I need More Light

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Sylant1

Member
My current setup features a 5sqft grow tent (20"x36"),2 gen hydro waterfarm(DWC) buckets, lit by 4 CXB3070 3000K & Angelina Reflector powered w/ HLG-185H-C1400B which comes out to 210w at max power.

I would like to expand and instead move this light into a new grow tent of 32sqft(4x8x6.67ft tall) and build 6 DIY RDWC buckets(if anyone has any guides/tips for this that would also be helpful). I would like to aim for about 45w/sqft meaning this new light would need to be roughly 1230w(32*45=1440-210=1230). It has been a couple years now since I built my first light, so I just wanted more input on what kind of chips/cobs you would use to light this area. This build also is in no immediate rush, I would most likely want to place an order in the next month or two at most though. I would ballpark the budget to be around $2000 total for all parts but would prefer to spend substantially less and insist on only DIY approaches and no fully assembled light fixtures. With all that said what would you recommend for:
  • 32 Square Foot Grow tent w/ ~45w per sqft = 1230w needed (-210w for my already built light)
  • All inclusive spectrum(Plants will not move from clone to harvest, so no perpetual)
  • driver must be dimmable(really love that feature on my current light)
  • must ship to USA(North America)
  • maybe add enough extra firepower if i decide to add in CO2 later
  • maybe something from CREE/Citizen/Vero/Samsung LM?
Thank you for your time, I have always lurked but rarely post and would like to thank the community for the wealth of information it has provided.
 
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S

Sylant1

Member
CobKits said:
45W/SF of efficient LED is plenty enough firepower for later

i like 9 cobs@ 75W per 4x4
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Any particular LED/driver setup you recommend to reach that? I havnt been keeping up with LED tech much, but have skimmed some of these threads of what people use now.
 
S

Sylant1

Member
CobKits said:
for 75W per cob i like the luminus cxm22

something like this:
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How reputable is Luminus? Ive honestly just heard about them a week ago reading through threads. At that price i imagine there must be some compromises made. Thanks for your help so far though, any opinion or input is greatly appreciated.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Sylant1 said:
How reputable is Luminus? Ive honestly just heard about them a week ago reading through threads.
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been manufacturing LEDs for well over a decade and COBs for 3 or 4 years, about as long as most other COB manufacturers

Sylant1 said:
At that price i imagine there must be some compromises made.
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not really. if youre used to the horrendously overpriced cree chips maybe. luminus pricing is more in line with other manufacturers like bridgelux and citizen, but they do perform very very well
 
S

Sylant1

Member
I noticed HLG just got more QB boards in stock, any thoughts on how these would do combined with some cxm22 , like i said i want a 4x8 area covered that can do Veg and Flower well. Are the QBs intended more for vegging?
 
V

VegasWinner

Well-Known Member
Sylant1 said:
My current setup features a 5sqft grow tent (20"x36"),2 gen hydro waterfarm(DWC) buckets, lit by 4 CXB3070 3000K & Angelina Reflector powered w/ HLG-185H-C1400B which comes out to 210w at max power.

I would like to expand and instead move this light into a new grow tent of 32sqft(4x8x6.67ft tall) and build 6 DIY RDWC buckets(if anyone has any guides/tips for this that would also be helpful). I would like to aim for about 45w/sqft meaning this new light would need to be roughly 1230w(32*45=1440-210=1230). It has been a couple years now since I built my first light, so I just wanted more input on what kind of chips/cobs you would use to light this area. This build also is in no immediate rush, I would most likely want to place an order in the next month or two at most though. I would ballpark the budget to be around $2000 total for all parts but would prefer to spend substantially less and insist on only DIY approaches and no fully assembled light fixtures. With all that said what would you recommend for:
  • 32 Square Foot Grow tent w/ ~45w per sqft = 1230w needed (-210w for my already built light)
  • All inclusive spectrum(Plants will not move from clone to harvest, so no perpetual)
  • driver must be dimmable(really love that feature on my current light)
  • must ship to USA(North America)
  • maybe add enough extra firepower if i decide to add in CO2 later
  • maybe something from CREE/Citizen/Vero/Samsung LM?
Thank you for your time, I have always lurked but rarely post and would like to thank the community for the wealth of information it has provided.
Click to expand...
Just build 8 more of the same light 200w for 4sf x 8 = 32 SF you can use 8 modules of the same light to get what you want. Just build them one at a time or all at once, depending on your money. I would go with a mix of 2700k and 3500k for a better mix of reds into the bloom. You have one light build seven more to go and you are done.
peace
 
S

Sylant1

Member
VegasWinner said:
Just build 8 more of the same light 200w for 4sf x 8 = 32 SF you can use 8 modules of the same light to get what you want. Just build them one at a time or all at once, depending on your money. I would go with a mix of 2700k and 3500k for a better mix of reds into the bloom. You have one light build seven more to go and you are done.
peace
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Are CXB3070's still worth it at that price point compared to other options? I feel like they are a bit outdated. I do like the idea of building lots of smaller lights though, at least then spacing can be messed with during the tent setup.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Sylant1 said:
Are CXB3070's still worth it at that price point compared to other options? I feel like they are a bit outdated. I do like the idea of building lots of smaller lights though, at least then spacing can be messed with during the tent setup.
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citi 1212s are $10-$12 each and are equivalent to a 3070. 3070s arent outdated but there are no shortage of chips that outperform then at their price

Sylant1 said:
Is there any examples here of a Luminus cxm-22 grow? I tried searching through but couldnt find much.
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only been selling them for a few months. the people who buy them keep buying more

once you understand its the same as any other phosphor cob theres not a whole lot that grow pics are gonna tell you. size wise and performance wise its really close to a citi 1818 which are well documented here
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
in a reflective tent height doesnt really matter as much. at 45W/SF of efficient cobs id want to be a minimum of 16" away. that would be the same for strips at 45W/SF
 
3

3GT

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
in a reflective tent height doesnt really matter as much. at 45W/SF of efficient cobs id want to be a minimum of 16" away. that would be the same for strips at 45W/SF
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Surely 1 cob (point source) needs a bit more height than say 3 x 1ft strips each putting out 15w over the 1ft length?
 
mefunky

mefunky

Well-Known Member
I'm running cities 1818's at 75 watts and I have tops 6 inches away without bleaching. I also have cxm22 chips so far the plants are digging them . I don't think I can post pics yet.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
3GT said:
Surely 1 cob (point source) needs a bit more height than say 3 x 1ft strips each putting out 15w over the 1ft length?
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45W is 45W, at 12-16" inches where the light is uniform the plants dont care where its coming from.

yes you can get closer to strips but you reach diminishing returns pretty quick that close to a light source, also shade your deep canopy more
 
3

3GT

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
45W is 45W, at 12-16" inches where the light is uniform the plants dont care where its coming from.

yes you can get closer to strips but you reach diminishing returns pretty quick that close to a light source, also shade your deep canopy more
Click to expand...

45w is 45w sure, one is a point source one is spread out evenly meaning no hot spots? Just seems to make sense that they could get closer.
 
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