Building a 1 watt LED light

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screwdriver

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Thought I'd dive into the LED light ceespool of marketing. Well, I didn't learn much so I'm guessing at most and the rest is wrong but I can't tell which it is what.

I bought the LEDs and driver, made a box, drew out schematic, made a dot pattern and so much more. Here's the dot pattern.

Imagine the picture here.

The darker red dots will be 660nm.
Lighter red dots will be 625nm.
Blue will be 450nm.
And the pink dots will be from 380 to 700nm.
Still making decisions.

The box that the circuit board will be mount on is 9 x 9 x 4.5 ( inches). I just bent up some thin aluminum. I'll add the duct holes layer. This will replace the mh fixture. So I made the box to fit in that area . The cabinet this goes in is small and I want to vent any heat.

View attachment 20170106_211243.jpg
 
I have many questions but can't seem to figure out the answers. Everytime I thought I found the answer, I ran across a different answer. I thought if it was on the internet it had to be true.

What ratio of red to blue?
I found, blah blah blah, 8:1,7:1,6:1,5:1, blah blah.
What about a wide spectrum LED mixed in with the reds and blue? How much more or less?
How many do I need?

Anyway, I probably settled for too many but it will have a dimmer to tone it down if need be. I'll put a switch to cut out the blues in case I want to turn off.
 
When building an LED light is it possible to put a UVA LEDs in them to help kill mould and bacteria in the room at the same time
 
As far as blue/red ratios I'm not sure what's the correct amount but if you're replacing mh you're going to need a lot more blue.

The full spec leds should work fine. Just ordered some for a new light build I'm working on.
 
When building an LED light is it possible to put a UVA LEDs in them to help kill mould and bacteria in the room at the same time
Yes you can add UV. I'm not sure if it will kill mold or bacteria.
 
Yes you can add UV. I'm not sure if it will kill mold or bacteria.

The only reason why I ask is because in some house furnaces they will run a UVA light to kill mould and bacteria to help keep the air cleaner so I was just wondering if a person was to run some UVA LEDs in their lights would it work the same way I see how the UVA light kills bacteria but would it be harmful to the plants and you would probably have to have a switch to turn it off because you wouldn't want to be in the room with the uva light on
 
.....I could add a uv led but, not a big fan. There is some uv and some ir if the specs on the pink dot led are correct. Got the pack today and it says 380 - 840. Remember, that's 1 watt for the whole range. So I guess that's enough that I don't need to add a specific led for uv. Not smart enough just a guess. And just a guess that it's enough of the other wavelengths in the center.

I think uv kills or oxidize anything organic. Whatever the proper term. Such a good idea that while she is sleeping I have a uvb light in there (without the plant) temporarily.

So if I pretend there is as much red as blue in the pink dots the ratio is 2:1. My limited understanding is that more work gets done with the reds but enough blue keeps the stretching down. How much is needed is probably depends on the size of grow area. I may need more blue to keep the internodes tight.

Do you think more blue than 2:1 ?

This is a small cabinet. 18 x 18 in. I wanted to spread the lights out over the 9 x 9 . I could pack them tighter but I thought the spread was a better idea.

I'm also guessing at how many are needed. Currently a 70 w mh. I draw about 80 watts of power on the circuit most of it in the form of heat. If leds are more efficient than that circuit should have less wattage. Given I choose the correct leds.
 
So I got the pink dots. 10 in the pack. These are from a supplier that didn't think specs were important and only got limited info. So I hooked one up. It's hard to describe how bright but I'm only driving it at about 20%. My eyes see only the pink but the camera can see the ir. I used that area to determine the lens angle. By my fancy calculations it is 120 degree.

View attachment 20170107_160004.jpg
 
Uv bulbs are used to increase resin production so your plants will benefit from a lil. Most of the led grow lights I've run across have some if added. The chart I posted says if can also help thicken leaves but I'm not so sure. I'm adding uv to my light.

As far as the ratios...you may be right about the red leds but the one I'm building will mostly be blue as I'll be using mine as a supplemental light in flowering.

What type of year sink are you using?
 
I didnt put any uv specific leds on the board. I thought about scattering some 5 mm leds in the mix but haven't found how much uv is needed. I added some full spectrum pink leds with uv. Figured the 1 watt is spread across the range so hopefully not much uv. There is no fancy chart on the spectrum like other manufactures but I expect it to be close to the charts of other manufactures. YES, I KNOW not all leds are created equal blah blah blah. This is what I got to work with.

