Hi everyone! Big things coming :)

[unkle_psycho]

Will google the light field concept. I hardly even use social media. My interests often lead me to RIU and other places but sometimes I even stop reading threads that interest me, because of the emotional pollution. This place is quiet, but very nice.

I don't know if you can google the light field concept, it's just something I figured out (something fairly obvious I would have thought too). The point essentially being to use heaps of leds spread across the whole canopy to blanket it evenly, instead of having a super powerful bright "sun" in one spot (think HPS, or a big bright cob).

This method happens to carry with it the advantages of greater efficiency and less heat too.

I have just built my first led, but only got to use it for about a week before the summer. I was amazed by the penetration, but ended up heating the room with more watts then I saved from switching out of HID I'm thinking about a well insulated box with CO2, since finally heat is something we have to generate here anyway. In hot environments leds are a no-brainer.

I think you can get those CO2 bags, I forget what they're called but they're essentially a sack that you put holes in and it sits there with microorganisms in it, putting off a bunch of CO2 as a metabolic byproduct.

I think the potential gains in terms of penetration are greater then the gains in efficiency, although they are great too... I just visited a friend and he had some new gen HID which is almost as efficient as my leds, but I have over 1000 bulbs, and I can bring my lights crazy close.

Hmm do you have old LEDs or something? Or are you just driving them hard?

If you run into any studies on max light intensity, I would like to see one. I've been goofing around, and doing my own tests, and assumed that the max intensity would vary by spectrum. I saw friends having problems with early chinese 50-200w leds, and their light intensity was not that high (in my subjective opinion). I went home and put a bunch of different sprouting plants (basil, parsley, coriander, some cabbages, chilies etc.) right under a 730w LG sulfur plasma... perhaps 20cm from the bulb. They all grew great. With HID it always seemed to me that any damage came from heat. The plasma farts all the heat from its rear side, and grows plants great even 2m away.

Here you go:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3550641/

Discussed here:
https://loudbank.com/maximize-cannabis- ... %B5molm2s/

And here:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/max-ppf-ppfd ... o2.921830/

Here's a nice simple graphical guide by Fluence:
http://fluence.science/wp-content/uploa ... .27.16.pdf

Also just found this which looks like a gold read if you're interested in these plants:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... s_sativa_L

And one about CO2:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... els_of_CO2

This idea about benefiting more from bringing lights close is because halving the distance to the plants (for a single lightsource) should increase intensity more then efficiency gains. Spreading light out and getting it closer is really huge.

The co2 bags have mushroom myecelum, I think. Was thinking about getting the gear and making them myself, since they would probably cost 80e per grow. They seem to be most effective for 3 months, and people seem to put multiple sacks in a room.

Thanks for the links! awesome

[Aolelon]

How do you use a loupe to make sure they are lm561c s6? I find it hard to believe you can say 100% sure it is lm561c s6 without testing them.
Funny how everyone and their mother is trying to profit off these boards.
Besides the board size difference, and different diode count, what sets these apart from Quantum Boards or the others that have come out?

[Futuregrow]

How do you use a loupe to make sure they are lm561c s6? I find it hard to believe you can say 100% sure it is lm561c s6 without testing them.

Using a loupe over the camera on my phone, I have been able to take very high res photos of the diodes - higher res than I've seen anybody else on the internet take. Technical drawings from Samsung show the difference between the lm561b and the lm561c quite clearly, the emitter on the type C diode is a lot bigger, it's very easy to see the difference even with the naked eye. My method makes it very clear and easy to identify that they're definitely lm561c.

As for them being of the S6 bin, the supplier provided photographs of the packaging with the codes on it that identify them as being such. "A1VCS6" on the packaging, which the data sheet confirms is the top bin diode. This is further correlated by the boards returning the correct approximate voltage during operation for the diodes to be within that bin.

Lastly, there isn't a huge price difference between the top bin and lower bins anyway in these quantities, the supplier therefore has next to nothing to gain by trying to deceive me. Upon engaging them and the other suppliers I made it very clear that I was aware of Chinese scams with these products and that I expect good business, and that I would be scrutinising the diodes upon receipt to confirm I got what I paid for. I could imagine them happily ripping off small customers, but when dealing with a business that will be purchasing from them in higher volumes, it's in their interests to keep that relationship good. The Chinese aren't stupid.

