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LED Strip test log

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FOR STARTING PLANTS, NOT TALKING ABOUT FULL INDOOR MATURITY!
 
 
Specifically the higher powered 5630 variant?
 
They are 60w per 300led (5m) and cost around 7.50$
they are 1200lm/m so 1 reel  = 6000 lm
So to equal a 4bulb t8 setup for 4x2x2 area you would need 2 reels, aka 15$ (this seems like overkill tbh, i'm sure  you could get away with less)
 
So now u need a power supply.
The leds are manufactured on a strip and have resistors in line so you don't need to buy a led driver any 12v source will work. 
a 12v 30A power supply is 25$, so that runs 6 strips, aka 3 shelves.
 
so price per 4x2x2 shelf is 8.33+15 +(some $ for wire, solder etc)  5 = 28.33 cheaper than t8/t5 setup.
and the maintenance is 4x longer than t8's so you won't spend more replacing them as quick.
 
tldr smd leds are cheaper, more efficient, and have better viewing angle than fluoros .. right?
 
SMDs have a shit angle. There's usually no lens which probably means like 120 degree or more.
 
ps SMD doesnt mean light strip. You can buy loose SMD LEDs.
 
and the maintenance is 4x longer than t8's so you won't spend more replacing them as quick.
 
Fluoros sure sound a lot easier to replace than a single LED in the middle of a strip somewhere.
 
Interesting!! If the angle is bad maybe a person could use multiple strips fastened to a wood or metal holder to go between trays on the bottom below plants to light upward might be interesting. I could see how in a crowded area that could be useful. 
 
WichitaChief said:
Interesting!! If the angle is bad maybe a person could use multiple strips fastened to a wood or metal holder to go between trays on the bottom below plants to light upward might be interesting. I could see how in a crowded area that could be useful. 
 
Ya Ive seen them used in the exact way OP describes.
 
Just sayin....you can see in the picture just how far they arent shining.
 
well 120 is just fine if you're trying to cover an area. flouros have shit angle since they just project 360 degrees. 
This is for seedlings, you don't need tons of light penetration that the lenses provide. 
 
underlighting is ok but not exactly necessary for starting / cloning.
 
 
anyway i'm not trying to debate how good or not they are, just if anyone has used them what their experience is.
 
Well I'm sure you'll get an answer from the thousands of SMD strip horticulturists here. :rofl:
 
Or you can generate a generic opinion based on the lack of such users...worldwide.
 
Not bright enough and you don't know the color temp.
You can buy a computer power supply for cheaper than a driver.
Go with a computer power supply,not a power supply.
Computer chips are as sensitive to power fluctuations as LEDS.
 
I use supplies from the local surplus stores.
Cost about what you posted.
BUT buy larger volt and amp. ones that are cheaper,just run strings to work right,more strings spilced to use the volts required and amps. etc.
Rule of thumb is to sometimes mess with splicing a couple strings as 1 to make 3 times more strings work out for a same priced power supply to work for 3x the LEDs.
 
White isn't going to save you much power in general.
Read Wizard's posts about Watts per Lm.
 
Cost you as much as a T5 in general(or several other light sources).
 
LEDs rock when you use mostly plant usable light ONLY,in my opinion.
 
White makes you have to check out what any white light source actually puts out in plant usable nm.
 
See the post about seeing what your light source actually puts out.
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/19935-want-to-see-the-colors-your-growlights-put-out/
 
Just something to think about...Won't tell you nm. but will show you thicker and thinner rainbows of red ,blue etc that the source puts out.
 
The main problem with the CD thing is that you don't know the NM. of the blue or whatever you see.
It could be lower than or higher than plants use in red or whatever color.
It boils down to the thicker the band,the more you can expect that the color/nm are in at least the right spectrum.
 
See -
 
380 - 400 nm Start of visible light spectrum. Process of chlorophyll absorption begins. UV protected plastics ideally block out any light below this range.
 
400 - 520 nm This range includes violet, blue, and green bands. Peak absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and a strong influence on photosynthesis. (promotes vegetative growth)
 
520 - 610 nm This range includes the green, yellow, and orange bands and has less absorption by pigments.
 
610 - 720 nm This is the red band. Large amount of absorption by chlorophyll occurs, and most significant influence on photosynthesis. (promotes flowering and budding) The ratio of red (660nm) to far red (730nm) in sunlight is about 1.2:1
 
720 - 1000 nm There is little absorption by Chlorophyll here, but Phytochrome uses a nice portion. Flowering and germination is influenced. Near and above the higher end of the band is the Infrared spectrum, which can also be heat and could cause elongation or affect water absorption/transpiration.
 
