So being a first time grower the first thing I did was go to the bay and buy the cheapest lights I could find. I patted myself on the back for getting such a great deal. Then upon investigation I realize I purchased a bunch of Chinese junk. All the manufactures over rate there products and the LEDs that they are built with are old technology from 2014. Even US companies where doing it. What to do what to do? So while investigating a new light that I needed for flowering I ran into this guy who was making his own lights. His name was Grow Mau5 and I intently watched all his videos and learned a lot about LED lighting. Building my own light looked pretty scary. I knew nothing about COBs or drivers or Cree or Vero29 or Quantum boards so the task seemed daunting. I got to the point in my grow where I needed to order a flowering light or build one myself. So I had to make a decision and make it fast.
The light I wanted cost $1050 on sale and $650 for the kit. After adding up all the parts separately I came to the conclusion that I could build the light I wanted for around $550. Still scared about what I was about to do I ordered all the pieces for my light.
- 4-QB304 boards with heat sinks
- 2-Meanwell drivers HLG 240H-C1050B and 2 dimming potentiometers
I choose the Quantum board because it is the most efficient light on the market as we speak. Each board is like a huge COB light and has 304 Top Bin Samsung LM561C S6 bin diodes on each board.
I was trying to emulate the HLG 550 which you can see at horticulturelightinggroup.com
I purchased my drivers and dimmers from RapidLED and they came very quickly. HLG is the only place you can buy the Quantum Boards and most of the time they are sold out. So I waited cause that’s all you can do. In the mean time I kept on watching more videos on how to build these lights so when the time came I would know what I was doing. So 2 weeks later they came in the mail. I was really excited and nervous at the same time. Now all the pieces where here and I had to put them together.
I carefully wired everything together. Making sure and double sure I was doing it right. Then everything was together and all I had left to do was plug it in to see if it would work. I nervously grabbed the end of the plug and walked over to the outlet and plugged it in. SUCCESS! It seemed like it was brighter than the sun. So I checked the dimmers and they worked flawlessly too. At that moment I was really proud of myself. I had taken a risk and it paid off. So here are some pictures of my accomplishment.
All the components where mounted on an aluminum frame which I also built.
The 2 driver where wired into one plug using WAGO connectors
The boards run very cool with just one 10in fan blowing on the heat sinks.
Board spacing was 9" on long axis and 6in on short axis
All 4 boards run at 493 watts at full power. you can run less if you use the dimmers.
This light is as powerful as a 1000 watt open ended HPS and you can see about 50% less heat.
It’s Efficiency is 2.4 umol/joules which currently is the best on the market.
PPF is 1265 umol/s max
I selected the 3000K light spectrum because that’s what they made the HLG 550 with.
So that’s why I haven’t posted much lately been very busy with this project.
I hope this has inspired many of use who wish they could find a good light to build one themselves as I have no fancy training and I’m just a normal guy who wants to grow some good weed.
Happy Growing
@Aquaponic_Dumme @latewood @Donaldj @Tonyb @Countryboyjvd1971 @TheDuke @Nug-bug @bob31 @Majiktoker @peachfuzz