cxa3070s@350mA orientation

[Observe & Report]

Inverse square law only applies to sources that radiate evenly in a spherical pattern into empty space. Grow rooms have walls that aren't perfectly reflective so it's going to be darker on the edges and as you get further away.

 

[Scotch089]

okay heres the giddup ive come up with so far.

x8 AB 3070s
x8 xm-l2 U3s
x10 Oslon Hyper Red (645nm)

All on 700mA dimmable drivers so they will decrease together to keep the "ratio" as close together as possible.

Id like any critiques ppl may have on the layout, I am worried of too much stretch in the center with all the red (80* lenses, but will mix with the 115* 3070s) in the center of the panel, where you usually want the least stretch.

 

[Scotch089]

 

[Scotch089]

Here's a rough estimate of the SDS using the link guod shared some time ago, it only has xte WWs so plugged 200w worth in for the cxas and only the original xmls

 

[PetFlora]

My 2 cents, never having built my own, but having selected my own colors on the BML bars and SPYDR...,

2 CW COBs in the middle

flanked by 3 WWs per side

Small infill diodes 645 (maybe a few 450s)

 

[Positivity]

Just keep in mind heat when running that many leds on one heatsink..

I'm only now running my light full time and I noticed I need lots of fan cooling. I tried fans at half speed and my heatsink eventually got warmer than I wanted. At max fan it stays nice and cool but it's loud moving all that air.

I'd say rough estimate for a 2' x 10" heatsink...400w is hard 300w is a lot easier.

Your design is about 300w?

I'd even go 2.5' sink just to make cooling easy

Or even better divide the design onto 2 heatsinks so the cxas can be centered for max cooling...I would. But that's if keeping ambient temps is really important to you

Just some ideas...can make almost anything work

 

[SupraSPL]

Looks like a good ratio Scotch. Unfortunately I don't know the blue percentage or LER of the XML2 1C (6300K) but estimating for that part we get:
15% blue
red/blue string will be about 46vF total
total dissipation 228W
efficiency 46% (assuming Z4 bin)

 

[Scotch089]

Thank you for the insight fellas. Pos- If my math is right I should be coming out right around 230w before cooling fans, hoping after those ~240 and my goal is to stay under 250 total. I know multiple heatsinks makes sense, not to mention beig able to angle them... but I really like the idea of one monster panel. My heatsink is going to be at least 7.25"x24" if not 10"x24-28", those are the max dimensions I have to play with (15x33" space) but if I go with the 7.25" I can squeeze em in my old progrow 180 cases hehe... Which I dono what that would do to cooling, I'd replace the fans as I'm planning anyways, but it'd tidy it up a bit too. Strictly cosmetic though. The wider heatsink sounds a bit more appealing as I could spread em further apart and make sure the have room to diss. and cover the whole area

 

[Scotch089]

Looks like a good ratio Scotch. Unfortunately I don't know the blue percentage or LER of the XML2 1C (6300K) but estimating for that part we get:
15% blue
red/blue string will be about 46vF total
total dissipation 228W
efficiency 46%

Damn! Just shy of my 50% goal

 

[SupraSPL]

You would need a minimum of 7000cm² so if you used the 5.88" profile you would need 28"X5.88 so if you split that in two you get 14"X5.88 and a pair of 140mm fans would do the job, only adding about 4 watts to your build.

 

[SupraSPL]

It would be right around 50% when dimmed to 350mA Although, there is nothing wrong with 230W @ 46%!

 

[Positivity]

230w...that should be easy

Should be no problem cooling that. Nice design...cool white might be a nice addition

 

[PetFlora]

Even though my SPYDR 600 is passive cooled, the back side of the 6 heat sinks got toasty.

So, I repositioned a 12" 3 speed house fan to blow over both the heat inks and the canopy

Only need lowest speed

Heat sink temps much lower, which increases PAR efficiency

 

[Scotch089]

Hey would I be able to salvage these fan PSUs from my ProGrows and use them for the new fans I am going to order? Do they just convert the power or is there a specific voltage I should be finding? The original fans are much smaller, and extremely loud and dono if they'll be compatible with this, Unless its just taking the desired power to put into the fans..?



Here is my newer layout scheme, just swapped some of the inner HRs and xmls



Edit: also where do you install the fan speed controller, the neutral side? An where in the design, between the switch(power) and terminal? My plan was to have both the drivers and fan supply going to the same terminals (hot and neutral), so that's where my question comes in? How would I adjus fan speed accordingly or can I not have then on the same block like I think? Sorry for 20 stupid questions.

 

[SupraSPL]

Which fans are you planning on ordering? If it is the Prolimatech Vortex 140mm (.2A) 1000rpm, they run nice and quiet at 13V. If it is a more powerful fan, you might want to run it at 9V and it would be a tornado at 13V. So it depends on the fan but yes you could salvage those PSUs.

You can wire all the drivers and fan PSUs together on the AC side. The fan speed controller would go on the DC side unless it is the kind that has its own PSU.

 

[Scotch089]

These are the ones I've been looking at supe, still browsing for the lowest dBa vs. cfm rating vs. price, I guess I had not thought- do I need to be shopping for fans that are "PWM-able?" I think the fans in my veg and clone chambers were not but I can adjust the voltage via the supplies I bought from wallyworld (I think 7-12v)

Ill have to look at the prolimatechs youo posted, 140mm wouldnt leave me any room to lay the drivers on the edge of the 'sink but that may not be smart anyways?

Forgive me- im not sure which is the DC side, NEWB. but I have consistently looked into electrical engineering courses at a local college just to expand myself, that and plant physiology and photobiology. ha.... thats gonna take a bit more specific college.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186033&cm_re=120mm_fan_pwm-_-35-186-033-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103061&cm_re=120mm_fan-_-35-103-061-_-Product

 

[Scotch089]

Those prolimatechs look like my best option so far supe thank you! Only thing is they don't come in black, I know, it shouldn't matter lol. Can I power one of the light up style ones without illuminating it? Guess we'll find out!

 

[SupraSPL]

Thanks goes to Cali Worthington for finding those Prolimatechs, a great choice. You found some that are illuminated?

As far as the size of the fans 140mm fits perfectly on the 5.88" Heatsink USA profile, so that the air blows down the the channel between every fin. That is the most efficient way to make use your heatsink and your fan power. You could add a shroud to cover the channels but the air blows all the way down CWs 24" heatsink channels (9" travel distance) with no problem. (Fans at 13V)



If you have the design flexibility for remote drivers, I highly recommend it. If you install the drivers on the heatsink you would be pumping some of that heat back into the heatsink and COBs, sabotaging your Tj to some extent. Also it is more heat in the grow space, increasing canopy temps. For a 230 dissipation W build with 2 fans, input power is about 270W. So the drivers are dissipating about 35W of heat.



Using remote drivers increases the wiring running through your grow space, so to keep it neat we have been using 18/6 stranded alarm cable.

 

[Positivity]

I agree with a lot of that..

My setup at 400w is hotter than I expected

But I think it's more a heatsink to power ratio than anything. I could build them all day at 300w everything mounted on a 2.5' sink and the whole rig would stay cool.

It's only when pushing the watts on a heatsink I notice heat being harder to handle.

 

[SupraSPL]

True, I you increase your surface area to make up for the drivers being mounted on there, you can maintain low heatsink temps relative to your ambient temp.