noob to the LED game, looking to build multiple 4x4's

[The_Mouse_Police]

They are much more efficient (efficacious), and that gets compounded by their directionality, but HPS and CMH have broader spectrums than even Optsolis and SunLike emitters. Inside the leaves, there's a good bit of energy wasted using 450nm instead of 430, most common emitters lacking in the 640 and 660, 730, etc.. Often ignored, 460-500 is there for carotenoids (an area that has more light than it used to, but is still low in 80 CRI LEDs), protecting the plants. Those wavelengths in between also function as hormonal triggers, as well.

[slayking0113]

Now, in the market, there are so many LEDS that can adjust the warrantage, with full spectrum ,using the aluminum metrial and the heat sink not the inset fan to keep cool. The coommeriacl company is leadding the grow trendency, and the responces are not bad. LED is the future.

[unkle_psycho]

They are much more efficient (efficacious), and that gets compounded by their directionality, but HPS and CMH have broader spectrums than even Optsolis and SunLike emitters. Inside the leaves, there's a good bit of energy wasted using 450nm instead of 430, most common emitters lacking in the 640 and 660, 730, etc.. Often ignored, 460-500 is there for carotenoids (an area that has more light than it used to, but is still low in 80 CRI LEDs), protecting the plants. Those wavelengths in between also function as hormonal triggers, as well.

The problem is that most of the research on these spectrums is not public access. Theory is great, and high CRI certainly interests me, but I really want to read on side by sides on clones with different spectrum's. There should be some quantifiable benefit in using a source of light that costs more. Not too much came out in the last years, even though the topic of 80vs90cri was alive, and comparisons were done.

[The_Mouse_Police]

They are much more efficient (efficacious), and that gets compounded by their directionality, but HPS and CMH have broader spectrums than even Optsolis and SunLike emitters. Inside the leaves, there's a good bit of energy wasted using 450nm instead of 430, most common emitters lacking in the 640 and 660, 730, etc.. Often ignored, 460-500 is there for carotenoids (an area that has more light than it used to, but is still low in 80 CRI LEDs), protecting the plants. Those wavelengths in between also function as hormonal triggers, as well.

The problem is that most of the research on these spectrums is not public access. Theory is great, and high CRI certainly interests me, but I really want to read on side by sides on clones with different spectrum's. There should be some quantifiable benefit in using a source of light that costs more. Not too much came out in the last years, even though the topic of 80vs90cri was alive, and comparisons were done.

I've seen a bit more public, but I'm also looking more to grow greens and herbs - we got CBD oil legalized a bit back, and recently medical marijuana, but it's moving slowly, here. Still, there's a lot to be done, and you have to notice trends, as much as a specific study's data.

Even then, though, few want to mention specific lights used, or give spectra. It's "white led" and then supplements. Then the supplements are not even measured in any comparable radiation measure, half the time (10% far red might mean 10% of the LEDs, or 10% input power). I wouldn't be surprised if even commercial growers with light recipes they hold dear don't have them in such a repeatable format. Part of the problem with published studies I've seen, though, is mindset, or maybe being in a mental bubble, in that the variability of available spectra, due to the range of LEDs and phosphors out there right now, is not on their radar. So they perform some tests with $300 of lights, that could gave been done with $1000 of lights 5-10 years ago, rather than do something with lights that weren't available 5-10 years ago.

CMH and (some) HPS have an advantage in output in that they lack low areas of output. While a bit spikey, if you smoothed out a typical CMH 3k spectrum, it would not be far off from morning sunlight, including some UVA and IR. Even high CRI LED are usually comparatively weak around 700nm, and often around 500nm.

The energy efficiency is there with LEDs, but the spectral range is just starting to get there. It doesn't help that the manufacturers act like standard dinosaurs, and are being dragged into horticultural lighting kicking and screaming.

[rubegoldberg2]

Okay, Time to Hi-Jack my thread lol. I had to make a new account because for some reason it wouldn't take my password or send me a password reset email....

