DIY 300 Watt Vero 29 SE (Built-in Holders) ~$450

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Here's a complete guide to my DIY fixture for you people considering building one yourself. Big shout out to @Growmau5, @robincnn, @CobKits , Mike @ RapidLED and way too many other people to name for helping me pick out supplies and my overall design.

Tools Needed:
Hack Saw
Drill & Bits
Rivet gun + rivets
C-Clamps
Screwdriver
Tape Measure
Sharpie

Materials:
5 pieces 3/4"x36"X1/8" Aluminum Framing (or a couple long pieces)
6 Vero 29 SE 36V
6 140mm x 70mm pretapped heatsinks
1 meanwell 320 h 1400 b
18 guage wire
Thermal grease
Wago Connectors
Electric tape
Power cord

Cost:

I had most of the tools on hand. I did pick up the rivet gun and rivets for $20 at Home Depot, and the aluminum was another $35.

Everything else is available through RapidLED for around $400. You may be able to save a small amount by shopping around, but I found this to be my lowest price.

I started by spending a couple weeks sketching and resketching my design, as well as pinpointing exactly which components I would go with.

I finally settled on 3000k 90 CRI 36v Veros powered by a meanwell 320h 1400. Since this fixture will be solely for flowering, I felt this was the best curve.IMG_1879.JPG

The build:

The dimensions for this fixture make it really easy if you go with the 3' lengths of aluminum angle. 4 pieces stay 36" and the 5th piece is first cut down to 32" and then in half. This leaves you with two 16" supports.IMG_2226.JPG
As you can see, 2 minutes with a hack saw and you can have a perfect frame. Also, don't go cheap and use the 1/16" for this large of a fixture. The 1/8" gives it a very sturdy and professional feel.

Next, I gathered all of my materials. The most important thing is staying organized. Try to keep everything in one place, or you are going to spend more time looking for stuff than actually building.
IMG_2227.JPG
I decided to assemble the heatsinks and frame first before even worrying about anything electrical.IMG_2229.JPGStart by marking your 18" center. Next, mark your 9" and 27" centers. Use these marks to line up your heatsinks evenly with the rail. From here, you can get level and see exactly where your holes need to be to line up perfectly. Mark the location for all 6 holes.
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Drilling them with a regular old hand drill is the tricky part. I clamped them down to keep them from moving, but the drill has a mind of it's own if you aren't careful.

I got better at it by the end. My advice is to hold steady and just let the drill go at a slow pace until it starts to grab. Then you can continue drilling through the *actual* spot you intended.
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Check to make sure the screws fit. If so, you are golden. Use this first 36" bar to mark the holes on the other 3. After drilling them all, you can assemble both bars.

Unfortunately, it was only 20 degrees out today, and the cold started getting to me right about the point I went to rivet the two bars together. I don't have a picture, but this was the easy part.

Just clamp the 16" side pieces you cut to the 4 rails so the edges are all flush. Drill 1/8" holes through the side bar and the 4 rail bars and use rivets to hold it together.IMG_2251.JPG
As you can see, we've moved inside where it's warmer. Now it's time to attach the COBs. These SEs were pretty cool because this ended up being the easiest step.

use a dime size amount of thermal paste or the adhesive square and screw the COB right down to the heatsink. Be careful, if you use too much it will seep through the cracks and get on your beautiful COB!IMG_2252.JPG

At this point, I've also already attached the hangers that I used. They came with brackets that I riveted to the sides in between the COBs and used cable hangers with the ratcheting adjusters.

Now all we have to do is wire it up. I decided to mount and wire up my driver first because I was wanted to mount it remotely outside of the closet.

With the wagos and prewired dimmer this was a BREEZE.IMG_2240.JPGFirst, connect a wago to each wire coming off the driver.

I did the power cord next. Green wire goes in the wago with the (you guessed it) green wire. The other two are a bit different. Brown goes with black and the blue wire from the driver goes with the white wire on your power cord.
 

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Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
IMG_2243.JPG
Next, I went for the prewired Dimmer(red and blue together, and black and white together) and then finally attached 8' leads to the black and red wires that will go out to the fixture.IMG_2244.JPG IMG_2248.JPGThen go back and secure everything with electrical tape and zip ties.IMG_2250.JPG

Alright, last but not least we have to wire the fixture and hang it.

With the poke it Connectors this is easy. Just wire in Series from negative to positive all the way around, with the exception of the final two connections from the driver.IMG_2255.JPG

Now we hang the fixture, make the last two connections, and hold our breath.IMG_2256.JPG
This time wire the positive lead to the positive connection where you started the series wiring and the negative lead to the negative port on the last COB in the series.

Then....plug her in IMG_2262.JPG

Success!
I'm exhausted, and I'm sure there are typos and I left stuff out. I will revise tomorrow. Hope this helps some folks out!
 

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Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Cant emphasize this enough

sweet build!
Thanks for all the advice along the way! I definitely couldn't have done it without RIU.

OH, be ready to get a fan blowing on these puppies. Even &1400 my temperatures quickly climbed from 72 to 80 before I realized I hadn't adjusted the fan. Hovering right at 75 now and the probe is about 5"'closer to the lights than the plants
 

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
:hump:
I bet you're exhausted! I'm going to put the over/under on that build at 5 hours
I can't stand to work in gloves, so with temps that cold I was taking way too many smoke breaks. I only broke one drill bit, and luckily it wasn't one I really needed.

All in all it was about what I expected. I always underestimate how long things take. Hoping for 2 hours, it was definitely closer to 3-4 of total work, and then another 1-2 of breaks and rewatching @Growmau5 wiring videos to make sure I didn't screw anything up. I was so happy it came on :hump:
 

JavaCo

Well-Known Member
Nice build. Was planning on going the SE route myself for my next build. Is 18Awg the largest size wire that will work on the Push in connectors ? Bridgelux has no info on wire gauge size in the PDF.
 

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
Nice build. Was planning on going the SE route myself for my next build. Is 18Awg the largest size wire that will work on the Push in connectors ? Bridgelux has no info on wire gauge size in the PDF.
I was disappointed with how small the poke-in Connectors really were. I had to use wire strippers around 20 guage. It might be easier with solid core wire. The release mechanisms are not fun either lol
 

Closet-Gardenholic

Well-Known Member
its always easier when the wire is solid and stiff. Sorry you had problems with your flaccid wire bro.
Already planning the next one. Haha I'm hooked. I want to try out the Citizens for a veg space because the Mars Panel is destined to die at any moment.

I'm still trying to determine how much space I'm going to use. I could move this setup to a 2x4 tent and use the slightly smaller 6' Sq ft closet for clones and veg. Especially if I split it in half with a shelf.

I'm thinking a 4 COB bar across the closet would be plenty for Veg as long as I'm push 40w or 50e each. Just have to do some more research on CCT and CRI
 
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