koosjr

Ouch! I can see why that sensor is so expensive. I don't know of a single component that has that range. It probably has multiple elements and some fancy software inside.

OK, so the umol values are probably not related to lux as the lux meters are tuned to measure human perception. Do you get a specific meter or sensor for that?

Interesting. I see this part of the forum is not very active. I thought that controls would be of considerable interest. I am an industry expert in controls and I also design my own, but I also do like it when systems can me made to run on more natural means. I would however like to investigate designing a monitoring and control system for the room I plan. With a custom designed controller, one can often get great value for money if you have a nice big integrated controller with a single processor and the I/O's on the board are well thought out for the application. This means minimal circuitry is needed and you end up with a board that can be very repairable compared to commercial controllers. An integrated board also makes data logging considerably easier - especially in terms of event recording. I have already designed and implemented a large controller for a Micro-Greens cabinet. It can do pretty much everything. It has 4 circuits of lights with independent timers, 5 spray circuits with independent timers, it switch circulation fans and the aircon units in duty/standby fashion, it can also do humidification, control a dual axis solar tracker, 3 storage tanks with level control and it has generator control where one can automate the startup of cheap chinese generators. It has a touch screen that gives you clear and precise feedback of every I/O under control. That is probably not a bad platform to start from for a comprehensive cannabis controller. Lets say you are a serious breeder and can dream wild, what would you have liked to have in such a system? My first reaction: 1. Obviously temperature control, duty standby. 2. Humidity control in a case like this is also a must. Small addition if one want to go the full monty. 3. Backup water tank level control, with pressure pump control. 4. Automatic watering cycle with soil moisture sensor 5. Then I would like to have multiple temperature sensors. 6. Lux sensors could perhaps be considered, although I have not found the perfect ones yet. 7. Generator control is certainly on the list for a serious room. Then it can start a dumb generator automatically. 8. Probably CO2 control, but CO2 sensors are unfortunately maintenance items and does not last forever. Right, what one needs to consider though is how Temperature control, humidity control and CO2 control effects each other. As far as I can see, CO2 should be above a minimum level and upper limits can be quite high - high enough that it would not be a limiting factor to cator for. To raise minimum levels, add fresh air or dose it from a bottle if you have the money. Humidity can obviously be a problem if it goes too high or too low. An air conditioner will always lower humidity when it runs, but it cannot be the primary means of reducing humidity as at some point the room temperature can become too low. Humidification in itself is something I would avoid like the plague as humidification devices are notoriously unreliable. The question is then: Is LOW humidity often a problem in a cannabis room, or only high humidity. The latter can at least be catered for by either the AC unit or adding some fresh air.

Cool, then we are on the same page. That is then why I have less 5000K in my lamp. Right, so I should still add some 5000K during flowering to keep the plant shorter then which in the end can be switched off completely. If you say 240W on 1.2x1.2 that basically speaks to my calculations - that is now of course if we assume the LEDS are similarly efficient. I see that only the very white LEDS upwards of 6500K achieve up to 200 lm/w values, but they offer very limited performance at 660nm and even 550nm- which I think is rather important. BTW, I have seen a light here done by a member where he have put together a number of single row strips. That is also something to consider because one can then insert small amounts of 6500K lights if you want play around a little.. Engineering. Always a balancing of compromises. That said. Seems I better change to 24V as this is by far a more common power supply than the 27V. The latter however is perfect to keep a 24V battery on standby. I will be loads cheaper than a Samsung light for R 21 per watt.

Probably...

The tent setup is certainly great for now. I have once done an aquaponics system in my back yard and went a little over the top for a starter. Problem then was it was just pre load shedding days and by the time we hit load shedding my system simply could not handle the unreliable power. It would require major mods that I never could get done. But what I can say is that the veggies we did get out of it, was lovely although it was only for a few weeks. Cannabis is certainly a lot easier to start up small.

HI III_Evan, I am for no forced to work on Lux values as I have no other data on the LEDS in the sheets, so that is the reference I have. I made a Typo. I wanted 60 000 Lux on 3000K. But you are now making new suggestions. I thought that 3000K was almost exclusively needed for flowering stage, but you now say I should start with 3000K and later move over to 5000K. I assume though that the IR will work all the time. Do you mean that I should make provision then for 60 000 lux at 5000K? This sort of means that I will start vegetation stage at a 50% load on the 5000K and eventually add some 3000K. I will then have to change over to 3000K for flowering - perhaps with some 5000K in there and end of with only 5000K? If this is the case, then I will have to double up on my 5000K portion. I did investigate using dedicated 660nm LEDS but they are so low in power output that they will not add anything useful.

