My First Cree cxa3070

[apoulin]

Yea, I am real interested to see what this single led can do for now. I thought about doing a complete grow with just one to get the process down, but honestly being able to add another for only 15 minutes and $60?!! I figured clones or seedlings would do fine under one for a little while at least, then add at least one more for the first grow. Plus I have thought about buying a couple smaller leds to create a clone box.

I kind of set those two goals for myself for this grow. Get a light/nute/led situation nailed down and get some seedling/clone box ready so I wasn't starting from scratch every time.

So with another light, nutes for this grow, and lights for a seedling/clone box I hope to keep the cost under $100.
I should have everything I need for future grows at that point and would be invested a total of about $200 + seeds purchased a while ago

 

[Goldy]

Yea, I am real interested to see what this single led can do for now. I thought about doing a complete grow with just one to get the process down, but honestly being able to add another for only 15 minutes and $60?!! I figured clones or seedlings would do fine under one for a little while at least, then add at least one more for the first grow. Plus I have thought about buying a couple smaller leds to create a clone box.

I kind of set those two goals for myself for this grow. Get a light/nute/led situation nailed down and get some seedling/clone box ready so I wasn't starting from scratch every time.

So with another light, nutes for this grow, and lights for a seedling/clone box I hope to keep the cost under $100.
I should have everything I need for future grows at that point and would be invested a total of about $200 + seeds purchased a while ago

Yea the price and simplicity of them really can't be beaten. Even more so when you look at comparable panels for sale..just incredible how expensive some of them are.
If you can do all that for under $100 that'd be really well done imo. I always end up spending waay more than I intended lol

 

[apoulin]

I was thinking somewhere along the lines of

GH Flora nutes
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Flora-FloraBloom-FloraMicro/dp/B0024NDVRA/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1422130261&sr=1-3
$39.00

Another LED
same as the one above
$60

Clone/Seedling LED/Driver
undecided on LED/driver combo
$20

5gal DWC bucket w/4 net pots
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Viagrow-Hydroponic-Deep-Water-Culture-Vegetative-System-4-Site-V4DWCV/203124373
$40

So realistically I guess my $100 budget was a little short. More like $160ish, plus $5 odds and ends I am sure. But over the course of a few weeks this should be very easy to manage, even on a college budget!!!

 

[apoulin]

Alright guys update time!!!
I got the led driver in this morning, I was able to put get everything put together and here is what it looks like!

1. Meanwell LED driver out of box
2. My connections, Red/Black DC out to LED and Blue/Brown AC in from plug
3. Soldered 18gauge wire on LED (a little nerve racking since this was my first time)
4. Completely assembled, notice the excess wire not touching the edge of the heatsink .
5. Using an old lamp as a stand for now, I have 7 seeds that I germinated two days ago in the dome

I bought a cheap $15 floor standing lamp at wal-mart a while ago and the bulb holder broke. I re-used the AC plug for the LED driver, I cut about a foot off of the end and used that to connect the LED to the driver and then the remaining portion that had the plug to the AC in on the LED driver.

I found a bag with some seeds that were not labelled, I only ever keep seeds that are worthwhile. So with that being said I took a paper towel and got it wet with warm water, placed the 8 seeds in it and folded it over two times. I then placed it in a ziplock bag and folded it in half, I then placed the bag under my home theater receiver and two days later I had nice 3/4 inch long roots starting to poke through. 7/8 sprouted, I planted all 8 in peat moss pellets until I get my DWC bucket. The bucket will only have 4 pots in it so I may plant the extra seedlings in a small single pot and just have them in the growing area but not a priority.

The heatsink is a little warm but not uncomfortable to touch, the driver is warm but not hot and all of my connections are made with waterproof heatshrunk crimp connectors. I was a little nervous wiring everything up, because #1 I don't want to waste time/money if I break a part #2 I want this to be safe because these lights will be on a lot when I am not home. I am happy to say that all of my connections seem solid, everything seems to be working and I am testing the light out in a couple hour increments while I am home until I feel comfortable leaving it unattended.



The fan is powered by a 12v 1.5a old external hdd adapter I had. I wasn't sure if this would be alright with the fan, but I cut it up and gave it a try and after an hour test everything was still working properly. I crimped the connectors, but made them easy to remove because I wired the fan backwards on purpose. The air blowing out through the fins seemed to keep the heatsink a little cooler than the traditional intake from the fins and exhaust through the top.

 

[nogod_]

Blowing into the heatsink is how the air is supposed to flow. Think blowing on a hot cup of tea vs trying to suck the heat off.

The next lamp is only $60 more...and then youll be set.....no need to buy anything more after that.....

