DIY LED Grow Light Vero 18 (Economy light)

SomeGuy said:

I think my meter is inaccurate. But still there is about 500-650w of just lighting in the tent. 2x4x5. so 40sqft. at 600w thats 15w per sqft. However.. the lights are probably used in half of that space so its probably 30w or so per sqft in there.

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is that 40 sq feet of volume not surface area?

^^^ what hyroot said

you're thinking cubic feet. (one of the ways) light is measured is in w/sq ft, not w/cubic ft.

your right.. thats volume. right now though lights are 12" off the screen. so 2x4x1... 8 cubic feet between light and screen. I guess that is some light intensity right there... LOL about 75w psqft at that calculation.

SomeGuy said:

your right.. thats volume. right now though lights are 12" off the screen. so 2x4x1... 8 cubic feet between light and screen. I guess that is some light intensity right there... LOL about 75w psqft at that calculation.

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your math makes cubic feet, not square feet.

2' x 4' x 1' = cubic feet. see how feet is the unit of measure on all three? when we multiply feet x feet x feet we get cubic feet.

I should mention that I have been supplementing with Calcium-Magnesium heavily. At least way more than I ever do with hps. Feeding alot of micro N also.

i had to make a calcium heavy soil mix when i switched to LED as well, but i ran red/blue/white panels.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/nutrients-for-soil-grows.717610/page-26#post-10886674

yea. I know I was looking at cubic feet.

You cant really look at it without looking at the distance of the fixture from the screen. You lose alot every inch they are away in regards to lumens. But that is really more concerned with light intensity that watts.

So yes for just the sqftg of the tent that is quite a bit of watt dissipation. However... it seems to produce even less heat than my 400w hps that was in there.

I should post here about this BTW!. I would NOT get closer than 10-12" with these cobs. Initially I had them low and the plants got a little light sick. raised up and it went away. I made the mistake of thinking these were like flouros... they are not. You can burn and bleach with these lights. this happened before I flipped and cost me about a week of growth since they completely stopped while the lights were too close (7-8").

you would lose a lot (to the tune of the inverse square law), if the 2x4
space was in an open room with no walls on the outer edge of the grow.

having reflective walls on the outside minimizes loss from distance, by
a great deal. it takes away the hot spots in the center and makes for
a more even canopy.

yea I count on the reflective light! I prefer enclosed spaces for that reason as well as concealment. I wish I had discovered tents a little sooner... LOL!

Girls look amazing SG! You should be working for NASA!

^^^^^^^^^ its MASA now

SomeGuy said:

Then I prep the heat-sink for the cob. First I find where I want to place the cob on the heat-sink and mark the mounting holes:
View attachment 3244776

then I CAREFULLY and SLOWLY drill out the holes enough for the screws. Normally you would need to apply a thermal paste but it was already applied to these at the factory and I chose to just go with it. It has worked great for the other two light bars I built.
View attachment 3244777

Then.. with some small amount of pressure adhere the cob to the sink and evenly tighten down the two mounting screws:
View attachment 3244778


Here they are... 4 x 2700k vero-18 cobs ready for the drivers and bar.

View attachment 3244779

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Where does one find those heat sink/fan combo units?

PC supply parts.

Search arctic alpine 11 plus cpu cooler for a well made combo.

DonPetro said:

Where does one find those heat sink/fan combo units?

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Found the link. Thanks. Those units just seem like they are made for DIY LEDs.

@SomeGuy makes it look easy!

OK... I separated the power wires and measured again. the 3cob bars are a little over 150w and the 4 bar is just about 190w. (at-the-plug) The actual dissipated watts at the light source is probably less due to driver inefficiency. The new measurements seem way more correct since the drivers are 50w. So in that 2x4 space I have about 500w. so... 62w per sq ft. I think these could cover a 3x4 tent easily. maybe a 4x4.

I am excited to post the weekly update this friday. The growth is amazing. Ive had to just let them go vertical off the screen at this point. I usually do this after week two. The growth was more than I anticipated.

FYI, measurements include fans as part of the power consumption.

indianajones said:

you would lose a lot (to the tune of the inverse square law), if the 2x4
space was in an open room with no walls on the outer edge of the grow.

having reflective walls on the outside minimizes loss from distance, by
a great deal. it takes away the hot spots in the center and makes for
a more even canopy.

Click to expand...

inverse square law. - the cobs are a single point of light. not linear like t5's. so you do want the cobs further away.