IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

StevieBevie said:

LOL....as I said my closet is 6x6 so was thinking 4x4 or 5x5, and as I am not a grower, honestly I don't really have any great perspective on how much or little I can grow in any area this size. I am totally open to suggestions or help on the size area I should grow in and how many plants/pot size I should be growing in that area. I was thinking of doing autoflower using 3 gallon smart pots....any suggestions? To me, my hubby smokes a lot!

Click to expand...

Use the whole space you have, buy a light for yield. People talk a lot about how many watts per square foot you need, but I say ignore that and enjoy not being cramped. 2-4 plants and 250W is probably plenty.

I mean, if you dialed in a grow in that closet you could grow a couple lbs. And that is a lotta lotta marijuana.

JorgeGonzales said:

Use the whole space you have, buy a light for yield. People talk a lot about how many watts per square foot you need, but I say ignore that and enjoy not being cramped. 2-4 plants and 250W is probably plenty.

I mean, if you dialed in a grow in that closet you could grow a couple lbs. And that is a lotta lotta marijuana.

Click to expand...

Thanks, yeah, not looking for poundage here although hubby might not agree, just looking for enough for him to be happy, keep epilepsy in check etc....will start small and take from there! Quality is the goal, and enough for him to smoke and make a little butter...

StevieBevie said:

Thanks, yeah, not looking for poundage here although hubby might not agree, just looking for enough for him to be happy, keep epilepsy in check etc....will start small and take from there! Quality is the goal, and enough for him to smoke and make a little butter...

Click to expand...

One suggestion I have for you is get your hubby some CBD OG from Cali connection yields pretty well I got 5oz off 1 plant and it's suppose to help with epilepsy

http://www.xicato.com/sites/default/files/documents/XSM 80 Series Datasheet_0.pdf

Could you guys help me pick out the correct driver for these LEDs? I was able to get a great deal on 14 of the xsm8030-1300c LEDs with heatsinks and reflectors.
The specs say they are 700 lumen 3500k, 500mw, 12.3-18.7Forward volts, and use 7.9 watts each.
Could I run them off a Meanwell HLG240H-C700B
249.9W,178-357V,700mA driver? Or would it be better to run 2 smaller drivers? Or another driver altogether?
Also, how do you think these would work in a 3.5'x3' area mainly used for veg?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you

JorgeGonzales said:

No. And what is efficiency per dollar?

Click to expand...

thanks for your attention

I mean that we under drive cobs to get higher efficiency, but the cost goes up with that.
I guess par watt per $ is a better way to say it


why no? any logic there? LEDs all increase efficency the softer we run them

doesnt it make sense that 100w leds run at 2w (chinese)each would have higher efficiency than a 130w led at 50w(cxb3590)?

go give it a try....there have not been definitive threads on this..technically it makes sense..but the cheap cobs are not as efficient at any wattage but yes..mulit way low driven may trump everything as long as they can hold up..and provide a decent spectrum

go give it a and make a thread...talk is inexpensive and inconclusive..

good points you made

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:

go give it a try....there have not been definitive threads on this..technically it makes sense..but the cheap cobs are not as efficient at any wattage but yes..mulit way low driven may trump everything as long as they can hold up..and provide a decent spectrum

go give it a and make a thread...talk is inexpensive and inconclusive..

good points you made

Click to expand...

I would need a par meter to really give anydata

perhaps in the near future i could do it with a lux meter?

id just run both off the same driver and see what the numbers look like

actually you need to grow with it....real hands on rules..the rest is just tech talk

..theorhetical talk is inexpensive..and inconclusive

grow something using the cheap cobs..do a thread..

help us all out

thanks

Get 'er done Whacker!

REALSTYLES said:

One suggestion I have for you is get your hubby some CBD OG from Cali connection yields pretty well I got 5oz off 1 plant and it's suppose to help with epilepsy

Click to expand...

I agree a cbd strain is crucial if your looking to help with epilepsy. Many options out there, id say thunderstruck from sin city seeds.
I know she mentioned autos, and idk much in that field

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:

actually you need to grow with it....real hands on rules..the rest is just tech talk

..theorhetical talk is inexpensive..and inconclusive

grow something using the cheap cobs..do a thread..

help us all out

thanks

Click to expand...

I hate to disagree, but growing with no-name Chinese cobs from dubious sources is pointless. Both as a source of data, and an excercise in beating Cree. Unless you build a light, throw it in a sphere, and guarantee the next batch will be from the same source and the same quality, why bother?

And while there is a lot of theory and datasheet bashing going on around here lately, some of it warranted, we use datasheets as a staring point (and need people who know how to read them), because they come from companies like Bridgelux, Philips, Citizen, Cree and Samsung, and are based on trusted manufacturer lab testing of things we care about like SPD, lm/W, current and temp droop. They tend to understate, and over deliver in the real world, and are difficult but possible to compare to one another as a first step.

Without carefully anayzing and comparing trusted sources of data, we have no idea what should actually be persued as viable choices. The Nichia you bought are going to be good, are worth exploring in a grow, and I know this because of the data they and other LED companies provide.

good post Jorge
don't you think that there may be some cheap cobs out there that' are' consistent enough and way way cheap enough
that when powered at ultra low wattage[ to be ultra efficient]
could be more cost effective than the expensive ones
that people who buy the trusted and more expensive ones would never take that low due to cost?
its not even worth a try....?

