D.i.y. Cxb-3590 Cob Panel Vs. Hps

[HughJassBud]

Hello All!

Welcome to HughJassBud's Hugh Jass Light Experiment!!

This will be my first thread on THCFarmer so bear with me. The point will be to establish spacing guidelines and a solid DIY guide for using current LED/COB technology to match or supersede HPS technology....if possible.

To begin, I have purchased 16-Cree CXB3590 @ 3500k CD bin. Also, I purchased 5 in 5000k range as well, CD bin. For drivers I chose the Meanwell HLG-185h-700mA variety. I debated this for a while but my mind was made up based on my desire to run the drivers remotely. Running the 72v version of the COB will mean higher transmission voltages and lower amperage as compared to the 36v version. This should mean less loss in the electric transmission from driver to COB. Also, the price on the 185h as compared to the 240h was significantly less expensive. So, it is less expensive to run 16 COB's on 4-185h drivers than it is to run 15 on 3-240h drivers. Your experience may vary if you are using a different supplier. From a power standpoint, these will be running the CXB3590 at 50% power, 50.4 watts. Credit to RealStyles and Supra for paving the way on this subject.

I've also ordered the Ideal Holder 50-2303cr x 21 for mounting the COB to the heatsink. For heatsink I will be using a 140mmx70mm pin style heatsink with a solid 10mm base, pure aluminum. I will include pictures and a details on where I ordered once I have gathered everything together and verified it will work.

I will use a standard, first gen Raptor Hood for enclosure. Currently I run 2 of these in-line with a 6" inline fan and 1000w HPS bulbs in each. All together I have 4 of these hoods with 1000w hps bulbs in my flower room. Also, in the winter, I run an additional 2 x 600w hps in standard sized vented hoods for a total of 5200watts in a 10' x 8' area. With all new bulbs based on the manufacturers specs this should be about 560k lumens from the 1k w lights and another 200k lumens from the 600w lights. Of course, there are rarely all new bulbs in the room and I think these manufactures are generous with there claims.

There are many of you here that are no doubt better growers than me, but when I was doing well I would be pulling about 8-9lbs every 2 months. That was all in Happy Frog dirt using primarily Fox Farm Nutrients. However, work, school, and life have made it difficult for me to be consistent this last year or more. I've got a little more time this summer so I have decided to switch over to mostly Flood & Drain style hydro and just remodel my room a bit so that hopefully, going forward, things will be a little easier for me to keep up with. I will probably drop the 2 x 600 watt lights for the time being too.

On the plus side, I think this lends itself to a side-by-side test better than what dirt potentially would. The tables are perfect size to each go under 1 raptor hood running 1kw HPS or however many COB's get the vote to be tested against it.

Today, I probably should take some clones so we can kick this thing off in a few weeks. You guys can help me with this. Here is my current list of genetics, sadly I lost a few this past year that I'm really kicking myself for. No specific order, just as I remember them:

The White
Watussi
Sour Diesel
Northern Lights '95
'92 OG
Larry OG
Purple Goji OG
Purple Barney
Fools Gold
Scott's OG
Bubba Kush
Xenu

I think that's all I have at the moment. Some of those will probably run OK together if I want to combine them....some will probably fair better in Hydro than others but I honestly don't have a ton of experience with these genetics in hydro accept for Purple Barney and Northern Lights.

My Vote will probably be The White, its just one of my very favorite strains to grow & smoke. Purple Barney is the only one on the list that wasn't a cut from a reputable source. It was the product of a random bag seed *I think*. Whatever it is, I really like that one. It has some weird sweet-diesel-OG type flavor that I haven't had in anything else. Super oily, makes great bubble hash for those of you that like to kick it old school. That will be my second vote because I have grown it in Hydro elsewhere and know it will blow up.

I have never run Scott's OG, Fool's Gold, or this particular cut of Bubba Kush.....they will all be good I'm sure, but they're new to me.

So help me decide! Weigh in on what the first run should be of and I'll get to cloning!

Thank you all for stopping by. I will gather all my diagrams and information on the light I am trying to make and post it later tonight!

