fun with smd led strips (5630 and 5050) - in preparation for the 'bucket of light'

So, I found Panelata's thread inspirational and wanted to do some testing of my own. I read from one of Chronikool's posts that there were new 5630 strips available. I took a look around ebay and found that the warm white was much more expensive than cool white. So, because I'm cheap, I bought some cool white 5630's and also some red 5050s. I mentioned in Panelata's thread that I'm considering doing a 'bucket of light' where I line the interior of a 5 gallon bucket with lights. Perhaps I'll split the bucket and hinge it so that it can open clamshell style. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. In the interest of being unique and trying something a little different, check this out:

the 5630's seem significantly brighter than the 5050 reds (no huge surprise). This is a 2:1 red to white by using some small sticky foam bit's to off set the 2 types of strips. I've got a 2:1 white to red made but haven't wired it up yet.

Sweeeet! A 5630 grow! 1st in there.... Nice bruv

Hahaha...'bucket of light'

Digging it. look forward to seeing your progress on this build. I've been interested in the strip lights since finding Panelata's thread, too. Could you also share your wiring methods, and what sort of power supply you end up settling on? Good luck!

While i think your idea is super cool, i worry you'll end up being limited by such a rigid framework..

Also i'd be worried about getting good contact with the bottom of the SMDs (because a bucket has curved sides).

MojoSlim - my soldering skills leave a lot to be desired so I figure I'll be good at basic soldering when I'm done (with all of the practice). If I do a 5 gallon bucket, the circumference is about 18" I think, so the horizontal rings would be about 8" on each half of a split bucket (leaving space for hinges, etc). I haven't decided about ratios and whether I will change the ratio as I go further up/in to the top of the bucket. I'll likely make some switches so i can change it up some on the fly...I am a novice so I'll aim to be flexible. I have a 460W computer power supply that'll more than cover my SMD strip experiments.

SnotBoogie - as stated, I'm going to try and build a little flexibility in via wiring. I built the 2 tiny panels pictured just to see how bright things were and how the colors mixed when I overlay the strips. Doing so, i did get a chance to play with the sticky backing and I think it'll stick to a plastic bucket just fine.

All in all, this is just for fun.... I have this weird desire inside of me to always find simple/cheap ways of doing things. If the results are any good, it might be a good option for single-plant micro grows - who knows. I'm not going into this little experiment expecting anything in particular as outcome.

caretak3r said:

MojoSlim - my soldering skills leave a lot to be desired so I figure I'll be good at basic soldering when I'm done (with all of the practice). If I do a 5 gallon bucket, the circumference is about 18" I think, so the horizontal rings would be about 8" on each half of a split bucket. I haven't decided about ratios and whether I will change the ratio as I go further up/in to the top of the bucket. I'll likely make some switches so i can change it up some on the fly...I am a novice so I'll aim to be flexible. I have a 460W computer power supply that'll more than cover my SMD strip experiments.

SnotBoogie - as stated, I'm going to try and build a little flexibility in via wiring. I built the 2 tiny panels pictured just to see how bright things were and how the colors mixed when I overlay the strips. Doing so, i did get a chance to play with the sticky backing and I think it'll stick to a plastic bucket just fine.

All in all, this is just for fun.... I have this weird desire inside of me to always find simple/cheap ways of doing things. If the results are any good, it might be a good option for single-plant micro grows - who knows. I'm not going into this little experiment expecting anything in particular as outcome.

Click to expand...

Do you have a setup for extremely fine/detailed soldering? The reason I ask, when I work on very very small targets with solder, the 2megapixel 800x digital microscope that plugs into any USB is my go-to. Has a multitude of uses, especially when you're working with potentially expensive electronics that you don't want to short out, and have to rebuild/replace.

I really appreciate the advice - these soldering points are not that small in my opinion - I just suck. I only have to solder 2 wires to 2 pads per strip that I cut. I watched a video on youtube and learned I was doing it all wrong the first time so my next attempt should go better. That said, I'll probably still pick up a little digital microscope as i can think of quite a few uses for it.

Figong said:

Do you have a setup for extremely fine/detailed soldering? The reason I ask, when I work on very very small targets with solder, the 2megapixel 800x digital microscope that plugs into any USB is my go-to. Has a multitude of uses, especially when you're working with potentially expensive electronics that you don't want to short out, and have to rebuild/replace.

Click to expand...

caretak3r said:

I really appreciate the advice - these soldering points are not that small in my opinion - I just suck. I only have to solder 2 wires to 2 pads per strip that I cut. I watched a video on youtube and learned I was doing it all wrong the first time so my next attempt should go better. That said, I'll probably still pick up a little digital microscope as i can think of quite a few uses for it.

Click to expand...