Many of these plant pigments have dual wavelength peaks that can be activated with led light combinations:The visible colors of light from shortest to longest wavelength are: violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Ultraviolet radiation has a shorter wavelength than the visible violet light. Infrared radiation has a longer wavelength than visible red light. White light is
 
Beta-carotene 450nm 480-485nm dual peak
chlorophyll a 430nm 662nm dual peak
chlorophyll b 453nm 642nm dual peak
phycoerythrin 590nm single peak
phycocyanin 625nm single peak
a mixture of the colors of the visible spectrum. Here is a summary of wavelengths (nm). If you are building your own LED Grow Lights it may be of help when selecting LEDs for your project.
 
200 - 280 nm UVC ultraviolet range which is generally harmful to plants. LEDs in this spectrum are non-existant or very expensive.
 
280 - 315 nm Includes harmful UVB ultraviolet light which causes plants colors to fade. UV LEDs in this range are now available and coming down in price.
 
315 - 380 nm Range of UVA ultraviolet light which is neither harmful nor beneficial to most plants.
(take this with a grain of salt,different plants like some nm. others don't use the same stuff,BUT it seems to work for me so far for 5+ years).
 
There was a really cool setup using the CD that a web cam (at the time,a specific,accurate cam) was used to read off the computer to be 90+% accurate with spectrum of light.
I started making it but life got in the way.
Some University published the plans...
 
I'm sure it's out there still in an updated version.
When I find it I'll post it.
Cool stuff for ANY LIGHT SOURCE!
 
SMD I think means Surface mounted Diodes.
 
That can mean anything that isn't sold as a part.
Anything from tape strips to any LED setup can be called SMD.
 
Just sales crap in general.
 
If ya can't baffle them with brilliance,dazzle them with B.S.
 
Applies to light panels and tape strips.
Anything mounted.
Pre packaged for easy use...
Nothing to do with LM. or nm. etc.
Usually compaired to (out of context) other LEDS.
 
what-is-smd-led-1-638.jpg
 
Wow the knowledge here has really deepened since I last posted here. Smokemaster could you give detail or post links on computer power supplies?

I bought a house and am getting back into the game. Want to build some new lights. I'm going crazy this time.

The wifey used to be annoyed with my hydro. Since we started a garden without doing hydro first she has been bugging me to get back in it.

Hydro is just so awesome
 
frosty said:
Wow the knowledge here has really deepened since I last posted here. Smokemaster could you give detail or post links on computer power supplies?

I bought a house and am getting back into the game. Want to build some new lights. I'm going crazy this time.

The wifey used to be annoyed with my hydro. Since we started a garden without doing hydro first she has been bugging me to get back in it.

Hydro is just so awesome
there is more info in other threads search for led, don't get all your info from one source =]
 
Well they are so cheap so i decided to get some to play with(for starting plants, not maturity)
its approx 18 lm per led, 120 led per meter, and used about 4.75m so 10k lumen.
So in theory it should be able to replace 2 t8 fixtures for half the price!
longer maintenance cycle(30k hour vs 10k hour) so should be even more savings.
also 1/3 of the watts!
seems too good to be true!
 
1x 2835 5m 600led 6500k = 11$
1x 5a 12vdc driver = 9$ 
 
 
(not the cleanest build since i didn't buy the solderless connectors.. Also the adhesive backing doesn't stick to osb so i used staples)
I'll post some updates when i put some plants under them. I'm currently just running them as burn in, see if anything fails immediately.
 
20150719_094948.jpg

 
 
20150719_094924.jpg

 
 
20150719_094919.jpg
 
Frosty.I get my computer power supplies from a local electronics surplus store supplier.
A dumpster diver - he buys returned supplies and fixes them or just wires them to put out 1 voltage instead of 3 or whatever.Probably by passing what was wrong with the supply so computers couldn't use them.
 
They mess with them so they put out from 12v/6-7.5amps and up to 32 volts/12 amps./depends on the supply and what it was for.
I'd need at least 2 drivers for each of my pannels if I used drivers.I just don't have that many plugs around my grow shelves.
Depending on my pannel,I can run 1 or 2 off 1 supply-depending on the pannel and supply.
I don't know what they sell them for in the store,some one I know that buys surplus and sells at swapmeets gives me them at cost(cheap).
 
