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irabionist

Lights for propagation

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Thanks!

That is pretty impressive, how long the lights etc can run...on just ten hours of sun a day?

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Thanks!

That is pretty impressive, how long the lights etc can run...on just ten hours of sun a day?

As long as the sun is out and in the summer you get a lot more light . But a lot of effort went into its design

I also should add that only using digital HID systems with solar systems as the start up from magnetic ballasts

can destroy your inverters pretty quickly . I must also stress that when building these system you install breakers

and R.C.D's and get all your work done by a professional. I have seen some real dodgy systems out there

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There's been a few developments in LED COB technology over the last few years. The COB chips are a multichip unit crammed into one small board. The manufacturers are starting produce these things in large volumes and the price is falling rapidly because of all the competition.

I built one about two years ago and it's still going strong, it's a 50 w cool white COB module and it cranks out a lot of light. I use to supplement the natural light coming through the window. I was amazed at how hot these things run, it will instantly burn your finger if you were silly enough to touch it. I ended wiring a thermal cut off switch and fan cooled CPU heat pipe heat sink. All up, back then it cost me about $130, now I could build the same thing for less than $70

I've recently found a site selling the COB modules in the full spectrum specifically designed for plant growth. They are the cheapest retailer of full spectrum COB's I've found anywhere. Ebay has a very limited selection of full spectrum COB's - most of them are just mix of red and blue diodes.

For anyone with basic technical skills who's looking for a cheap setup it's well worth a look. They also have some working units that are very well priced for the wattage they produce. I've have my eye on the 150 watt full spectrum COB on the site. Using the 150 watt COB from them and sourcing the power supply and heatsink elsewhere, I could build a unit for slightly more than the cool white 50 w unit I built two years ago (about $130) that would outperform many units twice the price. For around $500 you could have a 600watt unit with higher light intensity and penetrating power than the average unit built using arrays of single LED's

http://www.dhgate.com/store/16940269

If anyone knows where to get them cheaper I'd love to know.

Edited by Sally
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A good place to get batteries is from scrap yards i got a 3 year old battery bank for 200 than is 1600 amp hr so you could use that to supplement a large green house during rainy days.

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^ that made me think of a trick I've seen employed to save on power costs.

People used to get train engine capacitors and charge them from the mains, with the older power meters the meter couldn't spin quick enough to measure the throughput and the excess was unmetered, saving enough money to make the process woth doing. It's illegal though, so don't try it at home.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just found an ebay seller selling a similar range to the site I linked above, I'm not sure but I think it could be the same company.

They have all the sexy new chips and diy kits that any idiot could knock up - if they don't zap the chip with heat from the soldering iron or static. The solder tabs are considered a one shot process with these things - if you fuck it up the first time the chances of the chip failing increases massively when attempts are made to re-solder them. If you overheat it when soldering there's a good chance you will permanently damage the COB chip (from memory they have a thermal limit of around 300 deg C during the soldering process, which is quite low). So the only thing that could have to be outsouced is the soldering of the wires to the COB, if you aren't 100% confident with your soldering abilities.

They also have a 200 watt full spectrum COB chip, which on face value seems very appealing but these things will have a dramatically reduced operating life if the heatsink/fan combo doesn't keep it cool enough. There's no way the heatsinks on the site will cool a 200 w chip effectively, so if anyone goes the 200w route they will need a massive fan cooled heatsink or even a water cooling sytem instead.

http://stores.ebay.com.au/growstore4plant2014/

and the non ebay store I posted in my post above

http://www.dhgate.com/store/16940269

Edited by Sally
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Just remember when using inverted power (ie 12v dc to 240ac) use pure sine wave inverters and only use high

quality digital and fluro lighting components if using a magnetic ballast a lot of power will be wasted 30% +. Due to this power loss

the system is to inefficient. If you dont know what im talking about I suggest learning on you tube, forums etc as this can be lethal.

Hope to show our off grid system off soon (moved house so working on a 9000 watt house system ) Any sabers in brisbane/ipswich

wanting batteries pm me and i will help you out .

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I am considering setting up off grid.

How much battery power would I need to run say....one 1000w hos light, one 400 watt,

A light move (light rail)... Not entirely sure how much that uses....twenty 35 watt fluorescents....a small after pump for aquaponics, etc....Oh yeah and a fan.

