DIY 660 watt Pacific Light Concepts LED build.

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. After many many years with traditional MH and HPS setups I have decided to go the way of LED. I believe the technology has far surpassed that of trad bulbs now. I am going to build my own 4x4, 8 bar, 660 watt Fluence killer.
Some of the items I will be using. Meanwell drivers, 80/20 extrusions, wago connectors, thermal tape, junction boxes and waterproof connectors.

Here are the heatsinks and boards, both from PLC. The boards and sinks are super nice quality.

Spent a hour or 2 today putting the boards on the sinks. They go on with 2 sided thermal tape and there are 8 mounting screws as well. You do not have to use the screws, the tape is incredibly strong. If you do use screws use nylon washers. They are a m-3 screws. You need to trim the tape to the 25mm width of the board. Use a sharp razor blade knife. Once on peel the tape and press firmly to the sink. Do not press on the diodes, press on the board. Use some alcohol to clean both surfaces prior to tape application.
That sweet peel...

.
All 16 boards on the 8 sinks...woot woot! They came out perfectly.

Next comes the spine and some wiring. Cannot wait.
peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Interesting note. I had ordered these parts a while ago. Been sitting on them just waiting to put them together. Then Greengenes came out with a version 1.2. The spine build. So glad I waited because now with just a couple changes I will be doing a spine type setup. Dual meanwells with dual dimmers, 8 bars and around 660 watts.
Each board consists of 96 samsung LM 301 whites and 4 Cree EPE high efficiency photo reds per board in a 560mm form factor. I use 2 of these per sink/bar......yeah baby.
peace, negative.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

Looks nice.

 

[DARKSIDER]

Best of luck with your new lightining you wont regret going led best thing I have done in a while, should of done it sooner

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Awesome I love DIY projects, especially with LEDs these days.

Samsung LM301B in what spectrum?

 

[negative37dBA]

Color graph of lights output.

Color graph of lights output.

Thanks so much for the comments gentleman. I am super excited for this change. Really looking forward to the results compared to the mh/hps I have been using. I should get a great compare because I am running it in the exact same room. Only change is the LED.
Let me first say I really like the quality of PLC's components. The sinks and boards are top notch. They are ALWAYS out of stock. The pictures are not optimal and it can be very frustrating. OK rant over. That said I did get my boards and sinks after much waiting...much. Greengenes has put out some very nice instructional videos to help build these. I will give him great credit for that. I am not trying to knock his business. He is probably slammed with business and that's how it goes...
To delve into the question of the led's kelvin rating...lets do that. Not sure of the Spectrum of the individual diodes but the graph on the site shows a range from 375nm to nearly 750 nm. Hope that helps answer your question Douglas.Curtis

They boast a Photon Efficacy of 2.78 µmols/j with total output being 105.08 µmols per board. These are numbers taken from their website.
I have seen several of his grows with these exact lights and they have come out awesome. He likes glue to!!
Waiting on the spine to arrive in a couple days. In the meantime I will put up some posts about the wiring of the meanwells.
peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Meanwell wiring.

Meanwell wiring.

Started wiring up the drivers today. 2) HLG 320H-C 1400 B Mean Wells...shit that's a mouthfull...It is very easy. Great instructions on Mean Wells site. I used IP7 glands and wago connectors. You basically have 3 cords to hook up. Power in, power out and the dimmer..thats it. I used a new ballast power supply cord for the input from the wall. It is 105c rated and good for 13 amps. Cut off the ballast end and wired them up. I wont give specific wiring advice but it is super easy. I used the wagos for the dimmer. It is in a closed cabinet along with the drivers and I did not see the need to make it prettier. Wagos are solid. I used velcro on the back so I can attach it to the cabinet side.

I did not have another cord on hand to wire up to the fixture. I am going to use my old hood cords as I will not be needing them anymore. They are in use right now as I have 2, GG#4 going in RDWC. This is the GG#4 from clone only. Got it back in 2015. Going to make the switch after this round is over. When installing the fixture cord I will install a ground cord from IP7 connection to driver. This will ground my fixture.

