thestickyickyicky
Member
Hi guys, so i've spent hours reading posts from some very helpful members on here. SupraSPL, guod, Green Surfer, tebos, stardust sailor,PetFlora and others... well i'd really like to try a DIY LED out for my main flowering drobe (also spend a week or two vegging in there from a couple of rooted clones for a scrog)... but I also have a small PC grow box using small 8w T5's in 6500k at the moment which does well.
So my main wardrobe is around 75cm wide, 55cm deep and 140cm tall... my medium is usually NFT with the scrog screen sat 6" above... usually looked more like a SOG grow in the end but plenty of bud sites . Here is what I managed last harvest:
I usually run 125w cfl for veg then 250w hps dual spec for first 4 weeks of flower and have upped it to 400w dual spec hps in an aircooled reflector for the last 4 weeks but with little gain. With the 250w I pulled 256gram and with the 400w for the last 4 weeks of flower I pulled around 10... so really I want to be able to pull 10-12oz from a decent LED setup running between 250-400w and covering the area in there as best possible.
Now... I also bought this random box a while ago, and considered a few ideas but I was unsure on what to do it. Its a brushed stainless steel IP66 box with wall thickness of around 10mm (Might be less, in fact it probably is) and internal dimensions of 78.5cm*58.5cm*22cm, weighs around 20kg though and is wall mountable (probably have to cut into it for fans so not ip66 anymore! lol.). I'm thinking I could use the entire enclosure as a heatsink and just surface mount the led's (making sure the electrical contacts on the leds are well insulated? I've also a few waterblocks around for graphics cards that might come in useful but I think passive cooling is more than enough. Perhaps I could salvage some old car amplifiers for their heatsinks to.
My veg mini PC has a small flood n drain setup in there with an 3*8w t5 aquarium lamp above them. Only around 300 lumens each when on but they're very very close and seem to do well for both seeds and rooting cuttings. I have since seen 11w PL 6500k bulbs with 1100 lumen so these would be more efficient but hey, its working as it is at the moment with 8w low output t5's lol.
I orginally considered the DS 11 band panels from Eshine as they seem to get fair reviews (but i'd like the expert opinion there).
After spending a long ass time looking through threads, and trying to collate some information together... Perhaps I have something useful below:
So here is what I have put together below, I apologise its not more structured and its a little random... now perhaps someone can correct everything and give us the lowdown! Also... whats best regarding layouts, does guod still recommend that markaber led array layout?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I wanted to start with the Rebel upgrade modules Grow Northern offer for their MS0004/0006 panels... All I can say when pricing things up is that they are fair prices for what goes into them. The results with these panels are pretty astounding and solid so the spectrum must be pretty well balanced so its a good thing to look at. When we break it down we have the following:
Philips Luxeon
LXM3-PD01-0350 Deep Red 650-670nm * 18:
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=2062933&CMP=KNC-GUK-FUK-GEN-SKU-MDC&mckv=sSGstoc76|pcrid|27272926208|kword|lxm3 pd01|match|p|plid|
- £2.64 (£47.52)
LMXL-PR01-0500 Royal Blue 440-460nm* 4:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxml-pr01-0500/rebel-royal-blue-440nm-460nm/dp/2062929RL
- £3.52 (£14.0
LXM8-PW27 Warm White 2700k * 2:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxm8-pw27/rebel-white-2700k/dp/2062937RL
- £1.84 (£3.6
LXW8-PW50 Cool White 5000k * 4:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxw8-pw50/rebel-es-white-5000k/dp/2062943RL
- £2.93 (£11.72)
Everlight Shuen LED's
ELSH-Q61F1-0LPNM-JF3F8 - Far Red 715-745nm * 2:
http://uk.farnell.com/everlight/elsh-q61f1-0lpnm-jf3f8/led-1w-far-red-125mw/dp/1859318
- £2.64 (£5.2
Lisa 2 Secondary Optic from LEDiL (C12469-LISA2-R-PIN * 30 77 degrees 88% efficiency) * 30:
http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Ledil/C12469_LISA2-R-PIN/?qs=/ha2pyFaduhNQ/PKzWi/Jy13uaWRLmQ1BhBSHeQWQ%2b8=
- £0.93 (£27.90)
Of course as you would expect for flowering we see an abundance of Red in multiple wavelengths for heavy flower production... we also see that cool and warm whites are a primary offering responsible for more of the red spectrum but also they contain mostly all the blue that is needed. However I wouldn't like to neglect blues entirely, as Grow Northern haven't by including the royal blue 440-460nm. Now for flowering panels white and red is all thats needed, having seen Danny Danko's videos on youtube and seeing the Nasa X5 Spectrum its been my primary focus as the plants looked lovely although slightly bleached.
