FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

nimrod337 wrote:If I wanted to have this done locally by someone, where would be my best bet?

Find a television repair shop.

hmm, i think a tv repair shop will be a good place to start, but i doubt they will have 3w leds, a parts-shop or electronic diy shop might have them.

And which wavelengths were you thinking about for the 5band?

Sander wrote: Now my question is, would people be interested in buying such a lamp? (since buying in bulk is way cheaper and while im at it, i could make a few extra)

I'm not really in the market for any lighting but if I was, my main concern would be whether the cooling you initially go with is optimal. May take some experimenting? Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, but how big of an area do you expect the 40W panel to cover?

I am thinking

1 red (660nm)
1 blue (450nm)
1 purple (410nm)
1 orange (600nm)
1 white (6500K)

Can you think of a more effective ratio? I only get 5 bulbs, so I kinda wanted to have 5 different wavelengths, but if that's not going to be the most effective, I can switch it up.

edit: I also plan to do this with the 3x 1W down lamp... What 3 wavelengths should I try for that bad boy? 1red, one blue, and 1 purple?


/sorry for threadjacking this.

I stead of the orange, id go with 630nm, its the red absorbtion peak of CHlorophyll a.

As for the 3x1w depending on vegatative growth: Purple, blue, red (630 or 660), if u want flowering id go purple red(630) and red (660).

But this is for VFTs, so I don't think flowering is the point.

So for the 15W maybe

Red(630, and 660)
Blue,
white
and purple?


Thanks for the help on this. I am in communication with some Chinese companies that offer wholesale LED stuffs, So I am trying to make it as simple as possible to avoid confusion in the language barrier.

Sander wrote:hmm, i think a tv repair shop will be a good place to start, but i doubt they will have 3w leds, a parts-shop or electronic diy shop might have them.

I agree that they likely wouldn't have the parts, but would probably have a line on ordering them. I mainly think some place that does component level repair will be more apt to do a professional solder job, actually know Ohm's Law and be able to practically apply it.

nimrod337 wrote:But this is for VFTs, so I don't think flowering is the point.

So for the 15W maybe

Red(630, and 660)
Blue,
white
and purple?


Thanks for the help on this. I am in communication with some Chinese companies that offer wholesale LED stuffs, So I am trying to make it as simple as possible to avoid confusion in the language barrier.

Yeah, i think that would be a really good one, it has all the absorption peaks, and a white led to make the light look prettier and cover what the other leds miss.
AS soon as u have ordering info, could you let me know what u paid for all the leds?

@ bril, ya i agree, u have to start somewhere right?^^

Radio shack might work I used to buy all my small electronic parts there.

I may be a little late for this but I built a LED set up for a nano salt water tank I had. I purchased everything except the wire and soldering iron from http://www.rapidled.com/ for around $60 (6 leds, heatsink, driver, etc). They also have no soldering options too. I did extensive research on on the topic at nano-reef.com which has 100's of led builds but were for salt water coral which have different requirements as far as aesthetics, grow requirements, and color temp go. You could easily build a LED set up like you are discussing. I have pictures of the light I built if you would like me to share them. I would think you would use mostly cool white leds because they are in the 6500k range. I personally don't know how important the other colors are that you have listed. In salt water the other colors were added for visual effects and not a requirement for growth. I live in NC so I do not use an indoor light for CPs so my only experience is with saltwater as far as lights go. Maybe my experience can help you out with this LED build though.

This is my first post been lurking for a long time...lost of good info in this forum.

recreationguru wrote:I may be a little late for this but I built a LED set up for a nano salt water tank I had. I purchased everything except the wire and soldering iron from http://www.rapidled.com/ for around $60 (6 leds, heatsink, driver, etc). They also have no soldering options too. I did extensive research on on the topic at nano-reef.com which has 100's of led builds but were for salt water coral which have different requirements as far as aesthetics, grow requirements, and color temp go. You could easily build a LED set up like you are discussing. I have pictures of the light I built if you would like me to share them. I would think you would use mostly cool white leds because they are in the 6500k range. I personally don't know how important the other colors are that you have listed. In salt water the other colors were added for visual effects and not a requirement for growth. I live in NC so I do not use an indoor light for CPs so my only experience is with saltwater as far as lights go. Maybe my experience can help you out with this LED build though.

This is my first post been lurking for a long time...lost of good info in this forum.

lets start with: welcome!
I now payed 51 dollars including shipment for everything (40 w) with a few spare leds, and going to use an aluminium plate as heatsink.
The colours i mentioned are way more effective then just 6500k (in theory), ill make a tutorial as soon as i recieve all the stuff.

I figured you had reason for the other color temps. Here is a picture of my diy led project. The heatsink was a 4.25" square I believe with the 6 led spaced evenly. I also fabricated the black cover you see. It is helpful to me to see other peoples projects. I hope these help. What size heatsink? I think mine was a little to small.

thats cool dude you should make a video of your progress.

recreationguru wrote:I figured you had reason for the other color temps. Here is a picture of my diy led project. The heatsink was a 4.25" square I believe with the 6 led spaced evenly. I also fabricated the black cover you see. It is helpful to me to see other peoples projects. I hope these help. What size heatsink? I think mine was a little to small.

Hey, that looks pretty nice!

Are they 1w leds? or 3/5w?
What i am wondering is, how hot does the heatsink get, since im planning to only use a aluminium base plate as heat sink, if it gets to hot i might be using smaller heatsinks and a small fan (would be a lot more complicated to engineer/build tho).

Swat, i will certainly do!

Sander wrote: Are they 1w leds? or 3/5w?

They are 5w, I will try to find a pic with them turned on. I sold the light and tank a while back.

Sander wrote:What i am wondering is, how hot does the heatsink get, since im planning to only use a aluminium base plate as heat sink, if it gets to hot i might be using smaller heatsinks and a small fan (would be a lot more complicated to engineer/build tho).

My heatsink ~4in square with 6 leds would get very hot to the touch. It however did not change the air/water temp of my fish tank though. You do not want the leds to get too hot either because it shortens their life. So I would suggest a pretty large heatsink or a fan like you mentioned. I've seen computer fans wired to old cell phone chords that work perfect for this purpose. Look forward to seeing your progress.
Forgot to mention to make sure you use thermal epoxy, it bonds your heatsink and leds so the heat is transfered better.