Diy led grow lights made easy

Corvette kidd

Active Member
After many weeks of research and lurking on forums i have come to the conclusion that someone needs to make a thread that details the parts used to make the led and where to buy them. So i am taking it upon myself to share my newbie knowledge of led making in hopes that more people will realize just how easy and cost effective building and growing with an led can be.

First off i will be talking about the 100+ watt chips i use and where to buy them. You can buy the good chips like cree and bridgelux off of a website called digi-key.com for around 28-40 bucks depending on the brand. if those chips end up being too much money for you then i recconend the lohas brand led's that you can buy off of amazon for around 9-10 dollars a piece. Remember to always run the led chips in question to at least 60% of their maximum wattage or less in order to make them run more efficiently and to increase their life span.

Next i will talk about drivers.
The first thing to remeber when choosing a driver to run your led(s) is to make sure that your drivers output voltage is equal to the total sum of the led(s) being driven, and the total wattage output of the driver should be equal to at least half of the max wattage of the led(s) in question.
To determin wattage of a driver if not specified, divide the amps by volts to gett watts. the mean well hlg-185h-c1400b driver is 143v and 1.4 amps, so if we do the math: 143volts x 1.4amps= 200.2 watts.
Now with the mean well hlg-185h-c1400b driver, we can run 4 of the cheap lohas led chips from amazon or we can run 3 of the bridgelux vero29's per driver when wired in series. I personally order these off of ebay whenever i can find them for a good price, or i will order them off of mouser.com

Last is the heatsink. I honestly have no idea what size heatsink you need per led chip (hopefully someone else will chime in with those specifics) but i usually just make them so big that im certain its over kill, i usually buy my heatsinks from avidthermology.com or heatsinkusa.com and the size heatsinks i use are 2ft long, 4inch wide, and 2 inches thick. I can fit 3-vero29's or 4-lohas 100w chips and one driver on each heatsink. And because i tend to ghetto rig everything i usually use large box fans instead of pc fans to cool the light fixtures (i actually just dont know how to power those yet haha, but hopefully someone can comment on how to wire up pc fans to a light fixture)

Anyone who has more knowledge than me please chime in and add some more info. Happy growing and stay frosty ;)
 
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caumop

Well-Known Member
Good write up Corvette Kidd. If you go to the indoor grow section, then the LED and other lighting subform, there is a lot of info on this. You can get parts for your DIY lights at Northern Grow lights, Pacific Lights Concepts, and cutter Electronics. Also for people thinking about doing this, go to youtube and watch Growmau5's 7 part series on how to build it and what you need. Great info there! Happy growing all.
 

caumop

Well-Known Member
gee I can use a wiring diagram,please
Go to youtube and watch Growmau5. He goes over it step by step and explains everything. Shows exactly how to wire it. it is a 7 part series and each one is not too long. The COBs are wired in series. After watching, if you still have questions, come back, we're here to help.
 

RainDan

Well-Known Member
gee I can use a wiring diagram,please
Hi @uncle joesmachone,

Dan from Timber Grow Lights here - wanted to let you know we offer a kit that comes pre-wired with your choice of (4) or (5) COBs. Also available pre-wired to your choice of Meanwell Power supplies.

If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to let us know.

Have a good day.

Regards,
Dan
 
Good write up Corvette Kidd. If you go to the indoor grow section, then the LED and other lighting subform, there is a lot of info on this. You can get parts for your DIY lights at Northern Grow lights, Pacific Lights Concepts, and cutter Electronics. Also for people thinking about doing this, go to youtube and watch Growmau5's 7 part series on how to build it and what you need. Great info there! Happy growing all.
That's a killer video series.
 

goodro wilson

Well-Known Member
Hi @uncle joesmachone,

Dan from Timber Grow Lights here - wanted to let you know we offer a kit that comes pre-wired with your choice of (4) or (5) COBs. Also available pre-wired to your choice of Meanwell Power supplies.

