DIY 3w LED grow light v2.0
Since I had the space for another grow setup I decided to build another grow light. I had some things I wanted to a bit differently from my other led grow light, so this was the perfect time to get cracking on version 2.0.
Parts list
My other parts list can be followed, but I decided to up the blue ratio, and added a few 6500k white LEDs to the mix. The heatsink is also smaller and the total LED count is 53.
I also decided to focus more on using the more efficient 620-630nm reds and 460-470nm blues in stead of the 660-670/445-450nm red/blues. There are a couple of reasons for it, but mainly because the higher efficiency leds are cheaper, output considerably more light per watt and because of that are probably just as well suited, or maybe even better (more light, right?).
I decided to go with the same type of heatsink as in my previous build, but opting for a considerably more dense layout, hopefully with more even light.
As you can see I just used libreoffice calc (similar to microsoft excel) to plan the layout. Each row represents a u channel aluminum profile.
My rationale for adding the white leds is providing a little extra light in other frequencies that plants use less of, but may (or may not) benefit from. Main reason is probably that I had the lights on hand so I figured why the hell not? I’ve grown aquarium plants with these exact LEDs with extremely good results before.
Here’s what the layout looks like when lit up with 60 degree lenses.
It’s ridiculously bright and hurts your eyes.
And here’s the back side of the heatsink, showing wiring and the fan.
If anyone has questions or comments about the build then by all means please ask in the comments.
Hrafnkell 
Benti á þennann póst hér
http://www.plantan.is/index.php/forum/12-lysing/130-led-ploentuljos?start=10#313
Hey,
Your DIY is exactly what i was looking for thanks for posting it.!
I also want to build a LED grow light setup and do some indoor gardening.
The only thing I can’t figure out is how to calculate the amount of LED’s i need
I have one shelve about 91cm long and 35 cm wide and i want to stack two growing “rooms”
(http://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-6070-3437-Supreme-3-Tier-Shelving/dp/B004BDP69M)
I don’t want to go overboard and build something that’s way more then i need. I want something that covers the growing area.
Thanks!
Bogdan
I didn’t really use any calculations, I just went ahead and tried it. That being said, light output depends greatly on what you want to grow and how fast you want to grow it. I’ve been using this grow light since August, growing stupid amounts of lettuce and herbs (rocket, lettuce, basil etc). Growth has exceeded my expectations, and the grow bed is roughly 80x40cm, so almost the same size as yours. I’d just recommend the same design for your grow. You can always add another row of LEDs if you want to grow something that needs more light, but in my experience this should be plenty for most purposes. You can get everything except the aluminum profiles for pretty cheap on rapidled.com.
Hi,
How has the new array worked in reference to your first set? Did you get a better growth of the plants?
New array has worked great. I’m not using it for any fruiting plants, so I can’t tell you how it works for them, but vegetative growth is excellent – I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
May I ask what types of plants you had under the light?
I’m planning to have Spinach, and leafy greens, cut and come again type varieties (so primarily no fruiting), but i would like to get some peppers/chillies, maybe some indoor overwinter strawberries….
I have greens under these, no fruits. I’m sure fruits would do OK, too, though. I just have another LED grow light for my tomatoes and chilis 🙂 See me earlier build on this site.
Thank you for the reply. I already ordered the parts just waiting for them to get Home.
I’m quite excited about it to be honest.
Did you ever finish your quad copter ?
I started building the frame for mine then i realized i need to put out ~1k for all the gear. And just put it on my back log for next year.
This is quite exciting, very fun and rewarding to build something like this yourself. What parts did you go with? I did finish my quad copter, just a couple of months ago actually. I’ll be posting a writeup on that very soon. Thanks for your interest!
Wondering if you have any more updates on your grow lights? I’m planning on building a smaller version but wanted to know what ratio of red to blue seemed to work best. I also picked up a few far end of the spectrum ir and uv leds to try out instead of the generic deep red/ deep blue leds. We’ll see how that goes. Are you having any more luck with your pepper plants? Did the white leds help at all?
No real updates, I’m just growing a lot of tomatoes and greens now and it’s working great. I’m not growing the peppers under the newer version of my lights, but both seem to work fine and I’m not sure there’s much of a difference between the two, growth wise at least. I’d say just go for it and go for a blue/red ratio depending on what plants you want to grow, or get dimmable drivers on the blue leds and you can change the ratio on the fly. I was too cheap to go for dimmable drivers 🙂
I appreciate you documenting your creation. I’m interested in replicating what you’ve done, but I’m considering modifying the design to use some 3W RGB with the correct wave length for veg and bloom, so I can just flip a rocker switch without moving any plants.
http://www.satisled.com/1pcs-3w-high-power-mix-colors-plant-grow-led-emitter-2-red-660nm-chips-and-1-blue-455nm-chip-with-star-pcb_p1406.html
Have you thought of any improvements on your 2.0 light?
