Vero29c 70v @700ma Vs D 36v @1.4a

[Schkronis]

I'm working on building my 4th fixture. This will be 300W 6 chips powered by HGL320H. At this point it's going to be Vero29 since I'm going to get all my stuff from single vendor and will be able to avoid shipping.
Here I'm looking at V29 C Specs (70Volts) and it listed 146 lm/W @1.7A (120W)
D specs shows 143 lm/W but at higher current of 2.1A (75W).
That lead me to believe that 70V drivven at 0.7 Amps will blow D that being run @1.4A out of the water?
Difference in cost is minimal ($50) for 300W fixture with 6 cobs driven @ 50W.

Hgl-320H-700a + 6 V29 Gen7 C or HGL-320H-1400b +V29 Gen7 B (have one fixture already)

I'm leaning toward 70V option due to very small difference in $, but question is: do I get efficiency bump that is worth $50 - I think it is.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Hgl-320H-700a + 6 V29 Gen7 C or HGL-320H-1400b +V29 Gen7 B (have one fixture already)

when I did my cob build, I wrestled with this exact decision. as I recalled, the Vero cobs were more efficient driven harder where the Cree cobs were more efficient driven softer. so I went with the 36v Vero cobs driven harder. I also came to the conclusion that it's truly splitting hairs at this point

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Here I'm looking at V29 C Specs (70Volts) and it listed 146 lm/W @1.7A (120W)
D specs shows 143 lm/W but at higher current of 2.1A (75W).

and don't really worry about lm/W, lumins is just "brightness", it's kind of irrelevant, as you probably noticed on the Vero data sheet, the higher the color temperature number, the higher the lm/W is.
example:

BXRC-27E10K0-D-7X 2700k 80CRI is 144lm/W at 2100ma
BXRC-40E10K0-D-7X 4000k 80CRI is 156lm/W at 2100ma

the only difference is the color brightness which is telling you that a whiter color is going to give you more lumin per watt.

I really wish these data specs would give things in micro mols and photon density which is really what a grower is interested in.

 

[Schkronis]

and don't really worry about lm/W, lumins is just "brightness", it's kind of irrelevant, as you probably noticed on the Vero data sheet, the higher the color temperature number, the higher the lm/W is.
example:

BXRC-27E10K0-D-7X 2700k 80CRI is 144lm/W at 2100ma
BXRC-40E10K0-D-7X 4000k 80CRI is 156lm/W at 2100ma

the only difference is the color brightness which is telling you that a whiter color is going to give you more lumin per watt.

I really wish these data specs would give things in micro mols and photon density which is really what a grower is interested in.

Got ya, well, I guess 8x V29D 3K on 320H-1050 will be much more efficient set up and 2 extra engines will only cost about $45. In this case i spend $90 more and have 8 chips driven @35W each and it will cover 2x4 very nicely! I'm under impression that I may be better off getting cxb3590 if i will be driving them soft, but that will add another $80 to the set up - which is ain't bad, but not sure if I want to spend extra $ on Cree products at this point. I flowered GSC and GG under Timber Citi framework, DIY V29 and CXB's @50w - I haven't noticed any difference at all.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Got ya, well, I guess 8x V29D 3K on 320H-1050 will be much more efficient set up and 2 extra engines will only cost about $45. In this case i spend $90 more and have 8 chips driven @35W each and it will cover 2x4 very nicely! I'm under impression that I may be better off getting cxb3590 if i will be driving them soft, but that will add another $80 to the set up - which is ain't bad, but not sure if I want to spend extra $ on Cree products at this point.

haha, yeah, you sound exactly like me about 4 months ago. :cool:

with my 18 cob setup, the added cost for Cree would have added $200 to my build and I felt it wasn't worth the extra cost. The vero29SE version has nice push in wire connectors and a holder as part of the chip. With Cree cobs you need to purchase a $2 holder.

if these are going in a tent, you probably won't need any reflectors, but the Vero29SE kind of have a small reflector built in.

Are you building this for Veg? Bloom? both?

I went bloom only 36v Vero29SE 3000k CRI90 chips with the HGL-320H-1400b drivers. I ended up paying around $22 each for the chips at Future Electronics

 

[Schkronis]

haha, yeah, you sound exactly like me about 4 months ago. :cool:

with my 18 cob setup, the added cost for Cree would have added $200 to my build and I felt it wasn't worth the extra cost. The vero29SE version has nice push in wire connectors and a holder as part of the chip. With Cree cobs you need to purchase a $2 holder.

if these are going in a tent, you probably won't need any reflectors, but the Vero29SE kind of have a small reflector built in.

Are you building this for Veg? Bloom? both?

I went bloom only 36v Vero29SE 3000k CRI90 chips with the HGL-320H-1400b drivers. I ended up paying around $22 each for the chips at Future Electronics

I have 3, 3.5 and 4k mixed in all together. So far I'm using it for both, but will be rebuilding it after harvest to move 3.5 and 4k chips to the fixture that will be used in veg. I will replace them with 2700k and decor series 1700k when they drop down in price a bit. Decor 1700K may be the next great thing for us, cobbers.

 

[Schkronis]

After going back and forth I decided to double the amount of cobs by running them @700mA using my existing drivers (1.4A). Technically if I run them @700mA - I only have to buy more chips and pins increasing my flower space from 4x4 to 6x4 without a need of getting more drivers. From 16 @1.4 to 32 @0.7A I'm limited on the power I can draw, sqfts arent a problem, so I have to juice out as many par/watts as I can out of these available watts in my wall. I'm regretting not doing this in the first place...

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

After going back and forth I decided to double the amount of cobs by running them @700mA using my existing drivers (1.4A). Technically if I run them @700mA - I only have to buy more chips and pins increasing my flower space from 4x4 to 6x4 without a need of getting more drivers. From 16 @1.4 to 32 @0.7A I'm limited on the power I can draw, sqfts arent a problem, so I have to juice out as many par/watts as I can out of these available watts in my wall. I'm regretting not doing this in the first place...

I'm a little confused: are you existing drivers 1.4A or .7A ?

 

[sixstring]

i think he plans to run the cobs in series and parallel.so if ya took a 1400ma driver and split it into 2 strings it would bump down to 700ma.but idk for sure if the cc drivers do that,i guess the amps would work itslef out in the cob strings lol .i seen guys do it with cv drivers

 

[Schkronis]

i think he plans to run the cobs in series and parallel.so if ya took a 1400ma driver and split it into 2 strings it would bump down to 700ma.but idk for sure if the cc drivers do that,i guess the amps would work itslef out in the cob strings lol .i seen guys do it with cv drivers

That is correct. Con of this set up is if 1 string fails - all the current goes to the rest - in my case if it fails - nothing gets overdriven.

 

[Schkronis]

I'm a little confused: are you existing drivers 1.4A or .7A ?

It's 1.4A, 2 strings in parallel will lower the current.