Alright guys update time!!!
I got the led driver in this morning, I was able to put get everything put together and here is what it looks like!

1. Meanwell LED driver out of box
2. My connections, Red/Black DC out to LED and Blue/Brown AC in from plug
3. Soldered 18gauge wire on LED (a little nerve racking since this was my first time)
4. Completely assembled, notice the excess wire not touching the edge of the heatsink .
5. Using an old lamp as a stand for now, I have 7 seeds that I germinated two days ago in the dome

I bought a cheap $15 floor standing lamp at wal-mart a while ago and the bulb holder broke. I re-used the AC plug for the LED driver, I cut about a foot off of the end and used that to connect the LED to the driver and then the remaining portion that had the plug to the AC in on the LED driver.

I found a bag with some seeds that were not labelled, I only ever keep seeds that are worthwhile. So with that being said I took a paper towel and got it wet with warm water, placed the 8 seeds in it and folded it over two times. I then placed it in a ziplock bag and folded it in half, I then placed the bag under my home theater receiver and two days later I had nice 3/4 inch long roots starting to poke through. 7/8 sprouted, I planted all 8 in peat moss pellets until I get my DWC bucket. The bucket will only have 4 pots in it so I may plant the extra seedlings in a small single pot and just have them in the growing area but not a priority.

The heatsink is a little warm but not uncomfortable to touch, the driver is warm but not hot and all of my connections are made with waterproof heatshrunk crimp connectors. I was a little nervous wiring everything up, because #1 I don't want to waste time/money if I break a part #2 I want this to be safe because these lights will be on a lot when I am not home. I am happy to say that all of my connections seem solid, everything seems to be working and I am testing the light out in a couple hour increments while I am home until I feel comfortable leaving it unattended.



The fan is powered by a 12v 1.5a old external hdd adapter I had. I wasn't sure if this would be alright with the fan, but I cut it up and gave it a try and after an hour test everything was still working properly. I crimped the connectors, but made them easy to remove because I wired the fan backwards on purpose. The air blowing out through the fins seemed to keep the heatsink a little cooler than the traditional intake from the fins and exhaust through the top.

 

[apoulin]

Blowing into the heatsink is how the air is supposed to flow. Think blowing on a hot cup of tea vs trying to suck the heat off.

I guess that does make sense

I added a clip on lamp that holds a 100w cool white CFL, it is clipped to the pole right above the LED. I also lowered the LED because the light spread was rather large, the LED sits about 6" away from the top of the planter now.

now we wait.....

 

[tightpockt]

I was thinking somewhere along the lines of

GH Flora nutes
http://www.amazon.com/General-Hydroponics-Flora-FloraBloom-FloraMicro/dp/B0024NDVRA/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1422130261&sr=1-3
$39.00

Another LED
same as the one above
$60

Clone/Seedling LED/Driver
undecided on LED/driver combo
$20

5gal DWC bucket w/4 net pots
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Viagrow-Hydroponic-Deep-Water-Culture-Vegetative-System-4-Site-V4DWCV/203124373
$40

So realistically I guess my $100 budget was a little short. More like $160ish, plus $5 odds and ends I am sure. But over the course of a few weeks this should be very easy to manage, even on a college budget!!!

You're doing it right..start small, work out the kinks and scale up as you see fit..
Just a couple of recommendations. Spend money on a PH and EC meter, don't waste it on "canabis specific" nutes with fancy labels. Actually that was just one suggestion..lol.
Happy growing

 

[nvhak49]

Alright guys update time!!!
I got the led driver in this morning, I was able to put get everything put together and here is what it looks like!

1. Meanwell LED driver out of box
2. My connections, Red/Black DC out to LED and Blue/Brown AC in from plug
3. Soldered 18gauge wire on LED (a little nerve racking since this was my first time)
4. Completely assembled, notice the excess wire not touching the edge of the heatsink .
5. Using an old lamp as a stand for now, I have 7 seeds that I germinated two days ago in the dome

I bought a cheap $15 floor standing lamp at wal-mart a while ago and the bulb holder broke. I re-used the AC plug for the LED driver, I cut about a foot off of the end and used that to connect the LED to the driver and then the remaining portion that had the plug to the AC in on the LED driver.

I found a bag with some seeds that were not labelled, I only ever keep seeds that are worthwhile. So with that being said I took a paper towel and got it wet with warm water, placed the 8 seeds in it and folded it over two times. I then placed it in a ziplock bag and folded it in half, I then placed the bag under my home theater receiver and two days later I had nice 3/4 inch long roots starting to poke through. 7/8 sprouted, I planted all 8 in peat moss pellets until I get my DWC bucket. The bucket will only have 4 pots in it so I may plant the extra seedlings in a small single pot and just have them in the growing area but not a priority.