-HJB

 

[cocoJoe]

The White sounds good to me..

 

[HughJassBud]

Talked to my grow partner today. Just so happens he documented one of our previous grows in on this site. Here is the link:

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/weight-watchers.36550/

It is quite old, when he and I first stasted working together and I got over my fear of running a higher wattage room. In any case, it should showcase what can be expected when everything is fresh under hps. I don't think my ac works as well now....5 years though, maybe time to replace it.

 

[oregonized]

Greetings hugh!

Glad you are attempting a switch to the dark side :) or is it Light side in this case?

Another comparison could and should be made in PAR watts emitted from your 1000 watt lamp sources and and the PAR watts emitted from each CXB35.....

Just ballparking here but I would say this is within or better than 10% or the exact number...and lets use a gavita for nice big round numbers...

A gavita 1000w is roughly 40% efficient, so 400 watts is becoming PAR and the rest is in the heat range.
Then you have to deduct the reflector penalty...some say as much as 20% or more of the Total PAR emitted is wasted in a bulb / reflector setup.... lets take .20 * 400 ...and say a 1000w emits somewhere between 300-350 PAR watts on its best day....sans a dirty reflector too and bulb life, which decreases fairly rapidly. Shit, gavita even recommends changing the reflector with the bulb every 4 months, bet they love faithful customers who strive for that!
To get your actual efficiency numbers, you need to find the QER of your bulb, which is the graphical representation of lumen output in a 100% theoretical output per Watt...Then you can take your actual output of lumens per watt and calculate your efficiency...again most 1000w's fall in the 30%+ efficiency range...Even the DE barely tip 40%, but that is still industry standard....so it aint terrible!
Then further to calculate your PPF, we have to know the rating of the bulb again in umols [ this is radiometric, not photometric aka lumens, but lumens can be converted as long as the QER is known. Otherwise lumen comparison of dissimilar K temps is basically useless without a PPF reading, to make it that much more confusing :)



Each 3590 at 1.4 amps is putting out 48.85 watts for a 56.34% effiency. To gain the the same PAR as in the example above....Just add your clusters until PAR is similar...

So 48.85 * .5634 =Each module will put out 27.52 PAR watts

15 modules = 412 PAR watts [ and the 35k are 4.65umol/s] and 732.75 total wattage.

So that is high efficiency's best worth, when you can equal the photon output of a 1000w lamp but only using 732 watts in this example to get there and with 10-15% increase to boot at that output.

Also lack of bulb changes must be factored in for ultimate efficiency and then heat. Now you have 250 watts roughly LESS of a heat load as well...is it 1 watt equals 3.4 btu? been a while, I know I am close....

The white gets my vote!
Ore

 

[HughJassBud]

Sorry, I've been reminiscing.....that white we grew under the growzilla with 2 x 600watt hps was just phenomenal. I don't think I have ever grown a White nug so perfect since. It reminds me of why sometimes I just don't care as much about efficiency. That was probably the least efficient design possible....there no way we got 1200 grams from that light alone or anywhere close. BUT, the nugz it produced were absolute FIRE! Very dense, very large, and very very tasty.

 

[HughJassBud]

Greetings hugh!

Glad you are attempting a switch to the dark side :) or is it Light side in this case?

Another comparison could and should be made in PAR watts emitted from your 1000 watt lamp sources and and the PAR watts emitted from each CXB35.....

Just ballparking here but I would say this is within or better than 10% or the exact number...and lets use a gavita for nice big round numbers...

