DIY LED - getting started

TheTinkerer

TheTinkerer

Active Member
I’m setting up a small scale tent grow. For me, it’s all about DIY. I can go to the store and buy weed, but I’d much rather have a project and a challenge. It’s a hobby and a labor of love. I have lots of fun building up the space and making improvements.
So, I want some LED lights and I see that some of you are assembling your own. I’d like some help getting started with DIY LED. It seems like it’s a matter of matching led chips or boards with drivers and heat sinks. Can you share some info sources, or suppliers of components? Any advice?
 
*MmmMmmMmm* said:
DigiKey is where I recently sourced my driver and LED strips from. As far as I can tell, this is a very deep rabbit hole my friend, and so far I've loved every minute of it!

This site is a good place to start for info, as is LEDGARDNERS strip build guide.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Tons of great info at ledgardeners.
 
growmau5 on youtube, look for his early vids, there is a 7 part guide to DIY leds. It will help you understand matching drivers to leds, heat sink requirements ect.
Also the LED section here has some great guides to getting started with led and powering them, just probably have to search for them as they will be buried in all the other shit.
 
coreywebster said:
growmau5 on youtube, look for his early vids, there is a 7 part guide to DIY leds. It will help you understand matching drivers to leds, heat sink requirements ect.
Also the LED section here has some great guides to getting started with led and powering them, just probably have to search for them as they will be buried in all the other shit.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I’ll check out the vids.
What is “the LED section” that you mentioned?
 
Wow! There is a lot to digest in the LED section (which is where I should have posted this originally, I now see).

I’m thinking that I would do well to buy two 3000k QB288v2 boards, a heatsink, and a controller and use em to flower in in a 2x4 tent.
Sound good?
 
It's a good start. I'd also suggest getting more power than you will need currently...ask me how I discovered that.
 
TheTinkerer said:
I’m thinking that I would do well to buy two 3000k QB288v2 boards, a heatsink, and a controller and use em to flower in in a 2x4 tent.
Sound good?
Click to expand...

Go for 4000K if you can get them. I use 4000K samsung strips with the lm302b in my DIY led setups (same as the quantum boards), I can't say how they compare to the 3000K lm302b chips as I have run 4000K from the start however the 4000K works well for me - I've also heard a few people who got 3000K say they wish they had gotten 4000K.
It all sounds a little counter intuitive, given that for many years using gas discharge lighting we all considered MH in the 4000-5000K range to be only good for veg but LEDs are a little different. to understand why take a look at the spec sheets from samsung for the lm302b and compare the spectral analysis chart for the 4000K with a spectral analysis chart for a typical MH lamp and with the chart for the 3000K lm302b chip. The area under the curve is the total output and you'll see the 4000K chip has a lot more overall area under the curve than the 3000K and you'll also see that the peak in the red part of the spectrum is not that much lower than the same peak for the 3000K.
Just my two cents, as I said I've never done a side by side so I can't say for sure but it's looking to me like as far as the lm302b is concerned the 4000K is best overall, at least on paper.
When you get your controller, make sure you get one you can dim.
If you don't end up getting quantum boards make sure whatever it is you do get runs the lm302b chips, they're currently the best out there for luminous efficacy - however it would pay to make sure whichever product you get isn't over driving the chips at the expense of efficacy - the QBs do that pretty badly if you run them at full power and only deliver about 180lm/w. Turn them down a bit and you can get 220lm/w (at least in theory).
 
TheGreatSouthern said:
Go for 4000K if you can get them. I use 4000K samsung strips with the lm302b in my DIY led setups (same as the quantum boards), I can't say how they compare to the 3000K lm302b chips as I have run 4000K from the start however the 4000K works well for me - I've also heard a few people who got 3000K say they wish they had gotten 4000K.
It all sounds a little counter intuitive, given that for many years using gas discharge lighting we all considered MH in the 4000-5000K range to be only good for veg but LEDs are a little different. to understand why take a look at the spec sheets from samsung for the lm302b and compare the spectral analysis chart for the 4000K with a spectral analysis chart for a typical MH lamp and with the chart for the 3000K lm302b chip. The area under the curve is the total output and you'll see the 4000K chip has a lot more overall area under the curve than the 3000K and you'll also see that the peak in the red part of the spectrum is not that much lower than the same peak for the 3000K.
Just my two cents, as I said I've never done a side by side so I can't say for sure but it's looking to me like as far as the lm302b is concerned the 4000K is best overall, at least on paper.
When you get your controller, make sure you get one you can dim.
If you don't end up getting quantum boards make sure whatever it is you do get runs the lm302b chips, they're currently the best out there for luminous efficacy - however it would pay to make sure whichever product you get isn't over driving the chips at the expense of efficacy - the QBs do that pretty badly if you run them at full power and only deliver about 180lm/w. Turn them down a bit and you can get 220lm/w (at least in theory).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I’m still reading and learning. Whatcha think of the 3500k lm301b?
 
