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

One side wired and I finally get to test fire the 1st half:



it's quite bright! KillAWatt says 126W (power supply with zero load shows nearly 12W)
Posted this on PetFlora's thread - picked up a few CREE 10W warm whites from Home Depot on his recommendations. Took off the diffuser, wrapped the dangerous bits with electrical tape, and made a reflector with tin tape:


I've since shortened the reflector and changed to angle to 80-90 degrees (again at PetFlora's recommendation). I'm considering using one of these to shine warm light from the topside of the bucket-o-light

Got the 2nd half wired - yes I know there are a few strands out on the pic. The pic doesn't do it justice in terms of how bright it is. I wanted to make note for anyone else that might be trying this on their own. Just for a test, I connected all of my light wiring to the same set of leads coming out of the atx power supply. So, we're talking about ~250W on some pretty small gauge wire. I'm pretty confident that the power supply can handle the full load fine on 1 12V rail (I have read the docs to determine which wires are on which rail as I intend to run multiple panels on 1 power supply), however I wouldn't recommend anyone try to pull this kind of power on a single set of small wires They get hot fast.


I should have a plant ready to throw under it shortly - just determining what setup to use for the amount of room I have.

I didn't measure draw on the killawatt when I tested above, however I'm guessing it'll be ~250W... I thought to double check my statement above about the one 12v rail being OK and i think I'm wrong:

A = W/V so
250W / 12V = 20.8 Amps

These 12V rails are rated for 18.5A so I should probably split across the 2 rails OR disable a few strips.

caretak3r said:

I didn't measure draw on the killawatt when I tested above, however I'm guessing it'll be ~250W... I thought to double check my statement above about the one 12v rail being OK and i think I'm wrong:

A = W/V so
250W / 12V = 20.8 Amps

These 12V rails are rated for 18.5A so I should probably split across the 2 rails OR disable a few strips.

Click to expand...

Just because you are drawing ~250W does not mean your supplies are putting out 20.8A (heat losses, etc)
Although, you are pushing the limits of its design... I'd recommend splitting it up.
I also assume by rails you mean drivers, correct? What are you using as a driver anyway? I didn't see that in the thread...

heckler73 said:

Just because you are drawing ~250W does not mean your supplies are putting out 20.8A (heat losses, etc)
Although, you are pushing the limits of its design... I'd recommend splitting it up.
I also assume by rails you mean drivers, correct? What are you using as a driver anyway? I didn't see that in the thread...

Click to expand...

It's a 460W computer/atx power supply - it's got 2 12V rails and in the documentation, it spells out which wires are on which rail. I got it on sale with a rebate for like $15 so it's a pretty inexpensive way to provide a decent amount of power.

In other news, my 5630 warm whites came in today. I'll add them to the mix and snap another shot sometime this week. Hopefully I'll have a good rooted clone to throw under it soon and we can let the fun begin.

250W over like a 1'x1' area, right? Not to get too technical on y'all, but that's like.. a shit-ton, no?

Bumping Spheda said:

250W over like a 1'x1' area, right? Not to get too technical on y'all, but that's like.. a shit-ton, no?

Click to expand...

Still laughing over that one. 1st, yes and yes, although it's hinged so I can crack it open and also have the option to open it wide into a M shape and hang it that way. I'm wiring so I can turn off sections of light - I wanted my starting point to be as-much-as-possible with the ability to scale down. As is, with 4 5M strips, I've only got about $65 in lights and $15-20 in the power supply. I've got to add a few fans (let's say $20) and the bucket was $4 or so. So we're talking the $100 range for more 250W+. The prevailing thought is that these lights don't penetrate - so I figured I'd see what happens if I surrounded the plant, knowing that the cost of the lights themselves is not cost prohibitive.

LOL!!!
I like your pluck.


I dub your invention the "Bonsai Bud Bucket"
Go forth and proliferate...

Forgot to mention - Another plus if this thing works out. I'm making a veg panel as well and planning to run them both on the same power supply.

To make that happen, i bought some programmable 12V timers @ $10 each off of ebay. The 12V timers are rated @ 16A so that may be a limiting factor.

Doh, i just realized that I paid as much for timers as another power supply. Oh well, I do have limited space so THAT's my reason

ok, finally got the WW 5630s wired up. You guys are probably getting tired of these boring pictures - I wish I knew a good way to show how bright these actually are in person. I saw spots for quite some time after looking at my bucket for a moment and snapping these pics: Despite how it looks in the pic - the mixture of light actually looks more white than pink. I have some 2nd hand quantum LED evader panels (actual draw 135W) and this bucket seems way brighter than a pair of the others. I intend to figure out how to get this thing into my flower cabinet and get a clone under it this week.

