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Thread: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

  1. #11

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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    If you go parallel, you have to watch out for overloading the LEDs with current. For a small number of LEDs (like less than 20), series is fine, and it keeps the wiring really simple. In my experience, when an LED fails, it often fails closed, so it stops lighting, but still passes current. If an LED does fail open, it would be easy to find it by just using a couple batteries and wires to check each LED. It wouldn't take more than a couple minutes to figure out which one(s) are bad. I wouldn't worry about that.

  2. #12

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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    I had 3 x 24 watt T5HOs on each side before, so nearly 150 Watts total, and I could never get really good green growth. Either my flow was too low, or the light too intense or something. When I switched to only 30-ish watts of LED, the growth took off. I'm harvesting a couple cups of bright green algae every week. My screen is roughly 8" x 19" of effective growing area, double sided. It's really easy to over think the LED thing, and you don't have to. It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to work.

  3. #13

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    Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    Cool..... Thanks for the advice!!! You've changed my mind I think I'll go with the series.

  4. #14

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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    How would I be able to find out what resistor to use for each side of my wired series of leds?

  5. #15
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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    I use google. Type in LED Calculator or LED resistors. Here are a few links.

    http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

    http://ledz.com/?p=zz.led.resistor.calculator

    http://ledcalc.com/

  6. #16

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    Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    Thanks...... I'm sure I might have more questions being the first time I've ever done this but I wanted to say I greatly appreciate everyone's help so far!!

  7. #17
    kotlec's Avatar
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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    Use proper driver and you will never need any resistors. Resistors are only good for 3-5mm small led's. And we do not use them for scrubbers mostly. For 1-3 w LEDs you will need huge resistors and they will be really hot more often that not. Poem :lol:

  8. #18

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    Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    Now before I get started building my light could some one give me a list of all the materials I will need to build my light, something that I can use as a checklist so I don't get started an realize I'm missing something.

  9. #19
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    Re: Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    LEDs
    Heatsink
    Driver w/ power cord
    22 guage wire
    Thermal Epoxy (or equivelent mounting method)
    Soldering Iron
    Solder
    Flux
    electrical tape, water proof wire nuts, or heatshrink tubing
    optional: multimeter

  10. #20

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    Need help finding to buy or designing my own led light.

    Cool thanks

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