[video=youtube;MVNxNVnkBPE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVNxNVnkBPE[/video]
AT120WR has similar layout
At the moment i'm unsure on whether a warm white or cool white or a mixture of both is the solution... and the options are endless, however the main option for the most efficient white LED are offerings from CREE LED. Here are a run down of some of the best CREE LED's I could find through help of trauling other posts... (I hope you don't mind me using this information, we all have a common goal of course!).
CREE LED:
Cree XT-E 3000K Warm White R3 Bin:
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1594&cat=176
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1596
Cree XM-L Neutral White 5000k 280lm, 700ma:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-02-0000-000LT60E3/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgyb63LC6Ibac=
Cree XM-L 6500K Cool White, 300lm, 700ma, 2.9v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-00-0000-0000U20E1/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgYwGxVopW6o4=
Cree XM-L 3000K Warm White 220lm, 700ma, 2.9v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-00-0000-000HT30E7/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgVKOKanl/JvU=
Cree XT-E Royal Blue 453nm, 600lm, 350ma, 2.85v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XTEARY-02-0000-000000Q04/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y0klVpNR6TwjMNzyO8u0%2b90=
Cree XP-E2 Red 630nm, 73.9lm, 350ma, 2.2v:
http://it.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XPEBRD-L1-0000-00801/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y347eV2QbS8gLqcpWZQG5lA=
CREE XM-L2 4200K LED, 186lm, 2.9-3.5v, 700ma:
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1869
Then there is your red options... apparently the olson SSL80 Hyper Red 3T bin is the muts nuts but I do believe they also offer a 150 degree lens for a wider spread for less saturation which I feel would be better for close proximity scrogging at a high W/Sq ft ratio.
OLSON by Osram
OLSON SSL80 Hyper Red 3T (Star 20mm OSLON red 660nm SSL80 3T bin):
http://ideal-spectrum-led.com/epages/box21231.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/box21231/Products/700[2]
Now apparently
Philips Luxeon's 625nm red offers a broader spectrum than olson, but olson broader at hyper red to cover all bases. I'd possibly opt for a mix of reds perhaps luxeons and olsons?
Now for mounting we have these triple stars... for clustering LED's but this presents problems with heat potentially depending on where the hell you choose to mount them. I'm probably going to use the enclosure that they're in or I will have to create some kind of heatsink, they're available but expensive but i'm sure I can be innovative with a heatsink.
The CutterMCPCB-20TIAD is 20mm triple star MCPCB Aluminum MCPCB designed to accommodate 3 pcs of the Cree XPx, Lumileds Rebel, Osram Oslon and numerous other leds in the 3.45mm Square form factor:
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1369?
We may even choose to lap the back of the PCB stars in order to create a better thermal transfer against the heatsink surface using finer grits of suitable paper... check ebay for heatsink lapping kits .
A cool little option someone made is the hans panel. Check it out here:
http://www.bonsaihero.com/ledgrow.html
Very cool little passive cooled units. The options for heatsinks are literally endless. So do we cluster or not? And as for lens's? Do we use any? I don't know... Drivers... to power the LED's, adjustable would be nice or possibly multiple circuits for a veg spectrum with less red.
Option for cooling?
http://www.designingwithleds.com/combined-solder-pad-design-allows-second-sourcing-for-oslon-leds/
Here is a list of the most efficient royal blue's available apparently .
Top royal blue bins listed:
Luxeon ES M4R bin 55% 700mA 50c (63.6% 350mA 50c)
Cree XTE Q04 bin 50.5% 700mA 50c (60.7% 350mA 50c)
Oslon SSL 3U bin 44.5% 700mA 50c (52.6% 350mA 50c)
Cree XPE P01 bin 40% 700mA 50c (51.5% 350mA 50c)
And here are the latest Olson offerings at 150 degree angles which look to be pretty damn awesome as over saturation with the 80 degree beams has been experienced... I would rather it were spread over the surface to ensure a real even canopy of great PAR distribution .
