Custom lm301b QB for micro box

  • Thread starter gorillaglueaaron
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
Goblinkiller

Goblinkiller

658
143
Have you done any research on thw uv chips? Have uv chips on my light as well, but heard they are not very efficient or long lasting compared to uv lightbulb.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
Have you done any research on thw uv chips? Have uv chips on my light as well, but heard they are not very efficient or long lasting compared to uv lightbulb.
No not yet. I don't really have the space for a bulb and I only need a tiny bit of uv.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
I forgot to post pictures of it.
Here is prototype #1:
1611443945078

As you can see, I was pretty sloppy with the soldering and some of the rows don't turn on. Also I think they gave me a few of the wrong diodes as some are blue (maybe 4000k) and some are more red (maybe 3000k).

Onto prototype #2,
I just ordered the parts. This time, I'm adding 2 blue diodes, 2 ir diodes and 1 uv diode. I'm planning to be more careful with the soldering this time and make everything more neat. I'm going to measure out each star board, LED, properly cut wires to size...

Hope this one turns out better.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
Here's my plan for this one:
yellow: 4000k
orange: 3000k
blue: 475nm (blue)
red: 880nm (IR)
purple: 395nm (UV)
I accidentally added an extra 3000k and 4000k next to the blues but I think the voltage will be too high wit them.
IMG 0115
 
tobh

tobh

Supporter
4,194
263
man, you gotta work on tinning your wires better. it'll help you not have those massive globs, and prevent cold solders which is why you have those dead rows. have you considered running everything in parallel? would reduce your resistor count, and evenly distribute load across all diodes more efficiently. a little more wire, but this series parellel configuration is ugly imo.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
man, you gotta work on tinning your wires better. it'll help you not have those massive globs, and prevent cold solders which is why you have those dead rows. have you considered running everything in parallel? would reduce your resistor count, and evenly distribute load across all diodes more efficiently. a little more wire, but this series parellel configuration is ugly imo.
Yeah yeah. I just jumped into the first one without really knowing what I was doing.
How would you suggest configuring it?
 
tobh

tobh

Supporter
4,194
263
All positives linked, all negatives linked, calculate out the resistor size you'll need. obviously, put it on the negative leg as that's where it needs to be for the LEDs to run right.

Full disclosure: I've never built an LED board, but I'm pretty proficient in auto and computer electrical, so it just makes more sense to me to do it fully parallel.

EDIT: thinking about it more, you could even go ghetto and chain the resistors you have, though since you were running this in series initially it'll likely be entirely too much resistance for the circuit.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
All positives linked, all negatives linked, calculate out the resistor size you'll need. obviously, put it on the negative leg as that's where it needs to be for the LEDs to run right.

Full disclosure: I've never built an LED board, but I'm pretty proficient in auto and computer electrical, so it just makes more sense to me to do it fully parallel.

EDIT: thinking about it more, you could even go ghetto and chain the resistors you have, though since you were running this in series initially it'll likely be entirely too much resistance for the circuit.
Is there a down side to doing it how I've planned? I already have all the resistors for it and I've already set up the star boards.
 
tobh

tobh

Supporter
4,194
263
Is there a down side to doing it how I've planned? I already have all the resistors for it and I've already set up the star boards.
not really, it just changes how the amperage and voltage flows. there's an upside and a downside to each. i'm a bit tired and tipsy so don't really want to type up a whole tutorial on voltage drop and whatnot. Check out watt's law, ohm's law and voltage drop in series circuits vs parallel circuits. It's a deep world, but I think it may glean some ideas you could use to determine what route you want to go.
 
WeedIsLava

WeedIsLava

1
1
Hi everyone,

I'm working on a design for a tiny grow box (10"x10"x10") and it's so small that I need to make a custom QB. LED strips don't come small enough and bulbs, which is what most people use for micro grows, definitely won't fit.

My light will be just under 8"x8" using 36 lm301b 4000k diodes in 9 rows of 4 in parallel. I've calculated the PPF to be about 25 using the lumens and spectrum of the individual LEDs. This will give me an average of about 350ppfd which for a micro grow isn't too bad.

I'm waiting on the diodes at the moment which should be arriving in the next few days. I'll post updates as I'm building it.

Here is what the spectrum will be:

View attachment 1078873

I had the option between this or 3000k but I figured in a micro grow, I could use more blue light to keep the plant short.

I've heard it all already. "You're not going to be able to grow anything that small"

For anyone wondering why I'm doing this, it's 100% for fun. I don't expect to get anything good out of it.


GGA
Hi I'm new here check out supergreenlab they are the only manufacturer made for microgrow, check out my instagram and theirs with the same username. And i let you check out their site for more surprise
 
SaintsSamilia

SaintsSamilia

347
63
How many actual watts are you shooting for in the end or is there a game plan in that area ? What are you using for the drivers dimmable ballasts or just trying to see the getting it to work and figuring out the kinks first like soldering and all? Still been fun to watch. I'm trying to figure out doing a bigger light than my 640 is why I ask.. Either way cool to watch
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
How many actual watts are you shooting for in the end or is there a game plan in that area ? What are you using for the drivers dimmable ballasts or just trying to see the getting it to work and figuring out the kinks first like soldering and all? Still been fun to watch. I'm trying to figure out doing a bigger light than my 640 is why I ask.. Either way cool to watch
I have a 12v 8A driver that I'm using but I'm attaching a dimmer as 100w is way too much for 37 diodes. I'm going to use about 32w (12v 2.66A). I'm still learning this stuff too so I'm not the best person to ask.
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
The diodes use 65mA but their max is 200mA so I have to ability to turn them to their max if I wanted to.
 
SaintsSamilia

SaintsSamilia

347
63
I have a 12v 8A driver that I'm using but I'm attaching a dimmer as 100w is way too much for 37 diodes. I'm going to use about 32w (12v 2.66A). I'm still learning this stuff too so I'm not the best person to ask.
Ahhh gotcha makes sense once you figure out the small scale I'd imagine the large becomes easier. I may have to do similar to you just to get the concept definitely can see going big too fast as a headache either way its nice to have a reference on some head aches before I start pretty endless possibilities once you get going on it. Good luck with your project for sure
 
gorillaglueaaron

gorillaglueaaron

🦍
Supporter
2,159
263
Ahhh gotcha makes sense once you figure out the small scale I'd imagine the large becomes easier. I may have to do similar to you just to get the concept definitely can see going big too fast as a headache either way its nice to have a reference on some head aches before I start pretty endless possibilities once you get going on it. Good luck with your project for sure
No way. This is much more complicated than a bigger one. With the bigger ones, all you have to do is hook up a few led strips (like I linked below) and calculate the driver from that. I made it complicated for myself, don't make the same mistake.
 
Top Bottom