Not enough info probably, but any advice would be helpful.

I have a natural gas generator, electric start.

I may set it up to start on a timer, charge (how many?) batteries each day, then run off those until it has to charge again.

Which would be when the timer goes on.

Or even better, when the charge goes low, it starts automatically whenever.

We have a good supply of gas.

I am probably setting up inside an insulated.....reefer trailer with the unit gone.

I am also looking into a reefer trailer, with the unit in, and converting that to run on gas.

Any thoughts on these things?

Thanks

The Shonman

Edited by shonman

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when you say gas do you have a natural gas well as a backup generator will help cut costs in terms of battery storage

plus are you going to use a 110 volt system(standard usa mains voltage ) and how many hours do you want to run i assume 12 . How windy is your

area as wind is great for keeping a charge going on those cloudy days . To be completely off grid and to be reliant on

your system you will need to buy decent parts but living in america you will have no problems finding them. What state

do you live in.

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Yes, natural gas.

It turns put that now, I am setting up near 'the grid'....so, perhaps I will use that for backup.

Batteries are expensive!!

Not sure if they are more expensive than using grid electricity.

It is windy sometimes.

I will probably experiment with micro turbine too.

I plan on doing micropropagation in an insulated 'reefer' trailer.

I was going to convert the reefer unit to natural gas,

But the EPA gets involved.

I want to micropropagate goldenseal and other plants,

As well as grow microgreens...(baby vegetables)

It would be interesting to try microgreens in an auquaponics system

Possibly with coco coir wicking the moisture from the fish tank as it flows under the coir.....

I will probably run 16 hours/ day.

110 although, 220 is available.

Edited by shonman

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batteries can be expensive but you can use capacitors to store a large charge . Give me a bit and i will work out on the best way for you to go as i get a lot of parts from the states

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a great guy has so many good ideas

 

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Excellent!!

Here is an esoteric thought for you....

Our body, and it's water....can act as a capacitor, for electric and cosmic energies.

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That is great, I did not know about capacitors being used this way.....excellent!

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I am waiting on some and was meant to pick up a 12kva inverta that was used a ups in a server on ebay 400 bargain

plus 3 1000w ups/inverters with bateries 5.56 ebay is the way to build all this on the cheap . please take my advice with a grain of\

salt as i cant be held liable i still have my noob belt for this stuff. I am lucky i have only been zapped by a cap once

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sorry , wrong forum post ...

Edited by Heretic

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Thanks for all the contributios in this thread. Very helpful.

Planning on building a small propagation system with T5 fluros this weekend. I found a lot of additional info specifically relating to fluros and cacti seedlings here and thought I'd share:

http://cactiguide.com/article/?article=article17.php

I few highlights was the exact concentration of fluros required depending on the space (the science) and info on distance and seasonal adjustments.

I might be out of my depth! is there a T5 or T8 system that does not need wiring by its self?

I would rather just buy something I can plug into the wall....

A tip on hooking T5s up to mains is using one of those common 2 pin stereo power leads that comes with small stereos/ CD players. I'll post a few pics up later.

post-16957-0-19020100-1443824181_thumb.j

The black plug can be shaved down with a blade to fit if you don't have a spare one the identical shape

post-16957-0-19020100-1443824181_thumb.jpg

post-16957-0-23046800-1443824404_thumb.jpg

post-16957-0-19020100-1443824181_thumb.jpg

post-16957-0-23046800-1443824404_thumb.jpg

Edited by AbleKay
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I have recently had the opportunity to try some LED growlights, that fit into regular T-8 florescent fixtures.

must say, I like results.

They are red light on one row, white light in the second row. (where ordinary bulbs would go)

Not sure on price as this set was a gift, but I am mega impressed with how plants react to them so far.

Will have to get more info on how long they are good, and cost to determine just how great they may or may not be all considered.

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Nice! What is the Lumens/Watt output?

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Just bought a 110w T5 fluro, planning on building a propagation chamber into the empty space under a desk in my study so I can start taking cuttings of my ethnos. I've never messed around with grow lights before and I'm paranoid about potential fire hazard, how do you guys minimize the risk? do T5's put out enough heat to be concerned about? might incorporate some PC fans for air circulation

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I'm working on a prototype for LED lighting setup, will let you guys know when it's done soon and come up with some exclusive deal to get y'all through the winter

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