My First Cree cxa3070

There are lots of options but these are drivers I can vouch for:

For driving 1 Vero10 @157mA, 88% efficient:
For driving 2 Vero10 @135mA, 88% efficient
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Candle-light-LED-driver-3-10S-1PX0-5-watt-LED-1-5W-2W-3W-4W-5W/1421165663.html

For driving 1 Vero10 @280mA:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271316111004?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2 Vero10s @ 280mA, 88% efficient:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390696107953?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2-3 Vero10s at 280mA 88% efficient
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-AC85-265V-Input-for-E27-GU10-E14-13-21-1W-Led-Driver-12W-15W/32271683392.html

For driving 3-5 Vero 10s at 280mA 89% efficient
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1714902-18-36-1w-85-277v-high-power-led-driver

I am glad there are many drivers from china that are quality and cheap. I will have to order some in the future and just let standard free shipping take its course and have a stock of solid drivers. I think that I am going to get the driver from fasttech for $8 that you are recommending primarily because it ships from US and is one driver large enough for all 4 Vero 10's. It appear that the driver also has the mini clip end on it so I can plug it into the first LED of the series, at least that is the thought.

I just haven't pulled the trigger and ordered everything, maybe that is a goal for me in the next hour or so.


I have also added another 100w Cool White CFL bulb, so that makes (2) 100w Cool White CFLs and cxa3070 3000k on 8 seedlings.

SupraSPL said:

There are lots of options but these are drivers I can vouch for:

For driving 1 Vero10 @157mA, 88% efficient:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Candle-light-LED-driver-3-10S-1PX0-5-watt-LED-1-5W-2W-3W-4W-5W/1421165663.html

For driving 1 Vero10 @280mA:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271316111004?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2 Vero10s @ 280mA, 88% efficient:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390696107953?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2-3 Vero10s at 280mA 88% efficient
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-AC85-265V-Input-for-E27-GU10-E14-13-21-1W-Led-Driver-12W-15W/32271683392.html

For driving 3-5 Vero 10s at 280mA 89% efficient
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1714902-18-36-1w-85-277v-high-power-led-driver

Click to expand...

THANKS! That help alot!

Do you think 2 vero10 at @157mA is enough for clones And seedings or better use the @280mA?

So I realized that Fasttech was located in Hong Kong. I went ahead and ordered the driver and it should be here in 8-12 days.

For driving 3-5 Vero 10s at 280mA 89% efficient
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1714902-18-36-1w-85-277v-high-power-led-driver

Click to expand...

I also ordered 4 Vero 10's 5000k from Digikey and those should be here in 3-5 days.

Vero 10's $17.48 + $2 tax = $19.48
LED driver + Shipping = $9.31
Total = $28.79

Now I gather and clean my heatsinks and wait...........


I have to order my DWC bucket soon too!

Actionbone said:

THANKS! That help alot!

Do you think 2 vero10 at @157mA is enough for clones And seedings or better use the @280mA?

Click to expand...

Sounds crazy but I would say that 1 Vero10 @ 150mA (3.75W) would be more than enough light for clones. My cloning box 18"X12" is a single Cree XML2 running at 2W and gets the job done very well.

@SupraSPL I was wondering if you could help me compare my setup to a 400w hps/mh lamp. I have been talking and explaining LEDs to my friends and a common scenario is them talking about a light for example a 600w and they ask how many watts of LED I am running, which will soon be about 80w. They scoff and claim their lights have much more wattage and would not stand a chance when comparing yields.

Is there a way to compare the two? I know you said that you had a friend who pulled 44g with 1 3070, what type of yield do you think is reasonable with the amount of light I will end up with (roughly 80w)

One way to look at it, your lamp will be in the 40-45% efficiency range and commercial LED lamps are in the 20-30% range. That means your light will emit ~70% more photons/W so there is no doubt that yours can bring in much higher gram/W numbers than any commercial lamp, all else being equal in the system. To give you some idea of the numbers, my very best with organic soil was 1.39gpw but got as low as 1.04gpw recently (added too much coco to the soil mix I think). My friend got .84gpw but it was his very first try. We are not running high yield varieties so I expect cash croppers can get much higher numbers with these lights, but that extra yield comes with a significant sacrifice in quality in my experience.

