Matching Drivers and COBs

bassman999 said:
No doubt the cobs can handle that power, but defeats the point of using cobs IMO, since efficiency is reduced so much.
View attachment 3600267 The CD bin CXB3590 is under 50% efficient at 2.1A, and just over 43% efficient at 2.8A.

At those driver currents might as well use the Vero 29 V2.0 as they about the same efficiency at those high drive currents and half the price, and dont require mounting brackets
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i hear this but dont see it in practice. youd have to run them pretty hard to even get within 10% of the 3590s.

at typical "high currents" (for us) of 2.1-2.4A the 3590 is about 15% more efficient


not that the veros arent a bargain (85-90% of performance at half the price), but the 'about the same' might be a stretch
vero:

upload_2016-2-3_21-57-6.png

3590 CD

upload_2016-2-3_21-58-12.png
 
BOBBY_G said:
i hear this but dont see it in practice. youd have to run them pretty hard to even get within 10% of the 3590s.

at typical "high currents" (for us) of 2.1-2.4A the 3590 is about 15% more efficient


not that the veros arent a bargain (85-90% of performance at half the price), but the 'about the same' might be a stretch
vero:

View attachment 3600633

3590 CD

View attachment 3600634
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You are right, not as close at the higher currents as I had remembered
 
STR8QU4D5 said:
I want to purchase 3590's CXB 90 CRI 3000K cobs, how could I drive the lights to 500 W per 4 cobs? What drivers are stable enough to do this? Im planning to use CPU coolers with fans on each cob because it will be cheaper than buying 36" heatsinks from HeatsinkUSA because of the duty fees and currency exchange.
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4 cobs on a 320 is 80W each and is prob better. wayyyy more efficient than running them over 100W
 
bassman999 said:
You are right, not as close at the higher currents as I had remembered
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That's why some run Vero's hot where they are equal in efficiency with the CXB's. 125w and up it's basically dead even. The 4000k Vero 29 @3150ma gets 123lm/w. The CXB is about 129lm/w. Splitting hairs at higher currents but the Vero gets a slight win because you can buy more for same amount of money.
 
Very cool. Has there been a lot of testing on the life of these COBs? It wasn't a DIY but I was looking at Apollo brand COBs. There were many complains of them burning out after months of use. The company supposedly has great customer service and was good about replacements but they burned out prematurely as well. I know for a fact these newer LEDs are excellent. I use them myself.
 
not run at 50 W

it would be a stretch even maxing them out at 170W each

say 18 PAR W/SF x 16 SF = 288 par W

running them as hard as you can (4.2A/170W) they are ~34.5% eff (110 lm/W) youd get 234 par W

you could do it with [email protected] Amps

a better fit would be 6 @ 3150ma (124W each, 38% eff) =>283 PAR W
 
Umm.. would elg-150h-c2100 or elg-150h -c1750 end up with higher lumen output on 2 cxb3070 3500K BB?

and bunus question approx how many ballasts can you run on one 240V line/?
 
hiluxphantom said:
Umm.. would elg-150h-c2100 or elg-150h -c1750 end up with higher lumen output on 2 cxb3070 3500K BB?

and bunus question approx how many ballasts can you run on one 240V line/?
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That's a tricky question. It will be close, I'd have my money on C1750.
Number of drivers depends on the circuit breaker.
 
STR8QU4D5 said:
Can 4 - 50W Vero29 4000K 80 CRI cobs successfully cover a 4x4 space?
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Bonjour
No!
I tryed 4 cxb3590 @1400mA over a 3.5x3.5x4.5 and it was ok but not enough light intensity!
The minimum for a 4x4 to get descent results and to have light everywhere is 9 cxb3590...(450w)
A cxb can cover pretty well 1.5ft2...no more...but you should start with 200w...4 cxb3590 @1400mA on separate hs...if you want to cover the biggest area possible it is the way to go 1cob 1 hs! (I done that to cover my box with 4)
I have a 4x4 too and my goal is 16 cxb [email protected] I guess I will have to dim it because 50w ft2 is a lot with those cob...I guess 35/40w is more than enough to break the scale...lol!
CU
 
