Cheapo DIY Chinese LED grow. 200w

[Eraserhead]

Yeah, it was pretty expensive upfront.

If I were just a regular DIYer, that purchase would not have been practical, but I also sell them as well as test and research with them. With the regular purchase I make, it is about a 2-3 month supply.

There's some vendors selling the same name brand LEDs for $3-$4usd each, more for the blues and violets, for smaller quantities, but there is no telling what bin selection they are using, for larger purchases I felt much better buying from the factory rather a 3rd or 4th party vendor...

I just recently purchased some Cree XPG whites, they have a max rating of 5w each.

What kind of fan are you using?

 

[polyarcturus]

150$-170$ for a 2x50w array and handful of reds and driver
damn i could amost buy a premade one of similar wattage at this point

 

[Gastanker]

Yeah, it was pretty expensive upfront.

If I were just a regular DIYer, that purchase would not have been practical, but I also sell them as well as test and research with them. With the regular purchase I make, it is about a 2-3 month supply.

There's some vendors selling the same name brand LEDs for $3-$4usd each, more for the blues and violets, for smaller quantities, but there is no telling what bin selection they are using, for larger purchases I felt much better buying from the factory rather a 3rd or 4th party vendor...

I just recently purchased some Cree XPG whites, they have a max rating of 5w each.

What kind of fan are you using?

120mm 85 CFM. Definitely makes sense to buy more directly from the supplier.

150$-170$ for a 2x50w array and handful of reds and driver
damn i could amost buy a premade one of similar wattage at this point

The single reds bump up the price considerably and so does running a higher number of smaller arrays. Least expensive I can find decent reds is $2 each which immediately sets the price to at least $1/w before heatsync/drivers costs. By all means you can purchase a premade unit for the same price. Via Alibaba you can get a 120x3w Iris for $249.75. With an actual wattage of ~240 that's basically $1/w and comes with your choice of reds, blues, whites, IR and UV and includes lenses and the rest.

If you want to really go cheap with the DIY but still have a reliable product with red diodes you would be ordering those round 15x3w arrays they use in the modular units. You can get those for real cheap and they come with diodes, lenses, are all soldered... attach to a decent heat sync and a generic power supply and with the money you save on the case you should be under $1/w with much better heat dissipation. I'm kind of stuck on the idea of white light broad spectrum over the narrow reds.

 

[Gastanker]

So according to the manufacture these are the spectral charts for the 30w arrays. They offer four whites:
warm white: 2700-3300k
natural white: 4000-4500k
Pure white: 5000-5500k
Cold white: 8000-10000k

These are supposedly the charts for the pure white and the warm white although the pure white chart shows a CCT of 6500...

 

[polyarcturus]

well i must say viewing that spread made me care less about the red, hmmm. i may yet still get the arrays and build a veg light.

 

[patrikantonius]

Gas,
I was wondering how much time you have put into these led units? Really when it all comes down to it, man hours are what is important. Half of the time I don't do DIY projects is because: brainstorming these lights consumes time, searching for the best components takes a lot of time, and assembly takes even more time. It is definitely worth it to develop a skill that will last a long time and hopefully in time pays for its self.

I guess I just wonder how people can justify a such a time consuming effort, when the reality of the matter is that you have to assemble these units your self? They don't have cases or any real protection from water damage, no dimming capabilities, and no warranty if the outsourced materials fail (maybe you have some sort of warranty but I'm assuming no). You seem to be bearing a brunt of the responsibility of these units. Big balls sir, you have big balls. Stoked to see those sweet results!
Sincerely,
ILovePlants

Thank you, but to play devils advocate:

-Assembly time per unit was less than 45 minutes.
-I only used two sources - a single buyer on ebay and heatsync USA. (Very simple purchasing)
-No need for brainstorming on my behalf - I went with cheapest and asked for the driver made for em. No need to know anything. I'm a nerd so I looked into just because it's fun for me.
-Compatible dimming driver is $1 extra - I just don't like/trust dimmers. I don't think most units offer dimmers either.
-Ballasts are in water proof cases - came that way. Lights aren't but neither are any other unit and they don't have the luxury of remote ballasts.

Now if something fails they are under either a 1 or 3 year warranty but I'd probably be better off just replacing as I would have to deal with China. At $27/chip and $40/driver I'm willing to chance it (for the 100ws), the 30's are $5-10/each - keep in mind I'm paying $1/w versus the $2.50/w of most typical units. And keep in mind it's mostly all the same parts as a pre-made unit but I have a much better heat sync and know the wiring is legit.

Now in my particular case I'm doing this to waste time. So I'm spending way more time than necessary on every step because it's fun for me. The getting it done is fast - the thinking about getting it done is where I get to linger and enjoy. Going slowly and carefully it took me 45 minutes to assemble each unit. If you have a drill press it'll take you less time. Right now I'm brainstorming how to drill fancy cord holes so the next project doesn't go by so fast

I gotta add that when doing DIY, you actually learn how all that complicated stuff works. And learning is fun!
I think it also allows better designs than some production panels. Heat management is not always taken seriously into account in commercial panels.

