DIY LED & Florescent lighting setup

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0live

128 mb tempura
Mar 14, 2008
354
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area code 401
I've been wanting to put together my own lighting setup for a while now. I wanted to do LED, but wasn't ready go LED only.

There's 108 6700K LEDs and one 18w t8 grow light.
The top is just the florescent, the bottom is florescent + LED.
266b5ce2c62011e299a722000a9d0ee0_7.jpg

ba82f570c62511e2984f22000a1fb895_7.jpg

I have guesstimated the setup to be med light, but really have no idea. If its too much, I can easily pull out some LEDs. If its not enough, I can add some.

There's an arduino controller that has a temp display (and may eventually have pH) and cycles the lights. I'm going to get some rgb LEDs for some night lighting.

5131ea1ec57011e2aa8c22000a1fc809_7.jpg

And the startup screen:
b5c35472c55211e2a46122000a9d0dc6_7.jpg



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266b5ce2c62011e299a722000a9d0ee0_7.jpg ba82f570c62511e2984f22000a1fb895_7.jpg 5131ea1ec57011e2aa8c22000a1fc809_7.jpg b5c35472c55211e2a46122000a9d0dc6_7.jpg
 
Last edited:

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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Wow! Good work.

Love the plywood hood and electronics. You've got mad skills.
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
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Phoenix, AZ
Do you know the PAR rating for those LEDs? It's what's going to determine whether you have medium light, low light, or effectively no light. If you don't know the PAR rating, what's the wattage on those LEDs? Basically, the allure of LEDs is the great visual light output combined with a low wattage input, making them very efficient lighting. Unfortunately, plants don't care about efficiency. They care about PAR. Those stock Aqueon and Marineland lighting kits tend to be great for lighting up the tank, but less than great for making things grow. There are some threads in this forum about CREE (I think) LED emitters being DIYed into great lighting set ups, and those are high output LEDs and may suit your needs better.
 

0live

128 mb tempura
Mar 14, 2008
354
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area code 401
.192 watt, 19 lumen each
For the 108 LEDs in there that's 20watt and 2k lumen

Also, a correction: these are 10500k LEDs not 6700k as I inadvertently stated in the OP.

And of course I don't remember where the spec sheet is, but iirc the color spectrum spiked at 450-475 and again at 550-600.. I might be pulling those numbers out my butt... But that's what I seem to recall...


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0live

128 mb tempura
Mar 14, 2008
354
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area code 401
I wish I had a par rating! I'm going to check with the LFS and see if they have an idea as to who might have a par meter locally. I'd love to know what the output is here but have pretty much resigned myself to the "see how the plants grow" test.


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authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
2,621
62
51
Phoenix, AZ
.192 watt, 19 lumen each
For the 108 LEDs in there that's 20watt and 2k lumen

Also, a correction: these are 10500k LEDs not 6700k as I inadvertently stated in the OP.

And of course I don't remember where the spec sheet is, but iirc the color spectrum spiked at 450-475 and again at 550-600.. I might be pulling those numbers out my butt... But that's what I seem to recall...


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Those numbers, IIRC, translate into virtually no light. I think Freshy tried using LED lights that had similar output, and they didn't do much good for the plants. That said, the tank lit up well!

Par meters, if I was told accurately, are in the neighborhood of $300.
 

0live

128 mb tempura
Mar 14, 2008
354
0
16
area code 401
I remember seeing freshy's experiment, but I don't remember seeing any numbers as far as the LEDs were concerned.
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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I know LED fixtures exist with PAR ratings specific to plant growth, but they're expensive. I'm not sure they're perfected yet either from a normal consumer perspective. Unrelated, but I just had some rather expensive LED twist-lock lamps (replacements for halogen recessed fixtures) fail after about 4-6 months of installing them. Lost two out of 6 already. :(

We've always got good old mercury filled fluorescent tubes to kick out the PAR we need as a fall-back plan! You could easily add another T8 strip light to that hood, boosting you up to 36watts.
 
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