DIY 4x12 3500K/5000k lm561c two channel board

VegasWinner

Well-Known Member
VegasWinner do you have any experience with 6500k led grows?

About to place my next Alibaba order for some 4,000k, 5,000k and 6,500k strips.
I have mixed 3000k and 5000k and 3500k and 5000k. the 3500/5000 is a little bluer for more stacking. I imagine the 6500K provides more stacking during flower. I thinkj the 6500K can be a good veg and mix with some 2700K or 3000K for some real nice mixed spectrum.
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
I have mixed 3000k and 5000k and 3500k and 5000k. the 3500/5000 is a little bluer for more stacking. I imagine the 6500K provides more stacking during flower. I thinkj the 6500K can be a good veg and mix with some 2700K or 3000K for some real nice mixed spectrum.

Order has been placed, i'll be playing with 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, and 6,500 strips.
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
Switching is easier said than done. Each strip is ran at 48V+/-, and I have had limited luck finding a cost effective 48V+ DC switch (1000 watt fixture runs 20 strips with how I drive them).

For now I will be running multiple power supplies, but would prefer to run single power supply with switches to A: reduce cost of power supply, and B: the higher output power supplies run more efficient than their smaller counter parts.

Know a good source for cost effective higher voltage DC switches?
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
For those not in the know, DC fucks up switches by arcing. A switch that may be rated for high AC voltages and currents might only be good for a few hundred mA at say 30VDC. It will work a few times but will suffer an early death.
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
For those not in the know, DC fucks up switches by arcing. A switch that may be rated for high AC voltages and currents might only be good for a few hundred mA at say 30VDC. It will work a few times but will suffer an early death.
Yup...its fun when an arc weld happens and things go south....
 

VegasWinner

Well-Known Member
Switching is easier said than done. Each strip is ran at 48V+/-, and I have had limited luck finding a cost effective 48V+ DC switch (1000 watt fixture runs 20 strips with how I drive them).

For now I will be running multiple power supplies, but would prefer to run single power supply with switches to A: reduce cost of power supply, and B: the higher output power supplies run more efficient than their smaller counter parts.

Know a good source for cost effective higher voltage DC switches?
If your strip is 48v wire them in parallel. Parallel wiring adds current, while series wiring adds volts. Ex. You have a 48v. Three strips = 144v enough Forward Volts to fill a HLG-185H-C1400B MW driver available from TRCelectgronics for like $36-$42. So three strips wired in series, one to the next, will run the diodes at 100%, when you want to run them at around 150mA vice 200mA. Add up the amps. With just one strip it will be 200mA to lower amps we need to add parallel strings that are also three strips long, as well. So now we have to take the current available from the driver 1400mA. With one string all 1400mA will go one string. BAD. 200mA max current flow. The minimum rows you should use is seven rows. 7 x 200mA = 1400mA. However you want to drive them closer to 150mA . So we divide 1400/150 and we get 9.3. SO let's say 8 rows is 1600mA we would divied 1400/1600 and get .875 * 200mA and we get 175mA. That is about 180lm/w. Not bad. you can do better by adding another row setting the current flow at 1800mA which is .78 * 200mA = 155mA. The sweet spot. You will also have a large amount of diodes spread over a fairly tight area like this diy build using a HLG-185H-C1400B driver 200w.
Hope this helps in your build.
DIY7.jpg
 

tekmunki

Active Member
Switching is easier said than done. Each strip is ran at 48V+/-, and I have had limited luck finding a cost effective 48V+ DC switch (1000 watt fixture runs 20 strips with how I drive them).

For now I will be running multiple power supplies, but would prefer to run single power supply with switches to A: reduce cost of power supply, and B: the higher output power supplies run more efficient than their smaller counter parts.