The heatsink is a little warm but not uncomfortable to touch, the driver is warm but not hot and all of my connections are made with waterproof heatshrunk crimp connectors. I was a little nervous wiring everything up, because #1 I don't want to waste time/money if I break a part #2 I want this to be safe because these lights will be on a lot when I am not home. I am happy to say that all of my connections seem solid, everything seems to be working and I am testing the light out in a couple hour increments while I am home until I feel comfortable leaving it unattended.



The fan is powered by a 12v 1.5a old external hdd adapter I had. I wasn't sure if this would be alright with the fan, but I cut it up and gave it a try and after an hour test everything was still working properly. I crimped the connectors, but made them easy to remove because I wired the fan backwards on purpose. The air blowing out through the fins seemed to keep the heatsink a little cooler than the traditional intake from the fins and exhaust through the top.

How efficient is that driver you think, will it power two cobs you think. Sorry I'm new to this and want to make some too.

 

[apoulin]

How efficient is that driver you think, will it power two cobs you think. Sorry I'm new to this and want to make some too.

From Jameco's website, it says the LPC-60-1400 is 85% efficient @ 1.2A.
From my multimeter readings I am at 1.2A and 37.6V so 45W and the LED has been on all day and the heatsink is still only slightly warm

6/8 of the seeds have broke the soil and started to open up!

Spend money on a PH and EC meter, don't waste it on "canabis specific" nutes with fancy labels.

Ok, are there any meters or nutes that you recommend? This is the first DWC I will be in full control of the nutes and I have been reading a lot about them lately but am still anxious about my first run in hyrdo. I just read a lot of good reviews about the Flora series and it seemed to be a good value compared to other nutes.

 

[nvhak49]

From Jameco's website, it says the LPC-60-1400 is 85% efficient @ 1.2A.
From my multimeter readings I am at 1.2A and 37.6V so 45W and the LED has been on all day and the heatsink is still only slightly warm

6/8 of the seeds have broke the soil and started to open up!



Ok, are there any meters or nutes that you recommend? This is the first DWC I will be in full control of the nutes and I have been reading a lot about them lately but am still anxious about my first run in hyrdo. I just read a lot of good reviews about the Flora series and it seemed to be a good value compared to other nutes.

Sounds awesome dude I might get that same set and put it together too!! Stoked to get it going. You liking it so far? Can you power two cobs with that driver or just onee

 

[apoulin]

Sounds awesome dude I might get that same set and put it together too!! Stoked to get it going. You liking it so far?

I am loving it! I am glad I spent the money on the components that I did, and I am glad I took the time to construct everything properly and safely. I am getting good solid results at the moment and I hope to get them for a long time

The only thing I can say about getting my first one set up and running, is I am just as excited to get another up and running. I hope to order it within the next week or so! I want to get a Cree cxa3070 5000k, probably get the same Jameco LPC-60-1400. I still have plenty of thermal adhesive left over and I just so happen to have another spare lamp lol So far I feel like I am getting a solid bang for my buck.

"For example, at steady-state operation of Tc = 25 °C, IF = 1300 mA, the relative luminous flux ratio is 80% in the chart below. A CXA3070 LED that measures 8500 lm during binning will deliver 6800 lm (8500 * 0.8 at steady-state operation of Tc = 25 °C, IF = 1300 mA."
Straight from Cree data sheet. I am running 1.2A so about 75%. (8500 * 0.75 = 6375lm)

So does this mean I am getting roughly 6300lm with 45w of LED, so am I getting 140lm/w with my current 3070 setup?

 

[nvhak49]

Sounds about right to me but I'm not 100% sure. Pretty awesome results for only one cob.

 

[apoulin]

What about getting 4 Cree cxa1507 5000k LEDs and another LPC-60-1400 LED driver. I was looking on digikey and they didn't have any 3070 5000ks. I want to get some solid 5000k light on them soon, so I was thinking of something relatively cheap but the same solid performance and components.

4 Cree cxa1507 5000k LEDs - (4*$4.76) $19.04
1 LPC-60-1400 LED driver - $17.95
2 Heatsinks (already have) - Free
Plug/Wire (alredy have) - Free

Total - $36.99 + S/H

I was thinking of running 2 cxa1507s on each pc heatsink, running them all in parallel. If my readings and understandings are correct wiring all 4 of the LEDs in parallel will allow them to share the Vf of 37v and divide the 1.4a between the 4 LEDs so each should be getting about 300mA.

