QUOTE="AquariusPanta, post: 11809429, member: 886695"]Sup people. I recently went a different route on a recent DIY build and was wondering how well it performed in a 3' x 3' space. Here are the results:
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Bonjour
Are the cobs on a same pannel (h.s)
How they are.spaced?
With 4 pannel with one cob on each, each placed in the center of each quarter of the box, would not give better lights spread???!!
Have a great day ★[/QUOTE]
Hey LJ,
A lot of variables to play around with, which is what makes that specific DIY creation fun to play around with with a PAR sensor. For that test, each COB was spaced apart around 10 inches, with two on each rack.
its so bright in there i dont think 12 hours makes sense. 550w ~10 sq ft.
im adding a 54 w uvb bulb next week. im gonna run it maybe 2-3 hrs per day. Im optimistic. the vero alone does great.
It shouldn't disappoint but try to get a dome reflector as that will greatly help with the concentration of UVB. Also moving UVB around the plant will help the exposed locations react, recover, and prepare for later exposure. Is it a CFL bulb?
Lately I have been experimenting with Arctic MX2. It is faster/easier to apply, less toxic, cheaper and for our appliction it seems to perform just as well as premium paste. The only things I have been able to do to get temp droop lower, run them softer or reduce heatsink temp/gradient by increasing fan speed or increasing heatsink mass and surface area.
Numbers look good. I finally caved in and got a PAR meter to experiment with (Apogee SQ-120 $100 used). I always complain that it is inaccurate for red/deep red but I liked the point that greengenes made, it will always read low and I can live with that. You mentioned they have adjustments for each color temp of Vero, do they do that for Cree CX also?
It's nice having a paste to apply that doesn't fight you all the way through the application, plus the MX2 is super cheap at larger sizes in comparison to PK3 - double win.
As for the readings, you'd have need to submit the data from the data sheets that either Bridgelux or Cree provides for their products, specifically the intensity for each of the individual wavelengths throughout the 'color curve' for each of the temperatures. Here's what it came to, thanks to
@alesh and Damon from Apogee for their support.
Vero18 3000K 80CRI : -6.5%
Vero18 4000K 80CRI : -5.2%
Vero18 5000K 70CRI : -3.6%
I imagine Cree COBS aren't far off from similar colored Vero COBs and that these numbers could be used interchangeably between brands but I could be completely wrong, as I haven't entered that realm of Cree's (yet).
I think MX4 is the stock paste used on the Arctic Alpine 11, works great I cannot tell the difference between that and PK3. I went with MX2 to test the theory that thermal paste was not bottle necking our temp droop. It is supposed to be easier to apply than MX4 and a bit cheaper in bulk,
65g of MX2 for $32-$34. They both claim 8 year durability but MX4 claims 8.5 W/(mK) and MX-2 claims 5.6 W/(mK).
@AquariusPanta do you keep the MX4 on your Alpine 11s?
I remove the pre-applied paste and squirt as much MX2 as needed. I used to try to conserve the MX4 but found it was less troublesome to start fresh without any paste, as drilling holes makes a mess.