LED Grow Light

hello everybody,

please suppport & share our mission; igg.me/at/smartplants

UPDATE: fanless design - https://www.instructables.com/id/an-even-cooler-LED...

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I am going to share with you how to make a cheap yet very powerful grow light. this 12Watt - wide spectrum led light will flourish your plants ($7.88 / year). almost every part can be found around the house or at a thrift store - cost is ~$15.

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advantages to CFL:

- almost impossible to break

- clean operation, (no toxic fumes or mercury)

- 120 degree light output, unlike 360 degree with CFLs, there is no light loss

- cool to touch. plants can touch these lights and not burn their leaves

- easy customization. size, shape and color.

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let.s being..>

here is a link for the laser cut acrylic sheet. it is the same size as a 120mm case fan.

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the metal sheet in between was bought from a local hardware store.

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everything is held together with 20x nuts (6-32) and 4x bolts (6-32 x 2"). make sure they are the right size, bring your fan with you to the store and test it.

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you will also need;

led driver

high power leds

6x 1W warm white (you can also do 4x warm white 2x cool white - make sure they are 1W)

2x 430nm

4x 660nm

dc adapter (matching with case fan voltage !!)

ac cable

thermal glue

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optional;

female & male usb connectors

first we are going to make 2 in series modules of 6 led.s. then we connect these two modules together in parallel. which leaves the voltage same, but doubles the current - matching perfectly with the driver at 700mA.

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apply a tiny amount of thermal glue under and lay out your led.s (wait at least 30 minutes to cure)

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measure, cut and snip the ends off each wire - get them ready to solder. I use masking tape to stabilize everything, this makes the entire process very easy.

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solder the led.s

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the led driver doesn't come with an ac cable. solder the AC cable to the driver.

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before going any further test your system. connect the driver to the wall, and touch the positive (+) and negative (-). make sure that they all turn on. do not stare at the light !!

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carefully disconnect the driver, do not touch the positive (+) and negative (-) together EVER.

i want to easily be able to attach/detach the light system. this is why I converted each connection with a usb socket.

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connect the male usb sockets to the fan + lights

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connect the female usb sockets to the dc adapter + led driver

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now you can mount the power adapters to a frame and still be able to remove your light for upgrades/fixes.

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for more info on connections: instructables.com/id/usb-power-source-hack/

I have been working with high power led.s for over 7 months now. they are superior to CFL grow lights in my opinion. here are a few prototypes.

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the new system (12Watts - 4.5x4.5inches) is going to be replacing the current 16Watt system in the plant box (8x6inches). I will be loosing a few led.s but this light is much more stable and sleek, less moving parts, much less space. (will post about this soon!). I am planning on a time-lapse plant grow movie with this new system once box1 is finished. I can't wait to put this thing to a real test.

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my new system is very similar to another older design. this auto grow system is power with only 6Watts. (4.5x4.5inches)

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here we have another led grow light system (11Watts) with a fan on top again. (4.5x4.5inches)

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last we have a system without fans. it is also 11Watts but the sheet size is 9x9inches (3.5mm thick). I have successfully raised 3 lychee trees sharing all the light. the heavy frame acts as a heatsink.

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thank you for your interest, remember to subscribe to stay in the loop..!

love & peace

akin,