inexpensive custom 1W panel, observations, cooling, etc

I posted in another thread but I should probably start my own, so here goes.

I bought custom 4x 1w 24-led panels from an ebay seller (Merry) on recommendation from a few guys on the board. I also had some 730nm mini-pontoons made. I've received my lights and I'm really impressed by the build quality and apparent brightness (I know judging by human eyesight is not the best). I'm also pleasantly surprised that my drivers are not getting hot - barely warm to the touch. The 24W panels themselves get pretty warm without some sort of cooling. Since I already have a good 12V power supply available to me in my cab, and since I'm trying to go for best-bang-for-the-buck, I went with active cooling like the Hans panel. Again, trying to stay as simple as possible, I used blobs of high temperature hot glue to act as 1)spacer and 2)glue for my GACS (ghetto active cooling solution)

First the panel:

16 X 2700-2800K WW
2 X 6000-6500K NW
4 X 630nm Red
2 X 660nm Red

So, very much astir-like with the exception of the 2 660nm Reds.


The mini pontoons:


and GACS (i have various computer fans laying around and hadn't gotten to snipping the blue LEDs on it yet) Also, I'm well aware that I mounted the fan such that it's sucking vs. blowing -- that was unintentional at the time but its still cooling well this way:


lastly, the driver that doesn't get hot:


I'm currently running under a 5630/5050 SMD strip bucket. I'll be working to switch to 4 of these panels along with 1 or more 50W CREE xpg floods over the next weeks. I'll run the pontoons on a separate digital timer.

A little bit of help from some of you electronics experts...

At the moment, I'm running the LED driver from a cheap 2-prong plug (no ground). Every time I touch the driver casing, i get a static electricity shock. I assume that I need to use a grounded plug, but in this case, what should I ground to? Metal obviously, but I have several small aluminum panels, and the driver casing itself -- not sure?

Separate question -- I have several SMD led strip panels now -- they are run on 12V computer power supply, no problem. Can someone explain what allows them to run this way, while these other panels want constant current drivers?

Thanks in advance!

Youre getting a shock when you touch the driver?! that sounds bad to me, the DC side you would probably not even notice. So i would assume you are making a circuit with the AC side...

SnotBoogie said:

Youre getting a shock when you touch the driver?! that sounds bad to me, the DC side you would probably not even notice. So i would assume you are making a circuit with the AC side...

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it feels like a static shock - 1 quick shock and then nothing... so it's not direct AC or anything

update - new fans, updated GACS

120MM fans (4 for $13), using some file bands (large strong rubber bands) and some cardboard for spacers. The cardboard will soon be replaced with rubber washers or grommets. I run all of the fans on a 12V 400ma 18W ac/dc adapter I had laying around. They are silent to my ears and cool these panels really well. Are big heatsinks better? Sure, but this works perfectly for me for $4.

and here's my new XPG flood panel (like Chronikool's). I'm running it with a 900ma driver, so it's pulling 30W. Mine is mounted to an arctic alpine 11 plus. I have some red XP-Es and Rebel 660s on the way to round out the spectrum. This is what I'm shooting for with 2 of the WW XPG panels, 2 XP-E red, and 4 Rebel 660nms:

Cool doings at Caretak3r's but where's the new photos? And the Cool Whites? And did you figure out the cause of the driver shocking you?

FranJan said:

Cool doings at Caretak3r's but where's the new photos? And the Cool Whites? And did you figure out the cause of the driver shocking you?

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fixed pics, thanks. I think I'm going to use CW in veg cab - haven't decided yet as it seem to be bring too much blue into the flower cab. the shocking issue seems to be some weird build up of static electricity. Doesn't happen any more.

cost breakdown of the new XPG setup:
XPG panel = $25
900ma driver = $15
xp-e red @rapidled = $4
660s @ rapidled = 2 x $3.50 = $7
cheap 700ma 17W driver = $6
arctic alpine 11 plus = $10
___________________________
$67

I could have driven the XPGs at max 1500ma for 50W but didn't choose to go that route.

setup the 4 panels. Still waiting on my driver for the supplementary red LEDs for the floods so they aren't running yet. 1st impressions from running these panels @ 100W vs. the bucket @ about 300W.... --
1) It's 20 degrees cooler in the cab
2) It certainly isn't as bright to my eyes

the 2 floods with supplementary reds should certainly brighten things up later this week.

Nice build but I think the sheet of metal you're using as a heatsink will probably be your limiting end.

tebos said:

Nice build but I think the sheet of metal you're using as a heatsink will probably be your limiting end.

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not sure exactly what you mean - the aluminum pcbs are barely warm to the touch with the fans running.

Caretaker are you going to keep running them with active cooling? Any plans of mounting them to a heat sink?

FranJan said:

Caretaker are you going to keep running them with active cooling? Any plans of mounting them to a heat sink?

Click to expand...

no heatsinks for the 1W panels - active cooling all the way (think of a Hans panel). The floods have a large CPU heatsink/fan combo (active cooling again, but at with heatsink). I'm still waiting on my driver for the red stars. I'll post pictures of the completed floods when I get it all together.

made my first really dumb error - got the new drivers in and stupidly tried testing a single LED with a 17W driver (8-24V) driver. I saw a brief flicker and then the LED was no more. I tested the rest with 2xAA batteries. $4 lesson learned i guess.

^^^^^i did this also..but like the fucktard i am..went through 3-4 of them before i realized what i was doing....

In other news...I pulled the trigger on 3 x 50w XPG's to finish off the replacements of the warm white floods...

new tool - my diy wifi ph meter:View attachment 2699057

started a thread here in case anyone is interested:
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/669560-diy-continuous-read-network-wifi.html

caretak3r said:

new tool - my diy wifi ph meter:View attachment 2699057

started a thread here in case anyone is interested:
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/669560-diy-continuous-read-network-wifi.html

Click to expand...

You gotta be shittin me...

figured I'd show that the 1w x 24 panels can grow stuff - here's a CBD critical mass clone, i forget how long it's been in 12/12 exactly (roughly 7 weeks). yes, I've abused it some because I haven't stayed on top of res changes.

and no, i still haven't added the floods yet... yes I'm a slacker