What's new

Return of the Quantum Tower LED PC case

S

stealthENG

Member
Im getting excited about building this :D you mentioned building an array entirely from these cheap diodes? Does that mean this particular LED covers both the optimal vegative 'temperatures' as well as the flowering temps as well, or have i misunderstood?
 
T

trem0lo

stealth... There is a continued debate about the usage of warm whites (3500K-4500K color temp) without the addition of red and I'm on the side of YES it absolutely can be done.

If you look at the light output graph in the datasheet, those osram warm whites have a decent spike in blue and a large gradual rise into the red/orange territory, peaking at about 660nm, which is the peak absorption wavelength for plants.

To answer your question, yes it would be just fine for both vegetative and flower to use warm whites exclusively. To play it safe, I'd recommend a few red and royal blue LEDs, just to make certain your lamp will work correctly with a variety of strains.
 
S

stealthENG

Member
Yeah thats what I shall do then! there isnt any royal blue listed. Only blues with a dominant wavelength of 476 nm. I will look into this but I'm sure they'll be fine! Was also thinking of mounting my heatsink externally on top of my case. Easier said than done (+thinking of a way to do it lol) how about this?
album.php

I would just mount the leds onto an aluminum plate which is connected to the heatsink via a small 4 x 4 cm aluminum square. This may or may not work? Would most of the heat dissipate from the aluminum plate inside the case leaving only a small amount of the heat to be transferred to the heatsink? im not sure. moreee research :D
 
xmobotx

xmobotx

ecks moe baw teeks
ICMag Donor
Veteran
more and more i m thinking those WW/NW cree fixtures are pretty close to ideal {flower spectrum} straight warm might be cool too

rrog is building a WW/NW cree fixture here

i run 4 NW crees and they are bright ass diodes <w/ 4 26w CFLs, 4 ww lumiled rebels and a 24" T5 bulb already running; the crees not only visibly increase the light in the cab but notably change the visible color of the ambient light to their particular hue {not looking @ the lights themselves just the glow of the cab}
 
T

trem0lo

stealthENG said:
Yeah thats what I shall do then! there isnt any royal blue listed. Only blues with a dominant wavelength of 476 nm. I will look into this but I'm sure they'll be fine! Was also thinking of mounting my heatsink externally on top of my case. Easier said than done (+thinking of a way to do it lol) how about this? View Image
I would just mount the leds onto an aluminum plate which is connected to the heatsink via a small 4 x 4 cm aluminum square. This may or may not work? Would most of the heat dissipate from the aluminum plate inside the case leaving only a small amount of the heat to be transferred to the heatsink? im not sure. moreee research :D
Click to expand...

There is an older grow by Pinstripe here where he mounts the heatsink in such a way that the fins are outside of the case. I keep mine inside to heat the grow during the winter. The drivers I keep outside, they get pretty warm too.

I would advise against gluing heatsinks together. I think it reduces efficiency. Ideally the heatsink should be anodized aluminum and one solid piece.
 
S

stealthENG

Member
xmobotx said:
more and more i m thinking those WW/NW cree fixtures are pretty close to ideal {flower spectrum} straight warm might be cool too

rrog is building a WW/NW cree fixture here

i run 4 NW crees and they are bright ass diodes <w/ 4 26w CFLs, 4 ww lumiled rebels and a 24" T5 bulb already running; the crees not only visibly increase the light in the cab but notably change the visible color of the ambient light to their particular hue {not looking @ the lights themselves just the glow of the cab}
Click to expand...
To tell the truth I dont understand much from that thread. I can pick out snippets of usefull info tho, rrog said:
OK so a ratio of (3) CW : (1) 660nm for veg works well for you. I'm sold. Guvoo has 17 LEDs in his snappy design. I could do 12 CW and 4 660nm and have that fit his box.

That seems simple enough.
Sorry to hijack your thread trem0lo :(
 
T

trem0lo

^^^no problem stealth.

Here we go with run number three!! :woohoo:

I transplanted a few clones (and an S1 of this pheno) into their final 2 gallon homes, now under 12/12. I'm using hydroton to cover the top layer of soil so it doesn't dry out so much.

The S1 is on the very right, looking somewhat sad. She had a rough transplant and almost wilted on me. She also seems to be more sensitive to the the soil. I will grow her out and see what she offers. The middle clone is about a week ahead and is starting to stretch, while the leftmost clone was transplanted a few days ago and is just starting to take hold. Very soon I will install the screen against those magnets you see on the wall.

picture.php


Here's a shot of my veg/mother chamber, and two clones waiting to root. I may add one to the flower chamber just to see if I can pack four plants in there. I put tape over the top of the cloning lid to reduce the light, as my massive 8 watt lamp was causing them to yellow out early!