Sorry to not bring more interesting news. I don't yet have this light in action but I have learned a few things I'd like to pass on. I don't know enough about electricity to explain WHY, but I have found that when using the ATX power supply, I see much higher power (in watts) usage when I use many of the power supplies wires to give power to many separate groups of LED strands. I'm guessing this is a resistance issue. To illustrate the point, in the last post, if you look at the KillAWatt, you'll see that it reads 303 watts. That was with four distinct power connections per side of the bucket (and I was still only using 1 of the 2 12V rails from the power supply). As I was cleaning up and preparing to get the bucket ready to use, I grouped the lights into just a single set of wires to deliver power. In that case, I only saw 235W on the KillAWatt.

Lesson 2) - I don't think it's worth it to try and run the 2 light cycles using 1 ATX power supply -- at least when using this much light/power. The 12V timer I bought says it's limited to 16A and has some pretty small connection leads. When running what was reported as 235W through these connectors on the timer, things got really hot. I'm going to give up on the plan to use 1 power supply for 2 different light cycles. My veg panel only pulls about 100W - I'll either use another freebie ATX from an old computer lying around or I'll scrounge around and see if I have a decent AC/DC adapter for that one.

I think the biggest takeaway for those wanting to play with these strips - the way you wire really makes a difference on how much light/power you're going to get out of these things.

P.S. - the '300W' quantum evaders i was trying to use in my enclosure seem to be burning the crap out of my plants. I simply don't have enough height. Because of this, I'm going to try switch to using my bucket in the M configuration (open bucket) to try and finish them out. Sorry if that disappoints anyone that wanted to see what 300W of light would do on a single plant - that'll have to wait.

about a week under the bucket, if you see damage it was done by previous 300W panels being too close. this bucket puts out a lot of heat - canopy temp right now is ~95 degrees (I think with the other panels i was mid 80s) so I need to move more air over them or maybe disable a portion of the lighting. I don't yet know if I'll finish out on these or not. I love playing mad scientist but growing quality medicine for my paitient trumps all in the end. I've been working to modify one of my 300w panels - decreased blue count, fixed cooling, and will soon be able to drop my dwc system 4 inches down or so for room. I also have a set of 1W astir-style panels on their way. so I'm kind of all over the place.

Try using a galvanized bucket next time..helps with the heat
http://www.amazon.com/Dover-Parkersburg-610-Galvanized-2-Gallon/dp/B00002N85A

Or just lay some strips in this metal clamp . Pound it open a little for more spread.
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Economy-8-5-Inch-Chrome/dp/B0002DIWUU

Or this open version.
http://www.amazon.com/Terra-Porcelain-Clamp-Lamp-Large/dp/B0002DIAYS/ref=sr_1_11?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1367856002&sr=1-11&keywords=clamp+lamps

All 3 of these are better than a plastic bucket which holds heat and not good for lights .

By the way...Nice job

If I get to v2 of smd stips, I'll likley do bendable strips 3-4 led strip wide using something like disposable turkey pans as material (pliable but holds shape) - this way i could mold strands of lights around plants as they grow

a few pics to show that things can grow under SMDs. My primary complaint is heat production but we've already gone into details about how I could have made better choices on the bucket material. I'm about to switch out my lights to use my new 24W panels and 50W floods.

that's about an 8" cola or so - sorry, I haven't gotten good at record keeping so I'm really not sure how long it's been flowering. A closeup of the top:

How 'bout a "Trash Can of Light."

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259

You could do that with LED strips I'd think.

Edit:
That's what he pulled out!

Bumping Spheda said:

How 'bout a "Trash Can of Light."

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259

You could do that with LED strips I'd think.

Edit:
That's what he pulled out!
View attachment 2670790

Click to expand...

Simply AWESOME !!

And what an idea !!!

... While ,pickin' my jaw from the floor and puttin' it back in it's place ..
Couple more ideas came along ....
...

And 5.7z out of a 32gal trash can ... a goal any of us would be proud to achieve.

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...

I've had good luck with the 5050's. Haven't tried the 5600 series yet. For under $200. I have a 5000 watt output, (500 nM white), 16 feet of 460 nM blue and 16 feet of 640 nM red. Each colour is mounted separately so I can control how much of each colour I get - or do all red or all blue as needed. I figure I have the equivalent of 3 $800. already assembled gro lights and saved enough for a couple of pairs of shoes. If you can read, you can build it.

60's_girl said:

I've had good luck with the 5050's. Haven't tried the 5600 series yet. For under $200. I have a 5000 watt output, (500 nM white), 16 feet of 460 nM blue and 16 feet of 640 nM red. Each colour is mounted separately so I can control how much of each colour I get - or do all red or all blue as needed. I figure I have the equivalent of 3 $800. already assembled gro lights and saved enough for a couple of pairs of shoes. If you can read, you can build it.

Click to expand...

Forgot to say that they are mounted on a 36 X 36 sheet of aluminum that I broke and bent along two sides for 'wings' so the finished light is 36 X 12 in. Drill a hole in each end for en eye bolt so you can hang it. Some of the el cheapo full length mirrors are Mylar not glass so it is even more reflective. Glass will actually absorb the light wave lengths you want so you don't want that.