Cob Lighting For A 4x8 Flowering Tent

[Evil Monkey]

Bro when it comes to cobs six has put the work in. I'm just running 250watts across 5 cobs and they are awesome. Of course will be upgrading to 400watts across 7 cobs in a 3x3 area. Will have a dimmer. Can't go wrong with the cobs bro. Six knows his shiit

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Bro when it comes to cobs six has put the work in. I'm just running 250watts across 5 cobs and they are awesome. Of course will be upgrading to 400watts across 7 cobs in a 3x3 area. Will have a dimmer. Can't go wrong with the cobs bro. Six knows his shiit

it appears that way, that's why I'm asking him all these annoying questions };-) trying to educate myself ... being an electrical/software engineer, I know a lot about the technical aspect of things, just don't know the applications regarding growing... Sixstring has help straighten a few things out for me and I truly appreciate it...

 

[DrMcSkunkins]

@REALSTYLES was supposedly starting up as a usa cree distributor for the china supplier on dhgate but I havnt seen him around in a while.

 

[sixstring]

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

yeah man i have been buying alot of my stuff there.if you do make an order be sure to use "growmau5" at checkout in the coupon code area for 5% off your total.

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?

i like them both.cree is good for under 50w and the vero are good above 50w.i like that the vero doesnt need cob holders and really they have a built in reflector the way they shape their cob frame.3500k is a good all around color for both flower and veg,alot of guys prefer the 3500k for flower.if you want more red get the 90 cri if you can find them.i guess my fav is the cree 36v in 2700k and 3000k.i built some 5 cob bars with 3 x 2700k and 2 x 3000k cree and those grow some dank buds.but i cant complain about the 3500k setups i have either lol
shot a decent but smaller buck early on and a nice fat doe last day of the season.

 

[REALSTYLES]

@DrMcSkunkins I'm here doing it and I'm testing Phillips 3030 leds as well and I have some CXB's that are 97CRI I'm been testing

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

yeah man i have been buying alot of my stuff there.if you do make an order be sure to use "growmau5" at checkout in the coupon code area for 5% off your total.

i like them both.cree is good for under 50w and the vero are good above 50w.i like that the vero doesnt need cob holders and really they have a built in reflector the way they shape their cob frame.3500k is a good all around color for both flower and veg,alot of guys prefer the 3500k for flower.if you want more red get the 90 cri if you can find them.i guess my fav is the cree 36v in 2700k and 3000k.i built some 5 cob bars with 3 x 2700k and 2 x 3000k cree and those grow some dank buds.but i cant complain about the 3500k setups i have either lol
shot a decent but smaller buck early on and a nice fat doe last day of the season.

I have watched a lot of the growmau5 videos, I find it ironic that I just went to a deadmau5 show a couple of weeks ago, very interesting crowd };-) (I'm 50+ years old).

I haven't been hunting in 10+ years, just bought an extreme fixer-upper cabin on a small lake last year in NH, hoping to find some rich hunting grounds up there in the next couple of years.

Thanks for all your help...

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

@DrMcSkunkins I'm here doing it and I'm testing Phillips 3030 leds as well and I have some CXB's that are 97CRI I'm been testing

I'm glad you posted, I'll have to read your tutorial as well... thanks

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

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%

so you are basically saying you prefer 35w per sqft for bloom. When figuring out the LED power usage per sqft, is there a point of diminishing returns? I've seen people talk about 50w per sqft, is that better for blooming? is there a point of ridiculous like "I have 1000w per sqft and I produce buds the size of volkswagons!!!"?

what I'm trying to find out is: is there a sweet spot for watts per sqft that will produce well? The more desired watts per sqft is more upfront cost and also more costly to run. And, according to your quote, you are pretty happy with your 35w per sqft results (your pictures prove that };-))

 

[sixstring]

so you are basically saying you prefer 35w per sqft for bloom. When figuring out the LED power usage per sqft, is there a point of diminishing returns? I've seen people talk about 50w per sqft, is that better for blooming? is there a point of ridiculous like "I have 1000w per sqft and I produce buds the size of volkswagons!!!"?