I prefere the 24+volt supplies,I can run less strings/longer strings.
Voltage is never ending,you just can't go higher than the supplies watts or you let it's smoke out.
At first I was REALLY good at letting the smoke out of some power supplies. LOL
 
Juanitos,when my LEDS fry,I'm thinking about going with the LED spotlights in 6500K.
My Fluoros were 6500k and worked very well.
LEDs put out much more light ,especially if the new ones really do put out the LM. they advertise.
I tried white at first but the LEDs back then didn't put out the LM they do now and were WAY expensive to buy.
The light strips were very dim at the time too.
 
Let us know how they work for you.
The light strips I tried had to be almost touching your plants and then they didn't work very well-that was several years ago though.
I think the old ones might make great vertical lighting for branching though if the angle isn't too wide.
I never let anything go to waste,I find a use for them as added light or whatever to my main overhead lighting.
I've been a firm believer in vertical and overhead lighting for years.
I even put fluoros on the sides of my shelves years ago.
 
I can see the strips as being very cool strung vertically on my sheves-not mounted.
Would allow easier access to plants-I could mess withe the stuff in the back without clearing out the plants in front of them.
My shelves are on wheels.
 
smokemaster said:
 
yeah they have improved lots on the strips and these are a higher power / efficient version, will be interesting to see. 
strips are fun because you dont have to do soldering and you really just string them up, easy for anyone even with shaky hand =]
 
Ya ,I can see just wrapping them around the frame of my shelves instead of solid pannels.
Maybe put a sheet of mylar behind them.
Would be a LOT less labor intensive rolling out my shelves and being able to slide a strip out of the way without dealing with a solid panel whenever I need to.
I still see them as mostly supplimental lights though.
Probably good for side lighting on 18in. X 4ft. shelves.
do them on 3 vertical sides.
I can't see using them to do my nm trip though.Gotta do the red and blue light too.
I might be wrong-the stuff I tried was a LOT less lm and unknown angle and K.
As I've posted before,my build for LEDS was to TRY and get EVERY nm that plants use on my shelves in as many lm as I can.
Everything I try is for peppers only...nothing else,just my grow.
The $ I spent was free,assembly was at work - a win win for me in general.
I don't pay for utilities either,I live at where I work.
I just pay for my eats and toys.
 
I don't know what asdf means.
 
So the led light strip i have has been running 18/6 for about 2 months now, even through the hottest months of the year where temps got 100+ and they didn't burn out. So that's good to know. We'll see how long it keeps going, should be for 5 years.
 
In this test i only used 1 strip, aka 60 watts.
I used leftover 5-1-1 soilmix which maybe has had affect on their growth. idk. I'm going to buy a nursery mix and start another tray.
 
7 days (8/18)
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19 days (8/30)
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20 days | 1 day (8/31)
added some more seeds, direct sow.
20150831_094948.jpg

 
27 days | 8 day (9/6)
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39 days | 20 days (9/18)
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46 days | 27 days (9/25)
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61 days | 42 days (10/10)
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and here's some older (like 120 days old) hydro plants that appear to be doing fine in the light (put them in same time as first set)
although they have fallen over and are spreading more laterally now.
20151010_113008.jpg
 
i use a lux meter app on my old smartphone to measure the lux just for reference. disclaimer I did not calibrate the app and i'm not sure how accurate it is.
 
in center where best spread of light is
18in away : 1500 lumen
12in away : 2000 lumen
6in away : 2500 lumen
 
this seems low but they are growing great (not flowering), i'll post some updates later.
 
https://youtu.be/dRbJX495qpU
 
Heckle said:
are the 5630 brighter than 5050?
yes and more efficient
Diode Lumens Lum/Watt Max Lum/FT   LED/5M  
5050    12.6              55            240             300  
5630     25.6             85           470              300  
 
 
3528-5050-5630-led-illumination-lumens-test-comparison.jpg
 
juanitos said:
welp i went ahead and converted some more shelves to the china led 5630 strips. Used a bigger power supply to supply them all instead of a bunch of smaller ones.
 
ends up being 19$(20a driver) + 20$ for leds(4x 5m) aka 10$ per shelf...
bought everything on aliexpress as its cheaper.
 
 
 
 
How long does it take to have them delivered? I saw some for $3.38 a strip, but didn't want to wait a month to get them. Some on Amazon for $7.95 with prime delivery. Guess I could get one to start off, if they work order more.
 
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