DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

[3N1GM4]

Anyone ever seen or used a 500watt led on a diy build?
If anyone could help me with what I will need besides these leds I would much appreciate it.

 

[ofbyah]

Here is one reason to stay away from the cheap "Grow LED's"

This is a Cree 3590 given just enough power to start lighting the LED's

notice how every LED is evenly illuminated


Here are some cheap "Full Spectrum Grow LED's" just coming on.

These are 30W units, there should be 3 rows of 10 in each package
Not evenly lit up at all, the last one is close .
They all look the same when you power them fully, but I suspect high failure rates in the future.
I would think they are rejects or seconds from manufacturing, or maybe they just don't care.
Someone who knows more than me can explain this better.

 

[WitchWeedSG]

i just put my 2 mars 400 back in their boxes, all DIY now, Supra thank you man thank you very much
WwW

 

[3N1GM4]

Suncloak saw me post what type of strip they use...
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/7020-led-strip.78786/

 

[MiniMan]

THNX guys. KNNA got me started way back on Gardenscure and he gave away very valuable info for free, even buying reels of top bin LEDs and sourcing dimmable drivers and shipping them all over the world to help LED DIYers. Now we have a great team of growers testing and sourcing equipment and helping each other out. It is amazing what you can achieve with COBs as far as reducing heat/humidity and improving quality not to mention electrical efficiency.

You could build a very small lamp to test it out and then scale it up as large as you want if you like the results
View attachment 415812


3000K CXA3070 or Vero 29 $40 Digikey
1.4A driver $13 eBay
heatsink/fan - $10 PCOutlet
fan power supply high efficiency - $6eBay
total $68 for 52W dissipation

Of course that does not take into account the costs of all the misc stuff you might not have on hand, soldering iron, kapton tape, thermal paste, slide connectors, heatshrink tubing, zinc chain etc. But it could be even cheaper if you already have a CPU cooler laying around and you could use any old wall wort to power the fan.

So basically what i understand from that configuration i get 52w.
So far so good but how many lumens per watt i got???
From this post i am confused .....need to calculate 150-160 lumens per watt multiplication by 52W???

This guy is the one of if not the top diy guru's there is. He is so generous with help and openness of his idea's. It's literally is the top efficiency of any lighting. Which translates to output. 1.9µmols/w...or for guys stuck on lumens, around 150-160+lm/w...all while in a perfect flowering(and general growth) spectrum for cannabis.

I am building a system pretty much all based on his work and his guidance. It's in the works as we type. Super pumped for it to be completed.

Bringing top quality LED's to the masses.
Thank you as always.

 

[Bardo]

Hi everyone. Im currently working on my own design for a 4.5 sq ft tent. Since i live in Argentina there arent many high quality Cob here (closer to none) so after months of planning, and weeks of trying not spend a fortune on this project i decided to believe on the specs from this chip i found:

http://tyf-led.en.alibaba.com/product/1802768387-0/Hot_sale_Epistar_High_power_LED_COB_50W.html

Which seems to me to be of a sustainable quality among every other chip on the market in my country. Cree leds are totally of the table since it would cost me as much as a motorbike to include them here.
The most weird part of those chips i found is the voltage the operate, 48-51v at 960mA. The only driver i found that could go with this specs is (obviously) sold by the same vendor. So i'll use my years of engineering to figure out how to get the most of them, limiting current if necessary.

Now prior to the question i want to ask you i have to say that this guide finally encouraged me to attemp building this using cobs since my first idea was a bunch of 3 w leds following a color distribution that i found in another page (can link you to it if wanted).

Getting to the point. Is there anyway to determine from sight or a little test of functioning if a chinese chip is anywhere as good as they claimed it to be?
Since every chip in this country market is pretty much from China, even those who claim to use epistar chips.
Im trying very hard not getting scammed and expending a fortune in a useless lighting device.

Thanks for mainteining this thread open so many years, it has helped many people on their path to a more efficient grow system.

 

[aquafarmer]

Hi all this is great thread! First up I'm looking to grow watercress in an aquaponic system, so apologies if this is considered off-topic. This seems to be a great concentration of people who know about DIY led so I'm hoping you might give some advice.

