what happens if you dont cool an LED light?

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by goombah111, Oct 27, 2017.

  1. how long will it last without active cooling?

    at 1$ per 50w chip, if i buy 30 would 1 last me a day? a week? a month?

    just curious if anyones even tried. i had some led's that i didnt cool and they burnt out in 2 weeks but they werent these. they required drivers which i also didnt use, just tried to match their wattage with power adapters.

    so, has anyone experimented?
    if not, i shall and make a video on it.
     
  2. One of the properties of leds is called thermal runaway. The resistance decreases as they overheat causing them to draw more current until something melts and the circuit is broken.

    Some do this much easier then others. There's a video on youtube of the qb288 board taking over 600 watts and not burning up when it's max capacity is somewhere around 150 watts. Most leds can't do this though.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
  3. i have a few cooling ideas that would cost me 0$. it wont cool as much as a fan and heatsink but maybe if i can keep temps down JUST enough then maybe i can make this worthwhile.
    cause if im spending more money on fans and heatsinks than the actual lights then i need to create a better way.
    if possible...wish me luck.

    thanks for the response.
     
  4. Why not salvage fans and heatsinks? If you are looking to save money, half assing something that could go up in flames isn't the way to go.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  5. #5 Budmiser, Oct 28, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2017
    There is a site I stumbled across a while back, that sells generic heatsink extrusion by the inch, or by the foot, or whatever length you want... Maybe a long single piece with extra cooling surface could provide enough "passive cooling" with no fan,other than a room fan blowing on them ? HeatsinkUSA
     
    • Like Like x 1
  6. oh, i work on computers, so i got plenty of heat sinks and fans.
    but im looking to help others with my experiments.

    by burning their houses down.
     
    • Funny Funny x 1
  7. Dude, I have 4 of those cob units coming from China , In 220 Volt....I wanna blow some shit up with those when they get here. I might just do a 'smoke test' with 240 volts on one without a heatsink and see how long it takes .
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. i plan to have some liquid cooling using alcohol. and maybe water in the future like a computer.

    but these experiments should be fun, and blowing shit up always gets a lot of views on youtube.
     
  9. It go Poof
     
    • Winner Winner x 1
  10. Yeah i agree. Some aspects of this hobby can be tamed with a thrifty hand but you never want to skimp on what really matters! You get what you pay for with a good led light, some have 50,000 hours life span. Thats more than 7.5 years @ 18 hours every day... you do the math
     
  11. no math, but ill do the test. cause ive bought many lights from walmart claiming to last 7 years (at 3h on every day for 7 years) and they lasted about 6 months (i didnt use it for growing). if im gonna buy a lie then it might as well be cheap.
     
  12. With the greatest of respect i think you’ve missed the point of my inital comment. Dont save money on a cheap light because they’re not going to do you any service, invest in a good quality light and avoid any complications down the road. Thats my 2 pence anyway. Hope it works out for you let us know how you get on!


    Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
     
  13. this is more of a learning experience. i'll lyk how it goes.
     
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