400w CXB3070 LED build

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doz

Well-Known Member
So I pulled the trigger last night on some items. Thanks for all the help and great posts here. A week ago, I would never have thought to build a light. Now, I sit here waiting for parts.

I took a little bit away from each build to do my own, with the same basic idea. Appreciate all the threads on the DIY end of things.

Going with 4 - CXB3070 w/ Ideal CXA30 holders, Meanwell HLG-185H-C1400B, and an 18"x10" (meant to get 20"x10" but 18" will be fine) heatsink from HeatsinkUSA w/ a 230mm fan for active cooling. I will be building 2 of these for 400w for my 2'x5' area. I have some plants vegging already of the same stuff I just got finished with. This will be a good run to see how the LED do vs. a 1000w HPS in the same area. Ill post pics of the build when all the items arrive!
 
REALSTYLES

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
doz said:
So I pulled the trigger last night on some items. Thanks for all the help and great posts here. A week ago, I would never have thought to build a light. Now, I sit here waiting for parts.

I took a little bit away from each build to do my own, with the same basic idea. Appreciate all the threads on the DIY end of things.

Going with 4 - CXB3070 w/ Ideal CXA30 holders, Meanwell HLG-185H-C1400B, and an 18"x10" (meant to get 20"x10" but 18" will be fine) heatsink from HeatsinkUSA w/ a 230mm fan for active cooling. I will be building 2 of these for 400w for my 2'x5' area. I have some plants vegging already of the same stuff I just got finished with. This will be a good run to see how the LED do vs. a 1000w HPS in the same area. Ill post pics of the build when all the items arrive!
Click to expand...
Where did you get the CXB's from I know a place cheaper Kingbrite on Alibaba in China where they are made I'll post the link in a sec for you.
 
D

doz

Well-Known Member
I was going to go with KingBrite but with shipping and the lead time, I decided to grab them from DigiKey this time around. Jerry from KB said he just sold out of the CXB3070 and it would be a bit.

Thanks for the link! Everything was ordered late last night. Everything except the COB holders has shipped! Will get it together hopefully next week as I need to start flowering ASAP (although plants still need to grow a bit).
 
Cali weed

Cali weed

Well-Known Member
Gonna be building a light soon and I'm just curious. What exactly is the purpose of the cob holder? Does it just screw into the heat sink and then hold the cob in place? I was planning on using prolimatek pk3 thermal paste with kapton tape. Any reason I should be going the holder route instead? Also what is everyone's opinions on the reflectors, I'm gonna be using a cxb7030 ad bin on top of an artic 11 cooler thx for the help guys
 
Greengenes707

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
Crees need a holder...data sheet says holders are required.

Will kapton tape work...hell ya...just not a manufacture recommended or backed method. So just know that the in the back of your mind.
I and many have and do do it with perfect success.

Real reflectors require a holder and/or adapter to lock the reflectors down. There is no way to use reflectors without holders/adapters that I know of.
You could make it work with a little alteration to the reflectors...I have done it...but don't recomend to others buying something to then hack it up to fit.
 
Cali weed

Cali weed

Well-Known Member
Thx for the reply green, I just don't like the idea of drilling into my heat sink, i've read this reduces the heat sinks effectiveness. That's what turned me off about them. Another thing is I don't see many reflectors on the diy builds. However if it's pretty simple and reflectors are recommended I might consider it. What do you guys think? Will using a reflector greatly improve my light?
 
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alesh

alesh

Well-Known Member
Cali weed said:
Thx for the reply green, I just don't like the idea of drilling into my heat sink, i've read this reduces the heat sinks effectiveness. That's what turned me off about them. Another thing is I don't see many reflectors on the diy builds. However if it's pretty simple and reflectors are recommended I might consider it. What do you guys think? Will using a reflector greatly improve my light? What is the average price of the holders for a cxb3070?
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No way that it affects the performance of the HS. The only downside is that you can screw it up:-)
 
p4id

p4id

Well-Known Member
Also, I am thinking that holders will make it easier to upgrade and swap the cobs when newer, better ones come onto the market.
 
Cali weed

Cali weed

Well-Known Member
Thx for the tips guys...

BTW good luck on your build DOZ! I'm In the same boat as you, gonna be watching this one for sure
 
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doz

Well-Known Member
Yeah. Unfortunately, the drivers which I thought shipped have not yet. The holders DID ship so I am waiting on the drivers to ship. Heatsink wont be here till Thursday so I probably wont get to it till this weekend. COBS and holders will be here today though!
 
D

doz

Well-Known Member
HAHA.. While I will, a few others have done a very good job of providing pictures of their DIY lighting which is where I learned a few things from :) I just received the drivers today! I am waiting on the heatsinks now. I have thermal paste and hi-temp tape coming tomorrow and I brought home some wire, screws, and nuts/bolts from work. I will definitely take many pictures and document.

While it may not be as nice as REALSTYLES, I am aiming for at least a decent project. I also plan to build a case eventually from aluminum!
 
D

doz

Well-Known Member
Have most of the parts. I forgot to order TIM and a couple fans. I will have those tomorrow so I will still need to drill the fan holes. Once those are drilled, I will mount everything up. 4 holes drilled for the drivers and 2 per COB holder! Not perfect by any means, but itll work just fine I think.




 
D

doz

Well-Known Member
Got them both up and running. First one I screwed up on a bit more than the 2nd. Here is the 2nd. Not bad for my first set and they both fired right up! (most important thing right?) I temporarily wired it up for testing. I need to solder all the connections. I must say, those COB holders kind of suck. They do not hold the COB as well as I thought they would but I got them to work and the wiring is VERY easy with them. These things are BRIGHT! Holy shit batman! I had 7 100w CFL in my kitchen running (26w actual) when I fired up these bad boys 1 at a time and they blew the lighting out of the water. I cant wait to get them on the plants! Hopefully, I can pull 1.25+ GPW which will mean my yield will be right around what I have been with a 1000w HPS in my small area.

Oh, and I put it on a Kill-a-watt. It was pulling 1.83A @ 121v with 223w. Both were identical.


 
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