Planning my First DIY LED Panel

UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
Greetings! I'm very green on the subject of led lighting but I've been interested for quite some time now, quietly researching and viewing other users journals and builds. I gotta say, just within the few years I've been here I've watched the LED community grow and progress significantly and many of you have very clean, well thought out ingenuity. Much impressed. So with that being said, I'm working on a parts list and piecing together specifications and calculations for a low-budget DIY panel.

Below I'll list what I've marked down so far for parts. If anything isn't compatible or just poor quality, please do let me know as I am creating this thread for guidance and hopefully a helpful reference for other led entry-level greenhorns. Thank you in advance for any helpful participation.

Here we go:

Diodes:
50 3w red (630nm) diodes
DC forward voltage: 2.4v~2.6v
Forward current: 600~700mA
Angle: 120 degrees

10 3w blue (460nm) diodes
DC forward voltage: 3.2v~3.6v
Forward current: 600~700mA
Angle: 120 degrees

This adds up to a total of:
150w red and 30w blue = 180w mixed before anything else is factored in.

I'd like to run each diode at 2/3 power, so 2w rather than 3w making an estimated true wattage to be 120w.

I plan on running around 10 diodes per driver with a total of 6 drivers. The drivers I found are as follows:
5-32Vdc @ 700mA constant current

Things get hairy for me at this point. Would 6 of those power my series of 10 diodes each? If not, any recommendations? Hell, this could all be completely off for all I know at this point haha. I haven't gotten to the point of heatsinks and fans, but that's the easy stuff for me. I can post links to the parts upon request, just makes things tricky on my phone. Thanks again for taking the time to read/reply.
 
P

PurpleBuz

Well-Known Member
suggest you dump the 630 nm reds and replace them with equivalent wattage of cree or vero 3K cobs. and then add a bunch of 660nm deep reds. I'd match them to the royal blues in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio.
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
PurpleBuz said:
suggest you dump the 630 nm reds and replace them with equivalent wattage of cree or vero 3K cobs. and then add a bunch of 660nm deep reds. I'd match them to the royal blues in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. Will that work with the drivers I found? I guess I'm unsure how to properly select drivers to be compatible with the diodes/cobs.
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
alesh said:
Aiming for around 200W, right?
4x Cree CXB3070 (cheaper, slightly less efficient solution) / CXB3590 (high end) - both top bins in 3000K/3500K/4000K
4x holder
1x Meanwell HLG-185H-C1400 and you're good to go.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. So those 4 cobs would be run in series then off the meanwell? And I assume I'd mix the spectrum between the four? Interesting. I think we need to form a DIY led crash course thread, lots of helpful info here but it's scattered a bit and too much to take in at once. Thanks again!
 
alesh

alesh

Well-Known Member
UncleReemis said:
Thank you for your response. So those 4 cobs would be run in series then off the meanwell? And I assume I'd mix the spectrum between the four? Interesting. I think we need to form a DIY led crash course thread, lots of helpful info here but it's scattered a bit and too much to take in at once. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
I wouldn't mix CCTs, there's no point. You won't gain anything by it. The only difference is ratio of blue.
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Bonjour
You low-budget...
But what is the size of your growbox, how much can you spend, how much do you smoke per month and do you want it for vegging, flowering or both.Then we could help you better
Have a great day ★
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
littlejacob said:
Bonjour
You low-budget...
But what is the size of your growbox, how much can you spend, how much do you smoke per month and do you want it for vegging, flowering or both.Then we could help you better
Have a great day ★
Click to expand...
Hi friend! I'm willing to spend whatever if it's worth it, just figured id go lower budget for my first project. I run a 2x4 tent and I can smoke endlessly :) and it'd be mainly for flowering
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Ok...better now!
So, yes definitely cxb 3590 3500k 36V CD X 4 +hlg 185h-c1400b +4 holders +h.s+fans+few things...about 400 $ max for 200W of the best cob you can buy and the gpw is easy to reach, even more in soil and 2gpw in hydro...
Have a great day ★
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
littlejacob said:
Ok...better now!
So, yes definitely cxb 3590 3500k 36V CD X 4 +hlg 185h-c1400b +4 holders +h.s+fans+few things...about 400 $ max for 200W of the best cob you can buy and the gpw is easy to reach, even more in soil and 2gpw in hydro...
Have a great day ★
Click to expand...
Awesome, thank you again! I'll be sure to post my results in the future. :3
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Bonjour
I agree with canadianOne...
It would be nice with the set up I described in my post,but awesome with 5
Since the hlg 240c-1400b is about to be in shop soon(if it is not now...) you could run 5x3590 on it
Do what you fell...I have a friend who have a 3x3 and he used only 4x3590 @1400mA and he pulled 314g of 6 cheese(dnf) in scrog,soil+coco,blumats in 18L pot.So...
Do you know where to buy it?
Have a great day™
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
littlejacob said:
Bonjour
I agree with canadianOne...
It would be nice with the set up I described in my post,but awesome with 5
Since the hlg 240c-1400b is about to be in shop soon(if it is not now...) you could run 5x3590 on it
Do what you fell...I have a friend who have a 3x3 and he used only 4x3590 @1400mA and he pulled 314g of 6 cheese(dnf) in scrog,soil+coco,blumats in 18L pot.So...
Do you know where to buy it?
Have a great day™
Click to expand...
I don't see it on the Meanwell site yet.. But that's perfect because the min. order for the cobs is 5 where I found them. Then ill pick out 5 sinks, 5 fans...for a power supply, what would you recommend? Or how to wire all of this to a wall plug? I also think I'm going to build an aluminum frame for the sake of wiring simplicity, then fabricate reflectors and a case maybe. Thanks for your help!
 