Olson by Osram SSL 150
LCW CRDP.EC-KULQ-5R8T:
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587759P/
LCW CRDP.EC-KTLP-5R8T ( 3000 K 80CRI ):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587740/
LCW CRDP.EC-KULQ-5O8Q:
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7650567/
LCW CQDP.CC-KPKR-5U8X (2700 K 95 CRI ):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7781208/
LH CPDP-3T4T ( Hyper Red 660 nm ):
LB CPDP-GZHX- Group 4 or 5 (Blue 468-472nm or 472-476nm):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587696/
....
Drivers.
Arrays.
SupraSPL Veg array:
Guod:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is all I have... hopefully now I can finally start putting some orders together for the best there is . I have friends in AUS and US who could receive and send me parts if cheaper or better BIN chips are available. But I really just need pointing into the right direction some more . Hopefully I can become an LED convert.
So my main wardrobe is around 75cm wide, 55cm deep and 140cm tall... my medium is usually NFT with the scrog screen sat 6" above... usually looked more like a SOG grow in the end but plenty of bud sites . Here is what I managed last harvest:
I usually run 125w cfl for veg then 250w hps dual spec for first 4 weeks of flower and have upped it to 400w dual spec hps in an aircooled reflector for the last 4 weeks but with little gain. With the 250w I pulled 256gram and with the 400w for the last 4 weeks of flower I pulled around 10... so really I want to be able to pull 10-12oz from a decent LED setup running between 250-400w and covering the area in there as best possible.
Now... I also bought this random box a while ago, and considered a few ideas but I was unsure on what to do it. Its a brushed stainless steel IP66 box with wall thickness of around 10mm (Might be less, in fact it probably is) and internal dimensions of 78.5cm*58.5cm*22cm, weighs around 20kg though and is wall mountable (probably have to cut into it for fans so not ip66 anymore! lol.). I'm thinking I could use the entire enclosure as a heatsink and just surface mount the led's (making sure the electrical contacts on the leds are well insulated? I've also a few waterblocks around for graphics cards that might come in useful but I think passive cooling is more than enough. Perhaps I could salvage some old car amplifiers for their heatsinks to.
My veg mini PC has a small flood n drain setup in there with an 3*8w t5 aquarium lamp above them. Only around 300 lumens each when on but they're very very close and seem to do well for both seeds and rooting cuttings. I have since seen 11w PL 6500k bulbs with 1100 lumen so these would be more efficient but hey, its working as it is at the moment with 8w low output t5's lol.
I orginally considered the DS 11 band panels from Eshine as they seem to get fair reviews (but i'd like the expert opinion there).
After spending a long ass time looking through threads, and trying to collate some information together... Perhaps I have something useful below:
So here is what I have put together below, I apologise its not more structured and its a little random... now perhaps someone can correct everything and give us the lowdown! Also... whats best regarding layouts, does guod still recommend that markaber led array layout?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I wanted to start with the Rebel upgrade modules Grow Northern offer for their MS0004/0006 panels... All I can say when pricing things up is that they are fair prices for what goes into them. The results with these panels are pretty astounding and solid so the spectrum must be pretty well balanced so its a good thing to look at. When we break it down we have the following:
Philips Luxeon
LXM3-PD01-0350 Deep Red 650-670nm * 18:
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=2062933&CMP=KNC-GUK-FUK-GEN-SKU-MDC&mckv=sSGstoc76|pcrid|27272926208|kword|lxm3 pd01|match|p|plid|
- £2.64 (£47.52)
LMXL-PR01-0500 Royal Blue 440-460nm* 4:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxml-pr01-0500/rebel-royal-blue-440nm-460nm/dp/2062929RL
- £3.52 (£14.0
LXM8-PW27 Warm White 2700k * 2:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxm8-pw27/rebel-white-2700k/dp/2062937RL
- £1.84 (£3.6
LXW8-PW50 Cool White 5000k * 4:
http://uk.farnell.com/lumileds/lxw8-pw50/rebel-es-white-5000k/dp/2062943RL
- £2.93 (£11.72)
Everlight Shuen LED's
ELSH-Q61F1-0LPNM-JF3F8 - Far Red 715-745nm * 2:
http://uk.farnell.com/everlight/elsh-q61f1-0lpnm-jf3f8/led-1w-far-red-125mw/dp/1859318
- £2.64 (£5.2
Lisa 2 Secondary Optic from LEDiL (C12469-LISA2-R-PIN * 30 77 degrees 88% efficiency) * 30:
http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Ledil/C12469_LISA2-R-PIN/?qs=/ha2pyFaduhNQ/PKzWi/Jy13uaWRLmQ1BhBSHeQWQ%2b8=
- £0.93 (£27.90)
Of course as you would expect for flowering we see an abundance of Red in multiple wavelengths for heavy flower production... we also see that cool and warm whites are a primary offering responsible for more of the red spectrum but also they contain mostly all the blue that is needed. However I wouldn't like to neglect blues entirely, as Grow Northern haven't by including the royal blue 440-460nm. Now for flowering panels white and red is all thats needed, having seen Danny Danko's videos on youtube and seeing the Nasa X5 Spectrum its been my primary focus as the plants looked lovely although slightly bleached.