A gavita 1000w is roughly 40% efficient, so 400 watts is becoming PAR and the rest is in the heat range.
Then you have to deduct the reflector penalty...some say as much as 20% or more of the Total PAR emitted is wasted in a bulb / reflector setup.... lets take .20 * 400 ...and say a 1000w emits somewhere between 300-350 PAR watts on its best day....sans a dirty reflector too and bulb life, which decreases fairly rapidly. Shit, gavita even recommends changing the reflector with the bulb every 4 months, bet they love faithful customers who strive for that!
To get your actual efficiency numbers, you need to find the QER of your bulb, which is the graphical representation of lumen output in a 100% theoretical output per Watt...Then you can take your actual output of lumens per watt and calculate your efficiency...again most 1000w's fall in the 30%+ efficiency range...Even the DE barely tip 40%, but that is still industry standard....so it aint terrible!
Then further to calculate your PPF, we have to know the rating of the bulb again in umols [ this is radiometric, not photometric aka lumens, but lumens can be converted as long as the QER is known. Otherwise lumen comparison of dissimilar K temps is basically useless without a PPF reading, to make it that much more confusing :)



Each 3590 at 1.4 amps is putting out 48.85 watts for a 56.34% effiency. To gain the the same PAR as in the example above....Just add your clusters until PAR is similar...

So 48.85 * .5634 =Each module will put out 27.52 PAR watts

15 modules = 412 PAR watts [ and the 35k are 4.65umol/s] and 732.75 total wattage.

So that is high efficiency's best worth, when you can equal the photon output of a 1000w lamp but only using 732 watts in this example to get there and with 10-15% increase to boot at that output.

Also lack of bulb changes must be factored in for ultimate efficiency and then heat. Now you have 250 watts roughly LESS of a heat load as well...is it 1 watt equals 3.4 btu? been a while, I know I am close....

The white gets my vote!
Ore

This is basically exactly what I had come up with previously. I will be using the 72v version of the CXB3590 @ 700mA, but basically all the same numbers apply. 72v*.7A = 50.4 Watts each. I will probably build my first light with 16 COB's for about 800 watts total, so by your example that would be about .5634 * 800 = 450.72 Par Watts at full power. But, as noted earlier, I could put a potentiometer on those drivers and dim it to lower wattage if desired.

There are numerous other benefits by spreading the generation of those lumens out across the hood too in terms of eliminating "hot spots" and shadows.

I am in agreement....I am definitely leaning towards 16 CXB3590 of the 3500k variety. I could also try mixing in a couple 5000k ones, I'm not sure if its necessary though or if I should save them for Veg.

 

[HughJassBud]

No doubt this will be a money saver. Some numbers assuming 16 COB at ~50 watts each will equal or surpass 1-1000w HPS.

Energy savings:
National average $/kwh is $0.12.
.2kw(savings per light) x 12(hrs/day) x (3odays/month) x $.12/kwh = ~$8.64 per month * 12 months = ~103.68/yr

Add in AT LEAST 2 bulbs per year at $60 per bulb? So another $120 a yr there for ~$223.68 per year in direct savings before factoring in the cooler running temps thus less AC or whatever.

Assume a 5 Year life and this light saves you $1,118.40 over a 5 year time. So yeah.....I think its worth it if it works as well as I hope. And if you factor in the savings from running less AC........SOLID GOLD is what these COBS are.

 

[jdb420]

We can all suggest what we think will be a great buddy to grow. But just remember that you need to do a strain you are very familiar with, so there are no surprises. I can tell that you are experienced at growing, so just follow your gut. It won't steer you wrong. If you are thinking the white, I will agree, go for it ! Good luck and keep us posted. Can't wait to see your results ! Let us know the temp of the canopy under the cobs in relation to the other side with the canopy under the hps. Also, if there seems to be more nutirent uptake on one side verses the other, please let us know. I'm curious to see if the cob side can outpace the hps in nutirent uptake as well as growth, bud formation, structure, Density, and overall development !

 

[HughJassBud]

We can all suggest what we think will be a great buddy to grow. But just remember that you need to do a strain you are very familiar with, so there are no surprises. I can tell that you are experienced at growing, so just follow your gut. It won't steer you wrong. If you are thinking the white, I will agree, go for it ! Good luck and keep us posted. Can't wait to see your results ! Let us know the temp of the canopy under the cobs in relation to the other side with the canopy under the hps. Also, if there seems to be more nutirent uptake on one side verses the other, please let us know. I'm curious to see if the cob side can outpace the hps in nutirent uptake as well as growth, bud formation, structure, Density, and overall development !