CanadianONE

CanadianONE

Well-Known Member
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
CanadianONE said:
Arctic Alpine 11Plus CPU Cooler
Rosewill RCX-Z1 CPU Cooler
Rosewill RCX-Z90 CPU Cooler
Mascool 8W2002B1M4

Here are a few options that would work for CPU cooler options. You can have a look at post #4 HERE for a nice clean option for wiring multiple fans to a wall wart.
You can wire all fans to a wall wart or use a small PSU to power them. I think the aluminum frame is a great option to help keep things neat when using multiple CPU coolers.

P.S. All red text are clickable links ;)
Click to expand...
You're awesome, thank you! Yeah I just like the simplicity of the frame design. Idk, the vinyl fence post is intriguing too hehe
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
CanadianONE said:
I am in the process of a build myself (Very slow build lol) But that is what I will be using (Aluminum angle)
Click to expand...
Shweet! Keep us updated on your project for sure, I'm positive myself and other greenhorns could learn a lot from observing your build. My project is gonna take a while too, I'll have to wait for my bonus check then ill order everything at once. I intend on having a clean, smart finished product.
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Bonjour
First i want to tell everyone that it is not an obligation to buy 5 cob from kb.!!!!! I bought myself 4 and a friend bought 2 from jerry...as long as you ask him there is no problem...he know that a lot of growers use only 4, but he start selling from only 1 to 100 and more...i heard so many people saying that moq is 5 and it is not true.
To wire my 12v psu to the driver i put a femelle socket in it and use the wires at the bottom to connect them to the driver ones than to a male socket direct into the wall.
And i use wago for the other connection to keep it simple and easy to handle, cause i have 4 cob on 4 h.s with one driver.
Have a great day ★
 
UncleReemis

UncleReemis

Well-Known Member
littlejacob said:
Bonjour
First i want to tell everyone that it is not an obligation to buy 5 cob from kb.!!!!! I bought myself 4 and a friend bought 2 from jerry...as long as you ask him there is no problem...he know that a lot of growers use only 4, but he start selling from only 1 to 100 and more...i heard so many people saying that moq is 5 and it is not true.
To wire my 12v psu to the driver i put a femelle socket in it and use the wires at the bottom to connect them to the driver ones than to a male socket direct into the wall.
And i use wago for the other connection to keep it simple and easy to handle, cause i have 4 cob on 4 h.s with one driver.
Have a great day ★
Click to expand...
So just to clarify, you use an extension cord? So it goes from driver, to psu, to extension cord to wall? And you cut off the female end of the cord, splice the wires to the psu? Or is it driver to extension cord to wall outlet? Thanks again!!!!
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
It is a switchable 12v psu so to switch on everything together I had to plug into the psu male socket a femelle one to have wire to connect to the driver one than together to extension cord than to the wall.
But there is no problem plugging them separately, a double socket would do the job. It is just "cleaner" .
Have a great day ★
 
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