"Using the 37-V CXA1507 LED as an example, at steady-state operation of Tc = 55 °C, IF = 300 mA, the relative luminous flux ratio is 140% in the chart below. A CXA1507 LED that measures 710 lm during binning will deliver 994 lm (710 * 1.4) at steady-state operation of Tc = 55 °C, IF = 300 mA."
That is directly from the Cree cxa1507 datasheet.
994lm * 4 LEDs = 3976 lm
Power = Current * Volts
(300mA*37V = 11w)*4 LEDs = 44 Watts total

3976lm/44w = 90lm/w with lights that cost $19.04

All of that is best case scenarios and based on values obtained from data sheet.

 

[apoulin]

Any thoughts on getting the 4 ccxa1507 5000k with my current driver so each should run @ 300mA (1.2A/4=300mA). I thought purchasing the http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2102625_-1 which gives 1.67A constant for the 3070 3000k I just bought would be a nice upgrade since it is running so cool at the moment.

So the (4) 1507's would be running 37v*1.2A = 44.4W
the (1) 3070 would be running 37v*1.67A = 61.8W
for a total of = 106.2W (44.4W in 5000k and 61.8W in 3000k)

 

[SupraSPL]

Yes your math is pretty close. The 8500 lumens is the "minimum" lumens at Tj85C. The "typical" lumens would be about 8750. Also, you are probably running below Tj50C so you get that boost as well. That puts you at 8750 * .75 = 6562lumens/44W= 149lm/W or 45.89% efficient.

That said, the LPC-60-1400 should be putting out very close to 1.4A. Are you able to check how much it is drawing from the wall? Should be about 63W. If it is, then you are dissipating 53W at 43.3% efficient (141lm/W).

The other scenario, CXA1507 X 4 might be even better with the Vero10 ($4.37 ea). The 5000K Vero10 @ 280mA is about 141.5lm/W or 42% efficient. One example, you could run 4 Vero10s in series @280mA with this $8 driver ~89% efficient.

 

[apoulin]

I was hoping you would stop by and comment on the math part SupraSPL. I tried clicking your link for the $8 driver and it didn't work, if it is $8 for the driver and $18 for the lights I might just order it right now

 

[SupraSPL]

link fixed

 

[apoulin]

Are you able to check how much it is drawing from the wall?

I do not have a kill-a-watt meter yet, all I have is a multimeter, all of my connections are solid crimp connections. I thought about replacing them with plug in connectors for easier testing and swapping of components.

Also digikey and mouser do not seem to have a vero 10 5000k in stock if I am not mistaken. Do you have a link for those as well. I checked out the driver and it is $8 for the driver and $2 for 3-5 day shipping! If I can get all of this for roughly $30-35 I will order it as soon as I get the links!

 

[Actionbone]

Yes your math is pretty close. The 8500 lumens is the "minimum" lumens at Tj85C. The "typical" lumens would be about 8750. Also, you are probably running below Tj50C so you get that boost as well. That puts you at 8750 * .75 = 6562lumens/44W= 149lm/W or 45.89% efficient.

That said, the LPC-60-1400 should be putting out very close to 1.4A. Are you able to check how much it is drawing from the wall? Should be about 63W. If it is, then you are dissipating 53W at 43.3% efficient (141lm/W).

The other scenario, CXA1507 X 4 might be even better with the Vero10 ($4.37 ea). The 5000K Vero10 @ 280mA is about 141.5lm/W or 42% efficient. One example, you could run 4 Vero10s in series @280mA with this $8 driver ~89% efficient.

@SupraSPL do you know similar drivers to run 1-2 Vero 10 And 150-300ma?

 

[apoulin]

So I did some more looking around after a good night of sleep and was able to find the LEDs on digikey. I am not sure why I was having issues last night.
So here it is
(4) Vero 10 5000k - (4*$4.37) = $17.48
(1) FastTech LED driver - $8.12

Total = $25.60

I will wire the 4 Vero 10's in series so they will each be consuming roughly 300mA and have a total voltage of (4*26v) 104v applied to the driver whose output ranges from 50-120v. I was thinking of mounting two LEDs per CPU heatsink w/fan mounted on top.

104v * 300mA = 31.2W

So a cxa3070 3000k @ 48W
and (4) Vero 10 5000k @ 31.2W

Total - 79.2W LED

3070 cost - $58
Vero cost - $25.60

Total - $83.60 for 79.2W of LED power @ about 40-45% efficiency. So I am paying about $1.05/watt of power



EDIT:
I also have an arduino uno microcontroller. I have thought about hooking up some sensors for data logging and monitoring. Maybe some light/humidity/nute/fan sensors and then just hook it up to my computer and let it log all of the information.

I have been testing thermistors and photoresistors but have found them to be inaccurate so far. I am thinking about purchasing some higher quality sensors for ease of use, especially in the programming aspect. Any thoughts on this?