DIY LED grow light help wanted

Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
I bought it pre-soldered from an eBay seller. I specified the wavelengths and CCT's I wanted, what quantity, and where on the board they would go. She soldered everything for me, suggested a driver, and shipped everything out in a timely fashion. All I had to do was solder the driver to the mcpcb and attach it to a "heat sink" (1/4 size baking sheet pan piggy-backed with some cheap extruded Aluminum heat sinks bought off eBay).

I don't believe soldering LED's to the mcpcb requires reflow. A dab of thermal grease on the underside of the LED, place LED, solder contacts, done. If we're talking about Cree, or some of the Osram's, however, then yeah, you'll need to reflow.
 
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lax123

Well-Known Member
A dab of thermal grease on the underside of the LED, place LED
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im not totally certain but i think thats a bad idea, thats like the hottest spot and all that "thermal stuff" is in no real comparison to real soldering/reflow i think. Atleast "thermal" Used on the back of those pcb stars heat is spread through a much wider Connection, so there its not such a big Problem imo.
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
Those LED's might very well be (actually probably are) soldered to those stars with thermal grease on the package, though.
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
Yes, that is the eBay seller I'm talking about. Link to her store:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/merryday168/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
She has certain things that aren't listed (drivers at certain specs, LED's of certain wavelengths, etc.) so if you plan to buy from her and there's something you don't see be sure to ask. Doesn't hurt to ask. She seems like a very upstanding eBay seller and she actually soldered everything for me, no questions asked, free of charge. Yes, her LED's are not THE BEST quality, but I can't recommend her enough if you're just looking for cheap, low wattage, DIY solutions.

If you're planning on building Red/Blue panels I think you might be better off with a cheap Chinese UFO. If you want White mixed with Red, or Pink, or anything else under the sun, then I think she's your gal. I plan to buy some 24x1W mcpcb's from her if another company is able to make a 1W Warm White package to the specs I'm looking for.
 
JohnNeedsMeds

JohnNeedsMeds

Well-Known Member
Bumping Spheda said:
Yes, that is the eBay seller I'm talking about. Link to her store:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/merryday168/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
She has certain things that aren't listed (drivers at certain specs, LED's of certain wavelengths, etc.) so if you plan to buy from her and there's something you don't see be sure to ask. Doesn't hurt to ask. She seems like a very upstanding eBay seller and she actually soldered everything for me, no questions asked, free of charge. Yes, her LED's are not THE BEST quality, but I can't recommend her enough if you're just looking for cheap, low wattage, DIY solutions.

If you're planning on building Red/Blue panels I think you might be better off with a cheap Chinese UFO. If you want White mixed with Red, or Pink, or anything else under the sun, then I think she's your gal. I plan to buy some 24x1W mcpcb's from her if another company is able to make a 1W Warm White package to the specs I'm looking for.
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Nice BS! Thanks for the link! :)
 
jackbukc

jackbukc

Member
Im thinking of getting her 2x 50pcs led circuit boards with 3w leds (red and blue spectrum). A 12v 30A 360w power supply for $45 or a single 200w power supply for each panel ($45 each)

This is the pic of the new power suppy i want to get it should work just plain like that or still need a driver for each panel?
 

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Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
You'd probably need ~30V x ~2.5A or something around there for that mcpcb with 3W LED's. If that's what you want I'm sure Merry can source a suitable driver for you at a reasonable price.
 
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lax123

Well-Known Member
A 12v 30A 360w power supply for $45 or a single 200w power supply for each panel ($45 each)
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You'd probably need ~30V x ~2.5A or something around there for that mcpcb with 3W LED's
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Why not a constant current Driver either 350mA for 1W or 750mA for 3Watters? All in parallel? What happens if one led Fails and power is diverted through the other strings?​
 
jackbukc

jackbukc

Member
lax123 said:
Why not a constant current Driver either 350mA for 1W or 750mA for 3Watters? All in parallel? What happens if one led Fails and power is diverted through the other strings?​
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Post a link and pic please.
I was thinking of running 10 3w LEDs with one 30-40w cc power supply. So 5 per 50 LED panel.

My 28W LED goes straight from the wall plug to a driver n into the 5mm LEDs but i wonder if i need a power supply and a separate driver to run 150 or 300w.
Power supply (300-350w) + 750mA CC drivers (30-40w) + high power heatsink and fan?

Can the fans be connected to the power supply or do they need individual resistors
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
jackbukc: Those mcpcb's only have two contacts. You'd have to scratch/scrape the black paint off the face, cut/break the copper traces in a few places, possibly drill holes for wires, and then solder directly to the copper trace. It requires more effort to hook a separate driver to each line of LED's than you might immediately think.

I don't understand the second paragraph.

Fans need their own PSU. The fans run at a different voltage and amperage.

-Edit-
Merry actually says she can custom order mcpcb per your specs. You could get a custom mcpcb made that had contacts for each line LED's, but I have no idea how much that would cost. Unless you're hell bent on making your own panels those UFO's look fine to me. They probably comes out to ~$1/Watt which no one can really argue about, imo.
 
Bumping Spheda

Bumping Spheda

Well-Known Member
jackbukc said:
3 of these 18 x 3w per panel should work without a separate power supply
http://m.ebay.com/itm/221284649328?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1
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Specifications:
Max. Output Power: 150 Watt
Input Voltage: 120 ~ 277 Volt
Output Current: 0.35 A
Output Voltage: 120 ~ 425 V
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That's not what you need. I would seriously consider contacting Merry and having her suggest a driver for you. Let us know what she says. It might depend on how many White/Blue LED's you're using, however, as Blue LED's usually run at a slightly higher voltage.

GL!
 
jackbukc

jackbukc

Member
Oh I was thinking i was guna have to solder the circuit in a chain by myself. So i definetly need a 150w+ driver for each panel.
 
Abiqua

Abiqua

Well-Known Member
lax123 said:
Why not a constant current Driver either 350mA for 1W or 750mA for 3Watters? All in parallel? What happens if one led Fails and power is diverted through the other strings?​
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I have read all over the web, finding people wiring LED in parallel. If one goes bad, current will probably fry the other diodes, 1 by overloading current and 2) if not current, then heat.

You could fuse each diode possibly for current breaks and a MOV for voltage spike on the AC side or Zener diode on the DC voltage. But many seem unsure about this.
 
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lax123

Well-Known Member
i mean, what i did and would do again: get a large flat heatsink (like this but bigger maybe http://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Med-Lg-Aluminum-Heat-Sink-Amp-Led-Heat-Exchanger-Transistor-Ham-Radio-DIY-/181230339468?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a322b858c), attach leds mounted on star on the bottom of it, wire leds yourself, get some CC Drivers (i have those linked, several Drivers allow you to enable different light Clusters), attach fan/s on top of the heatsink, drill some holes in it to be able to Mount it and done.
 
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