Turning Lights On / Off to reduce power like a light mover.

S

shentharo

New Member
Hi guys,

I have 4 lights which I would like to alternate like so;


L1 On
L2 Off
L3 On
L4 Off

5 minutes

Then

L1 Off
L2 On
L3 Off
L4 On

then repeat

That way only 2 lights are on at any time, but you still get light shining on other areas, which means you should be able to lower the light closer and it will kind of work like a light mover?

Cheers guys :)
 
smokinrav

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
Light movers aren't magic, you reduce yield with less light. What are you trying to accomplish here?
 
R

rmax

Well-Known Member
shentharo said:
That way only 2 lights are on at any time,

Cheers guys :)
Click to expand...
What kind of lights are you using? What about setting up strobe circuits?

I found this on Amazon:

"LED Flasher Strobe Module/Coverts Regular LED Lights Into Flasher Lights "

If you can get the flicker rates fast enough perhaps photosynthesis won't stop. 50% of the energy w/100% of photosynthesis.
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
what kind of lights are you using? HPS? LED?

pretty sure that turning lights on and off like that is just going to waste electricity (inrush current) and be really inefficient way of achieving your goal.

if you want to use half the electricity you should just dim your lights to 50%. same effect and outcome. then you can lower your lights to get closer to the canopy if you want.
 
S

shentharo

New Member
Light movers are pretty expensive, My goal was have 2x the lights for the job and then cycle them so that it is consuming the same electricity but provides more light and instead of moving a light across a crop just cycle between them.
I have 4x 1000w mars hydro LED lights
 
S

shentharo

New Member
With power draw, the PSU's are quite efficient, there won't be anything lost by switching the lights as the PSU is always on and the connection switched via a relay.
 
S

shentharo

New Member
rmax said:
What kind of lights are you using? What about setting up strobe circuits?

I found this on Amazon:

"LED Flasher Strobe Module/Coverts Regular LED Lights Into Flasher Lights "

If you can get the flicker rates fast enough perhaps photosynthesis won't stop. 50% of the energy w/100% of photosynthesis.
Click to expand...
kinda what I'm doing just slower
 
smokinrav

smokinrav

Well-Known Member
shentharo said:
Light movers are pretty expensive, My goal was have 2x the lights for the job and then cycle them so that it is consuming the same electricity but provides more light and instead of moving a light across a crop just cycle between them.
I have 4x 1000w mars hydro LED lights
Click to expand...
There are no free rides.
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
shentharo said:
Light movers are pretty expensive, My goal was have 2x the lights for the job and then cycle them so that it is consuming the same electricity but provides more light and instead of moving a light across a crop just cycle between them.
I have 4x 1000w mars hydro LED lights
Click to expand...
read up on PWM dimming, this is already doing exactly what you are trying to achieve anyway and most likely how your driver's dimmer function works out of the box. Its maintaining steady current but pulsing the diode on and off in the millisecond range so that it appears dimmer. if you try to do this manually my guess is you are going to burn out your diodes as they are not made to be run that way. at best case their lifespan will be way shorter.

you are not wrong with your thinking, just going about it wrong. with led's you also greatly improve efficiency + lifespan by running them at lower wattage. so you could achieve a similar goal by dimming them all to say 75% so you can lower them a bit, but you will need to experiement what work for you. I think if you dimmed them by 50% it will significantly decrease yields so that is probably too much.

what is the size of your space?

if you are using the current generation TS1000 those are only 150W lights not 1000. Look at actual wattage / draw, ignore the marketing hype.

Those arent the worst lights, but they arent the most efficient either. You need about 35-40 watts per square foot of space with these. So 2 of them will cover a 2x4 pretty good.

for instance I use HLG QB288 boards. most ppl run them at 120-150W each. instead i run them at 50-60W each and run 2x as many. so each 120W driver i would have 2 boards instead of 1.

i'm not sure you can rewire those mars boards but using a different method, i am suggesting that instead of using 2 of those to cover a 2x4 area at 150W each, use 4 of those in the same 2x4 space at 75W each. you will be using double the diodes, getting better spread and can get the diodes closer to the plants for better penetration.

however as noted this wouldnt be the best way to use off the shelf fixtures and would be kind of expensive. but if u DIY it you can see how you could run 2 boards on the same driver to accomplish same goal for a lot less.
 
Last edited:
S

shentharo

New Member
ilovereggae said:
read up on PWM dimming, this is already doing exactly what you are trying to achieve anyway and most likely how your driver's dimmer function works out of the box. Its maintaining steady current but pulsing the diode on and off in the millisecond range so that it appears dimmer. if you try to do this manually my guess is you are going to burn out your diodes as they are not made to be run that way. at best case their lifespan will be way shorter.

you are not wrong with your thinking, just going about it wrong. with led's you also greatly improve efficiency + lifespan by running them at lower wattage. so you could achieve a similar goal by dimming them all to say 75% so you can lower them a bit, but you will need to experiement what work for you. I think if you dimmed them by 50% it will significantly decrease yields so that is probably too much.

what is the size of your space?

if you are using the current generation TS1000 those are only 150W lights not 1000. Look at actual wattage / draw, ignore the marketing hype.

Those arent the worst lights, but they arent the most efficient either. You need about 35-40 watts per square foot of space with these. So 2 of them will cover a 2x4 pretty good.

for instance I use HLG QB288 boards. most ppl run them at 120-150W each. instead i run them at 50-60W each and run 2x as many. so each 120W driver i would have 2 boards instead of 1.

i'm not sure you can rewire those mars boards but using a different method, i am suggesting that instead of using 2 of those to cover a 2x4 area at 150W each, use 4 of those in the same 2x4 space at 75W each. you will be using double the diodes, getting better spread and can get the diodes closer to the plants for better penetration.

however as noted this wouldnt be the best way to use off the shelf fixtures and would be kind of expensive. but if u DIY it you can see how you could run 2 boards on the same driver to accomplish same goal for a lot less.
Click to expand...
Hmm... Okay I have dimmable panels, they are just pots so I wouldn't want to dim them all the time but I can do as you said run them a little lower and have more spread. Cheers dude :P
 
ilovereggae

ilovereggae

Well-Known Member
shentharo said:
Hmm... Okay I have dimmable panels, they are just pots so I wouldn't want to dim them all the time but I can do as you said run them a little lower and have more spread. Cheers dude :P
Click to expand...
cool. just so as not to confuse anyone else... dimming them with your current setup will just lower the intensity. you can drop them a little which will help make up for it. but it will still reduce yields.

in order to get better spread u would need to do 2 boards per driver.

also im not sure how your drivers work specifically. it might just be using resistance not sure it its using PWM. just wanted to clarify before someone calls me out.

you still didn't tell us how big is your space you are trying to cover with these lights? that will help us advise you on best way to run them and maybe save a few bucks on electricity
 
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