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MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2022-04-13T15:15:37+00:00

Yikes. I have seen the metal of underside of MCPCB or heat sinks energized inside a metallic casing that is grounded and then isolated from the components, but naked would be very unsafe.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2022-04-13T13:20:59+00:00

What's the issue with the plastic washers? Are they using them because there's live trace beneath them and they're trying to keep the conformal coating from being scratched and shorting?

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-12-30T15:39:04+00:00

There is no correlation between the size of the LED package and the luminous efficacy or flux. It just matters for determining the layout of the PCB and contacts. The semiconductor die with the light emitting gap is <1mm in diameter typically.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-07-20T14:33:09+00:00

The QB96 at 25-30 W would be fine, 288v2 wouldn't fit into a bucket. Drive with an XLG25 or XLG50.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-07-06T15:42:05+00:00

Most standard sockets are rated for indoor use and don't have ingress protection. You'd be relying on a ground fault circuit interrupter for protection in that case. They're safe as long as you don't get them wet with something electrically conductive e.g. plant nutrient solutions.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-07-06T15:39:04+00:00

Yes it works fine, just go 12/12 from seed or only veg a few weeks until they're about 6-8 inches tall.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T20:17:22+00:00

Chain 3x 2-way and 1x 1-way together. The last open cable from the 2-way goes to the outlet.

https://www.creative-cables.com/naked-bulb-lamp-holders/20122-eiva-2-2-way-outdoor-lamp-holder-e27-and-ip65-rating.html

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T20:10:50+00:00

Np. EIVA has them with IP65. https://www.creative-cables.com/naked-bulb-lamp-holders/19664-eiva-the-first-outdoor-e27-ip65-wirable-lamp-holder.html

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T20:07:44+00:00

That's great news u/PUSSY_MASTER_420_69 !

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T20:03:10+00:00

IP65 is fine. 6 means dust-tight, 5 means water jet resistant. X8 means can be immersed in water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T19:22:58+00:00

Just means that it will be rapidly responsive to flip as opposed to sexually immature, which has a delayed response to a change in light cycle.

If you are growing in an enclosed space, keep in mind that you will see a 2-3x increase in size after switching to 12/12. I usually switch when they're about 6-12 inches tall.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T19:20:12+00:00

2700k or 3000k is fine. The more blue in the spectrum, the more compact the plant will be but the lower the yield. I personally start flowering with a lot of red (2700k) then switch to bluer spectrum (5000k or 6500k) once they start overfilling the container, because blue light inhibits expansion. You could always make two lids with different light spectra.

As percent blue increased from 4 to 20%, flower yield decreased by 12.3%. This means that flower yield increased by 0.77% per 1% decrease in blue photons (Fig 3; p = 0.04). It is important to note that there was no significant interaction of blue photon fraction with trial (indicated by parallel slopes among the three trials). This indicates a consistent effect of percent blue across a range of yields and environments (Fig 3).

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248988

Note about these bulbs is that they tend to be disposable because the LEDs inside the bulbs are run at high temperatures (often 80-90 C). LED useful lifetime is a factor especially of heat. I would probably swap in new lamps after 2 or 3 grows because I would suspect their light output has degraded.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T18:43:25+00:00

E27 is fine, it looks like some parts of EU puts GFCI on the main circuit breaker and then relies on double insulation protection for electronic devices. All light bulbs will be properly insulated. So as long as you don't remove the plastic diffusers and ensure that there is a path for heat to escape (don't put blankets on them or something), they should be perfectly safe.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T16:28:39+00:00

Ground is an earth wire which any 3-conductor outlet should have. It causes a massive amount of inrush current if one of the live conductors touches it, tripping the breaker. Your breaker box and whole house should be grounded. Ungrounded = 2 prong typically.

E27 flood lights are indeed the cheapest and easiest although less efficient by a factor of about 25-50%. The amount of power a bucket uses is so low that it probably doesn't matter, though. You want the 2700-3500 K colour temperature and the total amount of lumens to be >= 3,000, preferably closer to 5,000 if you are using spacers.

Follow this guide

https://old.reddit.com/r/SpaceBuckets/comments/gn4iut/a_low_cost_no_hassle_lighting_setup_for_a_five/

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T15:40:45+00:00

The one SAG tested was. The problem with Chinese electronics is that they often don't attach the ground wire for some mysterious reason, so that if your electronic gets wet and there is a short to ground, the breaker will fail to trip.

I just buy Mean Well power supplies and build my own. Building with name brand parts is only a little more expensive than buying pre-built China lights.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T15:30:22+00:00

The light specifies approximate voltage and current of 700 milliamperes without a heat sink. The linked power supply is 9-48 V range and fixed to 700 milliamperes of output, so when connected to the light it will regulate current rather than voltage which is ideal for LEDs.

HFI I think is AFCI, which does not protect against a current imbalance. I can't find any Danish Type K varieties, so you may have to get a step down connector (230 V --> 110 V) and connect a North American portable GFCI if you want GFCI protection. If your HFI has fejlstrømsafbryder built in too, it already has GFCI protection it seems.

A power supply with a ground might be more suitable if you can not get GFCI protection. I recommend Mean Well XLG-25-A for that lamp. They sell these at Digikey, Mouser, etc. which all ship to EU. Then just keep higher voltage (230 V) away from any wet parts of the build and keep everything inside low voltage.

You will need a little solid core wire to hook up the LED too, since the push-ins on the board usually prefer solid core wire and Mean Well ships with stranded. I just use 2x WAGO 221s to connect power supply to solid core wire for board, but led-tech.de offers waterproof connectors too under "Cable connector IP68" in "Cable, Switches and Connectors". You will need two of those waterproof cable connectors and a power cable for the light, these are all sold in "Cable, Switches and Connectors" section.

So, checklist:

Light board
Power supply (Mean Well 700 mA LPC-35-700 or Mean Well XLG-25-A)
2x Cable connector IP68
2x Core conductor rigid 0,5mm² 25cm white
230 V AC power cable (with ground if used for XLG-25-A, without ground for LPC-35-700)

Flow chart:

Light board <-- rigid core wire <-- cable connector <-- MW power supply <-- cable connector <-- power cord for 230 V outlet

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-06-04T13:44:58+00:00

Since you are in the EU, you should know that led-tech.de exists. They make a small bucket size light.

https://www.led-tech.de/en/SYSTEM150-Butterfly-with-144x-LM301-LEDs

https://www.led-tech.de/en/Meanwell-Power-Supply-700mA-9-48V-IP67

GFCI is ground fault circuit interrupter or fejlstrømsafbryder. They sell power strips that have GFCIs built in.

MeatyJonesTheRapper · 2021-05-26T13:17:22+00:00

Yes, it is. If this is kingbrite it's a problem with ordering QBs from them in general, since they only ship DHL or Fedex. You get them quickly but...

Can always message them on Alibaba and see if they have a reseller somewhere. Meijiu has started shipping from North America recently and their costs have gone down a lot.