DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

Toaster79 · Dec 24, 2017

Lumis are at $16 at digikey, $7 if you buy 400+

DGP · Dec 30, 2017

So I deployed my light into the flower room and it is above some 6 week old plants that are a couple weeks into flower. So, being new to the world of using LEDs for grow lights, I have a few questions:

1. What are the general rules of thumb about power of lamps and distance from the canopy top?
-I am using Luminous 90CRI 3000k 150w LEDS run at 60W on 12" centers with Angelina reflectors. Each supply has a dimmer.

2. Are the reflectors going to help me? They are translucent so it seems they would be inefficient anyway but the specs talk about them being quite efficient. When I remove them the evenness of the light seems better but I need to take some intensity measurements to see if I can determine how even it is or isn't with the reflectors vs. no reflectors.

3. If these drivers are so efficient (95% or better) why do they seem so hot? I put the drivers outside the grow room because they get really hot. I don't know how much actual power is lost through heat to the driver case but it seems that they are too hot to handle when they are running. I am using a Mean Well HLG-240H-54B constant current/constant voltage supply.

My setup for a 4X4 grow area in a 6X4 insulated room is 3 rows of 4 COBs all on 12" centers in both directions.

Thanks!

DP

led grow · Jan 1, 2018

So much information in this article.Thanks a lot..

sixstring · Jan 3, 2018

DGP said:
So I deployed my light into the flower room and it is above some 6 week old plants that are a couple weeks into flower. So, being new to the world of using LEDs for grow lights, I have a few questions:

1. What are the general rules of thumb about power of lamps and distance from the canopy top?
-I am using Luminous 90CRI 3000k 150w LEDS run at 60W on 12" centers with Angelina reflectors. Each supply has a dimmer.

2. Are the reflectors going to help me? They are translucent so it seems they would be inefficient anyway but the specs talk about them being quite efficient. When I remove them the evenness of the light seems better but I need to take some intensity measurements to see if I can determine how even it is or isn't with the reflectors vs. no reflectors.

3. If these drivers are so efficient (95% or better) why do they seem so hot? I put the drivers outside the grow room because they get really hot. I don't know how much actual power is lost through heat to the driver case but it seems that they are too hot to handle when they are running. I am using a Mean Well HLG-240H-54B constant current/constant voltage supply.

My setup for a 4X4 grow area in a 6X4 insulated room is 3 rows of 4 COBs all on 12" centers in both directions.

Thanks!

DP

at 62w per cob i would run them at 18 in with reflectors or 12 in no reflector.you dont need to be this close but i would not get closer.i prefer no reflector. your driver is getting hot because you are pushing it to max power(240w). if ya dim it some it will cool down some.you prob have nothing to worry about,some driver/cob configs just run hot on the driver side.could put a small fan on em if your worried.they are designed to handle alot of heat (70c) which is pretty freakin hot 158f

DGP · Jan 3, 2018

sixstring said:
at 62w per cob i would run them at 18 in with reflectors or 12 in no reflector.you dont need to be this close but i would not get closer.i prefer no reflector. your driver is getting hot because you are pushing it to max power(240w). if ya dim it some it will cool down some.you prob have nothing to worry about,some driver/cob configs just run hot on the driver side.could put a small fan on em if your worried.they are designed to handle alot of heat (70c) which is pretty freakin hot 158f

Thanks! The driver isn't at 70C but my concern was at the specified efficiency rating it seemed like it shouldn't be that hot even at max power.....not too worried about reliability on a mean well supply. When I was designing LED systems we only used mean well and they were always super reliable.

BombBP · Jan 3, 2018

Those high powered drivers have the components inside the casing covered in some type of silicon, probably to water proof them. No air can get to the components so that's another reason they probably get a lil hot. I know because I took one apart.

My active heatsinks blow my passive ones away. The thing with active heatsinks is fan failure is going to happen at some point so keep replacements on hand.

Toaster79 · Jan 4, 2018

BombBP said:
Those high powered drivers have the components inside the casing covered in some type of silicon, probably to water proof them. No air can get to the components so that's another reason they probably get a lil hot. I know because I took one apart.