TheGreatSouthern said:
Go for 4000K if you can get them. I use 4000K samsung strips with the lm302b in my DIY led setups (same as the quantum boards), I can't say how they compare to the 3000K lm302b chips as I have run 4000K from the start however the 4000K works well for me - I've also heard a few people who got 3000K say they wish they had gotten 4000K.
It all sounds a little counter intuitive, given that for many years using gas discharge lighting we all considered MH in the 4000-5000K range to be only good for veg but LEDs are a little different. to understand why take a look at the spec sheets from samsung for the lm302b and compare the spectral analysis chart for the 4000K with a spectral analysis chart for a typical MH lamp and with the chart for the 3000K lm302b chip. The area under the curve is the total output and you'll see the 4000K chip has a lot more overall area under the curve than the 3000K and you'll also see that the peak in the red part of the spectrum is not that much lower than the same peak for the 3000K.
Just my two cents, as I said I've never done a side by side so I can't say for sure but it's looking to me like as far as the lm302b is concerned the 4000K is best overall, at least on paper.
When you get your controller, make sure you get one you can dim.
If you don't end up getting quantum boards make sure whatever it is you do get runs the lm302b chips, they're currently the best out there for luminous efficacy - however it would pay to make sure whichever product you get isn't over driving the chips at the expense of efficacy - the QBs do that pretty badly if you run them at full power and only deliver about 180lm/w. Turn them down a bit and you can get 220lm/w (at least in theory).
Click to expand...
Where do I look for strips? I haven’t found any for sale in any temp. My searches find nothing.
 
TheTinkerer said:
Thanks for the advice. I’m still reading and learning. Whatcha think of the 3500k lm301b?
Click to expand...

Excellent!

http://ledgardener.com/diy-led-strip-build-designs-samsung-bridgelux/
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/optoelectronics/led-lighting-cobs-engines-modules/111
https://www.arrow.com/en/products/si-b8u341b20ww/samsung-electronics

Arrow's search sucks, so get the part number from us or Digikey etc. and search that.

Best bet is to give as much info as possible to get a recommendation. Tent size, budget, experience, etc. etc. Temperatures are important, if the tent's in a cold basement, you might be better off with CMH or HPS etc.
 
1212ham said:
Excellent!

Best bet is to give as much info as possible to get a recommendation. Tent size, budget, experience, etc. etc. Temperatures are important, if the tent's in a cold basement, you might be better off with CMH or HPS etc.
Click to expand...
You hit on something that concerns me. I will be growing in a tent, in a cold shop. The shop temp is 40-70 F depending on the season. I really like the idea of using LED’s, but I need heat from somewhere and it would be silly to save energy on lights if it means using more energy to run a heater.
I was planning to go with a 315w CMH before I fell into the diy led hole.
 
TheTinkerer said:
You hit on something that concerns me. I will be growing in a tent, in a cold shop. The shop temp is 40-70 F depending on the season. I really like the idea of using LED’s, but I need heat from somewhere and it would be silly to save energy on lights if it means using more energy to run a heater.
I was planning to go with a 315w CMH before I fell into the diy led hole.
Click to expand...
I currently have this challenge where I grow. High 40's low 50s in the winter and 100+ in the summer. I use four 3500k QB288v1's. Awesome energy saver but I have to run an AC in summer and allow the purpling in the winter.
 
TheTinkerer said:
I really like the idea of using LED’s, but I need heat from somewhere and it would be silly to save energy on lights if it means using more energy to run a heater.
I was planning to go with a 315w CMH before I fell into the diy led hole.
Click to expand...

You can drive samsung lm301b chips at 200% of rated current without damaging them if you heatsink properly and they will produce quite a bit of heat. they are rated to operate at 85 degrees C. I have the same problem, in winter I just raise the light frames up and overdrive them - sometimes it's not quite enough and I end up hauling an old HPS out the shed and hanging that in the room too. a portable propane heater provides extra heat and extra CO2 to help the plants deal with all that extra light from the over driven LEDs. Winter is the best time to grow around these parts :)
 
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