Watercress has a much lower light requirement, so I'm looking to smaller units, more spread apart (I realise this won't be as efficient, but it seems better than wasting watts providing light my plants don't need)

Having read this:

http://www.greenhousegrower.com/production/plant-culture/growing-seedlings-under-leds-part-two/

I think I'm looking for 80% Reds, 15% Green/orange and around 5% blue.

I think I need less blue than you'd use for cannabis vegging as I don't actually want compact plants. I want large plants.

I'm thinking of going for 50% Vero Decor 10s:

£3.31/ 9.3 watt unit http://uk.futureelectronics.com/en/...ProductID=BXRC30A1001B23BRIDGELUX1054291&IM=0

Data:


And 50% Epiled @640-660nm.

£5 / 10 watt unit http://futureeden.co.uk/collections...wer-led-epiled-640-660nm-high-power-cob-light
Data:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...a1-8d2b-7d814ffbf4f2.pdf?15523077563913313829

Do you think that's a cost effective way to get to my desired spectrum?

Running them all on Meanwell.

 

[CharmCity915]

@superskunk4u here is that thread I was telling ya about

 

[3N1GM4]

I diy by ordering the grow light offline, myself.
http://www.ledlightplant.com/classic-3w-led-grow-light-c-7_14/

 

[Duder]

Here is one reason to stay away from the cheap "Grow LED's"

This is a Cree 3590 given just enough power to start lighting the LED's
View attachment 568320
notice how every LED is evenly illuminated


Here are some cheap "Full Spectrum Grow LED's" just coming on.
View attachment 568321 View attachment 568322 View attachment 568323 View attachment 568324
These are 30W units, there should be 3 rows of 10 in each package
Not evenly lit up at all, the last one is close .
They all look the same when you power them fully, but I suspect high failure rates in the future.
I would think they are rejects or seconds from manufacturing, or maybe they just don't care.
Someone who knows more than me can explain this better.

Those are garbage. I got similar COBs that were supposed to be Red off Amazon. The one was ok, even turned down but the other did the same thing as the one pictured. It also had that crappy Phosphor coating that made it look more like orange than red.
I have some 10W cheap red COBs that are actually pretty decent, each individual 3w LED is red and they light evenly with no voltage leak. Some of the cheap-o COBs are not that bad but it is a gamble.

 

[REALSTYLES]

Well it's been a minute since I posted any pics so here's some from today CBD Og 1 more week until harvest and the yield will be decent

 

[CharmCity915]

Very nice @REALSTYLES :eyepiece::cool:

 

[Dawn Patrol]

Good to see some grow pics RS!

 

[AvidLerner]

Curious what you'd charge to build a 4-5ft light bar, one for veg. Do you know what the footprint is on it? i need to upgrade my old t8 leds, trying to get 5-6ft of growth in 2 months between bringing them out for sun and back under lights. With my leds, i know its a pretty far off sight. I was just about ready to take an old xtrasun switchable 400/600/1k ballast down to the shop to get it fixed, and get a big parabolic hood, and run a MH. But with what i've read in this thread, with the right spectrum and the right lights and equipment, you get the best results with these lights vegging, and don't break the watt bank too hard? If you can figure out the foot print on4-5ft one, and the total cost you'd charge, and maybe total watt/lumens per..i'm pretty sure i'd buy 3-5 of these rather quickly if it can match an hps/mh for 1/3 the cost (or near)

If you are looking to get some lights built, pm me. I can help you. I have built a few fixtures, a 200w veg light, and a 400w bloom light with far red leds. you can lool up my builds under the LED lights. I also do remote driver setups with a separate driver board with power, timers, and junction boxes. cost would be parts cost, plus labor hours, plus S&H. fair-priced. I have a professional Engineering company that we design/build power, lighting, ventilation, space, etc. peace

 

[WitchWeedSG]

i just put my 2 mars 400 back in their boxes, all DIY now, Supra thank you man thank you very much
WwW

that was the prototype 45 watts.. heres the latest pro panel i made.. 150 w 30 XML2 4300k with 60 degree 30 mm convex lens hanging @ 7 '

 

[provos]

Hey guys a lot of you know me from RIU or ICMag but for the LED growers here that have not seen it, here is the recipe for building DIY LED very cheaply. Why build a DIY lamp? You can get up to 49% efficiency if you can find the top bins and run them soft (700mA). You can get 36% efficiency with the mid bin running hard (1400mA). The best commercial LEDs (Area 51, Apache, Onyx) are in the low 30s. Another advantage is the ability to have remote drivers to keep that heat out of your grow space and away from the LED heatsinks.