Moreover with DIY you can choose what components you use and then have for instance better chips than what's available in commercial panels. The best results I've seen so far are done with DIY panels, for instance Hans (ledgrow.eu) did research for multiple years with DIY panels before producing them, and has had excellent results. Of course it is time consuming but you can see it as some kind of hobby.

 

[Gastanker]

They don't look too bad huh? And according to the equivalent bridgelux they aren't being too overpowered. Overlaid those with what I got from my camera and it's not too far off? Maybe? I need to build a legit spectrometer and should probably use a film camera versus my digital - who knows how RGB biased my camera is. Wouldn't be surprised if the two matched up under a real test.

 

[Gastanker]

I gotta add that when doing DIY, you actually learn how all that complicated stuff works. And learning is fun!
I think it also allows better designs than some production panels. Heat management is not always taken seriously into account in commercial panels.

Moreover with DIY you can choose what components you use and then have for instance better chips than what's available in commercial panels. The best results I've seen so far are done with DIY panels, for instance Hans (ledgrow.eu) did research for multiple years with DIY panels before producing them, and has had excellent results. Of course it is time consuming but you can see it as some kind of hobby.

Amen! (in a non religious way).

 

[polyarcturus]

damn too bad your lights arent around my camera it has always given me perfect spectrum reading. i mean i can look at a flour box and wha the spectrum then hold the light up by the camera and what the box says is what it shows on my cam, downside is i can tell it drops off before UVA spectrum.

 

[Gastanker]

damn too bad your lights arent around my camera it has always given me perfect spectrum reading. i mean i can look at a flour box and wha the spectrum then hold the light up by the camera and what the box says is what it shows on my cam, downside is i can tell it drops off before UVA spectrum.

Agreed. accurate readings would be nice.


So I just got a new lowest quote:
30w arrays @ $6/each $30 shipping = $90
30w drivers @ $6.85/each $45 shipping = 113.50
4.3"x24" heatsync @ $33/each $24 shipping = 90
Total: $293.50

So it's now $20 less expensive to go with 30w arrays than 50w. I assume that's worth ordering through alibaba versus ebay?

 

[polyarcturus]

ive heard bad things about alibaba my friend is from Vietnam and goes to china does all that bootlegging shit.... but even he wont fuck with alibaba but i dont know i ve heard both bad and good.

 

[PSUAGRO.]

You'll be ok Gas...........as long as you use vendors that accept paypal(safe/insured).......I wouldn't personally recommend any escrow accounts on alibaba.............good luck

 

[Gastanker]

ive heard bad things about alibaba my friend is from Vietnam and goes to china does all that bootlegging shit.... but even he wont fuck with alibaba but i dont know i ve heard both bad and good.

Yeah... I'm a bit wary. And if I have to Western Union them the money I assume there are additional fees. Contacting my ebay dealer to see if I can get a discount

 

[Gastanker]

Uh oh... I just got a terrible idea. Cast my own heatsyncs... I drink a lot of beer and my wife drinks a lot of soda and I have a friend who's a metal smith. Might be time to recycle some cans

 

[curly604]

i like the way you think gas that is a truly great idea! not gonna be easybut well worth the effort please let us know if you do end up trying something like that very interesting stuff

 

[ineffablegreen]

I really want to start putting my own LEDs together like this. Honestly, this has inspired me to maybe thing about doing this for my next setup. Now....time to research!

 

[Gastanker]

i like the way you think gas that is a truly great idea! not gonna be easybut well worth the effort please let us know if you do end up trying something like that very interesting stuff

I'm thinking it probably wouldn't even be that difficult. Take the ones I have now and just press them into some wet sand. You can melt aluminum in a tin can with just some charcoal and a fan - or a butane/propane torch. I'm just wondering if I'd be able to machine a flat enough surface in order to mount them flat.

I really want to start putting my own LEDs together like this. Honestly, this has inspired me to maybe thing about doing this for my next setup. Now....time to research!

Glad I could be an inspiration.

 

[Rasser]

Melting aluminum,
I wonder what youtube has on that.

[video=youtube;8uIF_NIJN5g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uIF_NIJN5g[/video]
The device is a 1200 Watt CalRod heating element embedded in a Perlite / Furnace Cement (4:1 ratio) refractory.
The crucible is a ceramic jar I found at home, it holds 700 mL. The temperature is somewhere around 900C (1650F) or higher... Spent less then $50 dollars to make it.

 

[Gastanker]

So I fed them some stale tea and I don't think they liked it.

Progression:
Day: 1,4,7

9/2, 9/2 (diff angle/orientation), 14/7

17/10, 21/14

 

[polyarcturus]

damn she took off, like a jet.