InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time

[InTheShed]

Sorry gang, been busy today getting the light sorted. I hit a few snags and won't have time to put the whole build up in a post now (tonight or tomorrow), but I thought I would at least post this pic so you can see that it's done! The green wires block some of the LEDs at this angle but they don't block any light pointing straight down:

20181215_145418.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 15, 2018

New light!

It pulls 123 watts at it's lowest setting (about where the MarsHydro 300 was) and 383 watts cranked. I'll probably start it around 180 watts tonight so the plants can get used to it and bump it each night after that until I get to around 250 watts.

Big thanks to @CraZysWeeD and @Graytail for helping me out with my stumbles today.

I hope you're all doing well but I gotta run.

 

[Pennywise]

You're gonna love that light Shed!

 

[Lowded118]

Were In The Shed!

 

[Derbybud]

Future is looking bright right now in the shed. Nice

 

[CraZysWeeD]

AWESOME

 

[FelipeBlu]

Whoa! That Oval just got a lot brighter!

 

[Amy Gardner]

Yah!!

Happy plants happy Shed!

 

[Heavenly Hybrid]

After all your hard work, congrats Shed!!

 

[dynamo1]

 

[Graytail]

It's a thing of beauty, Shed!

 

[nobodyhere]

Is it a fixed height or can you move the light up? If fixed at what height?

 

[farside05]

Sorry gang, been busy today getting the light sorted. I hit a few snags and won't have time to put the whole build up in a post now (tonight or tomorrow), but I thought I would at least post this pic so you can see that it's done! The green wires block some of the LEDs at this angle but they don't block any light pointing straight down:

20181215_145418.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 15, 2018

New light!

It pulls 123 watts at it's lowest setting (about where the MarsHydro 300 was) and 383 watts cranked. I'll probably start it around 180 watts tonight so the plants can get used to it and bump it each night after that until I get to around 250 watts.

Big thanks to @CraZysWeeD and @Graytail for helping me out with my stumbles today.

I hope you're all doing well but I gotta run.

Musta got unsubscribed somehow. Check in and find I'm 40 pages behind. Without going through all 40, looks like someone got a new shiney LED strip light. Nice! I'm liking mine and there's a certain level of satisfaction to building it yourself. Looking forward to the build pics.

 

[NorCaliwood]

I don't even try to keep up... All that ever done was make me put foot in mouth,,, well sometimes....

 

[BigBearNTexas]

Light looks great, Shed. Good job!

 

[bobrown14]

Congrats on the harvest Shed. Coffee is good tasting weed.

Pretty nice lamp there buddy. Gonna grow some ganja with that?

Whats wrong with Earl Grey... all I drink organic loose leaf, taste good. It's black tea with a little bit of Bergamot (orange peel) added in. Good stuff. I think so, don't do anything unless we take a break for tea first. Just the way they do it in Russia, we dot it here like that.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Just the way they do it in Russia

You are from Russia? Cool!

 

[Dutchman1990]

Sorry gang, been busy today getting the light sorted. I hit a few snags and won't have time to put the whole build up in a post now (tonight or tomorrow), but I thought I would at least post this pic so you can see that it's done! The green wires block some of the LEDs at this angle but they don't block any light pointing straight down:

20181215_145418.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 15, 2018

New light!

It pulls 123 watts at it's lowest setting (about where the MarsHydro 300 was) and 383 watts cranked. I'll probably start it around 180 watts tonight so the plants can get used to it and bump it each night after that until I get to around 250 watts.

Big thanks to @CraZysWeeD and @Graytail for helping me out with my stumbles today.

I hope you're all doing well but I gotta run.

Good looking light she’d excited to see the full build report !

 

[InTheShed]

Glad y'all like it!

Before the enormous pic drop of the build, I want to thank a few people. First @Graytail for all the recommendations and calculations, for sticking with me every time I went "wha?," for actually going online and finding the exact model numbers for the driver and the strips once he figured out what I was trying to do, and for helping me when I got lost on the wiring yesterday. Next up is @PurpleGunRack for giving great info and links when I said I thought it was time to build me a strip LED. Thanks to @CraZysWeeD for being a resource during the build as well, walking me through the wiring yesterday along with Gray. Also thanks to @SamSmith for understanding what I was trying to accomplish with my wattage calculations and getting me to the formula needed to stay in my lane. And last, to the unnamed member here who so lovingly offered to create the frame to my specs and ship it to me, pre-cut, pre-drilled, and with all the hardware I needed to get it assembled and then some (as you'll see in the pics below).

On to the build...
Let's start with what I bought since it's blurred out in the pics. I got 13 F series strips: SI-B8V261560WW and a MW driver HLG-320H-C1050A. The A series has a built-in potentiometer that allows me to dial in the wattage draw I want, and that built-in pot actually allows me to get a higher draw (if I wanted it) than the B series with an external pot wired in.

