Cob Lighting For A 4x8 Flowering Tent

[sixstring]

just to let you guys know, no matter what I do, it's going to be a little down the road after a save a little cash for a separate bloom room anyway. I think I can swallow $1200 to $1500 for lighting. I was kind of thinking if a scaled back a bit and get a 5x5 tent for blooming, only bloom 4 plants at a time with two p600, it would cost $1200. if the two 630w CMH would fill a 4x8 tent, I think I could work with that. is there a heat issue with the CMH lamps? I honestly don't know anything about the CMH fixtures. and how far off the plants do they need to be, tents are only 80" tall.

That is the biggest light i would ever put in a tent. But these de 630 are good at making light instead of heat kinda like cobs.so like my 35w cree cobs are doing approximately 55 to 60% efficacy so 55% is light and 45% is heat.a standard hps does maybe 30% if your lucky so 30% light and 70%heat. These new de630 are supposed to be around 40% or better (cant remember the exact numbers ) but they put out alot of light for the amount of heat they make.then you factor the spectrum of a cmh which has a very good,balanced spectrum with uv also and these things may just be better than cobs.on paper they look awesome,I don't own one so i cant say for sure.but i.most definitely will have 4 or 5 real soon.once my new shop is done i plan to have about 60% cobs and my gavitas and getting at least 4 of these cmh.should be an awesomely balanced spectrum in there if i pull it all off :)

 

[iKharon]

That is the biggest light i would ever put in a tent. But these de 630 are good at making light instead of heat kinda like cobs.so like my 35w cree cobs are doing approximately 55 to 60% efficacy so 55% is light and 45% is heat.a standard hps does maybe 30% if your lucky so 30% light and 70%heat. These new de630 are supposed to be around 40% or better (cant remember the exact numbers ) but they put out alot of light for the amount of heat they make.then you factor the spectrum of a cmh which has a very good,balanced spectrum with uv also and these things may just be better than cobs.on paper they look awesome,I don't own one so i cant say for sure.but i.most definitely will have 4 or 5 real soon.once my new shop is done i plan to have about 60% cobs and my gavitas and getting at least 4 of these cmh.should be an awesomely balanced spectrum in there if i pull it all off :)

I will sub on that!!

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Thanks for all the info, I'll certainly be looking into the 630 cmh lights when the time comes. I also saw these Gravita PRO1000e for $500 on Amazon, but they seem to be too much for a tent.

 

[iKharon]

Thanks for all the info, I'll certainly be looking into the 630 cmh lights when the time comes. I also saw these Gravita PRO1000e for $500 on Amazon, but they seem to be too much for a tent.

Need a lot of height on those bad boys.

 

[DrMcSkunkins]

Im bout to try these cheap Led grow bar lights that come im a 10 pack from amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EMTYLHC/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1LC8GB2DE69QF

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

this is the four week flowering result so far with the one p600, I can't imagine what a full lit room would do.
these are three different bud sites...

so I was doing some poking around and it looks like I could put together a COBs system for around $65 a light. still too expensive to build 32 of them };-) I'm wondering of I could get away with on COB light per 2 square feet. that way I'll only need 8 of them for a 4x8 tent.

 

[sixstring]

this is the four week flowering result so far with the one p600, I can't imagine what a full lit room would do.
these are three different bud sites...

so I was doing some poking around and it looks like I could put together a COBs system for around $65 a light. still too expensive to build 32 of them };-) I'm wondering of I could get away with on COB light per 2 square feet. that way I'll only need 8 of them for a 4x8 tent.

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yes you could if you ran them @ 100w per cob.but you will still need 16 cobs to cover a 4 x 8 using your 2 sq ft per cob idea/ 4 x 8 =32 sq ft/2 =16

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

yes you could if you ran them @ 100w per cob.

so what you are saying is that for COBs/LEDs you need a 25w LED output per sqft to be optimal. when I mentioned 2 sqft, I really meant 2 foot square area (2 foot x 2 foot) which would be one COB per 4 sqft which was 8 COBs total, my bad... and yeah, doesn't seem like 8 COBs would do the trick.

On a different angle: how many COBs do you think would be needed for a single plant, I was thinking 4 per plant max. Because of state laws, I'm only allowed 12 plants total which means I will never have a "full" bloom tent and a "full" veg tent at the same time. So, I was thinking of only having 4 to 6 plants at a time in the bloom tent which would lead to 16 to 24 on these lights. It's still very expensive but I could add 4 COBs at a time slowly.

I'm still wondering what the benefits of COBs over just two 630 cmh fixtures are seeing that you believe that two 630 cmh fixtures would do the trick nicely at a total cost of $1200. Is it that COBs are more efficient? last longer? better spectrum? ...

Thanks

 

[sixstring]

so what you are saying is that for COBs/LEDs you need a 25w LED output per sqft to be optimal. when I mentioned 2 sqft, I really meant 2 foot square area (2 foot x 2 foot) which would be one COB per 4 sqft which was 8 COBs total, my bad... and yeah, doesn't seem like 8 COBs would do the trick.

On a different angle: how many COBs do you think would be needed for a single plant, I was thinking 4 per plant max. Because of state laws, I'm only allowed 12 plants total which means I will never have a "full" bloom tent and a "full" veg tent at the same time. So, I was thinking of only having 4 to 6 plants at a time in the bloom tent which would lead to 16 to 24 on these lights. It's still very expensive but I could add 4 COBs at a time slowly.

