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SouthernCandy

New Member
Hey guys,

Just getting into LEDs. Used a 600w hps for 12 years. Ideally, I would like to improve yields but the drop in heat makes me care less about quantity. It's only for me and my small group of medical users.

I'm likely going to build something very similar to RS's tutorial.

However, I do have this extra driver. Any suggestions on using it?

Mean Well HLG-320H-42B 320


I'm really flexible with my setups. So almost any sqft / wattage will work. Usually have 8-12sqft of flowering depending.


Keep it green!

Candy
 
Indagrow

Indagrow

Well-Known Member
I've been lurking, and I'm very tempted to build my own rig. I run a 600hps for flower and want to supplement with some led. I was looking at those remade lanes but am mechanically capable, and have an in at an led sign company. Is there an ideal cob for flowering? I would like to make two units, with two cobs in each and have them on either side of the HPS with an overlapping footprint. Would you recommend any certain lens for this. I know I need to lurk more, but it was my understanding the red spectrum is ideal for flowering, yet your flowering cobs are white..... Am I missing something?
 
alesh

alesh

Well-Known Member
Indagrow said:
I've been lurking, and I'm very tempted to build my own rig. I run a 600hps for flower and want to supplement with some led. I was looking at those remade lanes but am mechanically capable, and have an in at an led sign company. Is there an ideal cob for flowering? I would like to make two units, with two cobs in each and have them on either side of the HPS with an overlapping footprint. Would you recommend any certain lens for this. I know I need to lurk more, but it was my understanding the red spectrum is ideal for flowering, yet your flowering cobs are white..... Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
The best COB right now is probably Cree CXB3590. As any other LED it has specific behavior that the less power you run through it the more efficient it is. It might need more than 4 COBs to have a light with the same output as a 600W HPS if that's your target, depending on the efficiency you'd like to achieve.

What our eyes see as white is actually a mix of a lot of different colors. And the white LEDs which are widely used there have plenty of red.
 
Indagrow

Indagrow

Well-Known Member
alesh said:
The best COB right now is probably Cree CXB3590. As any other LED it has specific behavior that the less power you run through it the more efficient it is. It might need more than 4 COBs to have a light with the same output as a 600W HPS if that's your target, depending on the efficiency you'd like to achieve.

What our eyes see as white is actually a mix of a lot of different colors. And the white LEDs which are widely used there have plenty of red.
Click to expand...
That makes sense, I'm not trying to match the 600 just give a strong supplement, this is only really possible now because temps are coming down. I also don't want to much load on my breaker, I'll be turning the ac off soon so I have that extra power to toy around with. I would like to run two units, with two CXB3590 in each. Do they need individual drivers? Also do these drivers need to be cooled with the fan or can they just be in ambient 75 degree air and be OK. I understand the cooler the temps the more efficient, is this for the driver or the lights... Or both? I was thinking two cobs, a heat sink running between the two and one fan in the middle plus the driver obv. Any idea how much of a draw that would be? Hope I'm not asking to many questions, I'm just getting my toes wet here guys
 
qwerkus

qwerkus

Well-Known Member
Hello; I'm not a canabis grower, but truely amazed by the amount of knowledge you guys have built up with LED grow lamps. Has anyone tried to grow other plants with high quality cree or bridgelux cobs ? I'm planing a small kitchen garden (around 3m2), and wondering what would be the best cobs for my project. My goal is to try all kinds of flowering plants. Intuitively, I would go with high cri cobs, like 3*5000k and 2*3500k cxb3070@50W each. What do you guys think ?
 
nevergoodenuf

nevergoodenuf

Well-Known Member
The high CRI hasn't been test well enough to know if there is an advantage. Unless you are talking about having different spectrums in different areas, I would just stick to one color temp. 4000K seems to be a great all around spectrum.
 
qwerkus

qwerkus

Well-Known Member
nevergoodenuf said:
The high CRI hasn't been test well enough to know if there is an advantage. Unless you are talking about having different spectrums in different areas, I would just stick to one color temp. 4000K seems to be a great all around spectrum.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your prompt response. Other internet sources are all about maxing out cri whenever it's possible, and pushing up to 6500k. About the 4000K: isn't it pure waste on the greens, and too weak on reds to see the garden flower ?
 
C

CDiablo

Active Member
I am 99% done with my parts chosing/ordering. 2 Questions: Do I need both a reflector and lens for COB's? What are some good ways to hang a really big heatsink(66"x6"x1") Im still trying to figure out how to hang without doing too much damage to the heatsink.
 
robincnn

robincnn

Well-Known Member
qwerkus said:
Hello; I'm not a canabis grower, but truely amazed by the amount of knowledge you guys have built up with LED grow lamps. Has anyone tried to grow other plants with high quality cree or bridgelux cobs ? I'm planing a small kitchen garden (around 3m2), and wondering what would be the best cobs for my project. My goal is to try all kinds of flowering plants. Intuitively, I would go with high cri cobs, like 3*5000k and 2*3500k cxb3070@50W each. What do you guys think ?
Click to expand...
I would also recommend not going with CRI. High CRI cobs are usually less efficient.

