IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

Mr.Head said:

I've been vegging under my vero's even starting seeds. Pepper Seeds, Pea seeds and Cannabis seeds. I've had the best seedling growth ever. Better then under my 400watt HPS.

My light is probably 3.5 feet above the plants. My pea's are going crazy 3 weeks old and 15-16 inches tall.

There's definitely some calcium uptake differences I had some issues for the first couple weeks starting to get things back to normal now.

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mr.Tank said:

Should/Can I Start My Own Thread?

• 
  
• Get the exact mode/part numbers of what I would need, so that there was no way I could accidentally get the wrong part (things like 2-step/4-step, wattage/voltage, etc).

For example, when I go to look at LED’s and filter the choices to Cree CXA3070 3000k’s on Mouser or DigiKey, there are still 135 different options to choose from. I would really like to know exactly (exactly) what I need.

.

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BM9AGS said:

Mr. Head.
I am interested in knowing what you did to balance out the nutrients for your grow under led

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mr.Tank said:

caretak3r

Thanks for taking the time to respond and give me a heads up. I am not sure what it was I was expecting. I have never just signed-up for a forum and had my first post be a huge question. I figured I broke a rule already or said something I shouldn't have. Thanks for being friendly.

One thing I should have mentioned was that temperature is a big factor. We have a fireplace here, and that is the only source of heat we have. Outside it gets around -10°F in the deep winter months. The climate is extremely dry year round (like nose bleed-dry). I know I would have to do something to keep the temperature in a specific range. During the summer, it stays pretty cool. It gets up into the low 100's, and is very (VERY) dry. Our adobe house keeps everything around room temperature though. Not sure if a source for cool air and/or climate control would be as important in the summers here (in comparison to the winter and the need for heat). If I have to get a full-fledged solution for climate control (heat and cool), then I will.

• I was wondering if your suggestions would change at all due to the fact that heat will be a necessity during the winter?

• Does requiring climate and/or temperature control have any effect on your suggestions? Or change your thoughts towards different conclusions when choosing between Vero and Cree?

I am pretty sure I am incapable of creating a thread (because of new user limitations, etc). But I was wondering if you thought I should try and make a separate thread for this whole process, or if I should post this elsewhere on the forum?

I am going to ride this through from the beginning to the end and I would like to share the full progress and results.

•Strength•Honor•Respect•Loyalty•​

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Iceveign said:

So I am assuming this is where I ask for help on what to buy to build my own LED light, so I will give it a shot.

First I have read several threads where SupraSPL has provided incredible information.

So here is what I have found so far:

1.Heat sinks- heatsinkUSA
2.Cooling fans- several places including Amazon
3.drivers-ebay or digikey
4.driver wire-18 gauge stranded alarm wire- ebay and other places.
5..25" crimp slide connectors-elecdirect
6.Cree COB led- digikey
7.blue and red led- Steves LEDs

All of this info I got from SupraSPL post on another forum, don't know if I am allowed to link it so I won't, he probably has it posted on this forum too and I just missed it.

So I just finished a build out in my garage, the room is 2 1/2 ft. W x 6 ft. L x 8 ft. H.

I will have a/c going to the room(Texas) and already have phresh carbon filter and hyper fan for the exhaust.

I'm only looking to grow 1 or 2 plants at a time for my own consumption.

So what would anyone advise for my setup.


basically how many cree cobs(which ones specifically) and red and blue leds(specifically), and how many drivers(specifically). If I use the 25 watt per square foot formula would I be looking at 12 cree's, seems like alot...you tell me.

Thank you for any advice.

P.S. I’m currently growing in a tent with the mars hydro reflector series 3 x 96 and while it is working, it is clearly not enough light to produce results like i am seeing on this forum...works fine for clones and vegging though.

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dimebagor said:

Hi here,

i need advice plz , i just bought 3 vero 29 4000k, ( will add in the future surely some cree cxb3590 and others vero 29 to replace my 2 hps 600W )
but i would like to have the "real" led's power , mean , take advantage from monochromatic leds to complete spectrum.
( cob are replacement HPS if i understood correctly ) so it has some advantage compared to hps , but its not the big led's advantage

I already have 2 hans panel 65w , it works good , no doubt on this , but i know , he didn't mounted "best" led on it, to make it less expensive .
So which monochromatic leds are the best actually ? and in which nm i should take it ? ( it will be for veg/bloom period )
I heard good about the SSL80 Olson in red , i saw many type of royal blue too ( some at 445nm , others at 441nm ect ... )

And knowing that vero cob will be power at 80W each , is what i need 80W of single led ?
( i supposed , its non sense to put 3 single led by example , surrounded one cob , it would change nothing ? am i 'm wrong ? )

ps : i know there is some panel like this , like Osram zelion , but 1k$ , woooo,
i think i can get for less expensive , something nearly from zelion or other stuff like this huh

other thing : do it is possible , to see one day, cob but in single color ( like royal blue cob deepred cob ect ..

