My DIY LED grow light

[DrFever]

plants sure blew up i really like the idea of that side lighting good move Vuk

 

[repuk]

Wow vukman! that setup is surely going to give out some badass frosty buds!!!

 

[rives]

The girls are looking great! Can't wait for the HML addition.

 

[vukman]

Well, here it is...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay...I was just told today by the guy who gave me the clones that he thinks he made a mistake!!!!!!!!!!!

Now he's saying that these ladies look like they're all Bubba Kush instead of what I've been saying which is Blue Satellite and Purple Kush......

I was starting to have some doubts about the Satellites but was hoping that the Purple was right... Oh well...no matter... they are nice and healthy and that's what counts.

 

[Arthritis_sucks]

how many watts ya pullin for this grow total?

 

[xmobotx]

yeah vukman maybe for convenience you might give us a run down? probably in the thread but~

lookin good all around too! the HML is lookin pretty sophisticated w/ it's nice chassis and all those switches

 

[Socrates]

Huh. I was going to say at one point that the kush and satellite had an uncannily similar look to them, but I figured I wouldn't demonstrate my ignorance (never grown either, or any kush for that matter). I have smoked bubba though, and it's some tasty stuff, and should be good medicine.

 

[vukman]

Huh. I was going to say at one point that the kush and satellite had an uncannily similar look to them, but I figured I wouldn't demonstrate my ignorance (never grown either, or any kush for that matter). I have smoked bubba though, and it's some tasty stuff, and should be good medicine.

Socrates my friend..in my threads.....if I can be so bold as to call it 'mine'......anyone can say anything....anything at all without fear of them being rediculed or feeling that they are being 'ignorant'.

If anyone should feel ignorant, it should be me for not coming to this conclusion earlier but........hey.. I found something out, I came clean with it and owned up to my mistake and move on from there.....so please..next time if you have something to say...ANYONE.....please do so......

Yes, now that they are in full flower and frosting up, they really do look the same!!!!!! ROFL.....oh well..serves me right for sometimes using too much ....medicine...heheh..

As for the rest of the questions.....please put them in point form and I will try my best to answer all of them

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately..........I think I've gone and overdone it. The temperatures have gotten a little too high for my liking and that is due to the fact that the tent is only a 2 x 4 x 7 ( more like 3 x 5 x 7) but the fact remains there is too much heat being generated by all those panels so I'll have to make some changes tomorrow.

I'll probably return the tent back to the 4 panels and 1000W I had there before adding my HML which added 230W to the fray.

Thank you for all the comments and for following along..

 

[vukman]

yeah vukman maybe for convenience you might give us a run down? probably in the thread but~

lookin good all around too! the HML is lookin pretty sophisticated w/ it's nice chassis and all those switches

There are :

2 'Blackstar" clones which are 500W but drawing around 295W
2 Bysen H160D-210W which draw around 190 W
My DIY HML..all 3W chips
10 CW
10 NW
10 WW
10 440nm
10 470nm
30 630nm
25 660nm

Total is 105 chips drawing 230W..........

Hope this helps...

Thank you for the questions.........

 

[Socrates]

Shame about the temps. How high are we talking? Since you run some CO2, the optimal temp is probably higher than it would be otherwise, so it might not be a problem.

 

[xmobotx]

w that setup; would be tempting to run 1 set of {2}side lights alone for sunrise/the other set sunset adding the HML as mid-day intensity

 

[vukman]

Shame about the temps. How high are we talking? Since you run some CO2, the optimal temp is probably higher than it would be otherwise, so it might not be a problem.

Heya bro.. I appreciate your enthusiasm to have this work... I really want it to as well but after around an hour, it got to around 35 C which is around 95 F..........I had to turn off the HML.

Also, with it positioned where it is, I think it maybe restricting free airflow as well. Those temps were evening temps around 6pm so if we happen to have one of those freaky warm days which happen every once in a while and especially if I'm not home.......damn,,,,, I hate to think about what kind of damage may occur........especially since the girls are in their flower cycle now...

Oh well... at least I know the next time I veg what to expect!!!!!!!! MUHAHHAHA<<<<<damn that evil scientist alter-ego of mine...

Thank you all again for your continued support.....

Vukman

 

[vukman]

w that setup; would be tempting to run 1 set of {2}side lights alone for sunrise/the other set sunset adding the HML as mid-day intensity

You are right my friend but as I stated in my reply to Socrates, the girls are in flower and the temps are around 35C (95F) so even with the CO2.....little too warm for the cycle they're in.

It will be a different story when I veg the next batch.......

Also, if anyone is interested in 'The New Place"...please check out my albums.......name is........well....'The New Place".

You can see there are a few 'offices' where I was told I can take over to use as workshop areas and experiment rooms...

Hopefully will have at least the veg room up and running soon...