This thread will give you a good idea for a indoor garden for kitchen.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/cxa3070s-for-growing-indoor-fruit-and-vegetables.868555/

This post by @Meinolf will give you an idea why not to use different spectrum together like 6500+ 3000k
https://www.rollitup.org/t/cob-efficiency-spreadsheets.865238/page-10#post-11892740

CDiablo You do not have to get a lens or reflector. They are optional for grow room with reflective walls. Good to use lens or reflector if walls not reflective. You pick either reflector or lens not both. Not sure about how to hang that long heatsink.
 
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qwerkus

qwerkus

Well-Known Member
robincnn said:
I would also recommend not going with CRI. High CRI cobs are usually less efficient.

This thread will give you a good idea for a indoor garden for kitchen.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/cxa3070s-for-growing-indoor-fruit-and-vegetables.868555/

This post by @Meinolf will give you an idea why not to use different spectrum together like 6500+ 3000k
https://www.rollitup.org/t/cob-efficiency-spreadsheets.865238/page-10#post-11892740
Click to expand...
Amazing! Thank you so much!
Yet meinolf seems to advise still an even mix of 5000+3000k, even if later on he seems to question it !? Can you post more about this ?
 
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Greengenes707

Greengenes707

Well-Known Member
qwerkus said:
Thank you for the reply. Is this still true with cxbs ? I think I read somewhere that 3000k cxb 3070 cri 90 is pretty efficient, compared to the cri 80.
Click to expand...
Yes, still applies.
CXB slightly closed the gap, but there has yet to be any release of top bin 90 CRI of any model so that makes it even worse.
 
M

Mikejones425

Member
Have a few questions and was hoping you all could help me.

I'm wanting to build some cobs for a flowering room. I would likely start with a pair Vero 18s @1.4-1.5 amps (about ~44 watts a peice @ 125 lumens/watt. If I like how they act, I would likely look in to running Vero 29s at the same current in the future (~50 watts @ 140 lumens/watt). I would likely shoot for having 1 cob per square foot (too much? too little?)... you might be able to convince me to run the vero 18s at 1050 (25-30 watts?), but I like the idea of the sheer number of lumens for cheap @ 1.4

1. Heatsinks. Ive read half the heatsink thread (25+ pages) and am still undecided on heatsinkusa vs cpu coolers (likely the alpine 11 or the cheaper alpine 64). I def. want to do active cooling as it's much cheaper/lighter. Supra says the 4.85" profile from HSUSA has too thin of a base for high power LEDs, but I dont see anyone that has tested this.. and not really sure if ~50 watts is 'alot' as the Vero 29s can get in to the mid-high 100 watt range. Has anyone used this profile running this wattage range? I was thinking of just ordering 4 inch sections of different sizes, adding computer fans and seeing what works best.

2. Mounting options. I'm thinking use either a really long heatsink if the 4.85" profile will work from HSUSA. If not, likely angle bars in which case CPU coolers might have an advantage as they already have screw holes which I can likely screw in to the angle bars. Also, for those using HSUSA, how did you mount the fan to the top of your heatsink and get it to stay on? I would prefer not having to drill/tap through heatsinks and not have to do any soldering for my build (hence the veros). How would I mount HSUSA sinks to an angle bar?
 
littlejacob

littlejacob

Well-Known Member
Bonjour
I, too, have a problem to fix my fans, more to keep them fixed...I glued it but it is on 2 fins and it is not solid enough. Every time I touch it or if I put my pannel onthe table to clean the cob on the fan side...it break! So if you have a solution for my concern...please help
Have a great day ★
 
qwerkus

qwerkus

Well-Known Member
littlejacob said:
Bonjour
I, too, have a problem to fix my fans, more to keep them fixed...I glued it but it is on 2 fins and it is not solid enough. Every time I touch it or if I put my pannel onthe table to clean the cob
Click to expand...
Maybe you could use rubber. In the DIY pc-modding world, it works very well when holes don't match. Use old bicycle air tubes, and cut strings of 2-3mm long enough to pass through the alu. The rubber even absorbs vibrations, making the setup quieter. Here an example:

And another one (yellow holder are cut matchsticks):
 
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Meinolf

Meinolf

Well-Known Member
qwerkus said:
Amazing! Thank you so much!
Yet meinolf seems to advise still an even mix of 5000+3000k, even if later on he seems to question it !? Can you post more about this ?
Click to expand...
You should read this thread for understanding why high CRI chips suck (for plant lighting, at the moment): https://www.rollitup.org/t/cree-cxa-analysis.743645/

Besides I only said it won't hurt to combine different spectra, but IF I was to do it I would try optimising the spacing to bring an even mix to the canopy, just like you wouldn't throw a spoon of sugar into your coffee without stirring. I also said I am not yet convinced by mixing (mono) spectra because of the labor and probably higher material cost, although I am generally interested in adding in deep red as long as it keeps up with the white cob's (red) efficiency.

I have to admit that my own lights have Vero 3500k and 3000K in it. That happened because I wanted to hit the "magic" 40% with the 3500K Vero 1.2 back then, which was also possible with the 3000K Vero 2.0 when it became available mid-construction of the second panel. I told myself that the 3000 3500 3000 3500 3000 bar was shaping the canopy in a certain way but I think it didn't matter, as the spectra are very close to each other. After all, I now favour an all-3000K version because of the relativly higher red, although I read reports claiming that even 4000K is delivering fine. There is a tradeoff between higher red and higher efficiency but it is probably negligible in terms of yield. A lot of people here now choose 3500K because they hate agonising over this dilemma.
 
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