DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

kriaze · Jun 23, 2016

Hello, I'm new to this particular site but have been growing my latest grow using prebuilt cob lights. I only have 4 in a 4' x 4' tent and am really loving what they're doing currently. The owner of the company that I bought them from advised me that I would need 5 to fully cover this tent, yet I see people here are putting many more than that in the same area. Is there something that I'm missing?

I was just about to order another one to reach the recommended amount when I stumbled across a link to this thread (excellent read btw) and am now debating on building one myself. I know that it won't be water resistant to ip67 like these I am using but I'm thinking that light output wise it must be the same, there is only one cob per light that I'm currently using after all, and the shipping price on my light is killing the deal.

Could someone confirm that I would be making the right decision, or a mistake if I was try and build myself one of these cob lights? The savings would be around £100 per light and to me that is a lot of money, I only grow personal and never cash crop so funds are limited. All advice is welcome, thanks. I'll try and get a pic up of my current grow :)

kriaze · Jun 23, 2016

OK here are a couple of pictures. One of my plants after around 39/40 days from flip (would need to check to be sure) and an earlier pic showing the lights set up above the plants:

sixstring · Jun 24, 2016

if you can solder and cut aluminum you can build your own led light.some kits dont even need soldering,just a frame to hold the lights or some type of hanging system.

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

Hi sixstring, I've seen the kit that was from cutters posted earlier in the thread and quite like the looks of it. I'll go and have a look at this one too, thanks :)

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

I've had a look at those kits thank you but I'm going to go for the other that I was looking at as they have separate drivers so that I can place them where I want like the ones already in my tent, plus they have everything included even the heat sinks and reflectors.

Do you think that I will get less light than these current lights are kicking out though? Only the supplier stated that I would only need 5 for my 4' x 4' tent, and I'm impressed with only using 4 at the minute. I just wonder how 5 of these lights can suffice whilst I see everyone using 9 or 12 light setups on the thread.

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

kriaze said:
I've had a look at those kits thank you but I'm going to go for the other that I was looking at as they have separate drivers so that I can place them where I want like the ones already in my tent, plus they have everything included even the heat sinks and reflectors.

Do you think that I will get less light than these current lights are kicking out though? Only the supplier stated that I would only need 5 for my 4' x 4' tent, and I'm impressed with only using 4 at the minute. I just wonder how 5 of these lights can suffice whilst I see everyone using 9 or 12 light setups on the thread.

It's not all about how many units you're running but how hard you're pushing them.

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

Do you think these lights that I'm using are being pushed harder than I would be the 3590's? I'll just be going for the 50w driver kits if I build the kits, but I've got a 4yr warranty on these other lights and maybe I would just be better to buy another of these.

I am tempted by the DIY approach though as I can buy 4 of the kits for the same price as 2 of the prebuilt lights. Damn choices, nothing is ever easy when you're new to it :D

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

It may well be easier if I post links to the lights that I'm currently using and the kits that I'm thinking of buying so here goes:

These are the lights that I'm currently using (and impressed with)
http://greendream-tech.com/rottweiler-series/

The kits that I'm interested in:

Thanks for the input :)

levradus · Jun 24, 2016

is that photo mean lower the current higher the heat ?

because instead of using hlg185 c1400 for 4 cobs
I decided to go hlg185 c1050 for 5 cobs

please clarify this picture meaning for me, got it from the datasheet of cxb

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

thccbdHealth said:
@SupraSPL
@Toaster79 - your 9 cob setup with 2 60watt drivers..... is that 12o out of your wall?

I have no idea what you're talking about. I have 6 COBS @315W running of 3 drivers.

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

levradus said:
is that photo mean lower the current higher the heat ?

because instead of using hlg185 c1400 for 4 cobs
I decided to go hlg185 c1050 for 5 cobs

please clarify this picture meaning for me, got it from the datasheet of cxb

What picture?

C1400 can't run 5 cobs in series because it's voltage output is too low, that's why you decide for C1050 as it can run 5, but at lower power. C1400 and C1050 both put out same 200W.

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

thccbdHealth said:
is 65 watts of COB really equal to 200watt of HID ?

http://greendream-tech.com/rottweiler-series/

The more and more I read, the more and more I Don't Know

No, it is not!

Even with the newest COBs (3590) you won't see that much of a difference.

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

thccbdHealth said:
so that's another company misrepresenting there product then.
http://greendream-tech.com/rottweiler-series/

Dont they all? Even not being Chinese?

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

thccbdHealth said:
ok so cobs are more efficient and you can physically set the wattage draw yourself when building it.

what would you expend to spend building a 400 watt light?
would 400 watts be enough for a new 15 plant medical grow?

What's your room size? You want anywhere between 35-50W/sqf.

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

Regarding the Rottweiler link I'm not sure whether they're equivalent to 200w hps as I have only ever grown once with hps and that was a 600w. They do seem to do the trick though, but as they are just one cob I'm of the mind that one of these kits should put out the same light strength but I'm unsure, that's why I posted it here to see if anyone was on that had the knowledge to answer that.

Logically I think it would be close, but I can't understand why people are using 9 at a time in my sized space. Still no definitive answer on that as of yet unfortunately

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

kriaze said:
Regarding the Rottweiler link I'm not sure whether they're equivalent to 200w hps as I have only ever grown once with hps and that was a 600w. They do seem to do the trick though, but as they are just one cob I'm of the mind that one of these kits should put out the same light strength but I'm unsure, that's why I posted it here to see if anyone was on that had the knowledge to answer that.

Logically I think it would be close, but I can't understand why people are using 9 at a time in my sized space. Still no definitive answer on that as of yet unfortunately

You might wanna do some research, like a homework or something. Or read the thread from page 1 and put 1 and 1 together. It's all been explained to the detail like 1.000.000 times before.

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

I did read the thread from page 1, I also consider this doing my homework before purchasing. Please if you have nothing constructive to say then say nothing at all. I'm new here and looking for helpful people to give me their opinions on a question that still remains unanswered.

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

kriaze said:
I did read the thread from page 1, I also consider this doing my homework before purchasing. Please if you have nothing constructive to say then say nothing at all. I'm new here and looking for helpful people to give me their opinions on a question that still remains unanswered.

What's the size of your room agaim?

kriaze · Jun 24, 2016

I'm flowering in a 4 feet by 4 feet tent. I see most DIY builds here use 9 or 12 LED's for that space yet the manufacturer of these lights stated that 5 of these would be enough.

So my main question is do I really need so many? Especially considering that even though I'm running below the 5 recommended by the manufacturer (I'm using 4), why would that be? Is there something that I can do to improve light output so that 5 would be sufficient and still keep the lights alive for at least a couple of years. I obviously do not expect them to last the 4 years that the warranty covers on these lights that I currently use, but a couple of years would be plenty. With the advances in LED technology I would expect to replace them by then anyway

Toaster79 · Jun 24, 2016

:crying2:

kriaze said:
I've had a look at those kits thank you but I'm going to go for the other that I was looking at as they have separate drivers so that I can place them where I want like the ones already in my tent, plus they have everything included even the heat sinks and reflectors.

Do you think that I will get less light than these current lights are kicking out though? Only the supplier stated that I would only need 5 for my 4' x 4' tent, and I'm impressed with only using 4 at the minute. I just wonder how 5 of these lights can suffice whilst I see everyone using 9 or 12 light setups on the thread.

Toaster79 said:
It's not all about how many units you're running but how hard you're pushing them.

Toaster79 said:
What's your room size? You want anywhere between 35-50W/sqf.

DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

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