Everything has changed since COBs became available to us. It is much easier to build a lamp and it turns out that 3000K works just fine on its own, better than HPS even.

For the simplest build the best COBS to use are the Cree CXA3070 and Vero 29. The CXA 3000K has 14% blue and the Vero 3000K 8-10%. They are available on Digikey or if you need a bulk order you can save $ on Arrow.

As far as drivers go, 1.4A is a good compromise between cost and efficiency. They are available on eBay for $13, 90% efficient and power factor corrected. You can use Mean Well LPC-60-1400 but it is lower efficiency and not power factor corrected. If you want to run at 1050mA you can use Mean Well LPC-60-1050. The one I tested was 88% efficient.

For heatsinks, CPU coolers work great for small grows. The 92mm Arctic 11 Plus is a favorite because it can be found for $10 and uses a fluid dynamic bearing fan, lots of cooling power and not too loud. Amazon and Newegg sometimes offer them for $10. Currently outletPC has them for $10 with reasonable shipping cost.

If you are building a medium or large lamp, I recommend HeatsinkUSA 5.88" profile. A 12" length is good for (2) COBs and a 24" length is good for (4) COBs. You can cool it with a single 140mm fan to make a super efficient cooling combo. I recommend the Prolimatech 140mm from Amazon. It is quiet even at 13V and moves a lot of air.

View attachment 415611

The Vero is solder free but the Cree requires a COB holder and to go solder free. Both methods require drilling and tapping the heatsink. I don't mind the soldering so rather than drilling, I mount the COB with Prolimatech PK3 thermal paste and then use kapton to tape the COB in place so it cannot slide sideways. The paste makes a very strong vacuum when you press the COB onto the heatsink. It will not come off from gravity or heat. If you try to pry it off it will break. You have to twist it and then slide it sideways to get it off.

Small build:
View attachment 415595

Medium build:
View attachment 415593

Large build:
View attachment 415594

Hi can you give me any information about a medium cob build 6/8 plants max from seed too flower I'm new to led so any help would be great thank almost forgot I'm in the UK
p

 

[sixstring]

Hi can you give me any information about a medium cob build 6/8 plants max from seed too flower I'm new to led so any help would be great thank almost forgot I'm in the UK
p

Give him your room or tent dimensions and it will be easier for him or others to answer.

 

[provos]

Give him your room or tent dimensions and it will be easier for him or others to answer.

Sorry its 1 square meter 180 tent

 

[sixstring]

so whats that about 3.5 feet x 3.5 feet ? i would say 9 cob would fill that space pretty nice but im sure you could pack more in there. im building a few fixtures on the bases of 1 cob cxb 3590 per square foot running them @ 36w.but theres so many variables with these diy builds you need to kinda know what you want for power and plant size.these can be run hot @ 100w per cob or very soft at 25w per cob.i see alot of good grows @ the 25w but my plants are bigger than most of those grows.its all in the drivers as to how the lights are powered and mean well makes a shitload of dif sizes for just about any combo you want to run from 2 cob to 9 or 10 depending on how you drive them.i believe supra made this chart,its a nice guide to see how many cobs you can run at the different powers(amps).im using the hlg 185h c1050 dimmable to run 5 x cxb 3590 per driver so a lil over 180w per bar.plus theres a ton of dif heat sinks to use,some setups use fans some dont.mine dont use fans and im good to 50w if i decide to upgrade the driver.heres those charts

the 3rd column from the right lists the cxb 3590 in the 36v model and seems to be the most popular cob in all my reading.
i got a few more of these bars to build but after seeing how fucking bright these are im stoked to get these hung up soon.

 

[sixstring]

then you got all the dif mounting options.supra showed some dif styles on the first page using capton tape if you pick certain chips you can get screw on holders and reflector options.this is what im workin on right now,bar # 4 its pretty quick to assemble and if for some reason i have a problem with a chip i can quickly change it out.

most these guys spend more time at riu in the led section if you wanna talk to the pros.