DIY led grow

Greengenes707 said:

I am noticing that the cxa's are out stretching the AT's. They are untrained...but I still think there is more stretch from the 3K cxa than the 2800K spectrum blend of the AT. Personally it's the amber and yellow in the 3000K that is similar to hps that I think gives it that growth. AT's are cool white and lack in that area comparatively...but my light will be neutral white so should be closer to the 3000K growth we have been seeing. All in theory of course. We will see soon.

Click to expand...

That's a good way of looking at it gg. I wish I had a computer to run the light spectrum programs...my pad can't do it.

Think that's a good direction your heading. I'm already considering mixing in some cool whites with my 3k cobs. Probably wait until some high bin 4 or 5k become available.

Can almost picture the results you'll get already...should be really good

One note on the pics I posted. The stretched out plant in the front is a random gsc plant a friend gave me..from seeds he made of less than great genetics. Should just pull it out. The other plants have a pretty ideal structure...maybe a bit more node spacing than I'd like to see

Awesome pics! It's like looking at a naked supermodel in a shower!

I have read some gardeners that are opposed to using lime. I have never added it to my Super Soil and I never see any problems. I also run a dash of Cal/mag in all of my waterings. MJ girls cant seem to get enough - especially under LEDs!

Your builds and grows are spectacular!

Are you in CA?

Positivity said:

That's a good way of looking at it gg. I wish I had a computer to run the light spectrum programs...my pad can't do it.

Think that's a good direction your heading. I'm already considering mixing in some cool whites with my 3k cobs. Probably wait until some high bin 4 or 5k become available.

Can almost picture the results you'll get already...should be really good

One note on the pics I posted. The stretched out plant in the front is a random gsc plant a friend gave me..from seeds he made of less than great genetics. Should just pull it out. The other plants have a pretty ideal structure...maybe a bit more node spacing than I'd like to see

Click to expand...

if you want to mix in some cool whites, there was some 65K BB cxa3070s at arrow. crazy lumens, and sure to keep the stretch down. My last grow I mixed in some xml2 cool whites with a heavy red flower mix, and got some frost and color development I haven't seen before.

PurpleBuz said:

if you want to mix in some cool whites, there was some 65K BB cxa3070s at arrow. crazy lumens, and sure to keep the stretch down. My last grow I mixed in some xml2 cool whites with a heavy red flower mix, and got some frost and color development I haven't seen before.

Click to expand...

Thanks purple, I'll have to look into that. Arrow always seems to want a minimum order though. Might go vero but that'll mess up my reflector arrangement. Could just pull the reflectors...not like it matters that much in a enclosed tent.

Mohican said:

Awesome pics! It's like looking at a naked supermodel in a shower!

I have read some gardeners that are opposed to using lime. I have never added it to my Super Soil and I never see any problems. I also run a dash of Cal/mag in all of my waterings. MJ girls cant seem to get enough - especially under LEDs!

Your builds and grows are spectacular!

Are you in CA?

Click to expand...

Hahah...thank god their looking better. It was a mess of yellow locked out leaves for a while.

That's the first time I amended with lime since I originally made the mix years ago. My ph probe was showing low 5s so I made an adjustment to about 6.3. Should have listened to the organic guys...I think their right with letting the soil biology do it's thing. Lots of calcium from other sources...way overkill.

In HI. Finally got a med program..it's the only reason I feel slightly comfortable posting. But I'm no dealer so I pray that's enough to keep me safe. I smoke a lot and like variety..

View attachment 3300665 View attachment 3300666 View attachment 3300667 View attachment 3300666 View attachment 3300667 Genesis (generic) Warm White chip and the other uses a Full Spectrum 400nm- 840nm LED Grow Chip. I'm using 3A current limiting driver boards that run on line voltage and output 30-36 VDC. To drive the 12 volt fans, I'm using 99 cent DC to DC converters (not shown) that scavenge power from the led driver output. I can easily adjust the speed of the fan by turning the voltage up or down via a potentiometer on the DC-DC converter board.

The lights are housed in a couple of old metal kitchen canisters and suspended with chains. I've put a thermal cut off switch (60 C) in series with the on/off switch for safety.

I forgot to highlight or underline the links in the text above. Mouse over the text to see the links to the products used.