Absolutely, I love mining data. I'll keep track of anything and everything you guys can think of. My alter ego is a Software Engineer in school for Petroleum Engineering. I'll nerd it up as hard as I can.

I was just about to post my new design from Solidworks and it crashed, taking my sketch with it. I'll do it again tomorrow though.

I have a few grows under my belt but I must admit I have been slacking lately, the experience and talent I see from you guys really does humble me. What I have been good at in the past is growing some BIG nugz on occasion, but that was dirt. Where my nugz were coors light size, sixer went and bought a miniature fire extinguisher to make me look bad :) (I'm kidding, but take a look at his thread.....such pretty flowers, and big) You guys have me beat gram/watt every time.....my best so far is probably just approaching .8g/w. I think that can be strain dependent too though, so forget those numbers for now. We'll come up with new ones side by side in hydro.

The White is probably going to be the winner, I have a nice big mother to take clones from too. The ones I have in a tray right now are coming along nicely under the HPS too, so I think it will work well in hydro. Also, I have some in dirt under a 600 just for more fun, thought they will be a couple weeks ahead at least.

As soon as I possibly can I will order another 16 COB's and holders to build another panel. Then we can jump right into another side by side with my other HPS. This will be good for me anyhow, I can rotate tables every 4 weeks which should be plenty of time for veg under either T5 or CXB's. The other 5 CXB's still need a home too, somewhere in my veg tent (6' by 6' and 2' by 4')

I'll probably still run a little dirt just for fun and so I can keep up with all my genetics. Either that or I'm going to have to consider running multiple strains per table. Or a table with a bunch of different strains? Geez......such problems.

 

[jumpincactus]

Hello All!

Welcome to HughJassBud's Hugh Jass Light Experiment!!

This will be my first thread on THCFarmer so bear with me. The point will be to establish spacing guidelines and a solid DIY guide for using current LED/COB technology to match or supersede HPS technology....if possible.

To begin, I have purchased 16-Cree CXB3590 @ 3500k CD bin. Also, I purchased 5 in 5000k range as well, CD bin. For drivers I chose the Meanwell HLG-185h-700mA variety. I debated this for a while but my mind was made up based on my desire to run the drivers remotely. Running the 72v version of the COB will mean higher transmission voltages and lower amperage as compared to the 36v version. This should mean less loss in the electric transmission from driver to COB. Also, the price on the 185h as compared to the 240h was significantly less expensive. So, it is less expensive to run 16 COB's on 4-185h drivers than it is to run 15 on 3-240h drivers. Your experience may vary if you are using a different supplier. From a power standpoint, these will be running the CXB3590 at 50% power, 50.4 watts. Credit to RealStyles and Supra for paving the way on this subject.

I've also ordered the Ideal Holder 50-2303cr x 21 for mounting the COB to the heatsink. For heatsink I will be using a 140mmx70mm pin style heatsink with a solid 10mm base, pure aluminum. I will include pictures and a details on where I ordered once I have gathered everything together and verified it will work.

I will use a standard, first gen Raptor Hood for enclosure. Currently I run 2 of these in-line with a 6" inline fan and 1000w HPS bulbs in each. All together I have 4 of these hoods with 1000w hps bulbs in my flower room. Also, in the winter, I run an additional 2 x 600w hps in standard sized vented hoods for a total of 5200watts in a 10' x 8' area. With all new bulbs based on the manufacturers specs this should be about 560k lumens from the 1k w lights and another 200k lumens from the 600w lights. Of course, there are rarely all new bulbs in the room and I think these manufactures are generous with there claims.

There are many of you here that are no doubt better growers than me, but when I was doing well I would be pulling about 8-9lbs every 2 months. That was all in Happy Frog dirt using primarily Fox Farm Nutrients. However, work, school, and life have made it difficult for me to be consistent this last year or more. I've got a little more time this summer so I have decided to switch over to mostly Flood & Drain style hydro and just remodel my room a bit so that hopefully, going forward, things will be a little easier for me to keep up with. I will probably drop the 2 x 600 watt lights for the time being too.