My active heatsinks blow my passive ones away. The thing with active heatsinks is fan failure is going to happen at some point so keep replacements on hand.

Also make sure you mount some hepa filters on the intake or you'll be crying a river cleaning those sinks.

diskokobaja · Jan 5, 2018

Guy<s do you have heat problems..I have 400w of cobs in my 1m2 tent and when on they raisem my tent temp by 6-7c, which made me lots of problems.. I had to dimm leds down to 360w...

DGP · Jan 5, 2018

diskokobaja said:
Guy<s do you have heat problems..I have 400w of cobs in my 1m2 tent and when on they raisem my tent temp by 6-7c, which made me lots of problems.. I had to dimm leds down to 360w...

First thing I would do is wire the drivers so they can be relocated outside the tent. My drivers get real hot but my trouble is the opposite since my 2x4x5 tent is in my garage which is 50 degrees F or less most of the winter

BombBP · Jan 5, 2018

I agree with @DGP . Get those drivers out of the tent and that should help.

diskokobaja · Jan 6, 2018

But my driver are just warm..You can put your hand on them and keep it there forever .... The thing is my buddy who has moved out made those leds.. So Im current stuck with them as they are.

BombBP · Jan 6, 2018

With my active heatsinks I can literally grab them and they're barely warm. No heat issues from mine.

The Dawg · Jan 6, 2018

diskokobaja said:
Guy<s do you have heat problems..I have 400w of cobs in my 1m2 tent and when on they raisem my tent temp by 6-7c, which made me lots of problems.. I had to dimm leds down to 360w...

Your Problem Is You Have A 4 Inch Exhaust System. You Need A 6 Inch Exhaust System To Keep Your Tent Cool.:party1:

Also You Need Some Fans Blowing :cool:

diskokobaja · Jan 7, 2018

The Dawg said:
Your Problem Is You Have A 4 Inch Exhaust System. You Need A 6 Inch Exhaust System To Keep Your Tent Cool.:party1:

Also You Need Some Fans Blowing :cool:

I have primaklima 125 extractor,with prima klima carbon filter, my 1m2 has sommuch negative pressure with primaklimaset 50% of strenght ... i think that 1m2 tent is just to.small space fir 400w of cobs.but they are dimmed now and I'm haplier than before

brazel · Jan 9, 2018

you need to sync the heatsink to the heat being produced. A simple way although not accurate is to use watts. Energy produces heat, so the more you use the more heat.
Heatsink work by dissipating heat. You use a medium that has high thermal conductivity. Copper being the best then aluminium.

So if you have a 12x12x12 square block of aluminum and a pin heatsink that's 5x5x2 the pin heatsink would be way better even know the block has way more aluminum.
Surface area is key.

IMO a constant current diver is where it's at. I decide the current I want and get that power supply.
Dimmer? I mean come on now, you wouldn't buy a Ferrari to slash a couple of its tires

sixstring · Jan 10, 2018

400w is 400w that tent would be just as hot if not slightly hotter with a 400whps lamp and ballast in there.like dawg said,move more air. should be fairly easy to remove heat from the top of that tent

Lpferris4 · Feb 14, 2018

Can am HLG-60H-700A run two CXB3070s? Just got all my stuff today with some arctic 11 heat sinks. Hooked everything up and the leds flash as if they were strobe lights? Checked all my wiring and it's correct which makes me thing the driver is too weak.. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

sixstring · Feb 14, 2018

not familiar with that driver at all,whats the max voltage on it ?

Lpferris4 · Feb 14, 2018

sixstring said:
not familiar with that driver at all,whats the max voltage on it ?

It says max +100v? Not are if that's correct. Just getting into this and not too familiar with it all yet..

sixstring · Feb 14, 2018

found it,50-100v should run those fine.it should run 3 of those cobs actually so your wiring must be wrong or you have a bad cob holder,dimmer pot,or the driver itself it bad.

DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

DIY LED with COBs - small medium and large grows

Toaster79

DGP

led grow

sixstring

DGP

BombBP

Toaster79

diskokobaja

DGP

BombBP

diskokobaja

BombBP

The Dawg

diskokobaja

brazel

sixstring

Lpferris4

sixstring

Lpferris4

sixstring

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