DIY LED Help

hefflm said:
www.tnutz.com

EX-1030-BLACK – 1″ x 3″ BLACK Smooth T-Slotted Aluminum Extrusion | TNUTZ

These extrusions are 100% compatible with the following manufacturers: 80/20 #1030-S-BLACK TSLOTS #650101 McMaster #3136N37
www.tnutz.com www.tnutz.com

It's that guy. Part of GreenGene's recommended parts list.
Click to expand...
Somehow I missed that and was looking at the 1". I have everything ordered (including the new 1x3" extrusion) and am excited to build!
 
Klone00 said:
Somehow I missed that and was looking at the 1". I have everything ordered (including the new 1x3" extrusion) and am excited to build!
Click to expand...

It was fun to assemble, but frustrating at times.

I found that I needed 1" screws for securing the heatsinks to the frame. I believe 3/4" was recommended. Local hardware store hooked me up though.

Also, the screws I ordered to secure the junction box to the frame were not the correct size. I ended up taping it to the frame temporarily to get going. I'll address that shortcoming in the near future. Not sure what I'll do yet, but I haven't put too much thought into it.

My last gripe about the build is the underwater connectors. I ordered two different brands. One was straight garbage and the other was decent, but screws still stripped easily. Next time I may just solder and heat wrap.

Probably all user error, I'm sure. The build resulted in many stoney trips to the hardware store and a few additional online orders of generic nondescript parts with <10 reviews each. Took way longer than it should have. That's totally on me though.
 
hefflm said:
I found that I needed 1" screws for securing the heatsinks to the frame. I believe 3/4" was recommended.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you didn't try to use 1/2"? I used 3/4" and they fit fine. I actually ran out and had to use a 1" for one heatsink and they were too long so I needed to space it with washers.
 
MrGreenFingers99 said:
When do you run the QB11's? I've got 1 and just run it 12/12 once I see pistils but not sure if that's the best way to use them?
Click to expand...

I used them as soon as the seedling went into my tent - the plant vegged beautifully too. I was worried about stretch based off of some anecdotal findings in this community however I ended up with very tight internodal spacing. Pic for reference
IMG_20200408_110505.jpg
 
Major Blazer said:
Are you sure you didn't try to use 1/2"? I used 3/4" and they fit fine. I actually ran out and had to use a 1" for one heatsink and they were too long so I needed to space it with washers.
Click to expand...

I tried using the recommended 7/8" 1/4-20 screws to attach the heatsink to the frame. They weren't long enough. I had to grab 1" 1/4-20.

There are 1/2" 1/4-20 screws recommended as well. Those are to secure the junction box to the frame. The junction boxes I purchased didn't have 1/4" holes, so I didn't end using those either.
 
Major Blazer said:
Just add red strips. I built my latest DIY lamp with (6) H-Influx strips (l06) (I had F-series for my last lamp, H-influx are better overall IMO) and I added 2 HLG QB11's in 660nm. I don't have the resources to test my lamp but given the results of HLG's QB's whith monochromatic reds incorporated you can safely assume you'll hit that 90cri mark, give or take. Plus consider that any warm white LED making 90+cri is sacrificing efficiency to get there if they're not mixing diode spectrums. At the end of the day, plants don't care about efficiency but if you do, just add reds.
Click to expand...
Two rows (would need 2 strips per row) QB11s may have to be my next addition. What driver did you use and how hard do you push them?
 
@Klone00 They make a QB18 too that is 580mm btw. My build is powered by an XLG-200-24 split 8 ways parallel. At max the driver pulls 266w from the wall but I have it down at about 200w right now - I haven't tested the individual circuits so I can only guess but based off the data sheets they should be somewhere shy of 700mA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top