SupraSPL said:

There are lots of options but these are drivers I can vouch for:

For driving 1 Vero10 @157mA, 88% efficient:
For driving 2 Vero10 @135mA, 88% efficient
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Candle-light-LED-driver-3-10S-1PX0-5-watt-LED-1-5W-2W-3W-4W-5W/1421165663.html

For driving 1 Vero10 @280mA:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271316111004?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2 Vero10s @ 280mA, 88% efficient:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390696107953?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

For driving 2-3 Vero10s at 280mA 88% efficient
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-AC85-265V-Input-for-E27-GU10-E14-13-21-1W-Led-Driver-12W-15W/32271683392.html

For driving 3-5 Vero 10s at 280mA 89% efficient
http://www.fasttech.com/product/1714902-18-36-1w-85-277v-high-power-led-driver

Click to expand...

Great info, thanks. Something cheap for Vero13, around 400-500mA?

apoulin said:

EDIT:
I also have an arduino uno microcontroller. I have thought about hooking up some sensors for data logging and monitoring. Maybe some light/humidity/nute/fan sensors and then just hook it up to my computer and let it log all of the information.

I have been testing thermistors and photoresistors but have found them to be inaccurate so far. I am thinking about purchasing some higher quality sensors for ease of use, especially in the programming aspect. Any thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

If you decide to go through with this please, please, please post a walk through of what you've done, why you've done it, etc. I plan on learning more about and playing with arduino's myself. Any insight into it would be much appreciated.

alesh said:

Great info, thanks. Something cheap for Vero13, around 400-500mA?

Click to expand...

That is a good question. I am using (3) Vero13s for experimental lighting in the laundry/soldering room. They are 4000K 90 CRi and mounted on heavy duty CPU coolers passive cooling. 280mA was not enough light and I couldnt find any 400-500mA drivers that had a high enough Vf, so I had to go with 650mA. In retrospect I should have gone with Vero 18s or I should have gone with standard CRi.

Another option would be to "stack" the drivers. A 280mA driver + a 150mA driver will create an 88% efficient, 430mA driver. Or stack a pair of 280mA drivers to get a 560mA. You can stack drivers by wiring them in parallel on the AC and DC side. I use that method on the living room light with a 3 way ceiling fan switch so I get Low->150mA Mid->320mA High->470mA

Well here they are!

1. Vero 10's 5000k mounted on the heatsinks
2. Each heatsink has 2 LEDs wired in series
3. All wiring completed, just need my driver to plug them in

4. Pictures of the babies, as you can see some are a few days further along. I moved the larger ones to all organic pots w/organic soil until the DWC bucket gets here. I believe I stunted the growth on some because the original distance of the LED to the soil was too close. It looks like they are starting to bounce back though. They were germinated about 10 days ago.

My driver is still in China , I ordered it 5 days ago and it still has not left. It is being shipped via Epacket through usps. I guess it is guaranteed for 8-12 days so maybe once the package gets to the US it will be shipped rather quickly.


and now we continue to wait...................................

I was doing some thinking and decided to give it the old college try with the DWC bucket. Originally I was thinking of a 5 gallon 4 site bucket, however I found this tote at walmart and decided to go with it instead.

Walmart
-----------
Airline - 1.88
T-valve- 1.42
Air Pump -6.77
(2)14" airstone - 7.84
12 Gallon black tote - 5.97

Total - 23.88



Home Depot
-----------------
Aquarium safe silicon adhesive - 4.57
1/2" clear tubing - 4.58
Male tube adapter - 0.33

Total - 9.48



Grand total - 33.36

1. Picture of everything purchased in the tote
2. The male end adapter put through the bottom center of the tote, I put the silicone adhesive all around the edge
3. Picture of the air stones adhered to the bottom, the drain/water level plug and the air tube coming into a T-valve with air tubes going to each air stone

I have not been able to make the water level tube yet because the silicone adhesive needs 24 hours to set. I spent a bit more than I anticipated but there were a few things that I have tons of material left and wouldn't need to buy it for a few more builds. The 1/2" tubing is a 10' roll, and I used a tiny bit of the adhesive. Also I didn't pay attention to the air output of the air pump when I bought it, I just looked at what size tank it was for. The air pump is rated for up to 1200cc per minute, and each air stone wants 2800cc per minute so I am eager to see what it looks like.