On the plus side, I think this lends itself to a side-by-side test better than what dirt potentially would. The tables are perfect size to each go under 1 raptor hood running 1kw HPS or however many COB's get the vote to be tested against it.

Today, I probably should take some clones so we can kick this thing off in a few weeks. You guys can help me with this. Here is my current list of genetics, sadly I lost a few this past year that I'm really kicking myself for. No specific order, just as I remember them:

The White
Watussi
Sour Diesel
Northern Lights '95
'92 OG
Larry OG
Purple Goji OG
Purple Barney
Fools Gold
Scott's OG
Bubba Kush
Xenu

I think that's all I have at the moment. Some of those will probably run OK together if I want to combine them....some will probably fair better in Hydro than others but I honestly don't have a ton of experience with these genetics in hydro accept for Purple Barney and Northern Lights.

My Vote will probably be The White, its just one of my very favorite strains to grow & smoke. Purple Barney is the only one on the list that wasn't a cut from a reputable source. It was the product of a random bag seed *I think*. Whatever it is, I really like that one. It has some weird sweet-diesel-OG type flavor that I haven't had in anything else. Super oily, makes great bubble hash for those of you that like to kick it old school. That will be my second vote because I have grown it in Hydro elsewhere and know it will blow up.

I have never run Scott's OG, Fool's Gold, or this particular cut of Bubba Kush.....they will all be good I'm sure, but they're new to me.

So help me decide! Weigh in on what the first run should be of and I'll get to cloning!

Thank you all for stopping by. I will gather all my diagrams and information on the light I am trying to make and post it later tonight!

-HJB

Very nice. Will be sitting ringside on this one. Like you said what I need is something that will at least get me close to HPS yields and a big reduction in heat gain and all of the issues associated with that. Great thread bro.!!

If the folks I am working with come thru they are going to give me a loaner plasma unit and I will do a side by side as well. Hopefully we can all get to a conclusion as to the best way to go. LED or plasma. I will also use the same mother cuts and nute regime and perform an honest no hold barred side by side and share it with you all.

 

[MeJuana]

My votes but I will be following along either way!

I choose The White because it is a slow growing strain which stretches and is finicky about light but it isn't exactly hard to grow she is lush green, easy to please if you stay off the Nitrogen.

The experiment should be based on energy usage so both lights should draw "roughly" the same amount of electricity without any concern for the cost of cooling the room. (What I'm saying is it should cost the same to run both lights in this experiment.) Cooling a room is a mute point if the L.E.D. doesn't perform as good as the HPS.

 

[PhatNuggz]

Then further to calculate your PPF, we have to know the rating of the bulb again in umols [ this is radiometric, not photometric aka lumens, but lumens can be converted as long as the QER is known. Otherwise lumen comparison of dissimilar K temps is basically useless without a PPF reading, to make it that much more confusing :)

Amen^. Let the reeducation process begin

Lumens are for humans, and watts are not created equal. The benefit of hood reflected light is pathetic (and likely < 25% useful), at least when to compared to 100% of led light reaching the canopy. Between the considerably higher umole output at ~ 24" (when using high quality and high intensity CoBs) and much better PAR, ~ 400w of led will crush the best 1000w hps, AND, does not require exhaust fans, while saving 30-40% on electricity

 

[AvidLerner]

Welcome to the bright side. I used to run HPS and I had to stop growi9ng due to heat, electricity costs, etc. i stopped for awhile. After watching youtube videos, and following various experts, I was able to apply my own expertise and build my own DIY lights for both veg and bloom. I discovered as you have, that lower watts, is better for plants and lower cost. I have learned about supplemental lighting, i.e. Royal Blue, Far Red, Deep Red and IR as necessary to assist in total growth and development. Royal Blue creates tighter nodal growth, IR assists with THC development, Deep red assists with stem strength and development, and Far red is the sunset color to put plants to sleep.