[video=youtube;MVNxNVnkBPE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVNxNVnkBPE[/video]
AT120WR has similar layout
At the moment i'm unsure on whether a warm white or cool white or a mixture of both is the solution... and the options are endless, however the main option for the most efficient white LED are offerings from CREE LED. Here are a run down of some of the best CREE LED's I could find through help of trauling other posts... (I hope you don't mind me using this information, we all have a common goal of course!).
CREE LED:
Cree XT-E 3000K Warm White R3 Bin:
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1594&cat=176
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1596
Cree XM-L Neutral White 5000k 280lm, 700ma:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-02-0000-000LT60E3/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgyb63LC6Ibac=
Cree XM-L 6500K Cool White, 300lm, 700ma, 2.9v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-00-0000-0000U20E1/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgYwGxVopW6o4=
Cree XM-L 3000K Warm White 220lm, 700ma, 2.9v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XMLBWT-00-0000-000HT30E7/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83yyq8B/Da/kIgVKOKanl/JvU=
Cree XT-E Royal Blue 453nm, 600lm, 350ma, 2.85v:
http://de.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XTEARY-02-0000-000000Q04/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y0klVpNR6TwjMNzyO8u0%2b90=
Cree XP-E2 Red 630nm, 73.9lm, 350ma, 2.2v:
http://it.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cree-Inc/XPEBRD-L1-0000-00801/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu4Prknbu83y347eV2QbS8gLqcpWZQG5lA=
CREE XM-L2 4200K LED, 186lm, 2.9-3.5v, 700ma:
http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=1869
Then there is your red options... apparently the olson SSL80 Hyper Red 3T bin is the muts nuts but I do believe they also offer a 150 degree lens for a wider spread for less saturation which I feel would be better for close proximity scrogging at a high W/Sq ft ratio.
OLSON by Osram
OLSON SSL80 Hyper Red 3T (Star 20mm OSLON red 660nm SSL80 3T bin):
http://ideal-spectrum-led.com/epages/box21231.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/box21231/Products/700[2]
Now apparently
Philips Luxeon's 625nm red offers a broader spectrum than olson, but olson broader at hyper red to cover all bases. I'd possibly opt for a mix of reds perhaps luxeons and olsons?
Now for mounting we have these triple stars... for clustering LED's but this presents problems with heat potentially depending on where the hell you choose to mount them. I'm probably going to use the enclosure that they're in or I will have to create some kind of heatsink, they're available but expensive but i'm sure I can be innovative with a heatsink.
The CutterMCPCB-20TIAD is 20mm triple star MCPCB Aluminum MCPCB designed to accommodate 3 pcs of the Cree XPx, Lumileds Rebel, Osram Oslon and numerous other leds in the 3.45mm Square form factor:
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1369?
We may even choose to lap the back of the PCB stars in order to create a better thermal transfer against the heatsink surface using finer grits of suitable paper... check ebay for heatsink lapping kits .
A cool little option someone made is the hans panel. Check it out here:
http://www.bonsaihero.com/ledgrow.html
Very cool little passive cooled units. The options for heatsinks are literally endless. So do we cluster or not? And as for lens's? Do we use any? I don't know... Drivers... to power the LED's, adjustable would be nice or possibly multiple circuits for a veg spectrum with less red.
Option for cooling?
http://www.designingwithleds.com/combined-solder-pad-design-allows-second-sourcing-for-oslon-leds/
Here is a list of the most efficient royal blue's available apparently .