what I'm trying to find out is: is there a sweet spot for watts per sqft that will produce well? The more desired watts per sqft is more upfront cost and also more costly to run. And, according to your quote, you are pretty happy with your 35w per sqft results (your pictures prove that };-))

Well im not at 35w per sq ft,its closer to 20w per sq ft with my layout maybe 25w psf if you count the uv lamps and 660 that run 4 hours a day lol.
Anyhow lots of guys run at 35 to 40w psf and do great, at 50w psf you really should be using co2 to get the full benefits of the extra light.i ran 50w psf with my old hid setup but i have my environment dialed exactly how i want it. I would say the sweet spot for most guys is 35 to 40w psf with no co2 added.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Thanks Sixstring, I'm probably going to shoot for 35w per sqft.

last question... I think };-) With the meanwell drivers, I was looking at the technical data sheets and there is a footnote that says "can only have two of this type driver on one 16A (16 is a weird number for a household circuit)household circuit, I looked at the input current spec at full load and says 2Amps I don't understand that footnote... have you run more than 2 HLG drivers on the same house circuit? I asked some of the EEs at work and they didn't understand it either...

Thanks

 

[sixstring]

Thanks Sixstring, I'm probably going to shoot for 35w per sqft.

last question... I think };-) With the meanwell drivers, I was looking at the technical data sheets and there is a footnote that says "can only have two of this type driver on one 16A (16 is a weird number for a household circuit)household circuit, I looked at the input current spec at full load and says 2Amps I don't understand that footnote... have you run more than 2 HLG drivers on the same house circuit? I asked some of the EEs at work and they didn't understand it either...

Thanks

Yeah its a topic that has been gone over alot and nobody has an answer for it lol.meanwell must be using inrush current as some type of disclaimer or some shit.i have 4 x hlg 240-1400ma and 2 x hlg 185-1050ma on 1 20 amp circuit no problems.most the time i try to only put 3 or 4 drivers per breaker but shit happens lol.lots of guys put 2 or 3 dricers on a single 15 amp breaker as well.i run all my drivers on 240v so they use half the amps. Been doing alot of wiring lately for my new shop and got to reading the stats on my square D breakers,the 20 amps have a max rating on the side that says 10,000 a so im thinking it takes a big spike to trip these newer style breakers.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

yeah, the specs say something to the effect of 75a cold start current for 700 uSec or something like that. That's kind of what I figured and yeah, modern circuit breakers can take a crap load of instantaneous current. if I have to run a circuit over to the bloom tent, I might as well use 220 too, makes sense to me...

thanks again

 

[sixstring]

yeah, the specs say something to the effect of 75a cold start current for 700 uSec or something like that. That's kind of what I figured and yeah, modern circuit breakers can take a crap load of instantaneous current. if I have to run a circuit over to the bloom tent, I might as well use 220 too, makes sense to me...

thanks again

yeah most of the bigger meanwells are just a bit more efficient at 220-240v then they are @ 120v so its a good idea.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

another question that I don't have quite straight in my mind: I can run 36v COBs with a 1000mA 320Wdriver or I can run the same amount of 72v COBs with a 500mA 320W driver (theoretically - basic ohms law P=I x E). In both cases, the wattage per COB is going to be 36W and therefore I'm thinking the heat generation would be about the same as well. Am I going to get the same PPFD in both cases? is one one going to put out more photons? because as you know, wattage is not what makes plants grow, it's the photon density....

I promise, I'll stop bugging you };-)

although, I'm hoping other people are reading this thread and getting all this fine knowledge as well.

 

[sixstring]

yes with cree cobs you get the same basic numbers using 36v @ 700ma as you would using 72v @ 350ma.. now if you look at the vero it does not quite work this way.there best cob is the highest volt cob,its just a tad bit better electrically then the lower volt cobs i guess.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

yeah most of the bigger meanwells are just a bit more efficient at 220-240v then they are @ 120v so its a good idea.

what do you use for a lighting timer for the 220v meanwells?