 

[vukman]

Final set-up till end of grow ( I hope)

Final set-up till end of grow ( I hope)

Hi All:

As the title says, I've made some changes and I hope this will be it until the end of the grow which is around 4-5 weeks away...

Might have to either raise/lower/adjust the lights and spread the girls out a bit but I'm done with farting around..LOL

Close ups coming soon but will be in the 'Growing Diaries".....two blue satellites and a kush which is in my sig..

I'll leave this for the DIY stuff so if you're interested in how things are progressing, that's where please.....

Thank you as always.....

 

[taslicker]

@ vukman
I'm a DIY addict and that LED board looks excellent to me.

i want to try and make one for my small 600mm x 500mm grow space.

could you please tell me
- the size of the board you made
- the spacing between bulbs
- where you purchased the bulbs and ballasts (yep i know there not called Ballasts but i cant remember what there called )

i have made several boards using 23 watt cfl's which i use for veging. i can source most of the materials locally but as far as i know there is no local (Australia) suppliers of LED bulbs and ballasts.

thanks in advance

 

[S-V-K]

Vukman = LED maniac

I love your setup and especially side lighting. Wanted to ask you one thing.
Is the CO2 going to help you produce more buds or would it be better to use your HML panel with better ventilation ?

Keep up good work

 

[S-V-K]

@ vukman
I'm a DIY addict and that LED board looks excellent to me.

i want to try and make one for my small 600mm x 500mm grow space.

could you please tell me
- the size of the board you made
- the spacing between bulbs
- where you purchased the bulbs and ballasts (yep i know there not called Ballasts but i cant remember what there called )

i have made several boards using 23 watt cfl's which i use for veging. i can source most of the materials locally but as far as i know there is no local (Australia) suppliers of LED bulbs and ballasts.

thanks in advance

Try Future electronics - I'm using Phillips Led drivers 150W-400Vdc-350mA and they cost like 50£. I have one of these drivers and it is running without issues for 2 years + you can easilly power 105 x 1W Leds.

 

[vukman]

@ vukman
I'm a DIY addict and that LED board looks excellent to me.

i want to try and make one for my small 600mm x 500mm grow space.

could you please tell me
- the size of the board you made
- the spacing between bulbs
- where you purchased the bulbs and ballasts (yep i know there not called Ballasts but i cant remember what there called )

i have made several boards using 23 watt cfl's which i use for veging. i can source most of the materials locally but as far as i know there is no local (Australia) suppliers of LED bulbs and ballasts.

thanks in advance

Hi and thank you for writing, following and especially your kind words. I have always maintained that I got the idea from a Utube video where a very similar style of panel was made which is where I got my idea from but...... I haven't been able to find that damn video again!!

The board ( will be using Imperial measurements) is a 12" x 24" base piece of Aluminium which is 1/8' in thickness. Then I attached the "U" channels which are I believe a 1" x 1" channel.

The spacing between the 'chips' or LED lights if you prefer is approx. 1" to 1.250" spacing.

If you look through the thread, I have all the details in here somewhere.

The LED's were purchased from http://www.hanhualed.com/indexE.asp

The drivers/ballests were from a place that doesn't really deal with them but I sort of know a guy there.....you can ask for 'Andy' at
http://www.szjcxgdled.com/

Tell him you know "Mike" and are looking for drivers.....

In all honesty, your best bet might be to look on Alibaba.com. That is where I found all my links and information. I sent out a lot of emails and a lot of research.. I'll tell you right off the bat, that the 660 chips I got from that place were not all that good.. It might have just been the batch. The whites and blues are rock solid as well as the red 630's.

If you need any other info, please do not hesitate to either write here or PM me...

Good Luck

 

[vukman]

Vukman = LED maniac

I love your setup and especially side lighting. Wanted to ask you one thing.
Is the CO2 going to help you produce more buds or would it be better to use your HML panel with better ventilation ?

Keep up good work

hey hey!!!! How ya been? Well I hope.... thank you for the compliments....

CO2 is beneficial for the photosynthesis process no matter what but to get optimum 'use' out of it, the temps need to be a little higher and a lot of people like but it's worth it to help the plants absorb the CO2 better. The only issue with that is that you have to ride that fine line between a good temp and stressing the plants with too high of a temp and that's not always a good thing while in the flowering cycle......

As for will it help produce bigger buds........well, I'm hoping it will. I am not all that experienced with growing and just started around a year ago so a lot of this is actually new to me as well and I'm learning along with the rest of you..

 

[DrFever]

Every time i see those pictures reminds me of the days of being in a band and all them stage lights hahaha hell just came up with a idea lmao set up my 60 can light show and put plants under them i got red lens blue yellow green you name it hahahaha

Check this out 400 watt

http://www.lightronics.com/led_fixtures_3120c4di.html