Veg light for 2.5x2.5 tent help!

tincdink

tincdink

Member
nfhiggs said:
Nope. I put them on 3/4 aluminum c channel or .601 profile heatsinks and they work just fine, they barely get warm.
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Thanks for the comeback. I guess Q boards and light strips will be the choice for the future. Amazing developments in lighting, no?
 
mauricem00

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Garythegoose said:
Well not really, my two cmh lights live in the flower tent full time. I need an entire new light for the veg tent. My options are to either buy another cmh kit, or build an led. This thread is me trying to find a suitable led light.
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if you are going to build a light try 5000k bridgelux eb strips. it is the least expensive way to go for a high quality light. I am currently testing a 7 strip 4000 k light in a 2ft by 2 ft flowering area. with a home made driver it only cost me $65 to build and puts out 17400 lumens while drawing 112 watts from the wall. I am testing it on a white widow and it seems to work as well in flowering as my 150 watt HPS lamp. I still prefer T5s for vegging and T5s or CMH for flowering because they give me a little better taste and potency but you can build a good LED for that area without spending several hundred dollars. these bridgelux eb strips are as efficient as any COB on the market and give more uniform light distribution. I still need to place my light atleast 16 inches above the plant to prevent "light stress" or burning. hope this was helpful.
 
SunPlix CMH

SunPlix CMH

Well-Known Member
Garythegoose said:
I want to build a light for a 2.5x2.5 tent for veg only, not flowering, just veg. I've read endless threads and keep coming up with different answers, some people say 100w is enough, others say 250w, even read 300w. So I need to put this to bed, I don't want to buy some piece of shit light and end up messing around making it bigger later on, but also I don't want to throw money down the drain building a big light which I end up using a fraction of its capability.

I've got a flower tent with 2 315w cmh lamps in it, my plan is to veg under led for 4 weeks, then move to the flower room. I want a light which I can dim right down for the seedling stage, then ramp up for veg, being as efficient as possible, I'd like to achieve vigorous growth like I get under my cmh light during veg but not run at 315w!

There's so much I don't get about which things to buy, so if you can point at exactly what I need and how to wire it up ,that'd be top banana!
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This is an option: https://www.sunplix.com/product/400w-knob-dimming-low-frequency-cmh-grow-light-fixture/
 
G

Garythegoose

Member
I've never been sure of dimming HID lights, they are designed to run at a certain wattage, running them at a lower wattage changes the spectrum. I'd rather run a cmh at 315w or not at all. I'm looking to build an led light for veg only that will run at half the wattage of a cmh to save money on electricity
 
SunPlix CMH

SunPlix CMH

Well-Known Member
Garythegoose said:
I've never been sure of dimming HID lights, they are designed to run at a certain wattage, running them at a lower wattage changes the spectrum. I'd rather run a cmh at 315w or not at all. I'm looking to build an led light for veg only that will run at half the wattage of a cmh to save money on electricity
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I have never heard that LED runs at half the wattage of a CMH.
 
G

Garythegoose

Member
Correct, I don't need 315w of light for vegging 4 plants, the first couple of weeks from seed I'll have the light dimmed right down, then crank it up to ~150w from there.
 
Humple

Humple

Well-Known Member
Garythegoose said:
Correct, I don't need 315w of light for vegging 4 plants, the first couple of weeks from seed I'll have the light dimmed right down, then crank it up to ~150w from there.
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You're absolutely correct; you don't need anything near 315 watts for a 2.5x2.5. I grow in 31"x31" tents, so nearly the same space you're dealing with. I have never needed to run my lights higher than 150w in veg, and I get very rapid, healthy growth (provided the other factors - such as temp and humidity - have been dialed in).
 
Chip Green

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
Right, so some growers use lights that produce enough photon output, in the correct PAR range, to produce fantastical frost laden flowers, with GPW yields upwards of 1.5, over larger footprints, for 30% less energy consumed, than many traditional horticultural lighting sources.....
 
G

Garythegoose

Member
Right, I've got my strips, I've got my driver, I've made a frame of aluminium box section.

Now, how do I stick the strips to the aluminium? I was going to drill holes and screw them down, but I don't think that'll work, I'll definitely fuck that up like whenever I try to drill holes for a hinge, they always go slightly off centre. I've looked for thermal tape and I'd have to order it from China, which will take ages. Is there something I can use to get this damn thing built so I can carry on with my life.
 
nfhiggs

nfhiggs

Well-Known Member
Garythegoose said:
Right, I've got my strips, I've got my driver, I've made a frame of aluminium box section.

Now, how do I stick the strips to the aluminium? I was going to drill holes and screw them down, but I don't think that'll work, I'll definitely fuck that up like whenever I try to drill holes for a hinge, they always go slightly off centre. I've looked for thermal tape and I'd have to order it from China, which will take ages. Is there something I can use to get this damn thing built so I can carry on with my life.
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JB Weld with a little Arctic Silver paste works fantastic. I spread it super thin using a toothpick. You could even use the JB Weld by itself.
 
G

Garythegoose

Member
All good in the hood!

I found some thermal tape at a local computer shop, spent the last couple of hours putting it all together, now I've got a nice bright, low power veg light! :bigjoint:

Say hello to the girls - pineapple express #2, purps #1, franco's lemon cheese, and LSD seedlings.
Also a peek in the flower room- cinderella XX, candida CD1, chocolate Mint OG, 707 headband.

Many thanks to you all for the advice, much appreciated :peace:

Edit: oh yeah, that top sticking up in the middle is an auto I started which was meant to go outdoors, but I never got round to taking her out so she's just going to stand there in the middle like a giraffe!
 

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