[ChrisGGG]

After looking around and being inspired by Weezard I decided to build my own LED Veg light. I wanted to follow a couple design goals:
1 - Modular - if something breaks/burns out I need it easy to tear down and replace
2 - Cool/Silent - after having a hard time controlling the heat in my 250HPS grow space these are high priorities, plus it seems all the commercial offerings still have a bunch of fans
3 - Economical/Cheap - this is a learning experience and once I get a better idea I can upgrade components for future iterations
4 - Simple - I try to live by the KISS principle, the less complexity/parts the better

I am no expert so please comment/criticize. If there is a better way to do something that also follows the design goals please tell me. I kind of view this as a group effort that everyone can learn from.

Parts:
Leds - these are the ones off ebay from various sellers you can search "3W 660nm" or something similar and find the sellers. Many sellers are willing to cut a deal if you buy larger quantities, it doesn't hurt to ask. I have a healthy mix of 460nm, 630nm, 660nm, 3000k, and 6000k leds coming.

PCB - rather than messing with a bunch of soldering I'm going to reflow the leds to pcbs then mount the pcbs to the heatsink. This also follows the modularity goal, if I want a different color combo it only takes a couple screws to change it out. I have some 7-led mounts on order but I had some 3-led ones from a previous project. Again check ebay.

Heatsink - if I want silent then I need a lot of thermal mass/surface area to dissipate heat. A 9W (3x3W) led light has a 60gram heatsink so I thought this was a good estimate for the size of my needed heatsink. I need something around 720grams so I went to Goodwill and found a large aluminum steam basket for $3. Following design goal 3, I bought it.

Drivers/Power - use a constant current LED driver, you don't have to mess with running different voltages for different colors. Find the wattage you need and run everything in series. I got a 75v@680ma off ebay for $15 shipped. I have a similar 40v@680ma on its way also.

Lens - I did order a couple different angles of lens to play around with but I don't know if the reduction in lumens (upto 15%) is made up by the increased focus.

The Layout
My thought was to make each 3-led PCB a different focus. For example two 460nm blues and a 6000k would be more vegging while a 660nm, 630nm and 3000k combo would be more flowering. There will be various combinations in the PCB that will allow for different ratios in the whole light.

The Build
I will be running 36x3w leds with an estimated power draw of 78watts. I'll be sure to confirm this will a kill-a-watt when its built.
I'm still waiting on most of the parts to show. I did layout the PCBs on the heatsink, each one is attached by 2 screws. After I solder the leds on I will place thermal paste between the PCB and heatsink.

I'll keep you all updated when all the parts arrive.

[ChrisGGG]

Some of my leds arrived today and I couldn't resist building some of my modules. I got my 660nm, 2700-3500k (warm white), and 6000-7000k (pure white). I'm still waiting on my 460nm and 630nm. I reflowed 3 of the flowering modules:
3x660nm
1x630nm + 2x660nm
1xwarm white + 2x660nm

When I get the remaining colors I plan on adding several more flowering modules:
3x630nm
2x630nm + 1x660nm
1x630nm + 1xwarm white + 1x630nm

I'm trying to build almost every 3x combination of my various colors. I only have enough drivers to run 12 3x modules so here is a rough idea of my layout. The green circles are the veg and orange are the flower. In reality I will be running them at the same time but I wanted the ability to adjust the veg and flower spectrums independently.


The reflow worked great and this is what I got. You can see the 630nm and warm white seem brighter which is to be expected since they are more in the visible spectrum.



I'm going to run them for ~100hours straight to test/burn them in. After 2hours my "heatsink" is still cool the the touch.

[magiccannabus]

haha that heatsink is awesome. I love makeshift solutions, they've always had a special place in my heart. I think you could mount a fan inside that basket potentially, if you ever needed to. I'm sure that heatsink is way bigger than you need for the number of LEDs you are planning, so hopefully you have plenty of room to expand.

[ChrisGGG]

Expansion/modularity is the plan. I was even thinking I could use the basket as the out portion of a carbon scrubber with a fan inside. Dual purpose, pull in air to cool and exhaust with no smell.

[ChrisGGG]

Got more supplies and made a couple more modules. Been running the blue dominant modules for ~8 hours and the heatsink is ~95 degrees. If/when I add some thermal grease it should only get better. The unit is bright and with these 4 modules I'm running ~30W. I've got:
1 warm white
2 pure white
6 460nm blue
1 630nm red
2 660nm red

The main point is the ability to switch things around so I can start some experimentation. I added a couple 60degree lens to see what they did. I got my second led driver and a couple more leds to play with.

[rives]

Originally Posted by ChrisGGG

Been running the blue dominant modules for ~8 hours and the heatsink is ~95 degrees. If/when I add some thermal grease it should only get better.

Actually, I would expect the heat sink to run warmer with some thermal grease than it currently is. Right now you are dependent on the physical contact between the stars and the sink to allow the heat transfer. I'm a bit surprised that the leds haven't burned up. If you have a hard time finding grease, I've successfully used NeverSeez in it's place.

[ChrisGGG]

I've got some artic silver, but I'm just trying to figure my "final" configuration before I make a mess with it. I was really inspired by your build. I'm working off the philosophy of get something working then make it efficient/prettier. I think I'm kinda screwed with the new chinese made driver. I just got it in the mail and it failed after an hour. From now on I'm only buying Meanwell/Phillips.

[oneshot]

I have an old intel heatsink that I would love to test some DIY stuff on but I have really no idea where to start with finding/picking proper parts and such. Some of these DIY lights are really kicking some ass.

[ChrisGGG]

I was in the same boat, I just bought random stuff from satisled and started playing around. First thing I learned is don't cheap out on your constant current driver.

[rives]

Originally Posted by oneshot

I have an old intel heatsink that I would love to test some DIY stuff on but I have really no idea where to start with finding/picking proper parts and such. Some of these DIY lights are really kicking some ass.

Check out mouser.com for parts, and read up on knna and Weezard's posts on DIY. Pretty simple once you jump in, really.