Ok folks, so Ive come to a point where Im ready to buy my cobs and my power supplies. But i need help deciding which driver is best suited for my needs. Ive decided I want to make 8 cob bars with 4 cobs each, driven at 75W per cob (300W per bar) and have 4 CPU fans per bar (1 per cob). Im buying the Vero29 V2 4000K 80 CRI bins. Im looking into buying 8 of these drivers http://ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/HLG-320H-36B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMt5PRBMPTWcaRTgZe1UVjfleDe6SlkiSzg=

Will I be able to drive each bar at 300W and power 4 CPU fans on this 320W driver?
 
STR8QU4D5 said:
Ok folks, so Ive come to a point where Im ready to buy my cobs and my power supplies. But i need help deciding which driver is best suited for my needs. Ive decided I want to make 8 cob bars with 4 cobs each, driven at 75W per cob (300W per bar) and have 4 CPU fans per bar (1 per cob). Im buying the Vero29 V2 4000K 80 CRI bins. Im looking into buying 8 of these drivers http://ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/HLG-320H-36B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMt5PRBMPTWcaRTgZe1UVjfleDe6SlkiSzg=

Will I be able to drive each bar at 300W and power 4 CPU fans on this 320W driver?
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You probably won't get full power with this driver (too low voltage).
 
BOBBY_G said:
i wouldnt plan on running the fans off the driver, get a separate little 12V or whatever power supply for that. the driver at full power will run your cobs at 80W. im literally doing the exact same setup here soon with cxb3590s

btw, thats a ripoff for that driver. everyone else (TRC, sager, onlinecomponents, etc) sell it for about $108:

http://pge.powergatellc.com/product...gdcegilrhci6ahkv3qol7gmekur8ovf90dev4lb01blm0
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108 CAD? or USD?

Part of me also is considering 3070 3500K TOP BIN cobs too. The Vero29's in Theory seems nice, but the 3070's have far more evidence backing them up. Every grow I see with the Vero's the buds are loose and the yield isn't up to par. Am i wrong? I think I should build both and see for myself. Its soo hard to decide these things when your spend $5-6grand
 
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STR8QU4D5 said:
Ok folks, so Ive come to a point where Im ready to buy my cobs and my power supplies. But i need help deciding which driver is best suited for my needs. Ive decided I want to make 8 cob bars with 4 cobs each, driven at 75W per cob (300W per bar) and have 4 CPU fans per bar (1 per cob). Im buying the Vero29 V2 4000K 80 CRI bins. Im looking into buying 8 of these drivers http://ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/HLG-320H-36B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMt5PRBMPTWcaRTgZe1UVjfleDe6SlkiSzg=

Will I be able to drive each bar at 300W and power 4 CPU fans on this 320W driver?
Click to expand...

That's the problem with Vero 29's. Running 4 off one driver leaves you little in terms of choices. If you ran 3, 5 or 6 everything would be much easier. Running 4 cobs is a perfect match for Cree. If you ran them at 50w each the HLG-185-1400 would be perfect. You'd probably have to order everything from Kingbrite though but the prices for Canadians at Cutter are pretty reasonable too. You could also run the Vero's at 50w each with an HLG-240-1400 so there's that option too.
 
BOBBY_G said:
btw, thats a ripoff for that driver. everyone else (TRC, sager, onlinecomponents, etc) sell it for about $108:
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The prices you saw in his link were Cdn. A $108usd driver will be around $160-$170 once you hit it with the exchange rate and shipping/duty. Here's the deal for us Canadians. If we pay $45usd for a Cree, then shipping/tax say it works out to $60usd per cob. That's at least $80cdn for one Cree cob. We can order Vero 29's for $37cdn per cob and it ships from here in Canada for next to nothing. It's hard to justify buying Cree for us in the current state of the economy/exhange rate.
 
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