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DIY LED FIXTURE

finally got it done.....
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a few more pics....
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My LED light is kicking ass!!!! look at the growth of my plants like in 2 weeks time.
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Total cost for my DIY LED fixture was around $170 and I bet it is better and cheaper to run than a 400 watt MH. Plus I never need to replace the bulbs and it does not generate any heat. Got to love LED's!!!
 
Guillo1,

Your builds look really good! What do you think about using T-slot for both structure and as a bus bar for voltage? I'm thinking of stacking them with an insulator between, then wire them +/-/+/-. I'd then solder little copper 'clips' to the LED board/optics and just snap them into the T-slot. Put a manifold on one end with a fan and cap the tops of the T-slot to create an airflow channel (might require too much pressure to work though).

Seems like it might have potential, would just need to watch how many LEDs go into each channel to ensure the driver isn't overworked.

Thanks again for posting.

Edit: Just ordered the following to get me started on something:

Lens and Holder - http://www.ebay.com/itm/110730453985
Driver - http://www.ebay.com/itm/110800720860 (mind some of their drivers are 220v only)
3w Red 660nm x 10 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/110834112895
3w Blue 445nm x 5 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/110734536214

They have a 455nm one as well, also called 'Royal Blue', but not 'extreme', lol.

This was $58, which isn't terrible for ~45 watts of LED, but hopefully it can be had for less in bulk and with more shopping around. The SatisLED folks have a site (satisled.com) that is cheaper per unit, but you have to pay shipping. For small orders like this, ebay is cheaper. Big orders definitely go to the site direct.

As far as 80/20 t-slot goes, these guys have some good prices, but I am going to hold off on that idea for now and just go with some locally sourced angle stock for now - http://stores.ebay.com/8020incgaragesale
 
nickles said:
These builds look awesome! What made you choose to wire them in serial instead of in parallel?
Click to expand...

Most LED drivers are designed to wire up this way. It makes it easier to maintain constant current (one of the design criteria of the driver) when everything is in serial, as you know precisely how much current is going through the system.
 
jcims said:
Most LED drivers are designed to wire up this way. It makes it easier to maintain constant current (one of the design criteria of the driver) when everything is in serial, as you know precisely how much current is going through the system.
Click to expand...
thanks for answering that question. I don't know much about how drivers and electricity work. I just seen my friend make a DIY LED fixture plus what I seen online.
 
jcims said:
Most LED drivers are designed to wire up this way. It makes it easier to maintain constant current (one of the design criteria of the driver) when everything is in serial, as you know precisely how much current is going through the system.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I wasn't aware of that and was wondering why everyone did it this way. Does the brightness of the diodes decrease as the circuit continues?
 
nickles said:
Thanks. I wasn't aware of that and was wondering why everyone did it this way. Does the brightness of the diodes decrease as the circuit continues?
Click to expand...

Actually this would be more of an issue in a parallel configuration, as the first light on the string has less resistive loss than the last light. In a serially wired circuit, the first light on the string has the lowest resistance to one terminal, but the highest to the other. As you progress through the string, the resistance will follow the number of devices on each side, but should equal out in the end.
 
jcims said:
Actually this would be more of an issue in a parallel configuration, as the first light on the string has less resistive loss than the last light. In a serially wired circuit, the first light on the string has the lowest resistance to one terminal, but the highest to the other. As you progress through the string, the resistance will follow the number of devices on each side, but should equal out in the end.
Click to expand...

This might be a very newbie question, could you made a step by step instruction on making this project, it would be very useful to other.
 
Dude, great work on this. I've been looking for this type of info for awhile. I currently have a high dollar LED light and was wondering the cost of making my own. I think the biggest question and debate is the strength of the LEDs themselves. From my understanding, the 3W LED's are great for seedling to mid life stage, but once you get close to maturity the plants don't tend to grow as well because the 3W LEDs don't produce enough light to penetrate. The ideal LED to use is 5w and above, 10w really if you could find them but i'm sure they would be very pricey.
 
So after doing a little research on parts and prices. How are you guys building these for $160ish dollars? Cheapest i can get is roughly $300. That's with 12 Reds( 620nm-630nm) 12 deep Reds(660nm) and 24 Royal blues (445nm). Then add in the C channel, drivers, fans, and lens. I'm right at $312ish. That doesn't count any other small misc stuff(bolts, solder, wire, etc).
 
sosl0w said:
So after doing a little research on parts and prices. How are you guys building these for $160ish dollars? Cheapest i can get is roughly $300. That's with 12 Reds( 620nm-630nm) 12 deep Reds(660nm) and 24 Royal blues (445nm). Then add in the C channel, drivers, fans, and lens. I'm right at $312ish. That doesn't count any other small misc stuff(bolts, solder, wire, etc).
Click to expand...
I ordered my leds from China.

blue 445nm $2.19ea used around 12
red both spectrums $1.89ea used 36
optics $.15
C-channel 20' $44
fan online $8
meanwell driver $26ea

I actually only payed $1.29 ea for the blue led

If you don't buy in bulk you might end up paying a little more than me. You can always make a group buy and split the cost of shipping
 
Guillo1 said:
I ordered my leds from China.

blue 445nm $2.19ea used around 12
red both spectrums $1.89ea used 36
optics $.15
C-channel 20' $44
fan online $8
meanwell driver $26ea

I actually only payed $1.29 ea for the blue led

If you don't buy in bulk you might end up paying a little more than me. You can always make a group buy and split the cost of shipping
Click to expand...

Guillo, Would you mind posting up some links where you ordered your LEDs? Most of the ones I've found on e-bay are like $3.99 each. I checked out SatisLED.com which is cheaper if your buying a lot of them but the shipping is more than the LEDs haha.
 
Would you mind posting the driver model number and maybe a brief rundown of the steps to wiring it? I really want to do this but I want to make sure I buy the right parts first as I've never dabbled with LEDs before.
 
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