Best driver (current) for 3 Vero 29???

BST said:

Same driver more effective. That's open to much debate.
HLG185H-C1400B

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Why do you think it's more effective? Shouldn't you only be able to draw 35w per cob with that driver? More efficient, I agree. It puts the heat on the driver not the COBs. But you lose the ability to overdrive the chips. My situation is that I'm in a 2x4 tent with wall to wall SCROG. I need at least 900 micromoles to get it to flower and close to 1300 micromoles during peak bud production. I'm curious if you can get that with the C1400 and 37.7V Vero 29's?

BST said:

I'm with your thinking. GEN 7 can be done @ 1750 and probably 2100 on the 4.6. I'm working on a 75in bar with with 2 HLG 320-1400 on it. 6 4000k 69v.
No pic with drivers

Often I find myself chasing my tail with some of the advice I get here.
No fan of pinned as well. Plus this store is down the block

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I love the rail. I just can't afford them. Lol. I get the 140mmx100mm pin fins for $17US plus shipping and they run a few inches from the charcoal canister intake. They're rated for 85w (or so) and I run the L-73's at around 70w. Pulling around the 200w mark out of the wall for 3 COBs.

The advice does make you turn your head around. I run hot against the advice of most "COB heads" but with 500,000 regular use hours or 250,000 hours at test current and above...I'll run them hot.
I figure COBs last 10x longer than HPS and I was buying HPS bulbs every year. What difference does $100 every 2 years if you get to run the lattest COBs?
These old ass L-73's have gotten me 2 great crops since I got them. They've done their job.
Lol

Danielson999 said:

Although this chart seems to be wrong. The HLG-120H-C1400 will not fit 3 Vero 29's since at 1400ma the Vero is using about 37v per cob or 111V total, over the maximum of 108 the driver gives you.

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The HLG-120H-C1400 fits just fine 3 x BXRC-x0E10K0-D-7x.
It has been already tested ,even with the COBs & heat sink at 0°C .
Also the driver operates close at it's 100% load ,
which means also that operates at it's max efficiency.

Galaξ LED grow light by Astirgrows uses 2 x HLG-120H-C1400A and
6 x BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 .No problem at all .

stardustsailor said:

The HLG-120H-C1400 fits just fine 3 x BXRC-x0E10K0-D-7x.
It has been already tested ,even with the COBs & heat sink at 0°C .
Also the driver operates close at it's 100% load ,
which means also that operates at it's max efficiency.

Galaξ LED grow light by Astirgrows uses 2 x HLG-120H-C1400A and
6 x BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 .No problem at all .

View attachment 3882808 View attachment 3882809 View attachment 3882810 View attachment 3882811

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I agree. The 1400 is by far the most efficient driver. It's only drawback is that it produces 7000 Lm at around 42w at its max current. Whereas at Test current the 2100mA driver produces 11000 lumens but at a very power hungry 75+ watts.
The 1400 will, again...by far, allow for maximum lifespan of your 37.7V COBs.

JimmyJames905 said:

I agree. The 1400 is by far the most efficient driver. It's only drawback is that it produces 7000 Lm at around 42w at its max current. Whereas at Test current the 2100mA driver produces 11000 lumens but at a very power hungry 75+ watts.
The 1400 will, again...by far, allow for maximum lifespan of your 37.7V COBs.

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you really should do some more reading and listen to what @stardustsailor has to say lol.@1400ma those vero will be pushing 50+watts per cob,not 42w.we look at things much differently with custom cob builds,its not always about max power like hid growers try to utilize.99% of these cob setups you see around here use 50% of the test current or "rated" current because the chip is alot more efficient and lasts way longer this way.it comes down to lpw not max wattage.

@stardustsailor ,that new panel and power box looks kickass,you know we ll wanna know what kind of goodies are between those 2 drivers

stardustsailor said:

The HLG-120H-C1400 fits just fine 3 x BXRC-x0E10K0-D-7x.
It has been already tested ,even with the COBs & heat sink at 0°C .
Also the driver operates close at it's 100% load ,
which means also that operates at it's max efficiency.

Galaξ LED grow light by Astirgrows uses 2 x HLG-120H-C1400A and
6 x BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 .No problem at all .

View attachment 3882808 View attachment 3882809 View attachment 3882810 View attachment 3882811

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That's a great build. And if I was building them for other people to use I would definitely go with the 1400mA driver. Especially if I had to offer a warranty. If you were to give the user the ability to run at max, 90% of users would run at max, greatly increasing the risk of a burnout.
But for me...I gotta get them micromoles. Lol.
That 6 COBs pushes 42000 lumens on 6 chips. My 2.1A x 3 chip gets 33000. 6 chips would get me 66000 lumens. But as mentioned. I'll probably kill these chips after 2 years.

sixstring2112 said:

you really should do some more reading and listen to what @stardustsailor has to say lol.@1400ma those vero will be pushing 50+watts per cob,not 42w.we look at things much differently with custom cob builds,its not always about max power like hid growers try to utilize.99% of these cob setups you see around here use 50% of the test current or "rated" current because the chip is alot more efficient and lasts way longer this way.it comes down to lpw not max wattage.