I have 2 drivers to wire up this way so I will get on to the second one....have a great day.
peace, negative.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Very nice

 

[negative37dBA]

Very nice

Thanks very much for that Sir. Really enjoy working with quality stuff. So much junk is made now days. I really avoid the crap and go for the goods. I have learned things in my years, buy quality and you do not even cry once. You are glad you got it and it works killer...
Got the other Mean Well wired up today after a few dabs. I concentrate so well when I dab. I can really move things along. Waiting on the spine extrusion arrival, have all the other goodies ready to roll.
peace negative

 

[negative37dBA]

Spine is in! Mean Wells wired up!

Spine is in! Mean Wells wired up!

Hi all. Got the spine in today. It is a 80/20, 3 channel extrusion. Got the other Mean well wired up today and started attaching the sinks. Going real smooth. T-nuts make it a breeze to hook the bars to the spine. 1/4 x20 hex head SS bolts with a 3/4 SS washer and a t-nut make the connection secure. Going to start wiring the bars together tonight. I have to make a run to get the washers as I do not have any...
Here is a profile of the heat sink.

Here is how it is coming together so far with 1 bar hooked to the spine.

I am using the hood cords I have now for the wiring runs to the fixtures. Not sure if I mentioned this is a off driver build...they will be in a cabinet outside the grow space. Just for security I am going to use 4, m3 fasteners with plastic washers per board to make sure they do not go anywhere. Things going very good so far. 7 more bars to attach then the wire up. Cannot wait to fire them off for the first time....

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. This is absolute overkill but I can so why not. Using 4, m-3 screws and plastic .5 mm washers per board to make sure they go nowhere! Moving along at a slow pace here. Not in a real hurry to get this done and have tons of stuff going on right now. Just enjoying the process.
Here is a shot of them installed.

You all have a great night.
peace, negative.

 

[DARKSIDER]

Hi all. This is absolute overkill but I can so why not. Using 4, m-3 screws and plastic .5 mm washers per board to make sure they go nowhere! Moving along at a slow pace here. Not in a real hurry to get this done and have tons of stuff going on right now. Just enjoying the process.
Here is a shot of them installed.
View Image
You all have a great night.
peace, negative.

Exactly... if you can why not... looking like its coming on well

 

[negative37dBA]

Hey all...I am still here and kicking it. Just waiting to finish the LED build after this run is done. Been busy popping seeds and looking for some new strains to grow. I love my Glue but it is always nice to grow new things. I am a big fan of the Ocean Grown line up. They are a professional bunch and I like that. Very transparent in where strains came from....
I am growing some Dough G and Malibu Pie right now. Popped some seeds and we will see what happens. Keeping males to collect pollen for future projects. This one Dough G, which is Vader OG x Forum cut Girl Scout Cookies, has the biggest fan leaves of anything I have ever grown. She or he is under a measly 150 MH crowded by 5 other plants and the fans are as big as a 12oz beer bottle. The Malibu Pie is not far behind in size as well. Excited to see what I get from these.

I will finish the LED build here in about 3 weeks. I just don't have anywhere to put it if I finish it now. I am off to burn one and pop a Space Dust. Have a great one all.
Peace, negative.

 

[MoS]

Nice set of lights you made there, good growth by the looks of things...

 

[negative37dBA]

Hey there MoS. Those plants are under a 150 MH. The lights not built yet. Like I said in the post waiting for my current run to be over so I have space to hang it. I will say that I did buy a HLG 65 v2 4k. First complete LED light I have ever bought. In short. It is super nice. So simple and easy and bright to. I had 2 t-5 2footer 4 bulbs in there before and this is way brighter. Real happy I got it. Really looking forward to firing up the 660 watt beast when shes done. Gives me a idea of how bright it will be with these same Samsung 301b's
Here she is keeping a few Glues very happy right now. :yay:

I just finished putting together a male flowering space. I wanted to keep some of that Dough G and Malibu Pie pollen and I got a couple males of them. So I put together a little F&D for them. Just quick and not dirty but not super clean like I usually like stuff. It will do the job just fine. Be fun to see what the Glue does crossed with these 2 Ocean Grown strains. My current run is less than 2 weeks from finish so getting excited for that. LED build will finish right after that. Going to start a new run with the new light but same killer Glue genetics. Have a great day all.
Peace neg.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

Hey there MoS. Those plants are under a 150 MH. The lights not built yet. Like I said in the post waiting for my current run to be over so I have space to hang it. I will say that I did buy a HLG 65 v2 4k. First complete LED light I have ever bought. In short. It is super nice. So simple and easy and bright to. I had 2 t-5 2footer 4 bulbs in there before and this is way brighter. Real happy I got it. Really looking forward to firing up the 660 watt beast when shes done. Gives me a idea of how bright it will be with these same Samsung 301b's
Here she is keeping a few Glues very happy right now. :yay:
View Image
I just finished putting together a male flowering space. I wanted to keep some of that Dough G and Malibu Pie pollen and I got a couple males of them. So I put together a little F&D for them. Just quick and not dirty but not super clean like I usually like stuff. It will do the job just fine. Be fun to see what the Glue does crossed with these 2 Ocean Grown strains. My current run is less than 2 weeks from finish so getting excited for that. LED build will finish right after that. Going to start a new run with the new light but same killer Glue genetics. Have a great day all.
Peace neg.

Looks like the plants like that light.

 

[negative37dBA]

Yes they are loving that light. Thanks for that nice comment. I have resisted going LED for a long time. Now though the tech is far beyond that of traditional mh and hps and t-5. The fact that you can get 800 or 1000 different points of light covering a grow makes good sense to me. I have always ran 2 hoods so I could get 2 points of light....now those 2 have a lot more power than each of the 800 little guys but the spread and evenness is awesome. I kinda want to get another little 65 watt model for the left side of that 4x2 tent. Gets me even more excited about the end of this grow and the new lighting to come.
Have a great day all. The Glue is fattening up and reeking up the room nicely. Also have 1 of my strains in there. Its called JCGoo. Has some Afgooey and SSH in it, amongst some other things. We will see how it smokes. I am only semi impressed with how it looks. Its hard to stand up to the greatness that is the Glue. This was day 41. I am at day 54 now and it is looking a little nicer. Proof is in the smoking!

Have a great day all. Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi all. Got in some of the last couple pieces I will need to finish up the LED build. This JCGoo is taking awhile to finish up. I was looking back at some notes I took long ago when I breed this. I forgot it was a 10 plus week strain. It is still putting on pistils and new growth. Still clear trichomes. It is chunking up nicely and has a great floral, grapey stench. I remember the best phenos of this reminding me of a Purple Jolly Rancher candies smell.
Here is a shot at day 58. This was from seed if I did not say that. I let the best pheno from it years ago get away from me...trying to get it back.

JCGoo(Jumbotronic X Cstik X Afgooey X SSH) day 58 of flower from seed.
Side note, anyone know why my signature wont appear anymore? I choose the option when I go to post but it does nothing..??

 

[negative37dBA]

Woot Woot!!! The beast has awoken... Doing some spacing testing of the bars and making sure all is functioning. It is AWESOME. I cannot even come close to looking directly at it at half power. Shes bright AF. Only have half of it hooked up right now with just some WAGOs. Wanted to make sure it was all functioning before I commit to the next run with it. The dimmer works perfect and I am super happy!! this is a dual driver build, both located in a remote cabinet off the fixture itself.
Here are a couple shots of me testing her out. Wiring is not complete, just functional for the testing. All will be tucked and tighten up. This next run is going to be real fun!

Full power, both drivers. 665 watts. Fully functioning light.

SOOO stoked to be nearly in the LED game. I mean I have a little one in my veg tent but this is waaay different. Have a great day all.
Peace negative.

 

[gsxr97]

Ideal size for this light?

Ideal size for this light?

Very cool! I'd like to replicate this light. What is the floor area you are putting this over, 4x4?