Steve's LED Far Red 730nm 2 21watt strings

I have embarked on my first LED build and would like some input. The project is a total of 42 watts with 14 3w Epistar Far Red, Steve's Double driver and Dimmer and Steves Power supply. The is supposed to support two strings of seven which one for each of my flower rooms. I would like some input. I have soldered and tested mounted and believe I have damaged one of the pcmcb. Please look at the picture and tell me what you think. The distorted aluminum from the screw looks like it is touching one of the soldering pads for extra wires.

Perfect example of a reason to use plastic washers along with the screws. You would of ate up the washer instead of the star. Little cushion and insulation is a good thing here. Looks like the screw was ready to ground out that terminal.

My preference for screw torque is to use very little. I just screw it down so there is a slight amount of pressure.

If the star works I'd run it. If not you could order a new pcb and reflow it on the oven. Easy enough to do but not quite worth the trouble as their only a few dollars.

Washers...

http://www.heatsinkusa.com/4-nylon-flat-washer-qty-50/


http://www.amazon.com/Nylon-Washer-Off-White-Nominal-Thickness/dp/B00DHVBD5A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407055908&sr=8-2&keywords=Nylon washer 4 40

....LedEngin recommends using plastic washers to electrically insulate screws from solder
pads and electrical traces....
...page 2 http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/87120.pdf

...maybe nylon screws works too?...



Saludos

Th

Positivity said:

Perfect example of a reason to use plastic washers along with the screws. You would of ate up the washer instead of the star. Little cushion and insulation is a good thing here. Looks like the screw was ready to ground out that terminal.

My preference for screw torque is to use very little. I just screw it down so there is a slight amount of pressure.

If the star works I'd run it. If not you could order a new pcb and reflow it on the oven. Easy enough to do but not quite worth the trouble as their only a few dollars.

Washers...

http://www.heatsinkusa.com/4-nylon-flat-washer-qty-50/


http://www.amazon.com/Nylon-Washer-Off-White-Nominal-Thickness/dp/B00DHVBD5A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407055908&sr=8-2&keywords=Nylon washer 4 40

View attachment 3219913

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Thanks for the help got plastic washer and plastic screws.

Cheers.

Why would you not just use 6-6 nylon screws. You can get an all different machine threads in 1/32 length increments for $4 for 100ct from amazon. I don't like having any more metal near my wiring then i have too.

Got the nylon screws got all the leds wired up in a series on a heat sink. Got the Power supply (verified MM it was 24v or lower output) connected it to the driver and the driver to the string and no light. I rechecked power supply output with MM it is at 23.4v. Any tips on trouble shooting?

Any damaged leds in the string? If so..try it with those taken out if you still meet the min voltage specs.

Pictures of what you have going on would help.

Not really familiar with the power supply/driver combo you have. Steves leds has been quick to respond to emails in the past. I'd try their particular instructions or tech help via email or phone also.

Ok thanks for all the help, it was me not inserting the wire far enough into the 24v press and pinch connector on the driver board. All my soldering is good will post pics I'm hanging it tonight so in one hour I should be able to post some pics in the room waking the ladies. Thanks again for all you guys due.

Ok this is my 1st bloom room it is my DWC room with 3k HPS and now 21watts of Wake up and GoTo bed 730nm. In the near furrier I will be replacing the HPS with LED. The tall one in the back is a Tangie and the shorty up front is Barney Farms CBD. I will clean up the wires abit with nylon ties. I will make the other one for the other bloom room in the next few days. But first I need to finish my Vegging six pack(6 CXA3070 5k) last pic it only has four heat sinks installed. Thanks for all your help guys!!!!!

Bada$$...someone's been doing their homework..haha.

rob333 said:

u wanna replace hps with leds go outside now put a gun in ur mouth and pull the trigga save urself the headach

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Crazy statement for a crazy idea.

Says the guy that can't feed his plants...."hey there im about 5 weeks into flower in soil i water feed water every 3 days i wanna try get some nutes into for the last 2 weeks how often can i get away feeding them i was watchen a vid of a guy that does a water feed water on a day to day period so one day feed next day water so on and so on what do use think as i have only 2 weeks left of getting nutes into them be 4 final weeks flush"


And has a 3000w cfl rig.....
"i have just got a 3000 watt cfl board from a electrician it has 15 200 watt cfl lights that run thru 2 cords 8 warm whites and 7 cool whits is it worth given a go to see what it does or shoul i just stay with my 3 600 w hps input pls"


Just when you thought you heard it all.

It's just a light and would never be worth a life.

Not even as a bad joke.

Deutchsbag extremo...

Positivity said:

Crazy statement for a crazy idea.

Says the guy that can't feed his plants...."hey there im about 5 weeks into flower in soil i water feed water every 3 days i wanna try get some nutes into for the last 2 weeks how often can i get away feeding them i was watchen a vid of a guy that does a water feed water on a day to day period so one day feed next day water so on and so on what do use think as i have only 2 weeks left of getting nutes into them be 4 final weeks flush"


And has a 3000w cfl rig.....
"i have just got a 3000 watt cfl board from a electrician it has 15 200 watt cfl lights that run thru 2 cords 8 warm whites and 7 cool whits is it worth given a go to see what it does or shoul i just stay with my 3 600 w hps input pls"


Just when you thought you heard it all.

