Does anyone have any first hand experience with any of the newer uvb/uva smd's? For a few years now I have been keeping my eyes out for chips to fill out my shorter wavelengths. It's starting to look like there are definitely some reasonable options available now.
I currently use the AgroMax Pure UV T5 bulb, and it works ok (even gave myself a sunburn when I first got it), but I would really like to play around with using LEDs instead.
I'm just not sure which ones to get. Or how many I would actually need. Once we start getting away from flux and into mW the outputs go way over my head.
Marktech stopped making their 295nm and started making a 310nm but the output per chip is like 1-2mW, that goes for $40-50 a pop. The other option is the SETi/Seoul Viosys 310nm. It's puts out 1.2mW. But no one has them on starboards for some reason. Marktech also makes a 345nm that puts out 40mW.
I already ordered some of the Seoul Viosys 365nm that output 1000mW, but I'd appreciate some advice on how many to use.
I can't seem to find any research on how many mW could equate to a percentage of flux or ppfd. Can someone with a better understanding or experience dumb this down for me?
Advice on 280-365nm smd's
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RadRiverOtter
- LED Enthusiast
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- Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2020 10:13 pm
Swamp botanist by day... Bedroom botanist by night.
https://cdn.samsung.com/led/file/resour ... 181121.pdf
I am in the same boat as you, maybe a couple weeks ahead. I am new to this as well. Basically, the current research indicates that purple light is a meme, and UV more or less is too past a point. The samsung white paper and Bruce Bugbee/Cornell University seem to coincide, this is what I am basing my decisions on.
I watched a couple of kicad tutorials and am going to make a pcb to see what the production costs would be, as I do not think 800+ per fixture is justifiable for what ultimately is 20-50 dollars worth of diodes, if even that.
https://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sh ... -01-05.pdf
If there is a discord/teamspeak or other voice comm this community has, please link it.
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HomerPepsi
- LED Enthusiast
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- Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2018 9:39 am
I've run the following LED's:
425nm-415nm - https://www.stevesleds.com/Hyper-Violet-V40_p_255.html
400nm-390nm - https://rapidled.com/collections/uv-vio ... -390-400nm
370nm-365nm - https://rapidled.com/collections/all-le ... -365-370nm
365nm (variance of 375nm-355nm) - https://www.stevesleds.com/Ultra-Violet ... p_299.html
as simple boosters to my blue (violet/purple through blue), green (cyan through to yellow) and red (orange to 950nm max) channels to give a constant UV throughout the "day". While they do the trick to simply make sure there is subtle UVA in the background for decent sized grow spaces or aquariums (you will need to calc out your needs), the radiometric output is still faaaar below what can be produced efficiently from SolaCure's Flower Power and Super B for the price. They are good LED's over all, and the radiometric output has stayed consistent (all though lowering very slightly, since 2019). I use Solarmeter Model 6.2 to measure UVB and Solarmeter Model 4.2 to measure UVA. Of course, the closer you get, with inverse square law, the radiometric output is higher.
Overall, they are decent led's and if cooled properly, will last a long time it would seem (3 years and going for me). They would probably be best used for aquarium's where they can be positioned closer, and as supplemental, but I don't know if I would buy for the price.
I purchased solacure's Flower Power and Super B at the same time and have used a single set for the same time frame. Radiometric output loss has been almost stable as the LED's (granted these are higher energy), but even 3 years down the road, the loss in output has been minimal, and is still enough to fill an entire grow space. Price per performance, this is the way to go for long lasting UVB and UVA.
Cheers
Edit: forgot to explain why I brought in the Hyper Violet - if you are working the horticulture side, it might be another "missing" piece not that well understood.
425nm-415nm - https://www.stevesleds.com/Hyper-Violet-V40_p_255.html
400nm-390nm - https://rapidled.com/collections/uv-vio ... -390-400nm
370nm-365nm - https://rapidled.com/collections/all-le ... -365-370nm
365nm (variance of 375nm-355nm) - https://www.stevesleds.com/Ultra-Violet ... p_299.html
as simple boosters to my blue (violet/purple through blue), green (cyan through to yellow) and red (orange to 950nm max) channels to give a constant UV throughout the "day". While they do the trick to simply make sure there is subtle UVA in the background for decent sized grow spaces or aquariums (you will need to calc out your needs), the radiometric output is still faaaar below what can be produced efficiently from SolaCure's Flower Power and Super B for the price. They are good LED's over all, and the radiometric output has stayed consistent (all though lowering very slightly, since 2019). I use Solarmeter Model 6.2 to measure UVB and Solarmeter Model 4.2 to measure UVA. Of course, the closer you get, with inverse square law, the radiometric output is higher.
Overall, they are decent led's and if cooled properly, will last a long time it would seem (3 years and going for me). They would probably be best used for aquarium's where they can be positioned closer, and as supplemental, but I don't know if I would buy for the price.
I purchased solacure's Flower Power and Super B at the same time and have used a single set for the same time frame. Radiometric output loss has been almost stable as the LED's (granted these are higher energy), but even 3 years down the road, the loss in output has been minimal, and is still enough to fill an entire grow space. Price per performance, this is the way to go for long lasting UVB and UVA.
Cheers
Edit: forgot to explain why I brought in the Hyper Violet - if you are working the horticulture side, it might be another "missing" piece not that well understood.