How do I put an avatar on this forum?

DIY-HP-LED said:

Hi all, I'm new here. I've just completed a build of two 100 watt LED lights using some of the components shown in the attached photo. One light is a warm white based on a Genesis (generic) Warm White chip and the other uses a Full Spectrum 400nm- 840nm LED Grow Chip. I'm using 3A current limiting driver boards that run on line voltage and output 30-36 VDC. To drive the 12 volt fans, I'm using 99 cent DC to DC converters (not shown) that scavenge power from the led driver output. I can easily adjust the speed of the fan by turning the voltage up or down via a potentiometer on the DC-DC converter board.

The lights are housed in a couple of old metal kitchen canisters and suspended with chains. I've put a thermal cut off switch (60 C) in series with the on/off switch for safety.

View attachment 3300580

Click to expand...

Nice job...you should give these high efficiency cxa/vero chips a try on the next go around.

Would be nice to see how they compare to your multi and warm white setups!

How did you do the hookup on the dc line? That's a interesting configuration...I've been powering other things so I need a dedicated 12v dc psu but I'm sure lots of others would be interested. Actually..I could see utilizing something like that..

Maybe start a new thread?

DIY-HP-LED said:

How do I put an avatar on this forum?

Click to expand...

Go to your profile page in the options, it's somewhere in there..

Here are a few more pictures of the "canister light" on the bench, just before closing up and testing. You can see the small DC to DC converter board mounted on the side of the fan in all the pictures. The driver is mounted on the top of the case and an old PC CPU heat sink and fan cools everything. The LED chip uses a 2" dia. metalized plastic reflector and collimator lens that they claim only absorbs 2% of the light. Readings with a simple plant light meter proved that the lens doubled the light intensity at 3 ft (1M) when compared to the reflector alone. The shape of the intensely bright light cone produced by the reflector/lens is perfectly suited to grow one plant. The light is very penetrating, but I'm gonna use side lighting as well. These types of chips produce between 9000 to 11,000 lumens, one should use sunglasses when working with these because they will dazzle ya. It reminds me of looking at a welding arc!

Do you guys make these Cobb leds for vegging too with the cooler temp lights I been contemplating in making some for either flowering or vegging. It seems pretty easy to do just not sure what to mount them on too?

And here are a few pictures of components and the lights in action.
BTW: Thanks Positivity for the welcome and info.

To draw DC power for the fan, I soldered 2 wires onto the LED terminals leading to the DC to DC voltage converter for the fan. The 100watt LED is supplied by a constant current driver (3A 30-36VDC) that runs on AC line voltage. I haven't measured it yet, but they claim that the chip/driver only consumes 70-80 watts. The major components of the lamp: LED chip, driver and DC to DC converter only cost about $35, most of the rest was scrounged free junk, an old canister set and a scrap PC.

HI! Nice! My Father lived on Maui since 63. He passed a couple of years ago. My daughter is moving over there next spring. I am trying to get Mrs. Mo on board. She wants to live in OR.

Mohican said:

HI! Nice! My Father lived on Maui since 63. He passed a couple of years ago. My daughter is moving over there next spring. I am trying to get Mrs. Mo on board. She wants to live in OR.

Click to expand...

Oregon's got this dispensary in Portland that has the goodies on the main floor and on the second floor, a theater room that comfortably sits ~50 people. The majority of American citizens, who casually smoke pot, have no clue on what their missing out on over on the West coast.

I plan on visiting an ole' friend out in Maui come next year. I've never been there before but it should be a grand time.

Great looking build there Positivity . Nice integration of the components in a pro looking package!

All whites are growing well...plants are healthy and growing quickly.



Chocolope in the back stretched quite a bit but lots of nice looking nodes


Sour diesel ibl

What are your temps like?

Mohican said:

What are your temps like?

Click to expand...

It was running about 92*f with the reds and about 420w power draw. With just the white cobs it's down to 85*f at 450w. Including fans...about 25w of fan power. Actually getting 85*f temps with quarter the fan power. Heatsink is cool to the touch now

It's quite a bit cooler. I need to do some testing on junction and heatsink temps. Not sure if I want to continue with CPU coolers or stay with aluminum heat sinks. The extrusion is performing awesome now that the reds are off...just so darn heavy