Heat sinks, I have to turn them down on the lathe. Made from half inch round stock with a groove cut in the middle. A little perspective.....1 watt = not alot of heat. This is the first prototype idea I'm testing. The idea is to drill a hole into the circuit board, one side the led is soldered spanning the hole. The other side the heat sink will insert into the hole. The circuit board is the black strip in the pic. I also, may not need the top tier of the button or I can enlarge the diameter of the single lower button.

Maybe someone can do the heat calculations and explain ?

View attachment 20170108_082237.jpg
 
Marketing says this can be used in all phases? Red / Blue ratio, 9:1 ? In this type of light., what size leds, who makes them, what's all of the wavelengths proportions? I never see technical specs of why one light is better than another. Maybe all the info is in the box.
Maybe the expensive ones give all the specs in their marketing.

View attachment 81-bFMj8opL._SL1500_.jpg
 
My impression of heat.....its hot, yeah so hot

So I found and maybe understand a little about the 5 sqin of plate per watt. Not all of the output of the LED is heat. So I'm not going to need all that surface area but to figure out the surface area of my last design would be tedious. What if I cut the vertical slots in my half inch round stock? I get close, over three as a guess. And worked much better.

View attachment 20170108_140327.jpg
 
Works better because those grooves added more surface area to your heat sink.

I buy all of my 3w diodes already mounted to a 20mm "star" heat sink so all I have to do is attach them to a bigger heat sink. I'm going to build a small sized light(60-80w) so I'll add a fan(s) to my bigger heat sink only if needed.
 
Marketing says this can be used in all phases? Red / Blue ratio, 9:1 ? In this type of light., what size leds, who makes them, what's all of the wavelengths proportions? I never see technical specs of why one light is better than another. Maybe all the info is in the box.
Maybe the expensive ones give all the specs in their marketing.

Don't know if this will help but the King LED Light I bought has it's specs listed.
Here they are:


Product Description
Size:1200W
King and King Plus series products are exclusively selling by KingLED,others are knockoff
Specifications :
Dimension: 400*213*60mm (15.75x8.39x2.37inches)
Power:1200w(120pcs*10w)
LED Type: Epistar LEDs
Full spectrum for vegetative and flowering stage: 410nm, 430~440nm, 450~475nm, 620~630nm, 650~670nm, White, IR(730nm)
(It is hard to see clearly by eyes, very dim.Please don't think they are not working. Instead, it plays an very important role in the flowering and fruiting stages of plants.)
Coverage Area: about 3.5 x 5.2 ft(The lighting area and the height are changeable according to different plants and environments.)
Lifespan: >50,000hours
Worldwide Voltage: 85v-265v
Working Frequency: 50~60Hz
Modular Power Cord(Available in US, UK, EU, AU,JP)
 
The light I'm building will have these nm-

400-410
440-450
460-470
520-530
620-630
660-665
400-840(full spec)
4000-4500k
6000-6500k
 
Don't know if this will help but the King LED Light I bought has it's specs listed.
Here they are:


Product Description
Size:1200W
King and King Plus series products are exclusively selling by KingLED,others are knockoff
Specifications :
Dimension: 400*213*60mm (15.75x8.39x2.37inches)
Power:1200w(120pcs*10w)
LED Type: Epistar LEDs
Full spectrum for vegetative and flowering stage: 410nm, 430~440nm, 450~475nm, 620~630nm, 650~670nm, White, IR(730nm)
(It is hard to see clearly by eyes, very dim.Please don't think they are not working. Instead, it plays an very important role in the flowering and fruiting stages of plants.)
Coverage Area: about 3.5 x 5.2 ft(The lighting area and the height are changeable according to different plants and environments.)
Lifespan: >50,000hours
Worldwide Voltage: 85v-265v
Working Frequency: 50~60Hz
Modular Power Cord(Available in US, UK, EU, AU,JP)

It's crazy how close in spectrum you're light is to the spectrums I chose for my light. I'm thinking about adding a lil green and Orange nm also...just not sure yet. I might not since I bought the full spec chips...they may have enough light in the areas I didn't pinpoint.
 
Good topic as Im in a build right now

:48:


tcabs
 
Those king specs are .....????

Power : 1200w (120 @ 10w)
Does the w stand for watts? I would read that as 120 of the 10 watt leds. Seems misleading. If anybody can explain that spec, I would be interested in knowing if the leds are 1watt or 10. I'm sure they want to keep the ratio of all the LED bands a secret. It would be interesting to see the secret research on how they came to the conclusion for their product.

The one I'm building is about half the physical size and about 50 - 1watt leds. This will used in veg.

HL, is there a switch on the light for the different phases?
If so, can you tell how many or less blue there are in the different phases?
 

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