If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to let us know.

Have a good day.

Regards,
Dan
I really like the look of ur 300 cob kit seems like an awesome price can you link me to any grows with this light??
 

RainDan

Well-Known Member
I really like the look of ur 300 cob kit seems like an awesome price can you link me to any grows with this light??
Hello,

Thank you - much appreciated. There is an RIU thread dedicated to our grow kits located here. There are also a lot of folks who have grows going under the CXB3590 lights in the "LED and other lighting" section of RIU as well. These are the 50W Cree CXB3590 that you see many of the well known RIU led growers using in their grows. Depending upon your coverage area, we can either customize or assist you in selecting the best kit for your situation. The 300W COB Kit is perfect for covering approx 6-8 square feet of growing area.

If I can provide any additional assistance or answer any other questions I'd be happy to do so.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Dan
 

Big smo

Well-Known Member
I picked up a timber kit and man what a nice quality job. Being a cheap ass I did price things out individually and there is no comparison.


The timber kits are fun to mess with and helps get a foot in on DIY. I see so many people recommend the companies that advertise here and if your after plain cobs your looking to spend 400-600 dollars just for their cases and name stamp compared to timber grow lights. building the frame cost next to nothing to make. I actually ghetto rigged mine for a week or so with zip ties and a metal scrog contraption I had till I made time to build a nice frame. Now I'm getting ideas from grow mau5's canopy light and making my own little masterpiece.

You Rock Dan!
 

MeGaKiLlErMaN

Well-Known Member
I have a similar set up, and Timber is legit. Im running 800W of the same COBs that are talked about above... I have 833 PPFD through out a 5x5. (thats more than a Gavida ;) )
 

RainDan

Well-Known Member
Thank you @MeGaKiLlErMaN - much appreciated.

Yes, Timber is very legit. Be on the look out in the coming weeks for our new and improved website.

We have been very busy with some large commercial installations recently, but will be adding an aluminum frame as an option on our website for those who prefer to purchase a prefabricated frame with their kit(s). Currently we are offering these upon request so if you want to add one to your kit, just let us know.

Thanks again for all of your support.

Regards,
Dan
 

Joe Haze

New Member
Hey this is a rad guide. I've used everything but LED's. I used the ufo for one grow about 6-7 yrs ago. And I did not like it at all. But things evolve so hey I'm gonna build this just in case! Thanks a lot man!!
 

Milliardo Peacecraft

Well-Known Member

Joe Haze

New Member
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QUCIQSK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cut the power cord plug off, slice the wires to the power cord you attach to the AC side of the driver. Already has three 3-pin fan connectors on it. Cable-tie fans to heatsink plug them into the 3-pin connectors boom boom boom you're done.View attachment 3745826
Ya that's sweet going to have to build that!! That's why I come here the moment I thing I'm great at something, I always find someone who is better, no matter what it is. And that I like!! Kudos excellent job man!!
 

Milliardo Peacecraft

Well-Known Member
Once you get the fundamentals, you can churn these things out in less than an hour start to finish. That is just a veg light though, my flowering setup has 36" heatsinks in the same 6.08" wide profile with the same fans and power supply, but the drivers are mounted outside the tent. That's the 12v power supply all the way in the back, I've got five power supplies tethered to the same power cord and all 15 fans run without a hitch. Cable-ties and wire nuts man, what would I do without 'em. (200w bar btw)

flowerbar.jpg
 

Joe Haze

New Member
Bitc
Once you get the fundamentals, you can churn these things out in less than an hour start to finish. That is just a veg light though, my flowering setup has 36" heatsinks in the same 6.08" wide profile with the same fans and power supply, but the drivers are mounted outside the tent. That's the 12v power supply all the way in the back, I've got five power supplies tethered to the same power cord and all 15 fans run without a hitch. Cable-ties and wire nuts man, what would I do without 'em. (200w bar btw)

View attachment 3745839
that's bitchin!
 
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