Blackstar 240W LED Dissected and Upgraded!
- Thread starter meharmon
- Start date
shaggy2dope
Active Member
so is this dead or what???? *poke* *poke*
i am assuming so. the last date from the original poster is 5/31/11. he probably moved on to bigger and better things. lol
do you know how to attach the heat sink to the aluminum plate? is that what the thermal paste is for??
Sylvester Stillstoned
Member
Can you possibly tell me what brand of fans those are?
meharmon
Member
Sorry I missed the questions, I've been away from the forum for a bit. Here's the responses:
I attached the heat sinks to the aluminum plate using the thermal paste for thermal conductivity, and a couple of the tiny screws from PCB were used to hold the heat sinks down tightly to the aluminum plate. I used Arctic Silver 5 paste, but in retrospect would use Arctic Silver Alumina adhesive instead for its electrical isolation. This would negate the need for the screws to hold down the heat sinks, and if applied properly, should be able to eliminate the need for the orange tape which caused me such a hassle. I have since learned this is called Kapton tape, which can transmit heat effectively, but is about 700X more heat resistant than the aluminum heat sink, so the Alumina adhesive would work much better if applied appropriately to avoid electrical contact from the back of the LED to the heat sink. For ease of modding though... DON'T TOUCH THE TAPE, just mount heat sinks to the back of the aluminum plate!
I used Masscool 80mm fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150044
But looking on NewEgg for 80mm (be sure to find 25mm height) fans, and sorting according to airflow and noise level, you can find several options. At the time, these were $4 per, and much more quiet than the stock, which is what I was trying to accomplish with them while still moving plenty of air. If you don't care about putting the back of the case together or the noise level you can find the hardest blowing fans, strap them down, and let 'em roar.
For the driver question... I would say play with Google to find the right one, just search for "constant current" etc. You may want to test your other one to see what its output is and google according to those specs, if you're sure that its the driver that failed. As to the discrepancy in output on yours vs. mine, I am happy to know this, and would say that its par for the course with Blackstar. Even though they are fine for growing, I have since learned they are just using a Chinese ODM who stamps their logo on the side of their case. There are literally dozens of Chinese companies who make grow lights identical to the Blackstar, its just that Blackstar has them paint them black and put Lighthouse Hydro logo on them, so the different drivers, chips, PCB (2W=WTF?!?), etc. are not surprising. I doubt they use authentic Cree chips, but its only the few white ones that are supposed to be Cree anyhow. They are indeed Crapstar-- even if they perform well, they are not engineered very well, hence this cooling and acoustic upgrade thread
Thanks for the responses, good luck with your grows!
I attached the heat sinks to the aluminum plate using the thermal paste for thermal conductivity, and a couple of the tiny screws from PCB were used to hold the heat sinks down tightly to the aluminum plate. I used Arctic Silver 5 paste, but in retrospect would use Arctic Silver Alumina adhesive instead for its electrical isolation. This would negate the need for the screws to hold down the heat sinks, and if applied properly, should be able to eliminate the need for the orange tape which caused me such a hassle. I have since learned this is called Kapton tape, which can transmit heat effectively, but is about 700X more heat resistant than the aluminum heat sink, so the Alumina adhesive would work much better if applied appropriately to avoid electrical contact from the back of the LED to the heat sink. For ease of modding though... DON'T TOUCH THE TAPE, just mount heat sinks to the back of the aluminum plate!
I used Masscool 80mm fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150044
But looking on NewEgg for 80mm (be sure to find 25mm height) fans, and sorting according to airflow and noise level, you can find several options. At the time, these were $4 per, and much more quiet than the stock, which is what I was trying to accomplish with them while still moving plenty of air. If you don't care about putting the back of the case together or the noise level you can find the hardest blowing fans, strap them down, and let 'em roar.
For the driver question... I would say play with Google to find the right one, just search for "constant current" etc. You may want to test your other one to see what its output is and google according to those specs, if you're sure that its the driver that failed. As to the discrepancy in output on yours vs. mine, I am happy to know this, and would say that its par for the course with Blackstar. Even though they are fine for growing, I have since learned they are just using a Chinese ODM who stamps their logo on the side of their case. There are literally dozens of Chinese companies who make grow lights identical to the Blackstar, its just that Blackstar has them paint them black and put Lighthouse Hydro logo on them, so the different drivers, chips, PCB (2W=WTF?!?), etc. are not surprising. I doubt they use authentic Cree chips, but its only the few white ones that are supposed to be Cree anyhow. They are indeed Crapstar-- even if they perform well, they are not engineered very well, hence this cooling and acoustic upgrade thread
Thanks for the responses, good luck with your grows!cally wally pan pots
Member
hey.
i am thinking of changing just the fans but i have zero electrical experience. i took the back off my blackstar and took a look at what i would have to do. After looking i was a bit put off due to my lack of experience. I know this would be an incredibal favour to do for a complete stranger but do you think you could give a little tutorial on what it is exactly i have to do? cheers bro. peace.
i am thinking of changing just the fans but i have zero electrical experience. i took the back off my blackstar and took a look at what i would have to do. After looking i was a bit put off due to my lack of experience. I know this would be an incredibal favour to do for a complete stranger but do you think you could give a little tutorial on what it is exactly i have to do? cheers bro. peace.
cally wally pan pots
Member
hey.
i am thinking of changing just the fans but i have zero electrical experience. i took the back off my blackstar and took a look at what i would have to do. After looking i was a bit put off due to my lack of experience. I know this would be an incredibal favour to do for a complete stranger but do you think you could give a little tutorial on what it is exactly i have to do? cheers bro. peace.
