Reason I’m asking is I keep seeing “LED Chips” for sale places like Amazon and DHGate for dirt cheap, when compared to full lights. So I’m wondering: (1) Besides the Chips, what other components would I need? (2) How difficult is it to assemble the components? (3) Would I need to build some special type of housing to allow for heat dissipation?
Supporting components you may need like heatsinks, holders, lenses, ect. will depend on what LED you order. Some may require soldering. Some will have push in connectors. Some are line voltage now days with built in converters on the chips. You need to know details about current range and voltage requirements to size an appropriate power supply/driver. You may be wiring in series or parallel. Some come with push in connectors, are reasonable price, are the highest efficiency leds on the market, and don't need any heatsinks. The thick aluminum pcb they are built on functions as a heatsink. You need links to specific products to have actual answers to your questions. There is so many ways to DIY with led now days. qb132 v2's are out.... QB288 V2 Quantum Board A lot of those line voltage "chips" you see on ebay and other places for cheap are very hard to keep cool and most are burple old lighting tech.
1 - drivers, powersupply, power cords, wires, connectors, etc... 2 - depends on how handy you are 3 - depends on watts, style, type, etc... remember, you get what you pay for and your light is the most important thing
If you can't find the real spec sheets from a reputable manufacturer on the leds you're buying don't bother. Don't settle for knock off products when DIY'n. You're saving money not getting an assembled fixture. The least you can do is use quality components by Samsung, Cree, Bridgelux, Citizen, Nichia, or a few other led companies. Most people just use meanwell drivers. They are reasonably priced and reliable as a clock. A quality light will outproduce it's cost 2,3 or more times every crop depending on the price range of product in your area. They are worth every penny.
I’ll jump in - how about those qb and hlg board I keep seeing - is there a full write up on how to wire those guys? And the heat output etc? I’m thinking of switching over for next grow in February Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m definitely wanting to upgrade to something like a qb in the near future. I just can’t quite make the jump yet. Trying to “get by” until I can invest enough for a higher quality light. I’m also just working with a 2 square foot SCROG grow right now, so I don’t need anything insane. Maybe I’ll just cop another cheap COB jist to get through this grow and then hopefully my financial situation will be improved enough for a QB by then too. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
QB288 V2 & Slate 2 Single Combo https://onlinemeanwell.com/en/hlg150h54a-1296.html $150 for 150 watts with a built in dimmer. Wiring couldn't be easier since it's single board/single driver. The output of the driver plugs right into the board positive to negative. You put a male wall plug cord end on the driver input.
Oh wow no shit? I had no idea it was that affordable lol. Still *slightly* out of reach at the moment, but not nearly as crazy as I was thinking.
Oh wow no shit? I had no idea it was that affordable lol. Still *slightly* out of reach at the moment, but not nearly as crazy as I was thinking.
If you want to diy I put together a list of some of the things I used. Those driverless chips are available in cool white, warm white and full spectrum.The Qb's do spread the heat across a larger board... The driverless aren't any harder to cool than any other cob tho. They are the same tech as any other chip, different phosphor coatings make different color spectrums. Water cooled, Driverless COB closet grow Sent from my XT1093 using Tapatalk
This is the only guy I know growing reasonably well with those cheap "driverless" cobs. I respect the effort for sure but when you look at the price of the top end equipment and what it produces at harvest I don't see the need to skimp myself. My last harvest was worth $4,000 at least in my area and I grew it with less then $1,000 worth of lights. I'll do it again in a few months. I'd rather rely on the top end stuff if it's in the budget. I'm OCD about my stash and I want the best I can grow. I want it to rival anything I can buy and from my grow experience HLG lights with samsung diodes do that for me. They grow dense dank buds. The densest I've ever seen in fact. I've had 3/4 full quart jars weight 54 grams.
Boy I sure hope they don't quit making cmh lights and bulbs. Qb has taken over lol. Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Thanks much for the info! I currently have a 150 watt hps cos I never grew more than a couple plants, so I take it this would just basically be a 1:1 replacement--Would it be worth it? What if I wanted to just increase the wattage to something slightly better? I'm still kinda confused on the whole thing re how the specs are with drivers /heat/power draw etc cos I thought the leds were supposed to run cooler /cheaper? Sorry for all the questions - - - I appreciate any and all input!
What you want will depend on if you are working with a tight budget or have a bit to throw at a more preferred setup and what size area you want to cover for flower as in square foot. You can put together a good fixture a lot of different ways now with all the various board options. They do run cooler then HPS for the same wattage for sure. They also put out about 75% more light per watt. That 150 watt fixture led would almost double the performance of your current 150 watt hps. It would also most likely run cooler. It wouldn't be totally void of heat though. I think some people expect leds to make no heat at all but you just can't make the kind of light that some of them do and not make some heat. It's still much less per watt then any HPS but at the same time it's going to make way more light for the same wattage. Typical light levels with HPS in flower is 50-70 watts per square foot. Typical light levels that work about the same with high end leds are 30-40 watts per square foot.
If you want a taste of what other options are out there for a bit more cash check out one of these boards. QB96 Elite V2 Engine Comes with a heatsink and thermal pad with board. This is the easy way to hang them. Get a meanwell HLG-185h-54a driver and wire it to the board. It's roughly 200 watts pull from the wall but has a built in current dimmer that can back that off to 100 watts if you want. Link to driver. https://www.arrow.com/en/products/hlg-185h-54a/mean-well-enterprises That setup is also about $150 or slightly more once you get splices, wire, and a wall cord for the driver which you can rob off of any 3 prong old broken appliance. The best new spectrum for bloom. Massive colas. I just flowered by last plant after adding two to my setup and the results were unbelievable. I got 2 pounds off of a single plant in a 10 gallon pot of promix/perlite GH nutrient fed in a 4x4.
Wow, that's impressive for sure! For the other one you posted the link to earlier, is that considered full spectrum or ...? Thanks again - - - really helpful info!