(The mother plant is green, promise, just the reflected light makes her look half dead :D )

picture.php
 
S

stealthENG

Member
Good work dude. I hope you dont mind me copying EVERYTHING from your setup :D I will probably even copy your small veg box idea, haha!
 
S

stealthENG

Member
Questions... questions ... & yet more questions ... :D
done all my calculations :) I know overkill is good... BUT I think I have not only gone overkill, but I've burnt the carcass and buried the ashes in a led coffin...
3 blue leds 3.7v = 11.1 1A = 11.1 watts
6 white leds 3.7v = 22.2 1A = 22.2 watts
16 red leds 2.6v = 41.6 1A = 41.6 watts

total volts = 74.9 1A = 74.9 watts
too much for a pc?
 
T

trem0lo

I'd not recommend running the golden dragons at 1000mA.

700mA maybe, and only because the meanwell lpc-35-70s are $16 apiece :D and the heat is manageable.

500 mA is better; 350mA even for the reds for maximum efficiency to pull the most from less wattage. (white/blue LEDs can be driven harder in general than reds)
 
30x470

30x470

Memberber..ember!!
Veteran
Hey..great shot baby!!:thank you:
Can you post some information about your led power supply?
Model, foto, power, ecc. and some more that one, "out" like me, understand..:biggrin:
Nice trip whit your case! thanks
 
S

stealthENG

Member
30x470 said:
Hey..great shot baby!!:thank you:
Can you post some information about your led power supply?
Model, foto, power, ecc. and some more that one, "out" like me, understand..:biggrin:
Nice trip whit your case! thanks
Click to expand...

The information you require is literally one post above yours...
meanwell lpc-35-70...
 
T

trem0lo

Update time, sorry it's been so long guys! :wave:

Things have been progressing on schedule, with a few interesting developments.

Clone #1 is @ day 25 and clone #2 day 15. The S1 third is kind of a weakling, one because she didn't take transplanting well (at all!) and two she's in the side of the case with the least light.

What's interesting is that clone #1 was vegged under 24 hour light for a few days before the switch, thus she stretched a good bit less. She's also smaller with more serrated leaves. Clone #2 went right into 12/12, stretched more, but is larger and slightly healthier and definitely more vigorous, probably due to the additional root space. I will start tying her down after today.

Things are about to take off as we approach 30 days where she'll stack like crazy and get real fuely/skunky. I'll probably take her to 60 days or so.

 
T

trem0lo

Pretty much on auto pilot. I top off the reservior once a day (they drink a lot at this stage) and do some light foliar feeding with an alfalfa tea.

Getting some early yellowing again on pheno #1 and I think I finally figured out the reason (although I suspected before, this more or less confirms it). Being in veg for about a week or 10 days before 12/12, the older girl had a chance to wrap her roots firmly around the blumat stake, which cuts off nutrients during flower. The younger girl (healthier, bigger, more vigorous) went right from clone into 12/12, no veg. It's possible the root system digs deeper during flower to seek out new nutrients, while the veg root system is wired for stability. It could also very well be that the plants are competing, strangling each other off. Given the weakness of S1, I don't see how this is possible.

I'm considering switching to a true blumat drip system so I can take more advantage of the soil space.

Anyway, here is week 4/5 ish.

 
xmobotx

xmobotx

ecks moe baw teeks
ICMag Donor
Veteran
hey trem0lo i suppose you could try moving the blumat when you flip and test the theory

you dont happen to play guitar also BTW?

oh and stealth sorry i didnt see your question {post #86}

i have to say i have decided i really like the xml cree lights i would do something like either 3:2 or 5:4 w/ a warm heavy to neutral for flower and a neutral heavy to cool for veg {cool heavy might be a good way to tighten nodes if that was desired}

i hope that makes sense?

for a micro cab i would absolutely mimic trem0lo's light and proudly proclaim that i totally ripped it off

as mentioned i would run the 660s on 1 driver at like 350mA and royal blue w/ the ww on another driver @ 700mA

it would be 10 660s 6 ww & 2 RBs since i have the drivers picked out and everything

i say 'for micro' because i feel like the crees would be too intense for a small cab
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top