@stardustsailor ,that new panel and power box looks kickass,you know we ll wanna know what kind of goodies are between those 2 drivers

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True. But a 1400mA driver runs maxed at 50w. It can never go higher. It can never put out its rated 10,000 lumens. You can dim it down but you'll never get it above that. I can run my lower (all the way to zero) and I can push it all the way to 11,000 lumens. So for me, it's either run 3 chips which cost $300 to build and get 33,000 lumens. Or run 6 chips (cost of about $600 to build) and get 42000 lumens. $300 for an extra 12000 lumens doesn't seem like a great deal to me.
Plus Bridgelux Vero 29's are rated for 125°C at the core and test current results are at 2.1A at 85°C.
Maybe you should read the Bridgelux data sheets cuz you are talking like these chips are Cree's. Bridgelux has a higher temperature rating than Cree. Alloy substrate vs ceramic.
If you wanna blow the extra $300 bucks feel free. For $100 I rather drive the newest chips every other year.
It's not like I run them full throttle 24/7. Lol.

JimmyJames905 said:

That's a great build. And if I was building them for other people to use I would definitely go with the 1400mA driver. Especially if I had to offer a warranty. If you were to give the user the ability to run at max, 90% of users would run at max, greatly increasing the risk of a burnout.
But for me...I gotta get them micromoles. Lol.
That 6 COBs pushes 42000 lumens on 6 chips. My 2.1A x 3 chip gets 33000. 6 chips would get me 66000 lumens. But as mentioned. I'll probably kill these chips after 2 years.


True. But a 1400mA driver runs maxed at 50w. It can never go higher. It can never put out its rated 10,000 lumens. You can dim it down but you'll never get it above that. I can run my lower (all the way to zero) and I can push it all the way to 11,000 lumens. So for me, it's either run 3 chips which cost $300 to build and get 33,000 lumens. Or run 6 chips (cost of about $600 to build) and get 42000 lumens. $300 for an extra 12000 lumens doesn't seem like a great deal to me.
Plus Bridgelux Vero 29's are rated for 125°C at the core and test current results are at 2.1A at 85°C.
Maybe you should read the Bridgelux data sheets cuz you are talking like these chips are Cree's. Bridgelux has a higher temperature rating than Cree. Alloy substrate vs ceramic.
If you wanna blow the extra $300 bucks feel free. For $100 I rather drive the newest chips every other year.
It's not like I run them full throttle 24/7. Lol.

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Idk where you get your cobs n heatsinks but you are paying way more than the norm lol.37v vero are typically around 26 to 28 bucks.heatsinks for 50w are typically 14 to 18 bucks.the driver in question is typically 40 to 55 bucks. Stop spreading misinformation and do some reading around here,theres alot you could learn from it if you do so with an open mind.do you think i would switch from a perfectly happy room full of plants under hid and gavita to lower powered cobs like the 35w fixtures im running if they didnt work as good or better? I have plenty of money so i could have easily built all my fixtures for higher power,its a waste really.

sixstring2112 said:

Idk where you get your cobs n heatsinks but you are paying way more than the norm lol.37v vero are typically around 26 to 28 bucks.heatsinks for 50w are typically 14 to 18 bucks.the driver in question is typically 40 to 55 bucks. Stop spreading misinformation and do some reading around here,theres alot you could learn from it if you do so with an open mind.do you think i would switch from a perfectly happy room full of plants under hid and gavita to lower powered cobs like the 35w fixtures im running if they didnt work as good or better? I have plenty of money so i could have easily built all my fixtures for higher power,its a waste really.

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Prices were in Canadian dollars.
So look at the Picts and read the data sheet from Bridgelux

If you want to call Bridgelux and tell them their specs are wrong please feel free to call them.
I'm sure they would love to hear what you have to say.

sixstring2112 said:

@stardustsailor ,that new panel and power box looks kickass,you know we ll wanna know what kind of goodies are between those 2 drivers

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They are turn on delays (adjustable ) .
They serve two purposes .
The first is the obvious.To turn on each series of 3 with a delay
(in case of multiple fixtures used ,so that won't be a problem with the mains fuses, from accumulated inrush current).

The other purpose served is protection .The panel has two fans .For both of them to fail at the same time ,is kinda rare .
So in case of one fan failing ,the other most probably will keep cooling the heat sink.
But if the fan's 12VDC PSU fails ,then ...
Then simply ,the " turn on delay" circuits will switch off-since they are powered also from the same
12 VDC psu -,switching of at the same time both the LED drivers.

Cheers.