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DIY LED FIXTURE

Guillo1 said:
yea, thats the driver I'm using. I bought it from another place online and only payed like $25 per driver. This one is dimmable you can also get the non-dimmable one.

here are a few different ways of wiring the LEDs. With that driver you can run 24 leds per driver.
Led-Lights-Chart-12-small.jpg

Led-Lights-Chart-2-lines-12-small.jpg

Led-Lights-Chart-3-lines-12-small.jpg
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Dude Guillo, with the info you have provided and these diagrams and everything. If you put up some links to where you got some of the hardware this could probably be one of the best LED DIY guides on the net right now. Very nicely done man.

How much do you think you spent on each one of these that you have made? Total cost start to finish?
 
I've been working on a DIY LED build on my own (inspired by guillo), so I thought I'd post it here in case it can help someone:

Post about cooling:
http://hrafnkell.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/diy-3w-led-grow-light-cooling/

Post about the LEDs and distributing the light evenly:
http://hrafnkell.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/diy-3w-led-grow-light-led-distribution/

Parts list:
http://hrafnkell.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/3w-led-grow-light-parts-list-and-cost/

Mounting the LEDs to the heatsink:
http://hrafnkell.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/diy-3w-led-grow-light-attaching-the-leds/

Thoughts and troubleshooting info:
http://hrafnkell.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/diy-3w-led-grow-light-thoughts/

What my build looks like right now:
tNMdal.jpg


I'll be writing at least a couple of more posts as I finish my build.

I hope this helps those who want to build something like this :)
 
kev82 said:
I've been working on a DIY LED build on my own (inspired by guillo), so I thought I'd post it here in case it can help someone:

Post about cooling:
http://hrafnkell.wor...-light-cooling/

Post about the LEDs and distributing the light evenly:
http://hrafnkell.wor...d-distribution/

Parts list:
http://hrafnkell.wor...-list-and-cost/

Mounting the LEDs to the heatsink:
http://hrafnkell.wor...ching-the-leds/

Thoughts and troubleshooting info:
http://hrafnkell.wor...light-thoughts/

What my build looks like right now:
tNMdal.jpg


I'll be writing at least a couple of more posts as I finish my build.

I hope this helps those who want to build something like this :)
Click to expand...
Man that DIY came out really nice. Did you put some fans on the top to keep it cool?
 
I haven't got a chance to finish the build completely, but I did run the LEDs for about 30 minutes and the heat sink got quite warm. It looks like I'm going to have to add 1-2 120mm fans to make sure the LEDs last long.

I'll probably be updating my blog when I finish the build and probably adding some growth pics over the next few months.
 
kev82 said:
I've been working on a DIY LED build on my own (inspired by guillo), so I thought I'd post it here in case it can help someone:

Post about cooling:
http://hrafnkell.wor...-light-cooling/

Post about the LEDs and distributing the light evenly:
http://hrafnkell.wor...d-distribution/

Parts list:
http://hrafnkell.wor...-list-and-cost/

Mounting the LEDs to the heatsink:
http://hrafnkell.wor...ching-the-leds/

Thoughts and troubleshooting info:
http://hrafnkell.wor...light-thoughts/

What my build looks like right now:
tNMdal.jpg


I'll be writing at least a couple of more posts as I finish my build.

I hope this helps those who want to build something like this :)
Click to expand...

Hell yea man. That's what i'm talking about! How much do you think you spent total on yours so far? The main reason i ask is because there is a good light out there that i should have in a couple days, I'm actually getting 4 of them. That cost around $450 each. It covers a 3x3 area and uses 5w LED's. I'm wondering comparably how much cheaper it is to build your own as opposed to buying one. I may very well build one anyways just for the fun of it tho. :D
 
sosl0w said:
Hell yea man. That's what i'm talking about! How much do you think you spent total on yours so far? The main reason i ask is because there is a good light out there that i should have in a couple days, I'm actually getting 4 of them. That cost around $450 each. It covers a 3x3 area and uses 5w LED's. I'm wondering comparably how much cheaper it is to build your own as opposed to buying one. I may very well build one anyways just for the fun of it tho.
icon_mrgreen.gif
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cost is probably around 250... but im in iceland si this can probably be done cheaper elsewhere
 
Ive enjoyed reading this thread, very informative & nice work guys.

Newb question here, if i wanted to just put a small panel above my small propagator sitting on a heat mat, purely for sprouting and say a week or two`s growing, what color LED`s would suit me? just blue or a mix still?

And are these cheapy ones here sufficient for the task?

Cheers,

Mezo.
 
I have two of those but with mixed spectrum. They'll keep your plants happy. Mine tend to get leggy under them so I use them to suplement my flouros.
 
scratchzilla said:
I have two of those but with mixed spectrum. They'll keep your plants happy. Mine tend to get leggy under them so I use them to suplement my flouros.
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Thanks for that, so there not a gimmick they really are grow panels then? im lucky where i live i can sprout & grow outdoors most of the year but i wanted to make a small setup for superhot`s as they tend to need a little extra to get them going in winter.

Mezo.
 
I'm going to attempt a DIY myself, pretty similar to yours. How much thermal adhesive do you recon I need? How much you spent on your lights?
 
Hello,

I'm new to hydroponics, but have some basic electronics skills. I'd love to put together a DIY Led panel much the way you have done.

I've researched 3W LEDs only to find a very broad selection out there. I'm working on narrowing in on a couple of specific models to choose from.

I read you obtained yours from China. May I ask which manufacturer/model you got? Did you get your lenses from the same source?

If you would prefer to PM those to me, that's fine, of course!

Thanks in advance,

Ron
Montreal
 
presse55 said:
I read you obtained yours from China. May I ask which manufacturer/model you got? Did you get your lenses from the same source?

If you would prefer to PM those to me, that's fine, of course!

Thanks in advance,

Ron
Montreal
Click to expand...

I, too, would love to get your sources for the actual bulbs. I've found Red and Blue 3w diodes (at 660nm and 455nm respectively) for $10.99 for 10 on ebay. I know LEDs can be expensive, just wondering if yours were any cheaper.
 
It's not a gimmick... My growth rates have been extremely good, no legginess, nice green plants... Here's a pic I just took:
K0ggVl.jpg

vkHRRl.jpg


I have waaaayy too much lettuce!
 
Those plants look great! I actually ordered the parts to build a 45w LED fixture after seeing this thread a few weeks ago. I went with the following parts:

1x Constant Current LED Driver - $15
2x 3W Warm White LED - $1.29 each
3x 3w 450nm Blue LED - $1.29 each
10x 3w 660nm Red LED $1.05 each

So far only the reds have showed up but hopefully the rest will be here by the end of the month. I plan on mounting them to some 1/8 aluminum I picked up dirt cheap at a nearby hardware store that was closing down.

Happy days and thanks!
 
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