I just changed lights, not my style. I see great growth, easily a gram/watt or gram/lumens/watt, I should say. I like DWC aeroponics system, custom design and build for faster development and growth. Single buckets, individual feed, just liike a pot only with aero clone spinners and pump, no air stones.. Now I used COB's at 700mA -1400mA for veg and tyhe lower the better. I also use 350mA driver for 36v cob's when I want lower heat and higher growth. I have 3 meanwell drivers from 350mA to 1400mA all dimmable for flexibility, all for veg. Bloom just full speed ahead. Scoty I need more power, Ai captain more power coming up. I run about 750 PPFD in bloom and it varies in veg. peace

 

[jumpincactus]

I trust the OP @HughJassBud will be ok with me posting this here. If not let me know and I will move it. Believed it was relevant since your thread is about LED light tech. :) I was doing some endless reading on LED's and came across this study out of Purdue U.

Great information on LED vs HPS. The overall study dealing with propagation/cuttings of a non cannabis species. However, it is a great read . Peace

Heres the link

 

[HughJassBud]

Hello All,

Sorry for the absence. I cased a massive jump downhill mountain biking.....I think I just short of broke my hip LOL. I can barely walk. I'm already feeling better, but after work I pretty much just want to lay down and sleep when I get home. Few more days and I'm sure I'll be back to normal and I'll put up some more info, diagrams, etc.

Thanks to all of you who are throwing up more post, everyone is welcome to post on anything related to LED, Plasma, DE bulbs, whatever....there are a lot of new technologies to consider and if someone can show reason that one really needs to be included in a comparison, and its practical, then I will see if I can find a way. For now my focus will be on these Cree CXB3590 vs Lumatek Digital 1000w ballast w/ a new hortilux bulb. But please, all information and ideas are welcome.

To that end, quick update, I hobbled around and took some more clones the other day. I think I will have enough of The White to do a comparison of those. However, after long consideration, I also took a bunch of Purple Barney cuts. These really do well in hydro and I've run them in a similar fashion elsewhere before. So, the decider will ultimately be which root faster and are more or less even in growth. I would run half white/half purple in each tray....but the purple would probably overgrow the white. I think it has a bit more sativa in it, all though it is definitely a hybrid.

 

[HughJassBud]

I trust the OP @HughJassBud will be ok with me posting this here. If not let me know and I will move it. Believed it was relevant since your thread is about LED light tech. :) I was doing some endless reading on LED's and came across this study out of Purdue U.

Great information on LED vs HPS. The overall study dealing with propagation/cuttings of a non cannabis species. However, it is a great read . Peace

Heres the link

I finally sat down and started getting things situated for my upcoming projects. Seeing as I had some time I did some reading, including the stuff you posted there. Very good information, especially the part about the passive cooling vs active cooling with regards to overall efficiency and initial investment. Just by luck I guess, the heat sinks I ordered will hopefully be capable of completely passive cooling provided the ambient temperature is not too hot.

Speaking of heat sinks, they are the missing piece right now. I was given a tracking number today that says they will arrive by the 28th though, so I am looking forward to getting started. I just flipped the lights to 12-12 on my first 2x4 flood & drain grow. Half the White and half Watussi.

Day 1 - May 25 - First transplanted These were admittedly shitty, unhealthy clones.

Roughly 4 weeks of veg under 1000watts..... June 19th

I'll get some more pics tomorrow to show how they've stretched. I flipped the lights the day after I took these. SO far I am pretty happy though. The plants look healthy and everything has been smooth with minimal stress aside from some weird leaf twisting here and there and a little bit of light stress on the taller plants (watussi)

I also have some plants vegging under a t5 now, most likely a mixed batch for the next tray in rotation. I'll be starting with a 2x4 tray every 2 weeks. I would like to step that up to every 11-12 days if possible. Anyhow, here is the veg tray.....

If you guys are interested, I can post a DIY thread on making the frames and general setup for these tables as well. It's not very difficult and only requires a handheld pipe cutting tool, 3/4" PVC, and some fittings. That may already be well covered elsewhere though....


Oh, P.S. I did break my hip, but only just a little on the tip so there is basically nothing to be done for it. Also, I have a large hematoma(sp) which makes sleeping difficult. However, it will all heal and I'll be back to normal soon enough. Sorry for the long absence.

