DIY 660 watt Pacific Light Concepts LED build.

[negative37dBA]

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

Thanks for the nice comment gsxr97. If you want any advice or help just hit me up. Yes. I am running a 4x5 room but I usually keep that 1st foot for access and some fans. So it will be over a 4x4 canopy. It will give me as much light as a DE 1000 but with extreme uniformity of light distribution and awesome efficiency. It only uses about 640 watts from the wall. It will do a 4x5 just fine though.
Have a great day all. Mines getting real good. Burning on some 3 days cured GG4 from my grow. Dam that gas is so good. I have been out for about a month and I have missed the Glue.
Peace, negative.

 

[Bmac1]

Nice job. The light looks awesome. Something like this would be perfect for my 5x5.

 

[negative37dBA]

Nice job. The light looks awesome. Something like this would be perfect for my 5x5.

Thanks for the nice comment Bmac1. I was super happy with the way it came out. I can even break it all down and reconfigure with just some new 18ga solid wire...sweet. Yes it would tear that 5x5 space up. What are you growing there sir? What is your grow style?
I am just starting to bring down my mixed harvest of Glue and a strain of my own called JCGoo. So excited to hang this light up and get rolling. It is a very strange feeling pulling my old Galaxy ballasts out. These babies have been going strong for a long time. It is kind of bittersweet if you know what I mean.
Here is a shot of a bowl of the 3 or 4 day cure GG. So much gas! Fire in the hole!!

Will get some shots up of this new LED over some ladies here in about a week. They come down fully on Monday then a quick clean and reset and we are off to the races again. Going to run the same strains exactly. The Glue and JCGoo.

 

[gsxr97]

Hi Negative,

Piecing together your light setup. Can't seem to find the 80/20, 3 channel extrusion you use as the light spine.

Would you mind pointing me in the right direction.

Pacific Light Concepts is out of stock, I wonder when they might have the LED strips back in inventory. I'm going to shoot them an email and see what they say.

Thanks!

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi Negative,

Piecing together your light setup. Can't seem to find the 80/20, 3 channel extrusion you use as the light spine.

Would you mind pointing me in the right direction.

Pacific Light Concepts is out of stock, I wonder when they might have the LED strips back in inventory. I'm going to shoot them an email and see what they say.

Thanks!

What a surprise they are out of stock...they always are. I had to wait nearly 6 weeks for my pre-order to ship. They are saying anytime with the strips to arrive so check back often as they are not doing pre-orders anymore.
As for the extrusion just type in this
"80/20 Inc, 1030, 10 Series, 1" x 3" Extrusion x 48"
and you will find it.
You can also use 80/20, 10 series, 3 open channel extrusion as heat sinks and they are great. Actually better at dealing with the heat than the PLC ones. They make some side t nut fasteners that will work awesome. It eliminates some of the possible twisting you may get with the single mounting point of the PLC sinks.
I am 1 day away from hanging the new light. Spent the whole day trimming and cleaning...I am beat. Got another part day of trimming then rebuild the room with the new light and a new filter.
Have a great day all!
Peace, negative.

 

[negative37dBA]

Light is up!!

Light is up!!

OH YEAH. Lots of changes today. Finally finished trimming up my harvest and started to switch over the room the LED. Oh my it feels weird to pull out these 6" air cooled hoods and ballasts. Also pulled out all the wiring and my carbon filter. Putting in a brand new Can Filter 33. My old 50 was kicking ass for literally 2 years straight. It has been so long since the room looked like this.

Here is the new LED hanging and rolling..... Had a panic moment when the 2nd driver would not fire up....it was not plugged into the controller. Need another dab....

Making a few small changes to my little 3 bucket undercurrent system. In the near future I will be running a full 2" pipe, 8 gallon undercurrent system built by me for sure. Using the CC bulkheads and containers. I would consider this my dream system that I have thought of for a couple years now. High performance led spider type light over a killer undercurrent system.

I am expecting good things. It took me a few years to get here and learn that hydro was the way of the future as well as LED.
Should have some ladies in here on Friday. Need to hook it all up and sterilize. Then we are off again!! Have agreat day all!
Peace, negative.

