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!
 
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!
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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.
 
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).
 
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
 
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.
 
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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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:-)
 
Also, I am thinking that holders will make it easier to upgrade and swap the cobs when newer, better ones come onto the market.
 
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
 
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!
 
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!
 
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.
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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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