Update on my LED driver, which is the last piece to my new LEDs. On the 7th at 9am it passed through a sorting facility in
XIAMEN EMS, CHINA.

On the bright side I have some Girl Scout Coookies to keep me company



Still waiting...........



EDIT: Not sure if this is the same for everyone, but when I click on the pictures it opens up in a preview window that does not allow you to zoom in. Right-click and open in new tab and I was able to click on the picture and get a much closer picture.

Those vero 10 have way too much solder on the pads and they all look like cold joints. How are you soldering?

Are you tinning the pads and the wire ends? You're supposed to heat up the pad with the iron, then touch the solder against the pad (NOT THE TIP), and the pad will become tinned.

Do the same with the wire ends. Tin the wire ends. Then Once both the pads and the wire ends are tinned, push the tinned wire ends against the tinned pads, and apply the iron. Done.

I have an old iron with one tip that is toast. I thought about getting another one but the connections seem solid, I was unable to heat the wire or pad up to a sufficient temp. I think you bring up a good point though, and honestly I could use some brushing up on my soldering skills. I guess a new iron would be a good investment.

I just ordered

General Hydroponics Go Organic Hydroponic Starter Kit -40.00
2 lbs clay hydroton - 9.95
6 3" net pots - 5.65

Total - 55.60

all with free 2 day shipping. Once that driver gets here I should have everything I need for this grow other than some meters and PH up/down, at least that is all I can think of at the moment. I plan on getting some rooting gel and set up a clone box when the time comes as well.

Soldering onto large heatsinks can be tricky especially with a 20-30W iron. I do something unusual to make it easier, put a bit of flux gel on the solder pad, add solder to the tip of the iron and then touch the iron to the pad and the flux will "suck" the hot solder onto the pad and give you a smooth layer of solder covering the pad. I tin the wires the same way, and then you cam mate the wire with the pad very easily.

You want only a small amount of wire stripped so there is less chance of it shorting to the heatsink.

Yea after looking at your picture my solder job looks a little embarrassing . Sounds like a new iron is in my future, well thank you guys for pointing that out for me. I guess I just made sure it couldn't short on the heatsink and was securely attached.

Also, the adapter for the drain/water level meter DID NOT WORK!. The silicone adhesive did not harden like glue for a cemented hold, it dries and still allows the drain to wiggle which made it impossible with the tension of the water line hose. I will be getting a different drain today along with another air pump, that air pump I got was WAAYYYYY too small.

Back to the drawing board

I don't like drilling holes in my DWC totes (I don't do recirculating/connected buckets), because I'm afraid of leaks.

Also, I didn't want to say anything(to avoid the inevitable synthetic vs natural argument), but organics in DWC.. ugh... Hook line and sinker!! Worst of both worlds imo.

To make this as unbiased as possible (it will still have some), stick to soil or potting mixes if you're going to use organics, or use inorganic nitrate salts in DWC.

Not only will you be shunned from both hydro and organics sub-communities, you will likely get calcium deficiency, and root rot, etc. (watch, now some small organic DWC club comes to tell me how stupid I am. Bring it on you fishtank freaks)

Those are, however, one of the best brand airstones you can use imo. That kind works well.

Sorry for being so critical!! hehe, I'm honestly trying to give constructive feedback!

I appreciate all of the feedback, this is the first complete nute set that I bought and decided on it mainly because of the information that accompanied it, the variety of different nutes and the fact I got it on amazon w/prime shipping. I have read a lot about the calcium deficiency as well as root rot, but I thought that was a DWC issue and not an organic vs inorganic issue.

I was really hoping to get a comprehensive nute kit that allowed me to learn why everything works instead of just following directions. I just heard good things about GH Flora series and was debating on that. $40 for (3) 32oz bottles or $40 for the kit that I got which includes smaller veg/bloom bottles but like 8 additional bottles including one for healthy roots and calcium.

I have had some problems with cutting holes in my buckets and then there are times I don't have any issues. I figured worst case scenario if I need another bucket it is only $8 and I have everything else.

I have learned a lot from this thread alone and it is because people like you are stopping by and giving their feedback. So please keep it coming