Thanks.
B
AWESOME build!!! Thanks for the design, information, and links. A couple of questions:
1) I live in Iceland well, Did you order all your parts from overseas?
2) Are you growing in dirt or hydroponically?
Thanks,
Matti
Glad you like it. I ordered most of the parts from satisled.com. I did get the aluminum profiles for the heatsinks from sindrason.is though. I see satisled have some interesting heatsinks now though, but I’m not sure how much it is to ship them to here.
I grow hydroponically (ebb&flow). There’s details on that on the blog if you look up older posts.
Nice build. Thanks for the information provided. I like what you did and i am trying to do something similar. But i am stuck with choosing the right power supply/driver for my leds.
I have
20 X red 3w leds 630nm, typical forward voltage 2,4 at 750mA
12 X deep red 3w leds 660nm, typical forward voltage 4,5 at 300mA
3 X cool white 3W chip typical forwarding voltage 3,5 at 700mA
3 X warm white 3W chip typical forwarding voltage 3,5 at 700mA
3 X Royal blue 3W chip 450nm typical forwarding voltage 3,5 at 700mA
2X far red 3W chip 720 nm typical forwarding voltage 2,4 at 350mA
So first of all do you think this is a good setup?
And second how do i power these leds.
Can i use one of these and try to power them all with it?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/360W-Switching-Switch-Power-Supply-Driver-for-LED-Strip-Light-DC-12V-30A-/380747265289?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item58a64e3509
If not please try to explain what else shoud i then do.
Thank you.
This looks good, but you’re going to need more blue LEDs.
The link you provide is just a power supply, not possible to use just that to drive the LEDs. I use these drivers and am pretty happy with them.
http://www.satisled.com/Wholesale-Discount-600ma-driver-for-3w-series-waterproof-driver-for-3w-leds_c297.html
Depending on which driver you pick they can run 1-18 LEDs. These drivers are not dimmable, but I haven’t really found that to be necessary. With dimmable drivers you’d be able to f.e. dial back the blues during flowering/fruiting, or decrease brightness for seedlings.
Thank you for the information. This lamp will be for flowering only that’s why so little blue spectrum and that’s why no dimming is necessary. Thanks again, hope you don’t mind i come back for more information later on if needed 😉
Cheers.
Hello again. I have found this power supply
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/180w-48v-3-75a-dc-power-supply/
which i plan to power 4 of these drivers
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/meanwell-ldd-700hw-led-driver/
Do you think this power supply/drivers setup can power 43 X3 W fore mentioned leds?
Thank you very much.
This actually looks pretty good. I have no personal experience with it, though.
Make sure you have the proper tools to dim the drivers, though.
Hey man! Love your build! Very grateful for DIY guys like you.
Since I live in Sweden and growing season is short I have ordered a bunch of LED´s (as per your parts list) but upped the blues a little.
Im in the process of setting up an IBC aquaponics system in the basement so my growbed will be 1×1.2m. Probably going to be bordering to insufficient with only one light but its a start.
I am curious though, do you think it would be detrimental to have a sheet of acrylic in front of the LEDs? The enclosure/fixture design im thinking of is a little less “rough” looking than bare aluminum.
Hi! Glad you liked the writeup. I’m in Iceland so growing season here is quite short too 🙂
I’m not 100% sure about acrylic, but I think it filters out some light – Not sure if it’s the light you want for your plants, but probably something to look into at leas.t
Thanks for the comment.
I think I will just skip the acrylic glass. No lenses either!
Stuff will probably arrive next week (if customs dont get to it!) and I am anxious to get started.
I have been looking at some commercial LED grow light with around 90 3W LEDs and they are about 600x260mm. Are you happy with the amount of light/sqm or would you have made it smaller, but with equal amount of LEDs if you would have made it today?
Growth rates very quite satisfactory, so I’m not sure I would change anything… I’m not an expert, maybe I could have squeezed more growth out of the plants with more LEDs per square centimeter. But doing that may cause some cooling problems.
Could you please tell me the gage of the wire you used for connecting all your LEDs
I believe I used 0.5mm2,