thx for help

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BigYellowCob said:

The vero 29 4000k is a pretty balanced spectrum - I don't think you'd need to add any mono LEDs to the mix, just run the Veros on their own. The only thing that might give a boost are a few deep reds (660nm), but I don't really think it's necessary. Also, if I remember correctly you're running the Veros fairly hard at 2.1 amps. Even if you had some room on your driver for some 3 watt mono's, you won't find a red mono that can handle 2.1 amps, so you'd need a separate driver for the monos at probably 500 or 700ma.
Try a couple runs with only the Veros - I think you'll be happy with the results. I would say that cobs are a big improvement to HPS - not just a replacement. With white cobs you get a better spectrum, better efficiency, less heat from IR, and less light loss from bouncing around inside a reflector (a problem with HPS).

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dimebagor said:

Thx man , you right ,i'll be waiting to see if i'll upgrade with mono led.
hmm question about driver.
Now i have 3 arctic fan cooler , they run 12V@0.5A each
i bought an universal transformer 12V@0.5A but I would like to connect the 3 fan on this transfo.
You know I cut cables , I put all red cable from fan together , same for black cable, that I connect to the 12V transfo
Well this is what I would have liked to do, but I'm confused now cuz I read, with 3 fan 0.5A each one, on one transfo , I needed 1.5A in total ???
or the transfo can deliver 0.6A max.
So .... wrong advice from someone ,so I should have taken an transfo 12V@1.5A, and I bought this transfo for nothing ( well at worst it will serve for 1 fan at least ) , or do I can make as I told (cut cable ect ... ) ??

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BigYellowCob said:

I don't have any of those Arctic coolers, but .5A seems pretty high for a CPU fan. Is it this cooler you're using? http://www.arctic.ac/us_en/alpine-11-plus.html
That one is showing .16 amps at 12v on the website spec page. You probably don't need to run them at 12v though - I think Supra found that 5 to 6 volts was all that was needed to keep most cobs around 50c or less.

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guod said:

some numbers for the Arctic Alpine 64 pro
from my saturdiy Workshop for the local aqua-club here.
all testing are done by our Reef-kiddies.

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dimebagor said:

wooo this is like chinese language for lol , but will be cool for others , thanx for this man

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disengaged said:

I should begin this with I'm not very experienced with SMD, surface mount soldering or any micro type soldering. Through-hole soldering is the only thing I have worked with and have a lot of experience with it.
I created an account here because I know cash croppers have a bit more invested in their LED setups than the average user. I'm surprised at the results everyone is getting with "white" light. Looks nice! A local store only carries LED lights with deep red and blue (maybe a white mixed in on some) (and a massive pile of used ballasts they bought back from LED converts!). It's also interesting to see one of their new models has semi opaque white diffusers which must take away 25% of the light. I use the term "must" but it's just speculation. The plants grown under the LED's are impressive, they have done in-store side by side comparisons with HPS, T5HO, even LED vs LED. The plants just look funny without white light present to reflect the green.
I have a 3x5 tent (for a 2x4 setup with room around the sides), but don't have the space to set it up. Also have a 600W digital sodium ballast with a conversion bulb used to get tomato starts going at the end of last winter and have used it for lettuce and basil. 600W HPS is nice as far as efficiency goes but it is just a little large for my needs. 2'x4' is more realistic for tomato starts but I still don't have the room for it year round.
I'm a DIY type person and have shop space and tools, have done electronics work. In my surplus pile I have 3 very large black anodized heatsinks but they are only 1' long, very deep fins (5"?) in a pattern which should work either for convection or a small fan could be placed nearby. The aluminum is not very thick in any section, it could be an issue. Other heatsink materials I can think of is aluminum bar, then milling a couple of fins into the top or extruded aluminum - less time spent machining is good.
So if I want a blue / red combo, any suggestions as far as Digikey, etc for parts? A link to a modern setup that works? Say if I did want to flower something, maybe add a strip of red LED's?
I've tried the cheapo LED's which screw into a standard socket and have 5 LED's with a reflector and lens, 3 red, 2 blue. Put them above a small citrus plant I brought in for the winter and all of the leaves dropped within 48 hours! They were at least 3' above the top of the plant. There could have been another factor other than the light - as in maybe it got too cold before I brought the plant indoors.
Not looking to spend a lot of money since I'm not doing a cash crop.
Right now I'm rooting some basil cuttings under a ~23W 6000K CFL and a blue LED, both in cheap sockets, type often used to incubate eggs and for shop light use.
Thanks for the tips ! Again, very impressed with the photo's I've seen!

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