I am a Mechanical Engineer with HVAC as main field. I design centralised chilled water plants. (Please don't bother me with split units or VRF hehehehe.) I can also design my own electronic controllers, so I will obviously design my own controller and monitoring system for my cannabis room.

As an engineer, I cannot help but to design my stuff as well as I can before I build. I would appreciate some input on the concept below. It is still early and good ideas can be incorporated. I am in the process to plan my own room. However, I am off grid so power input to the system is a big concern for me. I need to get very economical on power use when I have no solar. I understand that cannabis are a bit different than other plants and prefers blue spectrum light during the vegetation phase and red spectrum during the flowering phase. Currently, the information I have is that the following LUX levels are required: Seedling: 7000 Lux Vegetation Stage: 15 000 - 50 000 Lux Flowering Stage: 50 000 - 70 000 Lux I am currently busy with a LED light design, and I can find fairly good LED's with an efficiency of about 120 lm/w for both 3000K and 5000K. The light will have 4 channels: 1/3 5000K, 2/3 3000K, a bit of IR at 840nm and I consider some UVA at 365nm. That said, the UVA LEDS are seriously expensive and I cannot find conclusive proof that it has any positive effect. However, it is easier to make provision for this in the circuit and leave out the components if one choose to. All channels will be fully dimmable, so one can for example blend the 3000K and 5000K if you want to which should give really good control between red and blue spectrum for those who wants to experiment. I want to work on a LUX level of 25 000 for the 5000K, which if one use 18/6 timing, I will have to run at least for 8-10 hours from a battery or generator. In his time I want to use as little power as possible. For the 12/12 stage I want to work on a Lux level of 60 000 for the 3000K. In this case 4 hours will be out of solar. In total then, IR excluded, a lux level of 85 000 would be possible if all circuits are used. Too high I know, but read further and you will see why. So, if in the day during vegetative stage I have more solar power, I can dial in some 3000K to the 5000K to increase lux levels if I want to. I assume IR and UV will burn all the time. Right, so in terms of maintenance, I want to make the panels a bit more modular as I hate things that are not serviceable, and secondly provides no redundancy. My experience of the past few years in the building industry, is that not even from the premium brands, we get the quoted life they claim any more. So, I am going to assume that some circuits will fail prematurely. For the reason above, I decided to work on an external 27 VDC supply. Although this makes wiring more cumbersome, the LEDS can be arranged such that should any fail, at most a string a of 8 LEDS will go dead. This will at least provide some form of redundancy on the same fitting. I can go 24VDC too, but that will require a 7-string LED. It is quite a challenge to match up the different voltages as some of the LEDS rapidly loose performance with only a 0.1V difference on the input. I also like low voltage in the room more than high voltage especially since one can have problem with moisture in the room. Also, with external supplies, it can be placed outside the room so that the heat load to the room can be smaller if required. The modules will be repairable if you have a SMD station so individual LEDS that failed can be replaced. In terms of control, I have not quite decided yet what I want to do. I can do an external controller and daisy chain a bus cable between the lights. If the controller fails in this case, one can at least switch the lights manually with a simple work around. I can also use an ESP32 and make the control wireless. If the software fails, you may need to go to each light individually to switch it. What I do want if there is a UVA channel, is to have a door switch that will automatically switch it off if the door opens. Currently, I do want to save some costs, so I do consider the following: 1. Treat the PCB with a conformal coating to make it water proof and have no enclosure. I will be suspended as a bare flat panel - another reason for going 27VDC 2. I the above case, all I do then is to simply increase the size of the PCB. The LEDS use the copper layer as cooling and with enough surface area there one would not need any fans. 3. A further advantage then of a larger PCB is obviously that the lights are further apart which will help a little with better light distribution. 4. The board will be designed to run at 60°C at an ambient of 35°C. I can for argument sake also put a temperature sensor on the board to monitor the light. There is really a lot of things one can do. Does the above sound feasible for those who want more control of their lighting?

I am new to this forum and new to the hobby. My wife is using expensive medical grade cannabis for a few years now, and I can say that this literally saved her life at one stage. Nothing else wanted to break the inflammation she had, accept for high quality CBD. I would now like to make my own growth cabinet to grow for our personal medical use. I am not a recreational user though.