Hello, another new guy here… Today I received the parts for my LED growlight from @Baudelaire and SolStrip and started the assembly. This particular build is inspired by the @Jellypowered light build on this forum. Mine will be a bit smaller, only 5 strips instead of the 10 he used. It would still give me a max of about 40 watts per sf in my 4.3 sf cabinet. I will be running at 60 to 70%. I could not find any heatsink compound locally so I need to source that and get the wiring done. That’ll have to wait for another day. I plan to hang this light so it can be adjusted in height using some parts I have from a different growlight.
Anyway, here are some in progress pics of what I have so far.
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ask @Baudelaire but thermal compound isn’t necessary with LM561C PCBs if you’re screwing them in
at anything above 60% you’re only having cheap insurance. I should have left one strip with no compound to see the temp differences lol.
I ordered this stuff. It’s really cheap and does the job. Plus you’ll have TONS left for anything you might wanna put compound on.
(amazon link)
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Im pretty sure I’ll be firing this this up before I get the grease so I’ll check temps before and after. Since my current plants are getting about 115 watts I’ll need to ease them into this light.
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what current are you planning to run at? i’m running mine at 1400ma (different pcbs but same diodes) the diodes themselves are 75-78 or so and the PCBs are a little bit less. are those temps OK? having your driver remotely located will cut down temperatures too. i have my drivers on a cold concrete floor.
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Iirc the 561’s max out at 60c ~ 140f so yes your absolutely fine if your speaking in Fahrenheit lol
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oh no that’s celsius. data sheet says operating temperature is -40 to 85 celsius, storage temperature -40 to 120 celsius
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So they might last a year or two less, like I’ve seen so many others say, by the time we have to replace our LEDs technology will have advanced one or two times more and things will probably be cheaper as well.
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Great job!! Much thanks to you and Jelly for the pics and detailed write ups.
I have 10 Sol Strips and 2 Red/Blue strips in route and I have been toying around with the idea of an adjustable setup. It will allow me to adjust the spacing of the strips from 0 - 12" apart.
Since I don’t have to deal with growing in a closet or grow tent it gives me a few more configuration options.
I’ll mount the Sol Strips w/ Sol Sinks to a 1 5/8" metal stud using standoffs. Drill some 1/2" holes in the side of the metal studs. Then run some EMT (electric metal tubing) through the holes. The metal studs can then be adjusted and the rig will be hung using the EMT. A very low cost rig that is adjustable and expandable.
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@legalcanada Probably around 1400-1500ma, 60or70% of Max. I guess I’ll just try to find the happy spot for the plants…
@ray I can’t quite picture what your describing but maybe something in the Spydr form factor? Be sure to post your pics when you get underway!
Your strips and sinks are screwed in to those green angle rails to form a frame.
My design each strip is mounted to a metal stud. The black circles are where I’ll drill holes for the EMT. Then I can simply slide the Metal studs along the EMT to give me whatever spacing I’d like.
Sorry for the crude rendition. I’ll be sure to post pics.
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like @Jellypowered i just ordered in a cheap 30g tube of thermal grease off ebay but got it in a syringe format for ease of applications. I use to use just whatever cheap cpu thermal compound i could get locally but price and amount you get is hard to beat.
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Thanks, I just ordered some from amazon…
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What’s your cost on this build?
i guess voltage matters eh i forgot to mention i’m running 1400ma @ ~115v, or max current for the ones i have
The cost of the led parts was $222, then I bought 48” of aluminum angle and some screws. I had the wire and paint on hand. Pretty reasonable for a light like this I’d say.
www.solstrip.com the proprietor is a member here, @Baudelaire
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@Jellypowered I am so far unable to get a wire to penetrate the small connector on the led strip, I wonder if I’m missing something? Is there a trick to that?
What gauge wire did you get? It’s a little tricky if your not using solid wire, I had to twist a little as I was pushing.
Edit: you can always press on the release tab with a small screwdriver as your inserting the wire, be gentle about the pressure it doesn’t take much to activate the mechanism and we don’t want to break anything by going hulk on it.
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i think i used 18G wire. if its stranded you could try soldering the end to stay together
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