red are deep reds
Purple are hyper far reds

Im going to have my hyper violets and deep reds on separate switches so that I can run just the veros and hyper violet during veg and everything together during flower..

The inner rectangle and measurements are ideally what I'd like my heatsink to be and the outer box and measurements are the dimensions of my cab (height is 3ft)
Now for my questions....

An actual heatsink the dimensions that I've outlined above is EXPENSIVE AF... at least to me. I could drop about 100$ on the heatsink but I'd rather not. I've also looked into individual heatsink + Fan assemblies for computers but that will run about the same price so MY QUESTION IS...

since I am running the veros at a relatively low current could I get away with using a thick aluminum sheet as a heatsink with a fan blowing across the top?.. this would save me about 90-80 bucks but at the same time I want to extend the life of my leds and dont want my efficiency to drop...

I have a couple of drivers in mind for the veros but I would like to use 1 or 2 drivers to power all 8 veros. Does anyone have anything in mind?

Was the 4000k a good choice? the spectrum chart for veros from a couple months ago and now seem to be different?...

Is 12 watts of hyper far red enough to achieve the emerson effect?
(I will have a separate driver hooked up to these that comes with a a power cord from the factory so that I can plug it into a separate timer. I've read somewhere that 15 minutes after lights out is enough?) I want to run my lights for 14 hrs during flowering.

oh and only 2 plants at a time...

 

[Positivity]

The far red should be more than enough. I'd put the far red on a switch and leave violet always on though. That much far red could trigger lots of stretch.

The color temp of the vero should be fine. You can always change kelvin in the future if you think it needs to go in a different direction. Differences should be minor..

I don't have driver specs off the top of my head, just add up the voltages and find a meanwell driver that will fit best.

The thick aluminum plate should work fine at 11w per vero. You could improve the cooling further by putting a few of the cheaper/thinner ebay style heatsinks on top of the flat plate. Give the air a little more surface area to cool..

Edit...far red on a timer is the best application i've used so far. 5 minutes at lights out...13/11 works well, 14/10 i've never tried but you could expect a longer flowering period than a shorter schedule. Leave the switches on the other colors, its nice to have a little control.

 

[churchhaze]

I agree with the switch, or putting it on a timer to come on for a few minutes after lights out only.

After the stretch period finishes, then far-red probably won't cause stretch anymore, but none of us have tried this yet... lol That might be next on the list.

 

[Dr.StickyFingers]

The far red should be more than enough. I'd put the far red on a switch and leave violet always on though. That much far red could trigger lots of stretch.

The color temp of the vero should be fine. You can always change kelvin in the future if you think it needs to go in a different direction. Differences should be minor..

I don't have driver specs off the top of my head, just add up the voltages and find a meanwell driver that will fit best.

The thick aluminum plate should work fine at 11w per vero. You could improve the cooling further by putting a few of the cheaper/thinner ebay style heatsinks on top of the flat plate. Give the air a little more surface area to cool..

Edit...far red on a timer is the best application i've used so far. Leave the switches on the other colors, its nice to have a little control.

I agree with the switch, or putting it on a timer to come on for a few minutes after lights out only.

After the stretch period finishes, then far-red probably won't cause stretch anymore, but none of us have tried this yet... lol That might be next on the list.

Sorry let me clarify. forget the Switches. For Veg the Veros and Violets will always be on. For flower the Veros, violets, and deep reds will be on, with the far reds being on a timer to come on after lights out.

So A thick aluminum sheet from home depot should be okay?

 

[Positivity]

How thick a sheet?

That'd be a good question to ask in the heatsink thread where they have been really crunching the numbers and heatsink sources

@Chronikool built a few xml lights with a aluminum plate if i remember right..

 

[Dr.StickyFingers]

I agree with the switch, or putting it on a timer to come on for a few minutes after lights out only.

After the stretch period finishes, then far-red probably won't cause stretch anymore, but none of us have tried this yet... lol That might be next on the list.

What do you mean by this? Are you talking about far red and the stretch period during flowering?

How thick a sheet?

That'd be a good question to ask in the heatsink thread where they have been really crunching the numbers and heatsink sources

@Chronikool built a few xml lights with a aluminum plate if i remember right..

I think the thickest they have at home depot is .06 inches... so its not a plate and its pretty thin... My other idea was buying a bunch of these little guys http://www.ebay.com/itm/55mm-Cooling-Fan-Heatsink-Cooler-for-PC-Computer-Laptop-CPU-VGA-Video-Card-F5-/291374143675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item43d74098bb I think it would work decent for the 3 watt leds but not the veros...

 

[churchhaze]

What do you mean by this? Are you talking about far red and the stretch period during flowering?


I think the thickest they have at home depot is .06 inches... so its not a plate and its pretty thin... My other idea was buying a bunch of these little guys http://www.ebay.com/itm/55mm-Cooling-Fan-Heatsink-Cooler-for-PC-Computer-Laptop-CPU-VGA-Video-Card-F5-/291374143675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item43d74098bb I think it would work decent for the 3 watt leds but not the veros...

Yeah, if you use 730nm (during the day) after 2-3 weeks after changing to 12/12, it really won't cause stretch anymore, at least that's what I'm guessing. What we're not sure of is if it would increase total flowering yield.

If you use 730nm during the day during veg or during the stretch period, it will cause serious stretch.

 

[Positivity]

What do you mean by this? Are you talking about far red and the stretch period during flowering?


I think the thickest they have at home depot is .06 inches... so its not a plate and its pretty thin... My other idea was buying a bunch of these little guys http://www.ebay.com/itm/55mm-Cooling-Fan-Heatsink-Cooler-for-PC-Computer-Laptop-CPU-VGA-Video-Card-F5-/291374143675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item43d74098bb I think it would work decent for the 3 watt leds but not the veros...

Too thin for me..

Take a look at fluxs thread.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/step-into-my-grow-room.801190/

He was cooling small veros on t strip from depot as i recall. Maybe a combination of aluminum sheet and t strip would work well together.

Or churchs nice vero killer threads..

https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-cxb2530-3000k-80cri-u2-bin-vero-killers.862298/


Heatsinks are a upfront cost but they will last forever and be much easier to work with...IMO

 

[AquariusPanta]

@churchhaze

What a fascinating hypothesis! I wanna hear about the conclusion(s) asap.

How do you feel about implementing far red during lights out (week one through three of budding)?

 

[Dr.StickyFingers]

I

Yeah, if you use 730nm (during the day) after 2-3 weeks after changing to 12/12, it really won't cause stretch anymore, at least that's what I'm guessing. What we're not sure of is if it would increase total flowering yield.

If you use 730nm during the day during veg or during the stretch period, it will cause serious stretch.

Interesting, I don't plan to use far red except for 15 mins after lights out only to be able to go 14 hours of lights on during flowering. I don't plan to use far red during lights on unless maybe 5 mins before lights out and continue for 15 afterwards..