Build Your Own LED Grow Light

[Old Salt]

Are you guys just looking for something that doesn’t need wifi at all?

No, the basics I'm looking for are at least 4 channels of LED control, each with a power control relay.
A method of programming the light cycles other than the front panel, so this is where WiFi comes in.
Temperature based cooling fan control for the lights.
Compatible with Meanwell HLG and LDD drivers.

WiFi would allow lighting schedules to be set independently for each channel, and remote monitoring of at least the lights. I can see adding temperature and humidity monitoring for the grow space as well. A less desirable option would be a USB connection.

 

[DrDoob]

No, the basics I'm looking for are at least 4 channels of LED control, each with a power control relay.
A method of programming the light cycles other than the front panel, so this is where WiFi comes in.
Temperature based cooling fan control for the lights.
Compatible with Meanwell HLG and LDD drivers.

WiFi would allow lighting schedules to be set independently for each channel, and remote monitoring of at least the lights. I can see adding temperature and humidity monitoring for the grow space as well. A less desirable option would be a USB connection.

This is awesome info right here. Thanks!

 

[PurpleGunRack]

Compatible with Meanwell HLG and LDD drivers.

Are sure the Coralux Storm X is compatible?

From RapidLED site: ''This controller is only compatible with the Meanwell LDD series drivers and not compatible with the HLG-C drivers''

 

[Old Salt]

Are sure the Coralux Storm X is compatible?

From RapidLED site: ''This controller is only compatible with the Meanwell LDD series drivers and not compatible with the HLG-C drivers''

It's not directly compatible. A simple transistor circuit would bring it up from 5V PWM to 10V.

That's the second reason I gave it a pass on the first go round.

 

[StoneOtter]

Hi folks, I've been running the following lights (2) for a little over a year with no failures. Their growing ability seems to be good for me. I have no other experience with other lights so always do your homework but the price seems good for these.
Feedback?
Luminus CXM22 ,All Meanwell drivers. Active cooled, aluminum rails with 4 chips on each.

Got a heads up from a good member and I took the picture and web address down, don't want to mess up this good thing!

 

[Mayne]

thats what i run, but i use 2pc HLG-185-1400B,

 

[StoneOtter]

thats what i run, but i use 2pc HLG-185-1400B,

Hey Mayne, so you're having good growing with these cmx22's? I'm off to your journal now. I have very little experience with any other light. One grow with 315 cmh. I just wanted a bigger footprint.

 

[Old Salt]

I still haven't heard back from the TC421 vendor, so I started looking deeper into the Coralux Storm X...

The Storm X is a custom Arduino UNO R3. They have added an RTC, 16 Channel PWM driver, Rotary Control, and 2 X 16 LCD Display. Before making any changes, I'll need to duplicate this with standard Arduino components, and prove their open-source software will run on it. The second phase of the project will be adding power control relays, and voltage level modifiers. Last will be the addition of WiFi capability. The WiFi module I have tentatively chosen also has a 7 X 23 OLED display, which is intriguing.

Here is a component list:

Parts needed to copy the Coralux Storm X hardware functionality:
Adeept Ultimate Starter learning Kit for Arduino UNO R3                       $9.00
Arduino UNO R3
2 x 16 LCD display

Parts not included in the kit above:
Smart Electronics DS1302 Real Time Clock Module With CR2032 for Arduino UNO   $1.00
PCA9685 16 Channel 12bit PWM Servo motor Driver I2C Module                    $2.60
KY-040 Rotary Encoder Module Brick                                            $1.00
Subtotal                                                                     $13.60

Part needed for WiFi / new display:
ESP32 WIFI chip 0.96 inch OLED Bluetooth WIFI Kit CP2102 32M                 $14.75

*** Grand Total ***                                                          $28.35

It's interesting to be sure, and more cost-effective than any manufactured LED controllers I've seen. BTW an opto-coupled 8 channel relay board runs about $4.75, and components to switch output levels runs about $0.50 / channel.

I don't know if I'll proceed with this. That depends on whether the TC421 vendor rectifies the problems.

 

[Mayne]

Good stuff Salt, seems complicated a bit, but you seem to be on top of it, hope it falls into place for ya to your likin.

 

[Mayne]

Hey Mayne, so you're having good growing with these cmx22's? I'm off to your journal now. I have very little experience with any other light. One grow with 315 cmh. I just wanted a bigger footprint.

I love them so far, updated journal for ya,

 

[Amy Gardner]

High all (best to be polite!)

I’m wondering if anyone frequenting here is from Australia and might know a good source for Wagos and wire. I’m new to it all and am having trouble sourcing what I need.

Or is the e bay an ok place to get them?

 

[PurpleGunRack]

High all (best to be polite!)

I’m wondering if anyone frequenting here is from Australia and might know a good source for Wagos and wire. I’m new to it all and am having trouble sourcing what I need.

Or is the e bay an ok place to get them?

I remember looking for wagos and somehow found my way to a site called radioparts with a .au suffix, might be worth a try

 

[Amy Gardner]

@PurpleGunRack

 

[Blacksmith]

Hi Amy, hi all. I'm in Australia, you could try Cutter electronics in Melbourne, they seem to be the go to for all that stuff, certainly good enough for the likes of Growmau5 and Green Gene.

 

[Amy Gardner]

Thanks @Blacksmith

I’ll check them out. Growmau5 ... omg I only just got it... been watching those vids for ages. Didn’t click the ‘au’ part.

Radioparts has wagos but not the wire I’m after -and shipping is about 4x the cost of the wagos!! So ideally getting it all in one spot would be good. I’ve been searching for wago and wire for weeks and these retailers never appeared. Sometimes if you don’t know the ‘terms’ quite right the search just doesn’t do it for ya, hey!

Thanks again Black...

 

[Blacksmith]

Hey Amy, no worries, happy to help. Also, thanks for starting this thread PGR, I'm certain more than just myself will find it a very useful resource.

 

[Old Salt]

Hey Amy,

I was going to recommend Amazon, but it seems your fellow Aussies are robbing folks.

I've usually had good luck with vendors on e-Bay. Lately though about 1/4 of the items I've ordered have had the vendors booted from the site, or I've had to chase them to get the products. It's taken double the time to either get the item or my money back from e-bay.

 

[Old Salt]

I received no support from the TC421 vendor, so I've asked e-Bay for a refund as the item is non-functional. I also pulled the trigger on the Arduino to start duplicating the Coralux Storm-X functionality, and more. There are some interesting modules for the Arduino that seem to be useful for us. They include temperature/humidity sensors, soil moisture sensors, CO2 sensors, relay modules, and more. Arduino seems to be an ideal rapid development environment for grow room automation.

 

[Mayne]

Yeah Salt, I was thinking about Arduino a few months ago before I got the Sonoff. Probably down the road, after you get it all done and listed out, i might take a look. co2 i really need, temp/humidity would be cool too..

 

[PurpleGunRack]

@Amy Gardner you might find all you need on a site where you wouldn't expect to find it, but you have to stumble over them.

Wago, the company, makes a lot of different components, and you want to look for (wire) connectors.

Try to google: wago connector 5 port (or whatever number of ports you want your wagos to have) australia.
Or variations hereof


There *must* be an online electronic component vendor down under that carries all the parts you need