It's just a light and would never be worth a life.

Not even as a bad joke.

Deutchsbag extremo...

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ow i can feed my plants i wanted to no how much i can get into them cock head lol as h/g soil nutes are new here and for 2nd why would u replace hps with leds only nob heads do that

heres a somthing i picked up so led growers are on a scale of 10 like use hps growers are on scale 1 hope that helps with ya led grow

rob333 said:

heres a somthing i picked up so led growers are on a scale of 10 like use hps growers are on scale 1 hope that helps with ya led grow

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theres about 12 hydro stores were i live not 1 will offer support for led lights or will stock em let alone go any were near them plasma grow lights are the new in thing leds went out the door about 2 years ago

Sorry but this is off topic.

You should show the poster some respect for his chosen topic

Pos out...have a good day

eeh rob003..... wrong forum...
try here...

maddmattmurdock said:

I have embarked on my first LED build and would like some input. The project is a total of 42 watts with 14 3w Epistar Far Red, Steve's Double driver and Dimmer and Steves Power supply. The is supposed to support two strings of seven which one for each of my flower rooms. I would like some input. I have soldered and tested mounted and believe I have damaged one of the pcmcb. Please look at the picture and tell me what you think. The distorted aluminum from the screw looks like it is touching one of the soldering pads for extra wires.

Click to expand...

Hi there, I have been using almost the same 730 nm setup, Two bars of 6, 3w diodes each one, at 700 ma ... wide angle leds, epistar also. Total cover 1 square meter. I have been using them in flowering times with a sativa landrace that with normal leds needs 11/13 to flower properly. Now adding the 730 nm light 15 minutes after the night start, I am flowering the same sativa clon at 13:45/10:15....
It works...and it has an impact on final yield..15% -20% more. I add the far reds also after the streching phase during the daytime...looking for the Emmerson effect.. Also the smell of final product is improved a lot.. You will need no more than 20 watts for 1 square meter, remember not to use them during day time in the streching phase....the plants will strech like crazy, it seems also that the 730 nm leds reduce flowering times a little..maybe 7-5 days.
Sorry about my english, spaniard here. Good luck!

Thank You,

Positivity, Nacho, churchhaze,salometin and guod. I had planned on about ten minutes on before lights and run for about 7 minutes then shut off tell nighty night time, then kick on at 8 minutes before lights out and shut off 7 minutes after the lights are off. I will probably will not adjust 12/12 to 13/11 until next cycle, which will bring this two Colorado Cup Grape Ape 2012 winners(see pics). The next post here will be of the next wake up go to bed bar. I will document it's build with nylon screws this time. The second bar is for the second bloom room which is a little shorter by two feet so I will be changing spacing from 13" on the 8ft uchannel to 10" on a 5'10" uchannel still 21watts and seven leds. Off to finish the Six Pack!
And again Thank You!

maddmattmurdock said:

Thank You,

Positivity, Nacho, churchhaze,salometin and guod. I had planned on about ten minutes on before lights and run for about 7 minutes then shut off tell nighty night time, then kick on at 8 minutes before lights out and shut off 7 minutes after the lights are off. I will probably will not adjust 12/12 to 13/11 until next cycle, which will bring this two Colorado Cup Grape Ape 2012 winners(see pics). The next post here will be of the next wake up go to bed bar. I will document it's build with nylon screws this time. The second bar is for the second bloom room which is a little shorter by two feet so I will be changing spacing from 13" on the 8ft uchannel to 10" on a 5'10" uchannel still 21watts and seven leds. Off to finish the Six Pack!
And again Thank You!

Click to expand...

BTW the Burnt ladie in the back ground was next to the high pressure side of the my mini split when the line split. She is doing nicely after being suffocated with410a.

Ok the next string was a lot easier of a build and I had a little confidence from the previous. This is the uchannel I started with got it from Home DePOT!
http://m.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-W-x-9-16-in-H-x-96-in-L-Aluminum-C-Channel-with-1-16-in-Thick-56870/100338033/. 11.00.
Drilled 16 holes in it. One at each end for eyelet bolts which I had. The other 14 holes were drilled in pairs 7/8" separating each hole in a pair. Each pair was spaced 12" apart . Once holes are drilled the stars which the leds are located on are sanded along with the spots the in between the paired holes needs to be sanded also. I used a 600 micron diamond card made short work of it all. Next solder all wires on to stars and then a small amount of thermal paste and mounted it with nylon washer and metal screws. I wanted to use nylon screws but, the nylon screws would crack. After mounting I installed and wired the bar. It works perfectly. I did not have issues this time. I will post pics of it mounted and the wiring which included molex two pin connectors in the am when lights are on.