DIY LED LIGHT

Good morning RIU. I am sure that among the 1000s of threads on this site someone has asked for a DIY LED material list. My 400 hps is just producing too much heat. Put in in the room for a test run and within 30 min 87 degrees. I can't afford 1000 bucks for a brand name led and the 300 watt vipar that I have doesn't cover the garden up. Can someone hook me up with a complete list of materials needed to make a good full spectrum led to cover a 4x4 area. If there is already a thread on here could you hook me up with a link? Thanks a million!

tall order....

It all depends on what you want, active or passive cooling.

It depends on your budget.

It depends on what Array you choose. Vero19? Cree CXA3070? Cree CXB3590? All are good choices.

It depends on what driver you choose and at what power?

More than anything it depends on your build skills, tool use comfort, drilling and tapping screw holes, etc.

See? When you get all that figure out, you can make one and sell it. That is all the manufacturers do.

Or you can build one if you can source the parts, and have basic skills.

I just finished designing an 800w light based on 16 - CXB3590, 3000K, running at 700ma each. 1 Driver for 4 Arrays. But, the tradeoffs will drive anyone to distraction. That's engineering. Most of the parts are delivered by now from almost a dozen sources.

I am spending $1200, so even with this you get what you pay for.

BTW, your HPS runs at over 400F. That's exactly why I am changing. With LED we keep the junction about room temp with our cooling strategy.

Doer said:

I just finished designing an 800w light based on 16 - CXB3590, 3000K, running at 700ma each.

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That's one heck of a lamp. I wish I had got into active cooling before I designed my first two lamps. I'm very happy with the 14 [email protected] passive I designed but the first one 23 [email protected] runs a bit hot. In either case though I could have got more light with less money using fans.

Needsomebeans, tell us how much you can spend and it will be easier to give a recommendation.

How does this sound? 600 watts:

(4) Meanwell HLG-120H-1050A
(16) Vero 29 3500K

That would cost well under a thousand. This would have to be confirmed with the experts. It might be cheaper, and easier with less COB's. (3) 200 watt drivers with 12 COB's.

600 Watts
(3) Meanwell HLG-185H-1400A
(12) CXB 3070 3000K

I need to be as frugal as possible. I've been laid off for six months and funds are low. Would I be better off buying another cheap China unit? I could afford $300-$400 right now. Thank you guys for responding. I need all the help that I can get.

I know this isn't the financial advice section, but it would probably be wiser financially to keep using the 400W hps lamp for now unless you plan to be unemployed for 2 years.

I will say, if you have the money to play with, you can build a good 400W replacement within your budget.

The 400W hps will also outperform a cheap chinese unit, and generate less heat per watt dissipated. You'd be way better off keeping the HPS.

(before Realstyles troll gets here, I mean "cheap" builds in general, not placing emphasis on the "chinese" part!)

Do you have a separate veg/mother/clone chamber? If so, you could consider making a DIY veg lamp to replace florescent.

needsomebeans said:

I need to be as frugal as possible. I've been laid off for six months and funds are low. Would I be better off buying another cheap China unit? I could afford $300-$400 right now. Thank you guys for responding. I need all the help that I can get.

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You can fix your problem correctly by moving the ballast out of the grow room. And get cool air into the room and exhaust the hot air out. it is really easy to get the hot air out of the room. If you have $300 buy a good air conditioner.