i am thinking of changing just the fans but i have zero electrical experience. i took the back off my blackstar and took a look at what i would have to do. After looking i was a bit put off due to my lack of experience. I know this would be an incredibal favour to do for a complete stranger but do you think you could give a little tutorial on what it is exactly i have to do? cheers bro. peace.
cally wally pan pots
Member
Hey
I have ordered some fans but still waiting on some instructions, may take it to an electrical shop and see if they could swop them around then at least if it breaks i can blame it on them. hahaha. joke. still please MR Meharmon teach us!!! Nice. one Peace
I have ordered some fans but still waiting on some instructions, may take it to an electrical shop and see if they could swop them around then at least if it breaks i can blame it on them. hahaha. joke. still please MR Meharmon teach us!!! Nice. one Peace
cally wally pan pots
Member
Hey
Got the fans and would really appriciate a tutorial. only if you can be bothered though. no worries if not.......................................guilt
Got the fans and would really appriciate a tutorial. only if you can be bothered though. no worries if not.......................................guilt
Hi friend new to the site found the site looking for info on blackstar led light as I just got one. And boy oh boy is it loud silly loud im going to be swapping out the fan's as there crazy but do push lots of air. Anyway to wire fan up should be easy. Just cut 3 pin plug of the end and wire the black to black red to red and that should be it.
I was thinking if you put a bigger driver in the unit will it put out more light and use more power as my unit is running at only 120w i would love to get it to use around 160 so only 40w more but i think the light output would go up.
I was thinking if you put a bigger driver in the unit will it put out more light and use more power as my unit is running at only 120w i would love to get it to use around 160 so only 40w more but i think the light output would go up.
meharmon
Member
Hey I've been away from forum, sorry I didn't see the replies. The one dude who replied is right, just match positive (+) which is usually red, to negative (-) which is usually black. If there is a 3rd wire it is just for PWM (fan speed control) and can be ignored. If your wires aren't colored, you may find a small + or - on the back of the fan where the wires attach. If not, just try the few available combinations until you get it. If it only has 2 wires on your new fans, you only have two options, and it may actually work with reversed polarity but IDK.
A driver upgrade would require a specific match. You would increase the wattage by increasing the current, so finding a driver for that would require some specific Googling.
Good luck!
A driver upgrade would require a specific match. You would increase the wattage by increasing the current, so finding a driver for that would require some specific Googling.
Good luck!
budworth
Member
Hi all, first time poster here but would love to see this thread re-opened. I've been running a '3' watt, (ahem), Blackstar 500 uv flower model and also had decent results, however at some point last week I was horrified to discover that one of the led's had exploded, effectively knocking out one half of the panel!!-Great, that's just what I need. Trying to get this damn thing apart to do a little repair job on the led, (think its either the uv or ir one that exploded) and you start to realise what exactly you arent getting for your money. I am also very suspicious about these leds-anyone else have similar problems?
Two things you should know about me.
1. my nob is the same length as 2 Argos pencils stacked on top of each other
2. i'm currently banned from entering Argos
Two things you should know about me.
1. my nob is the same length as 2 Argos pencils stacked on top of each other
2. i'm currently banned from entering Argos
meharmon
Member
Yeah the Blackstars are crappy engineering. Lighthouse Hydro just set up a ODM agreement with one of dozens of clone-like manufacturers and has made a killing on it. If you do your research on alibaba you'll see what I mean. Several options exist with small resistors so that you only lose 1-3 LEDs if one fails. Live and learn as they say. I would not buy another LED panel without the resistors. For your panel, if it literally exploded, as in the lens is broken, or you can see the chip physically burnt, you should be able to bypass it with a small resistor that will cost you about a dime. What exact value resistor, I don't know, and would have to do math to figure out. Math is hard right now 
Google your way to a fix, or maybe you've fixed it by now anyhow. Lighthouse should honor the warranty if you're still in the window. Good luck!
Google your way to a fix, or maybe you've fixed it by now anyhow. Lighthouse should honor the warranty if you're still in the window. Good luck!
pacificarage
Well-Known Member
Amazing how simple those things look inside and yet they cost so much. 
ragetakesover
Member
sorry to resurrect,
Reason for high costs is because LEDs are expensive.
These units use approx 70 LEDs, average Cree LED is around $2 wholesale depending on how many you purchase.
Is it possible TS to post pictures of the internals of the Blackstars?
As well as close up pictures of the 6 different type of LEDs, i can verify the manufacture and model of each LED.
Reason for high costs is because LEDs are expensive.
These units use approx 70 LEDs, average Cree LED is around $2 wholesale depending on how many you purchase.
Is it possible TS to post pictures of the internals of the Blackstars?
As well as close up pictures of the 6 different type of LEDs, i can verify the manufacture and model of each LED.
budworth
Member
Hi there, this is a question for meharmon or franjan or just about anyone with any knowledge on Blackstar led drivers. Well, after a few months of scratching my head on this one, I have finally discovered that one of the four 80-130v 630ma drivers in my BS 500 flower model has fried, and looking up close I can see where a tiny resistor and a rather large resistor have visibly melted(?)!! I did a continuity test with my meter and the large capacitor still holds a little charge, but obviously not enough to do it's job. After doing much research by using info posted by such LED PIONEERS/LEGENDS as the afore mentioned, I now need to know where I can get a suitable replacement driver. Can anyone send me a link please as my girl is getting pretty sick of the redundant BS taking over the dining table!!
Many thanks fellow smokers.
Budworth
"The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the devil's own satanic herd"
Edmund Blackadder II, 1541 AD
Many thanks fellow smokers.
Budworth
"The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the devil's own satanic herd"
Edmund Blackadder II, 1541 AD