[man that was one run on sentence]

OLD MOTHER SATIVA said:

good post Jorge
don't you think that there may be some cheap cobs out there that' are' consistent enough and way way cheap enough
that when powered at ultra low wattage[ to be ultra efficient]
could be more cost effective than the expensive ones
that people who buy the trusted and more expensive ones would never take that low due to cost?
its not even worth a try....?

[man that was one run on sentence]

Click to expand...

It's really hard to make the kind of numbers at low currents Crees do. They bin their leds, and the top bins are amazing. I'm not sure what tradeoffs they make, but there are better cobs at high watts, but none at low. I'd be interested in why they are so good, when @guod says all phosphors come from just a few companies.

When you take a cheap Chinese cob and run it at very low wattage all sorts of bad things start to happen because of the inconsistency from die to die. The colors go funky, leds don't light up, it's just bad news all around. Every year you see things getting better and better for major makers as technology improves in leds and phosphors, but bargain basement alibaba stuff is not going to be cutting edgel. They improve on the same curve I'm sure, but probably a couple generations behind.

It's funny, I just ordered 16 $2 Citizen cobs, but they are not "100W" cobs. They should be about 56% efficiency like the Crees, but I won't be running them quite at 50W. Probably more like 30W, about 2W each is what I mean.

hey guys completely new here. i'm currently setting up a 30x20x60 inch microgrow in my closet. seems after reading a bit diy cob is the way to go? ideally i would get something premade... budget would be <$300 for lighting

appreciate any suggestions

have you

friedkalamari said:

hey guys completely new here. i'm currently setting up a 30x20x60 microgrow in my closet. seems after reading a bit diy cob is the way to go? ideally i would get something premade... budget would be <$300 for lighting

appreciate any suggestions

Click to expand...

have you read this thread https://www.rollitup.org/t/samsung-hard-strips.908616/ these seem inexpensive and very effiecient. may work well for a small closet grow. have not tried them myself. I use T5s for my closet grow but the OP on this thread has been working with LEDs in a micro grow environment for a few years now

Hi, just finished at the conference in Oakland and while I'm feeling better educated, I'm still confused. I'm leaning towards Spydr as I feel they are better for smaller non-commercial grows, I love Heliospectre but I think they are too advanced, I've also heard about Black Dog.
Any advice from owners of any of these or other comparable LEDs would be greatly appreciated.

JorgeGonzales said:

It's really hard to make the kind of numbers at low currents Crees do. They bin their leds, and the top bins are amazing. I'm not sure what tradeoffs they make, but there are better cobs at high watts, but none at low. I'd be interested in why they are so good, when @guod says all phosphors come from just a few companies.

When you take a cheap Chinese cob and run it at very low wattage all sorts of bad things start to happen because of the inconsistency from die to die. The colors go funky, leds don't light up, it's just bad news all around. Every year you see things getting better and better for major makers as technology improves in leds and phosphors, but bargain basement alibaba stuff is not going to be cutting edgel. They improve on the same curve I'm sure, but probably a couple generations behind.

It's funny, I just ordered 16 $2 Citizen cobs, but they are not "100W" cobs. They should be about 56% efficiency like the Crees, but I won't be running them quite at 50W. Probably more like 30W, about 2W each is what I mean.

Click to expand...

i totally see your point about consistency, while the batch i end up with may be better value than crees because of efficiency the next might not

link me those $2 citizen cobs please?

im all about 200-350mA driven cobs, just the good ones are so expensive you kinda have to run them harder than that

Hello every1!

Need some help to decide which way to go...

So I'm planning to get 4x CXB 3590 3500k 36V CD bin COBs but I'm unsure about how to drive them.
I see most of people drive them with one driver @ 50W each but I was thinking to go max (one driver per led @ 2400 mA, LEDs cooled with low end CPU coolers with cooper base and pipes and 120mm fan).

Do you think it would be a good idea to drive them that high?
What about efficiency (I'd say in long term) difference in comparison to driving them @ 1400 mA?

Of course I would need to invest more in the beginning as I would need to buy 3 more drivers (instead of one).

REALSTYLES said:

One suggestion I have for you is get your hubby some CBD OG from Cali connection yields pretty well I got 5oz off 1 plant and it's suppose to help with epilepsy

Click to expand...

Thank you, yes I will look at those, that appears to be an awesome yield from what I read...

weed-whacker said:

thanks for your attention

I mean that we under drive cobs to get higher efficiency, but the cost goes up with that.
I guess par watt per $ is a better way to say it


why no? any logic there? LEDs all increase efficency the softer we run them

doesnt it make sense that 100w leds run at 2w (chinese)each would have higher efficiency than a 130w led at 50w(cxb3590)?

Click to expand...

I disagree. We need more intensity.....we're beating hid in SOG but we don't have the penetration of hid.

See https://www.rollitup.org/t/light-intensity-led-vs-hid.912964/

and tell me what you think!

With out higher wattage cobs were never gonna have the intensity as hid.