Making LED lights ?

[MedMan]

Has anyone tried making their own LED light fixtures ?
I have made CNC machines and other projects and order parts from a company called Marlin P Jones I think they are down in Florida and have all types of electronic components and LEDs . And the power supplies cheap . I know you can get inexpensive LED lights on amazon but I am thinking about making a few smaller units to cover the lower parts of the plant and try to get rid of blind spots in my grow room . They also have all size pancake fans and heat sinks . Just a thought . My insomnia has kicked in tonight so 4:00 am and mind racing .

[IanHale]

I'm currently working on building two led light bars using 24w and 28w (w/UVB) LED screw-in type bulbs for additional lighting during flowering. I have all the pieces...just haven't put them together yet.

I will def post pics when I do finish them though

[oldjarhead100]

hey medman if you can find a place to purchase the correct leds then have at it ,I found some cheaper bars and they sell strips now as well that you can attach to any frame work

[Zativa]

Recently retired from 45 years as a design engineer and have SERIOUS doubts you can even hope to roll your own for less than they cost to buy, and the performance won't be nearly as good. Not even if you consider your time worth less than zero dollars per hour. You can't seriously attempt it without a custom printed circuit board, and having designed many of those I know what is involved. Also the LEDs used for grow lights are MUCH different from the kind you find online for pennies each -- grow LEDs put out many different spectral lines and are typically at least 3 Watts each, preferably 5 watts or even more. GalaxyHydro buys parts by the gazillions and gets excellent prices. They use automated assembly machines which can place five or ten parts on a board PER SECOND, you can perhaps do one or two per minute. And odds are roughly 99.9999% you will get something in backwards and fry it.

Bottom line: Don't try this at home. Buy a 300W Roleadro unit for $65-70 on Amazon and be happy.

[MedMan]

Zativa just bringing up an idea about making a few LED strings to cover shaded or low light areas with a homebuilt LED as a project. Here are a few links to a few I have found
www.mpja.com/mobile/10-Watt-LEDs/products/578www.mpja.com/mobile/10-Watt-LEDs/products/578

https://www.mpja.com/mobile/20-Module-string-72-Lumen-Light-Modules/productinfo/19438+OP

https://www.mpja.com/mobile/48-6X8-Piranha-LED-Board-Cool-White/productinfo/33070+OP

https://www.mpja.com/mobile/5mm-Super-Bright-White-10000mcd-Non-Diffused-LED/productinfo/17145+OP

And there are plenty more at the website if anyone wants to look .
I know you can get 300 watt LED light from amazon I have one myself I bought it on sale as well . But I guess I have a lot of time on my hands to look for building things I get satisfaction from experimenting with different ideas .
Thanks for the reply.

[Zativa]

Were it my grow, I would still go with something designed specifically for plants. Most grow lights seem to have pulse-mode drivers for their LEDs, which is a standard method for getting the most performance without turning the diodes into 'fry-odes'. There are a few cheap lights for dark corners:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ledy+strip+lights&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aledy+strip+lights

I certainly understand the fun of building projects (been doing that for 60+ years). But if your priority is making the plants grow better, probably more cost-effective (and definitely more time-effective) to throw a few dollars at it. Judging by the number and variety of grow lights on the market, the 'best' wavelength mix, intensity, etc. are not well defined. Probably smart to take advantage of the hours other people have already put into this endeavor. All a matter of personal taste...

[9fingerleafs]

I've never done anything like this but I do watch a lot of YouTube growers. What I've seen them say is that the best leds are white COBs with cree chips I think. Greengenes help develop pacific light concepts check him out. And there's one grower called growmou5 or growmouse and he has a lot of DIY led fixture tutorials and step by step instructions. I hope you can find useful info in there

[Sammy]

There's a couple of videos on how to make your own LEDs one Guy Did It averaging over 2 grams per watt. And there is only one problem is it's freaking $1,700 I would buy the kind LED for that kind of money. Not. Do some research on the correct wave links Amazon has everything you need I think it's actually cheaper to buy one already built ,price of should be coming down hopefully. Very interested please keep posting.

[D.A.A.S.69]

I'm with Zativa, I always grew outdoors and still do but this time I read Nebulas articles on LEDs cause I wanted to try to grow a plant inside without having to fight snakes and f-cking blood thirsty mosquitoes and bought a cheap 89 buck 300watt GH LED light that surprised the f-ck out of me with the harvest I got. Probably gonna get at least 5 or 6 ozs maybe more , of dry rock hard buds that smell as good as anything I have ever grown in damn near 50 years of growing pot outdoors.