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That Guy
Registered: 08/12/08
Posts: 4,057
Loc: Southwestern US 
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 Re: Building LED Grow Lights - Need your help!  [Re: rodfarva]
#321298 - 11/24/09 10:28 PM (15 years, 4 months ago) |
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Well, I can put in my two cents on the matter.
I own a couple of LED grow lights, a 120W unit and a 90W unit...In a 1:1:7 ratio of blue:orange:red
The most actively absorbed wavelengths of light are listed on wikipedia. The problem with most led lights is that most plant's photoperiods are regulated by phytochrome. Phytochrome has two interchangeable types: red and far-red. This means that a red type will absorb red light and become a far-red type, until it absorbs far red light and converts back to red type. The frequency of switches and the type of switches control major photoperiod-related biological processes.
I believe one improvement that LED systems could incorporate would be to include a few far-red LED's in the mix for flowering purposes. A quick fix for this is to include a CFL in the grow area to provide a small amount of balanced light to help in these processes. I know from first-hand experience that my plants produce more from 1 26W CFL in a 3x3 grow room with a 90W LED light.
Another thing that I believe LED's lack is UVB THC levels. This could be added in very low amounts to an LED light with maybe an option to switch off that particular set of LED's. This would make the grow room more safe for the grower while he/she is in the grow room working.
I know that, being diodes, LED circuits tend to have little resistance, and therefore are very sensitive to slight changes in voltage across the circuit. This leads to massive fluctuations in current and can easily burn up your new toy. I have read that most LED light bars and the like use current-limiting power supplies to ensure that the current is not allowed to swing too high. Being that I am a Mechanical Engineer, that is all I can offer you in the realm of EE. My professor for that class was a shit show 24/7...I didn't learn much and he eventually got fired for being retarded haha  .
Sorry I can't help more, if you would like to talk about the light aspect of this I might be able to think about it more when I have more than 3 hours of sleep under my belt 
peace,
agmotes165
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“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you” -NDT
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