Hi GC growers I’m a budget micro grower who grows as a hobby and past time not on scale or with a focus on yields. To date I have grown with cheap Chinese blurple leds and for my purposes they have been fine. I want to build a light myself though 1: as something to do and 2: because I think for the same budget as a Chinese blurple something better can be built I know this will not be the best light in terms of output and efficiency but that is not the point of the build. It just needs to be a fun project, budget, better than a blurple and sufficient for micro growing. Please no recommendations to go and buy a quantum board from HLG or one of the Chinese imitations. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The plan is to use cheap driverless cobs, aluminium sheet metal, heat sink paste / thermal glue, parallel wiring, a dimmer switch and regular lamp plug & cable to build a diy grow light I hope this gives micro growers who have no need for the power and cost of quantum boards an alternative to cfls, E27 led bulbs and Chinese blurple units. Any constructive comments or thoughts more than welcome Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The materials: 12 x 10w cheap driverless cob leds. 6 x warm white and 6 x cool white. 1 x aluminium sheet for mounting. 3mm think and 35cm x 21cm. 5 x tubes of heat sink paste / thermal adhesive 2 x rolls electrical wiring suitable for home lighting circuits. 1 x roll brown wire for live. 1 x blue wire for neutral. 1 x lighting dimmer switch 1 x lamp plug & cable pre wired and inclusive of fuse Miscellaneous materials: electrical tape, silicone, solder, hanging wire. (Electrical tape and silicone to insulate wire connections) The tools: 1 x aviation tin snips, used to cost the aluminium sheet to size 1 x soldering iron for wiring Most bits have arrived in the post and when the others bits arrive I’ll start the build Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks Mac! In theory at least the build is simple but we will soon see if it is the same case in practice. Any questions or ideas of course very welcome! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So a quick update, today I set about cutting the aluminium sheet to size. I have learned 2 things. 1) Aviation Tin snips will not cut through 3mm aluminium and if you do this you will need an electric saw with a metal cutting blade. Luckily I own one of these. 2) That 12 Cobs is going to be a bit of a squeeze so I am going down to 9 x 30w. Plenty for a micro grow Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I am also debating whether it is really worth wiring in parallel. It is a lot of extra wiring for 9 cobs and given their reliability I’m not convinced it is really needed. Especially given I run autos so light schedules are not a big deal and if an led in a parallel setup blew I would fix it regardless of the other leds working still. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hey all The cobs have finally arrived in the post I have laid them out on the aluminium sheet, next I need to start drilling out the mounting holes and wiring holes. Then I’ll start sticking them down, need to pop to the hardware shop for bolts and 3 core 2.5mm electrical cable. I think this is going to be a sweet upgrade for my micro grow box Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Alright so after a lot of drilling, bolting and soldering the DIY Driverless COB LED panel is completed. It is very, very bright and certainly packs a lot more power than my Chinese blurple. The proof is in the growing though and so I’ll use it on my next grow and update with results. If definitely needs a dimmer and to be brought down from 100% as it gets very hot very quickly and I don’t want to push the LEDs too hard. For a micro grow I definitely don’t need them at full whack anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Impossible to get a photo of it with my phone when the light is on as I caused the camera to go haywire even when taken from a distance or across the room. I don’t have proper equipment to measure lux and actual wattage so I’ll just have to give it a whirl and see how she performs. Overall a fun and inexpensive DIY project that for the hobbiest micro grower I think is worth doing Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk