DIY LED 220w Cree XTE + Philips ES

thanks Supra,

I ordered the 7A R2 3200K (I asked to Mark what was the best bin he had around 3000K). So unfortunately i won't have the pleasure to use R3 3000K.

I will use it with oslons SSL80, Royal blue 2U, red JS, and hyper red 2T. The first spectrum will be 1RB/2XTE R2 7A/2R/2HR.

The other option is 1RB/3XTE/3HR, what would you choose for a 7 leds engine?

• I am not sure the XTE binning and labeling sheet is complete​
  
  

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yes, i agree, they are not complete, as the XPE HEW is not complete too.

Has anyone here tried using the 430nm wavelength to target Chlrphyl A in a DIY led light? Is there a reason not to?

PetFlora said:

Jubiare I am very much in agreement with you- mj is highly adaptive. That said, sub optimal spectral balance would likely cause the plant to spend time (generations?) adjusting to something other than optimal FOR A PARTICULAR STRAIN. One could/should trace the plant back to its' origin and approximate light spectrums throughout the life cycle + amount of light during both cycles, or actually all three + soil conditions + PH +...

As far as I know, ~ 20% after veg, PERHAPS a bit more during veg say ~ 30%?

This, not having been scientifically resolved, is why I would go with NW as the primary and having a few CW and WW on separate o/o switches to supplement NWs during veg and flower stages

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FYI, I now believe one NW + 5- 6 WW encircling the NW cluster is a Merkaba shape, which could be a 3 watt, whereas the WWs @ 1w, but the 3w NWs on a separate dimmable circuit. Mor for veg, less for flower

Lemon Sour said:

Has anyone here tried using the 430nm wavelength to target Chlrphyl A in a DIY led light? Is there a reason not to?

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Besides this question for anyone, Supra and Green Surfer, why not use the 2700K warm white ES since it targets the 630nm better than the 3250k led? Even if it is a little less efficient wouldn't it be better to have the red peak closer to 630nm and then maybe be able to drop the xp-e red? Seems like you could get rid of the 630nm single red if the 2700k was used instead?

Lemon Sour said:

Has anyone here tried using the 430nm wavelength to target Chlrphyl A in a DIY led light? Is there a reason not to?

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Bump, I really want to know this! Does 450nm really work as good or better than 430nm? Florescent lighting has both 430nm and 450nm AFAIK. It seems like deeper blue would be important considering the fact that Chlphyl A uses it? This is what I read anyway. Does anyone know for sure when we are talking about herbage?

green surfer said:

thanks Supra,

I ordered the 7A R2 3200K (I asked to Mark what was the best bin he had around 3000K). So unfortunately i won't have the pleasure to use R3 3000K.

I will use it with oslons SSL80, Royal blue 2U, red JS, and hyper red 2T. The first spectrum will be 1RB/2XTE R2 7A/2R/2HR.

The other option is 1RB/3XTE/3HR, what would you choose for a 7 leds engine?

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Green Surfer I think you may be better off with R2 on 20mm than the potentially R3 on 10mm. It turns out the 10mm are challenging to solder. I have done 24 so far and they are slow going. The leads are so close to the LED they are probably blocking some of the output. Lesson learned lol.

Maybe it would be best to use the XTE to provide the 630nm rather than the oslon JS. Based on the datasheet the JS bin is a minimum of 23.75% efficient @700mA @60c versus the 2T 660 and the XTE R2 which are both about 33-34% efficient under the same conditions.

Lemon Sour said:

Has anyone here tried using the 430nm wavelength to target Chlrphyl A in a DIY led light? Is there a reason not to?

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That would be a great question for KNNA if he was around. In terms of yield, I am guessing that since we have access to 60% efficiency in 440nm-450nm blues, they will be hard to beat even if the 430 had some advantage. I used both the Luxeon 442nm and Cree XT-E 450nm in my lamps hoping to improve the SPD.

Lemon Sour said:

Besides this question for anyone, Supra and Green Surfer, why not use the 2700K warm white ES since it targets the 630nm better than the 3250k led? Even if it is a little less efficient wouldn't it be better to have the red peak closer to 630nm and then maybe be able to drop the xp-e red? Seems like you could get rid of the 630nm single red if the 2700k was used instead?

