My Little DIY LED

Ok after posting in a few threads here I've decided I had better make my own thread to keep all the info together.

I had to move last Oct to a new country for work. I'm a contractor so while I will be here for another 9 months or so, this wont be my permanent home. For this reason I didn't want to get too elaborate with the setup. I just grow personel meds so I have sized the setup accordingly. I have been growing for almost 2 years now. I started in 11l pots full of dirt then moved to Hempys and had a couple of goes at DWC. For my next grow I will grow 4 plants with some topping and LST. I'm out of meds so there wont be a long veg period, at least for the first round.

I did do DIY leds at the other place but given it is over 1000kms away, the cost of fuel to get there and back to recover my other grow stuff is probabley not worth it. There are a few pics in my journel on this site. Even though it was cheapo Chinese gear it did prove that 600watts of cheapo chinese leds will outgrow a 600watt HPS, not by much though. I did like the quality though and have no problems with ppl going down the cheapo route so long as they are aware of what they are getting into.

Basic specs for this grow will be:
Budget for everything < 700€ hahaha I bet that gets blown away. We are in The EU after all. I get penis enevy every time I look at costs in USA.
Tent 1sqm x 2m high. Probably a Secret Jardin. I may go for 1,2sqm depending on cost. approx €150
Approx 400 Watts of DIY LED (budget €300). Was thinking of trying CMH (315w) but given cost and logistics I gave up on that idea.
4 x 20l buckets Hempy style. I would have liked to try a waterfarm but noise and budget is a concern. €20
Media Coco/Perlite. €20
Nuitrients GH Flora duo, mineral magic + ripen to finish off. Have stopped using boosters as did not see any real increase in yield and they cost the bomb. €30
125mm Carbon filter and inline fan €150
Sundries €50
City punch will be the water of choice.
My rent here includes the cost of electricity but I had better not use too much as the landlord may notice, hopefully not until after I leave. There is no meter that I am aware except for the whole building.
So this is basically how the 700 will get split up into. I'm sure to have missed a few things which I will add as I go along. Next post will get into more details on lights.

Given the length of time I expect to stay here and the local cost of weed this project isn't going to save me any money but it will give me a lot of fun.

I will go with Veros to supply the bulk of light. I am still having a problem deciding which Veros to use. Vero 13s would be great for spread running at 700mA. They are also very good price wise, what may kill it is the amount of work required to make a decent panel out of them given 4 vero 29s on cpu coolers would be all thats required.

Target light power usuage should be in the region of 300 - 400 watts excluding drivers fans etc.
This gives our options rounded. Price from Digikey.nl
26 Vero 10s @ 500mA €4,20 each Total 109,20
16 Vero 13a @ 700mA €6,86 each Total 109,76
8 Vero 18 @ 1400mA €12,14 each Total 97,12
4 Vero 29 @ 2100mA. €27,79 each Total 111,16

From the cost perspective vero 18s would seem to be the go. I want to keep drivers down to a minimum so
HLG-185H-C1400B will drive 4 vero 18s and cost 69,20 each. total 139,60
I had a look for drivers to drive 2 vero 29s @2100mA but I need to do more research which I didn't feel like doing as 4 x Vero 18 on 1 Mean Well driver looks to be the go.

Next post will look at heatsinks

I'm a little disappointed that I could't easily find 2100mA drivers for 2 Vero 29s in series. I could of course use separate drivers for each vero 29. In my last setup I had separate drivers for each led but the cabling inside the tent becomes a real mess which is something I would like to avoid this time around. I will keep looking until I purchase as it does simplify some aspects of heatsinking. 4 CPU coolers would have been great but I guess the light spread from 8 x Vero18s will be better in any event, as it should yield a little better.

Heat sinks for the 8 chips is a little more challenging especially in a grow tent. I'm thinking 4 on a sink could be a reasonable trade off and avoid too much long wiring. I don't like the idea of running 8 cpu coolers although I am toying with the possibility of taking the fans off and using a piece of channeling as a duct and mounting the sinks inside the duct. Placement of the lamps inside the tent will present another problem. In the last grow I had basically 50 Watts in each corner of the tent pointing in and the rest of the lights over the top. I think a solution like that again would work ok this time as well. I'm not interested in passive cooling as it is too expensive. I don't have time during the week to go around and look at solutions so I am now tending to get the dreaded 8 cpu coolers and some Ali channel from the local hardware chain.
For now we can say 8 cpu coolers for approx €80 plus another €20 for some kind of ducting
Total heat sink cost of around €100 to cool 8 vero 18s.
Better ideas welcome?

To keep track of cost so far we are planning to spend
8 Vero 18s for total €97, 12
2 Mean Well drivers total 139,60
heatsinks total est 100
Total estimated spend €336,72
We have already broken the budget Hopefully we can save in other places. Cost would be reduced if using separate drivers which I don't like. I still think there is a better heatsink solution but for now I can't think of it.

Any update on this project?

Not just yet. I'll be buying stuff end of the month. I am still having a hard time deciding what vero series. I will probably go 29s now to keep it simple. I will be shutting down end of September most likely so I had better keep things simple.

This never happened but see other thread for up to date info