 

[lazylathe]

OH YEAH. Lots of changes today. Finally finished trimming up my harvest and started to switch over the room the LED. Oh my it feels weird to pull out these 6" air cooled hoods and ballasts. Also pulled out all the wiring and my carbon filter. Putting in a brand new Can Filter 33. My old 50 was kicking ass for literally 2 years straight. It has been so long since the room looked like this.
View Image
View Image
Here is the new LED hanging and rolling..... Had a panic moment when the 2nd driver would not fire up....it was not plugged into the controller. Need another dab....
View Image
Making a few small changes to my little 3 bucket undercurrent system. In the near future I will be running a full 2" pipe, 8 gallon undercurrent system built by me for sure. Using the CC bulkheads and containers. I would consider this my dream system that I have thought of for a couple years now. High performance led spider type light over a killer undercurrent system.
View Image
I am expecting good things. It took me a few years to get here and learn that hydro was the way of the future as well as LED.
Should have some ladies in here on Friday. Need to hook it all up and sterilize. Then we are off again!! Have agreat day all!
Peace, negative.

Lovely looking light and sweet undercurrent system!
Tight room and setup.
Cannot wait to see what you are going to haul with your new LED!!

 

[negative37dBA]

Thanks for that lazylathe. looking forward to this awesome light coverage.
Here is a shot of how it used to look. I would run a 600 and a 400 mixed spectrum.

My best run was just short of 2lbs of GG4 out of a 4x5 with 2 plants. That was 2 runs ago. I should get a good comparison from the HID to LED. Heres a shot of that run near the end and harvest day!

Loving the power savings as well. I ran the lights today for about 8 hours straight...no problems. Very pleased with the heat output from both drivers and sinks...low. I DID NOT vent my room that whole time and the temp never got above 77. SWEET. Running H2o2 through everything right now and plants in tomorrow. STOKED. Have a great day all.
Peace, negative.

 

[gsxr97]

Strip alternatives?

Strip alternatives?

Hi Negative,

Room looks sweet!

Question for you , are these strips worth waiting for in your opinion, or would you recommend any other diy options ? Any other strips that are comparable you know of by chance ?

Was looking at 8 SP3000s possibly, not sure of pros or cons .

Was looking at making 4 of these lights . Gonna run 2 4’x8’ tables. Could make them 5x10. So 2 lights per table . Gonna add a mini split. Room is 12x12 and will have a sectioned clone/veg area until I can get more space together.

Switching over to LEDs and want to get lights that will last and produce . Price tag on the factory built lights are very high .

Trying To have a room ready to go for when the weather cools off and outdoor is finished.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi there gsxr97. Thanks for the nice comment. I am very new to the LED game and when I saw the PLC stuff I was hooked right away. There are a lot of good companies out there now producing high quality LED's. You may look at some quantum boards. Some of them can be daisy chained to up the footprint.
Migrow has just come out with a array fixture that is expandable. I like that guy a lot. I feel like he puts the truth over making money and that's a BIG plus now days. You got Spyder and Mars and so many others. I am not aware of someone who makes a strip like PLC though...there are probably out there though.
Well that was a bit long winded to basically tell you I don't know but you do have some options to look at.
I like the sounds of your set up and the size is really nice. In get so tired of my 4x5. It is a producing space but I want to do a couple tables at a time. Actually have some room to get all the way around them.
I am waiting till Monday to get my plants in. I am out all day on Sunday and I don't want to start a new light and a new hydro system without being there for a few hours. I am confident but shit happens man!
Have a great day all. I am off to dab on this made by me...... The Alpha Pinene and Beta Caryophllene I added back in make it taste insane. Piney spice.

Peace, negative.

 

[gsxr97]

So many options on LEDs!

Thanks for all your thoughts negative.

Just checked out the migro aray 240w.

Look very interesting.

Would be cheaper than the sp3000s . But I like the diy route. Wish PLC would get them suckers in stock

 

[negative37dBA]

Yes, I see they even took down the estimated date....
On the plus side I have my plants in and running under the new PLC 640. Plants dont look the best but they had a bit of trouble in veg. They will bounce right back though. The light is working perfectly. I have it about 24 inches above them at a very dialed down setting...probably about 35%. Temps are staying at around 74-77. It is mid summer here and 100 plus outside. I have the 2 drivers hooked up to a lighting controller that staggers the start. The drivers themselves stay very cool compared to digital ballasts.

I am running with no carbon filter right now...need to get some additional 6" ducting to finish the hook up. I live where I really do not need to run a filter but I do. Never know who might roll up to your front door. That air pump is not the one I use. I have 8 outlet 25 LPM hidden under the reflectix. I run 4 stones in each 5 gallon bucket.
So happy I went the DIY route. I know everything about the lights insides and workings and would feel confident pulling it apart if something went wrong. We will see what the flowering brings. Smoking on some sweet GG4 right now from my harvest. So nice, I missed it a lot. Have great day all!
Peace, negative.
PS...Just went to check on the room. Hope it is not wrong to say I have a giant chubby from this new light...the uniformity of coverage is something I have NEVER experienced.

 

[gsxr97]

Light looks great!