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I was thinking along these same lines. I ended up choosing the XT-e warm white because the Luxeon did not compete in terms of efficiency. I analyzed all the available color tints and bins but came up with nothing. The graph of the Luxeon 2700K looks excellent for growing. It peaks at 650nm and could do the job of white, red and deep red all in one LED.

But underneath it is a 450nm blue so it requires a lot of phosphor to achieve that spectrum and is only outputting <60 lumens/watt. Due to its high CRI we can expect an even higher LER than typical warm white which translates into ~20% radiometric efficiency. Versus the XTE warm white at 34%, the XPE red at 42% and the Luxeon 660 at 38% so we can achieve an even better SPD at twice the efficiency.

That makes 100% really good sense! What is the part number of the xte warm you are going to use?

So far installed 40 XTEAWT-0-7D2-R30-FL-0001 on 10mm stars. Found them at cutter for $3.25

Finally finished the lamps. 2 vegging modules (32watts dissipation) and 4 flowering (212watts dissipation). All running at or near 700mA. The drivers average 85-86% efficient.

With ambient temp about 75f and without circulation fan on, heatsink temps are about 100f (38c). With fan on the highest temp is 92f (33c). Of course the fan will always be on when the lights are. I used 103 sq cm per dissipation watt and was aiming for 35c heatsink temp. That would give a Tj of 45c for the whites/blues, 50c for the XPE 630nm, 47c for Luxeon 660nm.

Will it grow pot?

SupraSPL said:

Finally finished the lamps. 2 vegging modules (32watts dissipation) and 4 flowering (200watts dissipation). All running at or near 700mA. The drivers average 85-86% efficient.

In the morning I will check heatsink temps with and without the circulation fan on but very rough guess they are 120f (43c) without fan and 95f (35c) with fan. Of course the fan will always be on when the lights are. I used 103 sq cm per dissipation watt and aiming for 35c heatsink temp. That would give a Tj of 45c for the whites/blues, 50c for the XPE 630nm, 47c for Luxeon 660nm.

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Been waiting for this one to get going! Good job Sup...

Total cost for the flowering lamp $750, $115 for the veg lamp. Spent 4 hours polishing the heatsinks and 16 hours soldering and wiring. 212 watts dissipation and 248 watts input power. Overall radiometric efficiency 41-42%. Hoping it can replace a 600 HPS.

If it works well I will double it. If not I am a greater fool than I thought lol. It would suck to have to go back to HPS I can already see a nice advantage in the canopy temp which will really help in the summer. Electrical savings about $35/month and alot more in summer by reducing AC.

TerryD1111 said:

Will it grow pot?

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The last one did a fine job at 26% efficiency so I have high hopes for this one at 42%. But there are always so many variables you just never know until you run it a fewcycles.

Seeing the LED side by side with HPS it is even more notcieable how different the SPD is.

Used lead solder and 22awg wire. 26 watt weller solder iron. Pre soldered the pads and it was easy except for the 10mm rounds.

All negatives are female which makes it easy to swap drivers and link modules. 1/4" crimp slide non insulated connectors with heatshrink tubing. The connections are very secure and never get worn out. Bought 200 for $12 from Waytek.

Each of these heatsinks will dissipate 53 watts.

The stars are mounted to the heatsink by prolimatech PK2 thermal paste. It is not an adhesive so I used kapton tape to make sure the star stays in contact with the heatsink. It is not pretty but it is the most efficient thermal path.

That's a damn big heat sink lmao. Nice work I'm hoping to build a few led lights for a side business and ordered the same Crees so fingers crossed it comes out this nice.

+Rep Supra, thanks for sharing this with everyone. Have you considered sending the flowering panel to a lab that can test and generate spectral data? Maybe confirm Cree data and some your observations. Would be really amazing for the DIY community to have some data like that I would think. Gamma Scientific would be one place that springs up, but they probably cost an arm and a leg to deal with. Good Luck!

Thanks FJ I would be interested to see the SPD and output data I will look into it. For starters I can see the improvement in the heatsink temps. I increased the number of watts/cm2 of heatsink based on the estimated improvement in average radiometric efficiency and the temps have remained the same range confirming the efficiency.