I'm still wondering what the benefits of COBs over just two 630 cmh fixtures are seeing that you believe that two 630 cmh fixtures would do the trick nicely at a total cost of $1200. Is it that COBs are more efficient? last longer? better spectrum? ...

Thanks

as far as your last question,all of the above .better eff/ppfd per watt used last forever,less heat . but the 630cmh is a very good alt to the cob setups. you can get away with 8 cobs driven at 100w each but if your looking to cut costs i would prob go with like 15 cobs @ 75w each spaced evenly over the 4 x 8,would give you 1125 w. the best way will always be 1 cob per sq ft ran at lower wattage/current for better efficacy and coverage.but doing half the tent now and half later is also an option,your going to need multiple drivers anyhow.you could build or buy a 10 cob setup now and add another 10 later or 8 and 8.but yeah if it was me i would have a min of prob 25 cobs in there.my prefered setups for cobs are still 35w cree driven with a meanwell hlg-185h-c1050b because you can put 5 cree on a single driver of this type and efficacy is close to 60%

 

[sixstring]

35 w cree here.this spot is about 20 watts per sq foot. almost 700 grams from 630w if you count the uv lamps running for 4 hours a day.525 w of cobs running 11 hours a day :cool:

 

[sixstring]

120w of cree over a 3 x 3 veg spot,doin work!!!!

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

so here is a couple of layouts that I drew up if I go with 35w COBs ... does this make any sense?

one would require 19 COBs and the other would require 16 COBs. The 5x5 would give a little more space within the tent but the 4x8 would give two more plants for the added 3 COBs.

 

[sixstring]

so here is a couple of layouts that I drew up if I go with 35w COBs ... does this make any sense?

one would require 19 COBs and the other would require 16 COBs. The 5x5 would give a little more space within the tent but the 4x8 would give two more plants for the added 3 COBs.

View attachment 695253
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yeah they would both work but why are you set on leaving empty spaces in both setups ?

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

yeah they would both work but why are you set on leaving empty spaces in both setups ?

well, because each one of those red X spots are equivalent to roughly $65 plus more on the electricity bill. If I'm only going to have a maximum of 6 plants, I don't need the whole space. That's just my rationale };-)

What 35w cree COBs do you use, I was looking on Digi-Key for the parts and there's a bunch of them. I also like the bridgelux vero29se for the ease of wiring.

I notice in your pictures that you don't have any shades or optics on your COBs, just wondering why, looks like they are not needed.

sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I usually research the crap out of things before I commit to spending the money };-)

 

[sixstring]

well, because each one of those red X spots are equivalent to roughly $65 plus more on the electricity bill. If I'm only going to have a maximum of 6 plants, I don't need the whole space. That's just my rationale };-)

What 35w cree COBs do you use, I was looking on Digi-Key for the parts and there's a bunch of them. I also like the bridgelux vero29se for the ease of wiring.

I notice in your pictures that you don't have any shades or optics on your COBs, just wondering why, looks like they are not needed.

sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I usually research the crap out of things before I commit to spending the money };-)

I like those new vero 29 with the built in wire holders,its also a great cob.vero has 3 voltages,37.8v,50-52v and 69v the 69v are the most efficient but finding a good driver combo can be a pain.i will look at some part numbers when i get home.are you in the USA?

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

I like those new vero 29 with the built in wire holders,its also a great cob.vero has 3 voltages,37.8v,50-52v and 69v the 69v are the most efficient but finding a good driver combo can be a pain.i will look at some part numbers when i get home.are you in the USA?

yeah, I'm in the USA, east coast.
I'm guessing that you have the CXB3590 30mm Crees, but these are $55 for just one on Digi-Key
using the hlg-185h-c1050b, 190v Fv, it looks like I can drive 5 Vero 37.8v COBs 38x5 = 190v
using the hlg-240h-c1050b, 238v Fv, I could run three 69v Vero COBs
using the hlg-240h-c1400b, 179v Fv, I could only run two 69v Vero COBs but run them harder with the 1.4amps, running them harder means more light, more heat, less efficient...

I don't know, just throwing crap out there };-)

 

[sixstring]

The 5 x vero wont work on the hlg 185-1050ma driver,i just found out the hard way.they light up but the driver is in limp mode so it only puts out 40w total over the 5 cobs.go check out rapidled.com for those veros.yes 2 vero29 @69v running around 65 to 75w is a very efficient cob and very fucking bright.you can use parallel wiring and it will give you some extra driver options also.

 

[sixstring]

Rapidled.com will also have better prices on the cree cobs

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

The 5 x vero wont work on the hlg 185-1050ma driver,i just found out the hard way.they light up but the driver is in limp mode so it only puts out 40w total over the 5 cobs.go check out rapidled.com for those veros.yes 2 vero29 @69v running around 65 to 75w is a very efficient cob and very fucking bright.you can use parallel wiring and it will give you some extra driver options also.

yeah, I can see why the 5 Vero COBs wouldn't light, the additive voltage drop across the 5 COBs are right at the maximum output voltage of the driver.

I was looking at the rapidled.com site and yes their Cree COBs are much cheaper (under $40) but the Vero29 are even cheaper (under $30) but unfortunately they only have 3500k.

they do have a wide variety of drivers, even the hlg-320h-c1400b ($99) with a 229v constant current output which would drive 3 69V Vero29

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

oh, seeing that you have used both Cree and Vero29, which do you like the best and is the Cree worth the extra $10+ each.

AND

most importantly: did you get anything last fall hunting?