Top royal blue bins listed:
Luxeon ES M4R bin 55% 700mA 50c (63.6% 350mA 50c)
Cree XTE Q04 bin 50.5% 700mA 50c (60.7% 350mA 50c)
Oslon SSL 3U bin 44.5% 700mA 50c (52.6% 350mA 50c)
Cree XPE P01 bin 40% 700mA 50c (51.5% 350mA 50c)
And here are the latest Olson offerings at 150 degree angles which look to be pretty damn awesome as over saturation with the 80 degree beams has been experienced... I would rather it were spread over the surface to ensure a real even canopy of great PAR distribution .
Olson by Osram SSL 150
LCW CRDP.EC-KULQ-5R8T:
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587759P/
LCW CRDP.EC-KTLP-5R8T ( 3000 K 80CRI ):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587740/
LCW CRDP.EC-KULQ-5O8Q:
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7650567/
LCW CQDP.CC-KPKR-5U8X (2700 K 95 CRI ):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7781208/
LH CPDP-3T4T ( Hyper Red 660 nm ):
LB CPDP-GZHX- Group 4 or 5 (Blue 468-472nm or 472-476nm):
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/led-visibili/7587696/
....
Drivers.
You can add a fast blow fuse or any fuse for that matter, in series on the LED string to help reduce some of the risk from driver malfunction. Years back I had a few drivers go bad but on the other hand it could have been caused by less than perfect connections somewhere in the LED string (back in the copper trace days).
When it comes to drivers I am mostly concerned with efficiency. A typical driver will be 75-80% efficient versus an advanced driver which can be 87-90%. That makes a huge difference when you scale it up. 90% really should be our goal as that is similar to HPS digital ballasts.
If you are dealing with a smaller build and you just want the best, check out the inventronics or hyperon. They claim 88% efficiency and dimmable can be handy in some cases. Meanwell drivers are well built but all that I have tested have been 80% efficient and with a poor power factor (.6).
Small build and the best use Inventronics or Hyperon:
Inventronics 700ma 42w Dimmable Driver:
https://reefledlights.com/shop/inventronics-700ma-dimmable-driver/
Cheapos with good power factor of .88-.91, Can load these drivers upto about 40vF with steady output. You can load up the strings to about 30watts but the output drops down to just over 600mA. That is perfect for vegging or if you are really trying to crank up the efficiency of your lamp by running soft.
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10004218/1320605-85-265v-20w-high-power-constant-current-led-driver
Another of my favorite drivers is this eBay deal. You can load these drivers up to about 40vF and their output will remain steady. They range from 680mA-740mA) They are only 80% efficient but they do have a very healthy power factor (.9) which is helpful if you get a power outage and want to use your LEDs on a battery/inverter backup system.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Driver-Constant-Current-700-ma-24-0-watt-120-vac-137x42x29-mm-/260962277491?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc2905873
Arrays.
SupraSPL Veg array:
"Here is what I use for veg:
3 reds (Cree XPE red P3 bin)
4 deep reds (Luxeon ES EX6 bin or Oslon SSL T3 bin)
2 deep blues (Luxeon ES 450nm M4R bin)
4 warm whites (Cree XTE 3000K R3 bin)
Those are all top bins that are available on stars depending on what country you are in. Check out ideal spectrum led for Oslon SSL 3T bin if you are in europe. The XTE warm white R3 and XPE red P3 are available from Cutter in AUS. The Luxeon ES deep blue M4R is available from steves leds for $3!
I drive them all at 700mA so you end up with 24 watts of dissipation. That ratio gives you 25% actual blue output. It may not be the perfect ratio (who knows) but it sure does work well and controls stretch. I don't recommend using any other wavelengths of blue because 440-450nm blues are so much more efficient than any other, especially when it come to the Luxeon ES deep blue, which outclasses them all and is very cheap. In other words, even if there is a better spectrum to be using, I don't recommend it because this one is so much more electrically efficient (~42% at 700mA).
Guod:
-may 2013cree XPG(2) for CW and WW, Osram for red, blue and WW.
we use the cree leds for the wider Beam angle, to get a better overall mix of the spectrum.
The Osram WW-Leds with the smaller beam angle are placed on the edge.
as they are on the red Channel, less Blue is here also a goody!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is all I have... hopefully now I can finally start putting some orders together for the best there is . I have friends in AUS and US who could receive and send me parts if cheaper or better BIN chips are available. But I really just need pointing into the right direction some more . Hopefully I can become an LED convert.