 

[sixstring]

what do you use for a lighting timer for the 220v meanwells?

i use 2 of these to control my entire flower room,then wire up a bunch of 240v duplex outlets off of those timers.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Intermat...PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-205878350-_-205149700-_-N

in veg i use these
http://growgreenmi.com/15a-3600w-240v-timer

these are the outlets in use also. mine are 20 amp but i cant find them on the site lol
http://growgreenmi.com/duplex-x-receptacle-120-240v-15a

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

so here's my preliminary thoughts about a lighting system in the 4 x 8 bloom tent:
each unit will be
6 - BXRC-35E10K0-D-73-SE COBs 3500k 80cri running on 1050ma constant current @27.00 each
6 - pin passive heatsinks @18.50 each
1 - HLG-240H-C1050 @69.00
total lighting cost per unit ~342.00
so adding $58 for miscellaneous parts (wire, frame material, nuts and bolts, ...)
talking $400 per unit

from the bridgelux spec for those COBs:
1050 - typical constant current
35.4 - typical Vf at 25c
37.2 - typical power at 25c
6911 - typical flux in lm
6734 - typical DC flux lm
186 - efficiency lm/w

If I build 3 of these units to fill a 3 x 6 area, I'm thinking I can service the 6 plants per bloom cycle that I want for ~$1200

can anyone spot any flaws in this logic? am I missing anything?
I think 37w per cob power consumption won't really generate a ton of heat

I'm just spit ballin here, all comments are welcome

 

[sixstring]

so here's my preliminary thoughts about a lighting system in the 4 x 8 bloom tent:
each unit will be
6 - BXRC-35E10K0-D-73-SE COBs 3500k 80cri running on 1050ma constant current @27.00 each
6 - pin passive heatsinks @18.50 each
1 - HLG-240H-C1050 @69.00
total lighting cost per unit ~342.00
so adding $58 for miscellaneous parts (wire, frame material, nuts and bolts, ...)
talking $400 per unit

from the bridgelux spec for those COBs:
1050 - typical constant current
35.4 - typical Vf at 25c
37.2 - typical power at 25c
6911 - typical flux in lm
6734 - typical DC flux lm
186 - efficiency lm/w

If I build 3 of these units to fill a 3 x 6 area, I'm thinking I can service the 6 plants per bloom cycle that I want for ~$1200

can anyone spot any flaws in this logic? am I missing anything?
I think 37w per cob power consumption won't really generate a ton of heat

I'm just spit ballin here, all comments are welcome

Its a good plan as long as that driver will in fact power 6 vero.im not home so i cant check the volts.i run a ton of cree @ 35w and they kickass @ 10 to 12in spacing.

 

[h4ppyf4rmer]

Its a good plan as long as that driver will in fact power 6 vero.im not home so i cant check the volts.i run a ton of cree @ 35w and they kickass @ 10 to 12in spacing.

for the driver:
HLG-240H-C1050

Rated current: 1050ma
Rated power: 249.9w
Constant current region: 119v - 238v

so using the maximum CCR of 238v and the typical Vf of 35.4v @1050ma

238V/35.4Vf in a series configuration is 6.72 BXRC-35E10K0-D-73-SE COBs

using just 6, I'm only using 212V of the max of 238V ... so I think I'm ok with numbers. I would use your recommended CREE COBs except they are going to cost $12+ per COB (COB + holder, without shades) = $212, I'm not too sure it's worth the extra efficiency.

now, I could use the 1400ma Driver and drive the COBs harder. The problem is the number of COBs drop to 4 but the wattage goes up to 50 per COB. Unfortunately, it appears that the harder you drive them, the worse the efficiency (lumin per watt) gets. in this case the lm/w = 176 compared to 183 ...

anyway, I'm looking at the most cost effective COB and efficient solution and still get the desired results ... GIANT BUDS!!! };-)

Thanks for listening to my technical ramblings.

what do you do for work? You seem to be in the technical field