Alrighty, if you want a specific recommendation.. get this model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0U007Y5744&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-Binoculars+%26+Optics-_-9SIA0U007Y5744

runs about 41 bucks + shipping from Newegg, tons of settings on it too and it's 40x~800x .. you can also do videos/tutorials if you wanted, below is the features list from the link:

1. Image sensor: 2Mega Pixels (interpolated to 3MP)
2. Still capture resolution: 1600x1200, 1280x1024, 1280x960, 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480, 352x288, 320x240, 160x120
3. Video capture resolution: 1600x1200, 1280x1024, 1280x960, 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480, 352x288, 320x240, 160x120
4. Focus Range: from 10mm to 250mm
5. Frame Rate: Max 30f/s under 600 Lus Brightness
6. Magnification Ratio: 40x to 800x
7. Video format: AVI
8. Photo format: JPEG or BMP
9. Light source: 8 LED (adjustable by control wheel)
10. PC interface: USB2.0
11. Power source: 5V DC from USB port
12. Operation system: Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000, Mac OS X 10.5 or above
13. OSD language: English, German, Spanish, Korean, French, Russian
14. Bundle software: MicroCapture with measurement & calibration function
15. Size: 125mm (L) x 33mm (R)
16. System Requirement Pentium Computet with 700M Hz &Above, 20M HD Space CD ROM Measure Tool: Micro-Measure (It can measure Length and diameters, angle, the perimeter, area, etc)
17. Color: Black

Package Includes:
1 x USB Microscope
1 x Tripod
1 x Driver

Good luck, and if you do manage to get this one or one like it, show us what you're doin' We like details and videos

wired up 2nd test panel, this one 2:1 white to red. Did much better on soldering, besides learning general proper technique, the key thing is rigging something up to hold 2 things in place while you hold solder in one hand and the iron in the other. I need to buy one of those soldering clamp stands.

So, here is the 2:1 white to red, and then both test panels lit at the same time.



My general observation is that i think the 5630s get warmer but they seem to draw a little less power. Thinking through the fan situation and needing to run some air on these strips, I probably need to make a decent hole in the bucket for air to pass through. My 12v power supply with no load on it was pulling 12W. With 5M of 5630 (300 LEDs) it pulled an additional 50W. 5M of 5050 Reds (300 LEDs) pulled 58W. I don't know what the efficiency is of the power supply exactly, I think something like 70+%

I looked up dimensions on a 5 gallon bucket again -- what I said earlier was completely wrong. Using home depot's 5G as reference, the diameter is 11.75", so the circumference will be (3.14 x 11.75) = 36.9".

Here's what I'm leaning toward
Horizontal Rows in Red, Red, White pattern (2:1 Red to White)
Vertical Rows of White

I did a bunch of calculations and given this configuration and some switches installed, I would have the following options available (estimated number of LEDs in parenthesis:

all horizontal (no vertical) on = 2:1 red:white (672:336)

1/2 horizontal red + horizontal white (no vertical) = 1:1 (336:336)
all horizontal + verticals = close to 1:1 (672:624)

horizontal red (no horizontal white) + vertical white = close to 3:1 (672:28
1/2 horizontal red + horizontal white + vertical white = close to 1: 2 (336:624)

Is it true that these Cool White LEDs are really blue with phosphorus coating? If that's the case, anyone know what difference, if any, this makes to the plant (cool white vs. blue)? I may bite the bullet and buy a roll of warm white 5630s even though they cost more than double CW. thoughts or advice?

^^^Caretak3r there are quite a few ways to make white leds and a blue led (or pump) with a phosphor coating of 2 or 3 colors is one way to make Cool, Neutral and even Warm whites. That's why it's important to get spectral data from the manufacturer for whites.

FranJan said:

^^^Caretak3r there are quite a few ways to make white leds and a blue led (or pump) with a phosphor coating of 2 or 3 colors is one way to make Cool, Neutral and even Warm whites. That's why it's important to get spectral data from the manufacturer for whites.

Click to expand...

these are super cheap straight from china - not sure there's any way to find out. Guess we'll just see how the plants respond.

If it's cheap Chinese: WW is probably ~455nm with a Yellow phosphor, NW is probably ~445nm with Green phosphor, CW is probably ~455nm with Green phosphor. I'd use Cool White's as Blue, Warm Whites as Yellow, with Reds/Deep Reds providing primary ps action.

I'm afraid you're going to outgrow the bucket, or am I thinking of this wrong? And how will you exchange the air around the plants? Again, am I thinking of this wrong?

Thanks for the info Bumping Sheda. I've got 4 strands of red 5050s, 3 strands of CW 5630s, and 2 WW 5630s on their way. I won't be using them all on this one project obviously. I'm going to do an under-the-counter light for my wife's savory herbs.

My concept is evolving some -- after thinking about air flow I realized that I'd have to cut a large hole in the bucket at a minimum -- that more or less makes it into a pipe. I may have to go with my original idea and call it a 'circle of light', or even better -- the light pipe

Now thinking along the lines of a pipe of light, if I were to need to supplement something warm white from the top opening, what would you suggest? Some kind of e27 bulb?

Use a garbage can ala "trailer park boys".......

getting started

caretak3r said:

getting started
View attachment 2583799View attachment 2583800

Click to expand...

I love how 5Gal buckets get re-purposed for so many things. I just turned some into carbon filters, and I have a couple other projects to use them for.

Now that's lots of lights -- hours of soldering in my future I left a slot for the warm whites to backfill later if desired.

soldering-
I figured out a good method - I drilled small holes through the bucket near the strip leads. This allowed me to poke the wires through, bend them, and put tension on the wire so it is held in place while I hold solder and the iron. This is actually quite easy.

I had some old solid core cat5 wire that I pulled apart to use for this project. This gives me 4 different colored sets of wire which actually works well in this case so I can keep my light wiring color coded. I've got to get the rest of my wire ready and I'll finish up the job.

A quick note -- while I still like this idea fine, it occurred to me it would have been easier to use poster board and just bend/wrap as needed Oh well, I'm sure the more solid plastic structure will buy me something.