After I ordered the strips and driver, I received this package in the mail:

20181213_203732ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Box of pre-cut parts

Neatly and safely packed, and included the U-channels, L brackets, nuts and bolts, the correctly sized allen wrench, wago connectors, 14 gauge solid core wire, a Scotchbrite pad for the channels, and a file in case something needed to be smoothed out (it didn't!). Phewf! Thanks again for that amazing gift.

20181213_204322.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

The unboxing

Onto the rug to get this thing constructed:

20181213_214408.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Bolted together

I bought four 4" eye-bolts: the eyes for hanging it and the 4" to keep it off the floor when I have to drop it down:

20181213_214540.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

4" screw eye for hanging and keeping it off the floor

All done with step 1:

20181213_215228.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Built!

20181213_215309ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Built!

Next step was applying the thermal heat tape from Amazon. To prep the channels I use the nicely supplied Scotchbrite pad and cleaned up the aluminum so the tape would stick well. Wiped it down with a wet washcloth a few times and then dried it...good to go!

20181214_215609.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Included Scotchbrite pad to rough up the strips before tape

Since the channels were left long I had a 1.25" gap on either side so I marked off the boundaries of the tape and stuck it down. It was easy:

20181214_223327.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Thermal heat tape applied

Next up was sticking the strips to the tape, which was even easier (you'll see them in the completed build pic). I made sure they all pointed the same way in case it mattered.

Moving on to the electrical...

I used a computer power cable since power supplies are well over 400 watts.

20181214_205919.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Computer power supply cable

Here are the driver connection cables. You will note that there is no option for a ground on the DC side of the driver.

20181214_215457ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Driver wires...no ground on the DC side

Got the driver all wago'd up:

20181215_113041.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Wagos provided as well!

I cut and stripped 24 wire strips thinking I had to run the connections up one side and down the other...I was wrong!

20181214_214920.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Strip-to-strip jumpers, 2x what I needed

This is where I ran into problems. I ran the connections up one side and then couldn't sort out how to connect the last strip back to the second from last strip back down the other side. After consulting the internet, Crazy, and Graytail, it turned out that I was only supposed to run ONE connection from strip to strip. And contrary to wiring diagrams on the internet, I needed to run them all down the same side and not alternate the connections from left to right.

So, pulling the wires out is not easy as there is no real loosen method on the connectors. There is a little tab you can push in but it doesn't do anything. And while I was pulling out the unneeded connections, this happened:

20181215_120707eda.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

These strip connectors are pretty fragile

Oh well, I figured I just wouldn't use that side ever so it didn't matter. Then I got it all working and discovered this:

20181215_122104eda.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018
• 3

Lost 8 LEDs

Oops! All that hard work and well-earned cash and I've lost 8 LEDs! That just will not do. Solder to the rescue . I scraped off the plastic top coat (at Crazy's suggestion) to expose the copper underneath.

20181215_130625ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

What to do?

It ain't neat:

20181215_131700.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Solder!

But it did work!

20181215_131632ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Worked like a charm

And then yet another encounter with one of those damn fragile connectors. It split while was just adjusting the wire!

20181215_134128ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

These strip connectors are pretty fragile

Epoxy to the rescue, but I couldn't get a clamp in that tiny space:

20181215_134549ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Epoxy

Vice-grip lifehack! (Couldn't be bothered to dig out the actual vice grip, but yes, I do own one!):

20181215_134600ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Vice-grip hack

So it's all wired and working and time to get it ready to hang. Just in case you can't figure out the wiring, it's driver red to first board +, then - to + down the side, and - on the last board to driver black:

20181215_143906ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Built and wired!

I cleared out room in the shed so I could lay it on the floor and attached a rope from eye hook to eye hook on each side:

20181215_145344.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Hung...

And then ran a rope between the two through 2 eye hooks in the roof joists (yes @nobodyhere, it is adjustable):

20181215_145352.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

...from the rafters

I hung the driver from a nail:

20181216_121257ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Driver hanging

Let there be light!

20181215_155547ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Bright

And I got out through the entire operation without and shocks and got one cut on my hand from the edge of the frame when one of those connectors finally let go of the wire!

20181215_232803ed.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 16, 2018

Wound

It hangs about 2' over the canopy now, and I had it at 180 watts last night. I'll bump it to 200 tonight but leave the height alone.

Thanks again to those listed above and to all of you who encouraged, cheered, and offered advice along the way to getting this built.

Back to familial obiligations (beach bonfire tonight), so I will catch up with your weekends as soon as I can.

 

[Stu]

Oh my the build update is here! I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure am excited to read this one! Gonna roll a nice fatty first
Shed!


Edit: just finished reading, pretty cool light, the detail to your build is great, I feel a lot of people could follow this and build their own, the unnamed member that built you the frame is a real top notch person for doing that, and all the people that helped you along the way. I’ll be anticipating to hear how happy with it you are in a few weeks time once you’ve had some time with it.

 

[farside05]

I did 1 inch wide heat sink rather than U channel to mount my strips on, but they run so cool, it's really overkill. If I did it again I'd save some cash and just use U channel like you did.