This balance of factors is enough to assure me that I definitely got what I paid for. Short of sending one of my boards for testing in a integrating sphere (which will happen sometime in the near future, I do have access to one), all the other factors line up. So I'm 99% sure and have little reason to doubt it.

Funny how everyone and their mother is trying to profit off these boards.

Why shouldn't people try and start a legitimate business on a nascent technology that's changing the game? My pricing is extremely cheap given the huge amount of labour I have put in. I have put in literally hundreds upon hundreds of hours into R&D, product development, spreadsheeting, procurement and dealing with suppliers, customs, then assembly, testing etc.

I have invested many thousands of dollars into building this into a business, registering a company, and still have a lot more to invest into building a website etc.

My approach to these luminaires is a bit different to the other LED players and I have quite a unique and high quality enthusiast grade product here that I have put everything into. There's room in the market, plus I'm actively doing R&D to develop other products also, working on my own custom PCB designs, etc. Plus I'm happy to help anybody out with advice, designs etc.

Besides the board size difference, and different diode count, what sets these apart from Quantum Boards or the others that have come out?

Significantly higher diode count, as in 2560 diodes in my Quadra 400 luminaire vs 1152 in a HLG550 (that's 222% the diodes of the 550), and my luminaires are almost $200USD cheaper (plus freight), spread across a much larger emitting surface, not requiring heatsinks for cooling.

Those are the only real differences. It's a different take on the same type of product, and should be able to perform similarly with lower energy usage, for less money. That technically makes it better.

Yes there's a couple of solder balls next to the diodes, I have brought that up with my supplier. But they won't cause any harm and at least you know they're well soldered on.

[Futuregrow]

Went out and got another few pics from my test luminaire. Excuse the bits of dust, this light sits around to show people and mess about with. The rest of the PCBs are all securely double packaged away in individual bags and will only be removed upon assembly for shipping after sale. You can clearly see the big emitter identifying it as a lm561c diode.

[majorana]

I could imagine them happily ripping off small customers, but when dealing with a business that will be purchasing from them in higher volumes, it's in their interests to keep that relationship good. The Chinese aren't stupid.

I've already recounted my experience with Roget here before. I wouldn't dare selling any Mufue PCBs without checking each and every unit. If you sell the product, it's your name on the line, not theirs -- and reputation is both the most strategic and fragile asset of any company. Wishing you the best of luck.

[saintminer]

Hi everybody! Long time lurker, first time posting. I've got a little something to show you guys!

I've just built my first batch of prototypes and hope to be selling these as complete luminaires very soon. Each board has 320 LM561C S6 diodes on it for that mad diode density!

I performed loads of PPFD testing in a Homebox Ambient AQ120+ tent, using the Apogee SQ520 quantum sensor. The floor was marked in 33 places with pieces of tape, and readings were taken at each location for 12", 18", and 24" heights.

Luminaires tested included my 120W, 200W, 300W, 400W designs, and a monster 800W (dual 400W) configuration, a 600W HPS overdriven to 700W, and a generic grow shop "full spectrum" 6 COB light.

The numbers are in! My 400W luminaire which draws just under 400W from the wall, compared to "700W" HPS (drawing 703W), with both running at 18" height.

QUADRA 400 vs 600 HPS.jpg

You can see the 400 gets more and much better overall light spread, and isn't so harsh in the centre.

18" seemed the optimal height to compare them at and it gives the HPS a solid ass whooping. 12" was too close for either light and PPFD readings were too high to be plant healthy, and conversely at 24", the 400 still outperformed the HPS, but this height was kinda redundant because the 400 still had approximately the same PPFD values in the corners and sides as at 18", so why would you even run it at 24"? Only the HPS would need to be raised because of its mammoth bright spot right in the middle.

Oh and just for the heck of it, I've attached the PPFD map of the dual 400W lights at 24"... this is bananas, and you'd probably want to be running these another 4"-8" higher or more!

QUADRA 400x2.jpg

Square boards are cooler and make more sense! Check out some of these pics!

You should probably know that companies are already ripping you off and using your photos as advertisements.

https://app.alibaba.com/dynamiclink?tou ... cene=buyer

Oh the joys of international business

[Futuregrow]

Hahaha that's unsurprising