Anyhow, I'm about 1.5 weeks from harvest now, So far I'm very happy with results, the colas are as big as plants under 315w CMHs and bigger than plants under 600w (which is what most of my rooms are composed of currently)

Obviously I'll have to see what kind of dry weight I end up with..... but i'm thinking I'll replicate this build, but maybe with the gen 3 strips, since the price point is only about 2 dollars higher per strip (48 dollars per fixture)

so I ended up getting excited and jumping the gun, decided to replicate the brightlux 4x4 build on this website.

for parts I ordered

1 x HLG-480H-42A

14 x BXEB-L1120Z-35E4000-C-B3 (the build called for 12, but read some places that a few extra might be better if not running heatsinks?)

Everything should arrive tomorrow, quite excited to get it built and placed in the grow, as I just flipped to flower a few days ago.



If this goes well, I'd like to ideally bang out maybe 5-10 more while the LED strips are so cheap. Do I have any more budget oriented driver options? (would be okay splitting it into a large number of 2x4's due to how the room is setup)

[Indiled]

I like using 3x 288 boards because they fit nicely in a 4 by 4 and 2 of them cover a 4 by 4 with plenty of light.
Strips cover more uniform but if you need room for filters,fans,etc... strips can get in way.
It gets tight in rooms so I choose what works best overall what may be the best light.

[Indiled]

You can make 2 by 4 instead to fit area.
I like using 3x 288 boards because they fit nicely in a 4 by 4 and 2 of them cover a 4 by 4 with plenty of light.
Strips cover more uniform but if you need room for filters,fans,etc... strips can get in way.
It gets tight in rooms so I choose what works best overall what may be the best light.

[randorson]

Lots of strips to choose from in the 80cri range, and most of them are quite cheap. If heatsinks are expensive in your area you might want to stick to EB's and run them at nominal so you can skip the sinks.

do I lose any light penetration from running more EB's? right now i'm doing around a 2.5 foot high canopy, i'd like to keep my existing logistical flow as far as that goes?'



also: using the cookie cutter sample build page on this website, is using the HLG-480H-42A still my best bet for driver? with the BXEB-L1120Z LED strips? (ideally i'll stagger the different spectrum options)


as long as its a fairly simple design and can get me "good" results compared to HPS/CMH i'll be happy, I can always build better as I climb the learning curve

You will always have as much penetration as you do openings in your canopy. Light does not penetrate, leaf, stem or bud. If you achieve a good soild sea of green, "penetration" is not a factor. Shorter veg time with higher plant number means you can get more runs out per year, and you spend less in energy to produce your harvest.

[randorson]

I'm looking to convert one of my rooms to LED. I work in the hydro industry and am friends with the owners of a few LED companies. But unfortunately, my expertise is limited to "oh, well this LED is basically as good as a Fluence Spyder" type talk, rather than a firm grasp. I do have novice enough electrical skills where this should be doable.


I'm looking for a simple 4x4 design that can be built quite cheaply, but still knock out better than 1000w HPS type results. The room control advantage alone will make it worth it for me, although I'd still like to be somewhat close to what the best LED diodes can do.

Should I be looking at the EB Gen 2 lighting for this purpose? any budget minded controllers to look at?




The first room I want to do will be the one below 10x15 ft (ignore the current light spacing, its undergoing an overhaul)
The room currently is a staggered mix of 600w HPS and 315w CMH, the tables fill the entire room on rollers, and are fed via drip lines into coco. Tables pull out for maintenance (leaf pulling, foliar sprays etc)

Look at my Samsung f-series build. They out yield Gavita 1000W DE Pro by about 20%, use 37% less energy, cost about $630 to build each light. Look at peer reviewed papers to see how much plant mass you will gain from fine tuning spectrum and taking advantage of the Emerson effect. If you are doing this for profit then you have completely different priorities than the typical LED grower. Most simply want the most efficient lighting that incorporates every possible advantage we know of (even if the return on investment does not make sense). Tech nerds want the coolest toys.

An example, I could add far red to my lights for only around $180. Thing is that given what we know about the Emerson effect, it would literally take years to see the added equipment pay itself off. Ask yourself how many more grams you will produce and what you will earn for them in profit.

[randorson]

Nichia strips from Cutter would beat fluence performance, not sure of pricing though.
I would suggest a blend of 4000K cri90 and 2700k cri90.

This would be amoung the very best choice for strips in terms of light quality. Plants do seem to care more about light quantity than quality to some extent though. Compare prices of different builds and always look at return on investment.