 

[Purpletrain]

Are you serious 4 weeks veg under 1 k ??? in this system ?? not trying to come off wrong but something is going on there
plants should be 3 times that size here day 30 from 3" clone or 2 weeks under 1k

 

[HughJassBud]

@Purpletrain I suspect what was wrong was the terrible health of the clones when I transplanted them? I saw almost no growth for a couple weeks. They were only under the 1000w light because my veg was overcrowded with old plants I had been abusing and my bud room was empty. Now I'm trying to get stuff back on point. Also, because they were so unhealthy at first, I only ran around 250ppm for the first 2 weeks until I saw roots emerge from the bottom of the pots. Then I bumped it up to 600ppm and saw much more rapid growth. So maybe this had something to do with it? Different strains can also play a roll, but based on your results I am inclined to agree I could do better. I haven't been pushing nutes very hard either for fear of burning them. Maybe I need to run higher ppm's?

My hydro experience is limited at best, so I take no offense. Oh those watussi were all cut in half too, not sure you can tell that part in the photos, but they would have been way to big otherwise. In any case, like I've said, this is only my first tray and I am starting from pretty dire circumstances. In all honesty I thought I would be quitting this year to pursue a career in engineering.....but I'm a petroleum engineer so I'm sure you can look at the price of oil and do the math. I'm still underemployed at the moment so I might as well keep doing what I love.

 

[HughJassBud]

FedEx says the heatsinks will be here today. So, I will be building things this week! Stay tuned for a parts list and complete step-by-step explanation of building these lights!

I'm really looking forward to this! I expect they will far outperform a 1000w HPS.

Also, I'm really struggling to decide whether to do 12 or 16 COB's per Raptor hood. There is a lot of stuff on youtube from growmau5 and @REALSTYLES that suggest its completely adequate to space the COBS 1 ft apart. 16 would be like 11 inches off center 1 way and 8 inches off center the other. 12 COBS would be 11" and 12" respectively; so a little closer to the spacing used by others.

The other part of this argument is that I am seeing an average of about 1.3-1.5 gpw with CXB3590's. So I am thinking if I want 2 lbs, 904 grams, it would be easier with a 16 COB, 800 watt panels than 600 watt panels. As stated above, this isn't really the heart of the issue, but it is a consistent standard that people look at. After all, it roughly translates to operating cost per gram produced.

I'm tempted to do both and see what is to be gained from additional COB's in the same footprint. At some point there has to be a diminishing return, so finding that is the key to maximizing efficiency......I think.

Anyhow, a few pics to show things currently in flower.......14 days in to bud....

Watussi (plants on left of pic) The White (plants on right of pic)

 

[Purpletrain]

You expect lots to think they will out perform in YIELD to 1000 .. unless your running 850 plus Cob watts ,, then you will be in the same league I have yet to see any grow that has to date.
Its probably due to the Arm and a leg in cost so most are What ??? in the 400 watt Cob range,, competing with 600's Come to think about it I have yet Seen a COB Tree grow,, You know why ??? I'll tell you ,, Everyone is screaming efficiency, par PPFD etc ,, Yet when you really think about they lack in penetration Where the 1000's Kick ass in that field but
Them's are facts and why You will never see a tree grow EVER
But what you do see is Sogs etc
then again when i did sogs i did 2 k 76 plants and yielded 7 + pounds or 1.589 GPW
Many Cob grower are screaming it but have not hit it you here well there capable of 2.0 gpw YET Cobs have been around how long now????? And sure you see cob closet grows In Veg and in flower but it appears the numbers are just not matching up Its funny you see grows like Greengenes sherbert low yielding strain grow lol why not a average Strain like purple kush , or White widow right where there are millions of documented 600 , 1000 , watt grows to compare ??
Hell no right..
So in theory everything looks wicked, then there is live theory and the numbers are not matching up and lots of BS yields are being spewed out And many of the noob growers are jumping ship .. But the Veteran growers you know them warehouse growers?? It will be a long time coming before would even think about switching them out