 

[EcoNepenthe]

Spot On

Spot On

Kudos!! An excellent grow op. Strips are the thing now. And, Greengenes Garden/PLC a growers savior. I'm a follower.
Really nice setup you have and this thread is so on point. You've encouraged me to maybe start saving towards replacing my COBs...though...they still ROCK!!! LEDs are the way of the future. Again, total props.
Cheers.
Stay safe!!!
Success w/ya grow!!!

 

[negative37dBA]

Kudos!! An excellent grow op. Strips are the thing now. And, Greengenes Garden/PLC a growers savior. I'm a follower.
Really nice setup you have and this thread is so on point. You've encouraged me to maybe start saving towards replacing my COBs...though...they still ROCK!!! LEDs are the way of the future. Again, total props.
Cheers.
Stay safe!!!
Success w/ya grow!!!

Thanks so much for those nice comments EcoNepenthe I really appreciate it. I try to keep things clean and tight. Makes it easy to identify problems if they occur. Plus I am a bit of a perfectionist and things in the grow room look so good all neat, clean and tidy.
Have about a week to go in veg with these 2 ladies then we are off! Have 1 Glue and a JCG which is mine. Probably last time I will run it, This is just not the keeper I was looking for yet. The smell is nearly on point with that grapey jolly rancher reek. The trichome production is really lacking though.
70 days flower, JCGoo. Just so so.

I am going to trim all the larf this run and just shoot for a few big, quality nugs to see if it is any better. That said it is much better than having nothing!!

 

[negative37dBA]

Hi guys. Got a couple questions. Should I run the light closer to the plants and dimmed down? Do I put it up higher and run it full power? Right now I have it at 24" and dimmed way down. The sinks and drivers are running super cool. The plants are growing and I have put in the first trellis layer.
I am really amazed at the coolness and incredible light coverage. I open the door and its not all hot like from the HID's. That 1 or 2 points of super hot light just makes no sense now that I have this LED light. Running a nice 75 max on 100 plus hot summer days.
Here is a little blast from the past....my dry ice making set up for distillations. I laugh when I think how much I paid for that little "box"

Have a great day all.
Peace, negative.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

So many options on LEDs!

Thanks for all your thoughts negative.

Just checked out the migro aray 240w.

Look very interesting.

Would be cheaper than the sp3000s . But I like the diy route. Wish PLC would get them suckers in stock

SP3000 is 300W.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

Kudos!! An excellent grow op. Strips are the thing now. And, Greengenes Garden/PLC a growers savior. I'm a follower.
Really nice setup you have and this thread is so on point. You've encouraged me to maybe start saving towards replacing my COBs...though...they still ROCK!!! LEDs are the way of the future. Again, total props.
Cheers.
Stay safe!!!
Success w/ya grow!!!

A vigorous garden. Looks pretty well.

 

[gsxr97]

How those plants doing under your light Negative?

Yes, I see they even took down the estimated date....
On the plus side I have my plants in and running under the new PLC 640. Plants dont look the best but they had a bit of trouble in veg. They will bounce right back though. The light is working perfectly. I have it about 24 inches above them at a very dialed down setting...probably about 35%. Temps are staying at around 74-77. It is mid summer here and 100 plus outside. I have the 2 drivers hooked up to a lighting controller that staggers the start. The drivers themselves stay very cool compared to digital ballasts.
View Image
I am running with no carbon filter right now...need to get some additional 6" ducting to finish the hook up. I live where I really do not need to run a filter but I do. Never know who might roll up to your front door. That air pump is not the one I use. I have 8 outlet 25 LPM hidden under the reflectix. I run 4 stones in each 5 gallon bucket.
So happy I went the DIY route. I know everything about the lights insides and workings and would feel confident pulling it apart if something went wrong. We will see what the flowering brings. Smoking on some sweet GG4 right now from my harvest. So nice, I missed it a lot. Have great day all!
Peace, negative.
PS...Just went to check on the room. Hope it is not wrong to say I have a giant chubby from this new light...the uniformity of coverage is something I have NEVER experienced.

 

[negative37dBA]

They are doing well. Have come back nice and green from the bit of yellowing in veg. I flipped them 3 days ago. Very small for the room size but I have some time constrictions that dictate I start 12/12 now. I wont be looking for a big yield this run but I will look at quality for sure compared to the HID's. I can already tell that they don't "lean" toward the light source as there are hundreds now....nice. I will try to get some pics up...they are sleeping right now.
When I look at my current set up I have to feel pretty good. I built the light, I built the hydro system, I make my own nutes and I am growing my own strain. I would have never thought I would be here when I first got started. Have a great day all!
Peace, negative.