DIY LED Help

Klone00

Active Member
I am about to start on my first grow and have decided to build my own LED. Growing in a 4x4 tent and looking for a true wattage of 600 ( Is that high for the space?)
If I'm reading correctly, 8x CXM22's at 1200ma should put each COB at ~75w. Assuming all this is correct, what is the best driver to make this work?
 

Kodaine

Member
Go with cxm-32s. Run them at lower watts to pump up the efficiency. Run 8 at 75watts or 10 at 60 watts. It helps to get a better coverage.
 

Klone00

Active Member
Go with cxm-32s. Run them at lower watts to pump up the efficiency. Run 8 at 75watts or 10 at 60 watts. It helps to get a better coverage.
To achieve that with the 32s, run the amps at about 1300? At 52V?
What driver for that set up? HLG 48H 54A?
 

Kodaine

Member
Any meanwell driver, the volt depends on the which led you choose (voltage wise) and at least a 650-700w driver. It requires a higher than avg electrician skill to setup the light.
 

TreeFarmerCharlie

Well-Known Member
Have a look at the the thread below. People are going with far less watts with Samsung F Strips for a 4x4 tent. I'm waiting on parts for my build but I'll be going with about 480W. Others are getting good results with less than 400W.

 
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Klone00

Active Member
Have a look at the the thread below. People are going with far less watts with Samsung F Strips for a 4x4 tent. I'm waiting on parts for my build but I'll be going with about 470W. Others are getting good results with less than 400W.

Strips better than COBs or is that a matter of opinion?
 

Klone00

Active Member
They are more efficient. I'm going from close to 600W COBs in my tent to 480W strips. I'm sure you could probably find COBs that are close in efficiency, but you also get more uniform coverage with strips.
Are there strips doing 90CRI? I am reading good results from the higher CRI
 

Kodaine

Member
Well, as a beginner, I wouldn't care about CRI. It's really just edgeing your setup. I'm going with 80cri lights at 3500k
 

hefflm

Active Member
I built a 640w DIY LED with Pacific Light Concepts heatsinks and LM301B PhotoBoost strips. It is awesome. (= Although the parts list was a bit off, so you may want to ensure the screw length will work with the frame.

The guy that sells these has an awesome YouTube and is pretty responsive. He is on here as well, I believe. Green Gene. His intro music is the shit... He is based out of California I believe. Seems to really stand behind the product.
 

Klone00

Active Member
The main reason I care about the details (CRI, etc.) is so I don't want to rebuild the light in 6 months.

Thank you for that^ I am looking at his build videos now.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
The main reason I care about the details (CRI, etc.) is so I don't want to rebuild the light in 6 months.

Thank you for that^ I am looking at his build videos now.
I believe you can get bridgelux eb gen 3 strips in 90cri.

Or you can look at cutter.au who has some amazing strips, even higher cri.


Usually due to the heatsink needed with COBs you can get higher efficiency with strips for the same or less money.
Especially since some of them can be mounted to U channel instead of heatsink
 

Major Blazer

Well-Known Member
Are there strips doing 90CRI? I am reading good results from the higher CRI
Just add red strips. I built my latest DIY lamp with (6) H-Influx strips (l06) (I had F-series for my last lamp, H-influx are better overall IMO) and I added 2 HLG QB11's in 660nm. I don't have the resources to test my lamp but given the results of HLG's QB's whith monochromatic reds incorporated you can safely assume you'll hit that 90cri mark, give or take. Plus consider that any warm white LED making 90+cri is sacrificing efficiency to get there if they're not mixing diode spectrums. At the end of the day, plants don't care about efficiency but if you do, just add reds.
 

hefflm

Active Member
The main reason I care about the details (CRI, etc.) is so I don't want to rebuild the light in 6 months.

Thank you for that^ I am looking at his build videos now.
They're very detailed, but if you end going that path, let me know. I made some notes regarding the screw length, those IP67 connectors, and junction boxes.

I'm considering running a side-by-side with like an off the shelf HLG to Spider Farmer. I'm a novice, so I'm sure all my results will be shit. But I'm curious if the extra effort to build a DIY is worth it.
 

Klone00

Active Member
Doing a side by side double of the 320W setup he shows looks like one of the best options I've seen. Is that what you did?

The Samsung Photo Boost strips look well balanced with enough Far Red. But may consider adding more red or IR later.
 

MrGreenFingers99

Well-Known Member
Just add red strips. I built my latest DIY lamp with (6) H-Influx strips (l06) (I had F-series for my last lamp, H-influx are better overall IMO) and I added 2 HLG QB11's in 660nm. I don't have the resources to test my lamp but given the results of HLG's QB's whith monochromatic reds incorporated you can safely assume you'll hit that 90cri mark, give or take. Plus consider that any warm white LED making 90+cri is sacrificing efficiency to get there if they're not mixing diode spectrums. At the end of the day, plants don't care about efficiency but if you do, just add reds.
When do you run the QB11's? I've got 1 and just run it 12/12 once I see pistils but not sure if that's the best way to use them?
 

Powertech

Well-Known Member
Have a look at the the thread below. People are going with far less watts with Samsung F Strips for a 4x4 tent. I'm waiting on parts for my build but I'll be going with about 480W. Others are getting good results with less than 400W.

Or, some are going much higher :arrow:https://www.rollitup.org/t/flower-tent-led-build.1004408/ :hump:
 
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