Know a good source for cost effective higher voltage DC switches?
Use a relay pretty easy to find DC rated ones well over 3amps switching capable. This one might work I didn't go over the datasheet but the specs offhand look like it would 120vDC 3A 72W max is more than enough to turn off individual strips if you wanted to do more than one I'm sure you could find a higher rated one on Digikey or whatever.
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
That would make sense if I had constant current drivers, but I only have constant voltage supplies.

All panels I build are wired in parallel to a constant voltage power supply.

My strips are 160 led (16S10P) driven at .1 amps (48 watts), which gives me roughly 8500lm per strip.

The panel I have posted in another thread had 10 strips, 85000lm (ran at 182lm/W)

Next fixture will be 20 strips, 10 @ 3,000k, 3@4000, 3@5000, 4@6500. This will be powered by two cheap chinese constant voltage power supplies. This will pull a little over 1,000 watts at the wall ran at .1 amps, or I wire up 4 power supplies and run them at .2 amps per strip (almost 2000 watts :) ) out of a 3x3 light fixture (320,000 lumens)
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
Use a relay pretty easy to find DC rated ones well over 3amps switching capable. This one might work I didn't go over the datasheet but the specs offhand look like it would 120vDC 3A 72W max is more than enough to turn off individual strips if you wanted to do more than one I'm sure you could find a higher rated one on Digikey or whatever.
Haven't looked into relay costs, that might be an option. Would want to keep relay + switch under $.50 per strip controlled or it would not make financial sense for the build.
 

tekmunki

Active Member
Haven't looked into relay costs, that might be an option. Would want to keep relay + switch under $.50 per strip controlled or it would not make financial sense for the build.
That'll make it tough those cheap relay boards all over ebay are only rated up to 30vdc from what i've seen which is pretty standard, can't say I've seen a 48vdc+ relay cheaper than $1.50 unless you're buying in bulk.
 

conversekidz

Well-Known Member
That'll make it tough those cheap relay boards all over ebay are only rated up to 30vdc from what i've seen which is pretty standard, can't say I've seen a 48vdc+ relay cheaper than $1.50 unless you're buying in bulk.
Yes, that has been one of the limiting factors of this design.

For every add of an electrical component that is required for operation, the life cycle calculations go out the window. Same goes for when you have active cooling vs passive cooling.

Longevity forecast/calculations are fun.
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
Here's a few pics of the CBD Crews CBD Critical Mass.
It sez in the blurb.... Grows like a sativa with the buds of an indica.
We'll see..... lol
I've 2 going in flower now, in 3 gal UK builders buckets in bio bizz light mix, sand, vermiculite and perlite. Usual tomato food.
One is around 4 inches taller than the other but they have the same shape, leaves.
They seem to be shaping up nicely tho. I kept a clone of each one, just in case.20180208_191609.jpg 20180208_191620.jpg 20180208_191651.jpg 20180208_193400.jpg 20180208_193722.jpg 20180208_194357.jpg
Sensi Star 2 in the background
 

Moflow

Well-Known Member
I got some 93 proof homemade alcohol and I am in the process of making some tincture.
I had to top it up with a drop of vodka and gin lol... not much though.
70g of sugary trim and popcorn, 3 Sensi star2 and a wappa.
I'm gonna leave it one month.
I used a decarboxulator for the weed/trim.20180201_132805.jpg 20180201_132956.jpg 20180201_133706.jpg 20180201_134449.jpg
If it doesn't get you stoned it'll get you sloshed!
 

VegasWinner

Well-Known Member
looking good @Moflow nice grow. I have no complaints myself either.
I have added some Deep red and Royal Blue 10w cobs from ebay with Vf of 8v-10v using an lpc-60-1050 driver for some additional red/blue mix.
 

VegasWinner

Well-Known Member
If you are running them around 100w each board, you can wire two channels in parallel,and than wire two boards in series to run just one 185H-C1050B driver and get even more lumens. That is what I am doing. 200w total power is better than 100w each. check it out. It also saves half the power consumption. Wired this way, I run a 2x4 area with just 300w of total power demand from the wall.
 
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