6040-F2525 A1 COB: Legit or cheap knockoff?

[Old Salt]

I used the radiator from a broken air conditioner to cool my house. I ran water from the well through it and back to the well. The old air conditioner had stainless steel tubing, so I didn't have to worry about leaded solder joints. You can often pick up broken air conditioners at the side of the road Usually it's the pump that failed.

If you are going to pressure test the rad, fill it with water, then pressurize it with air. It will take very little air to pressurize it, and will limit the damage if it blows. (liquids don't compress, so you'll get a small pop rather than a big bang)

These old air conditioners would be a good source of parts for your application.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Rambleramble...

I love you rambling TS. I wish I would posses more capacity for writing the English language and answer you.

Of course a big tank is keeping the temps down better. I don't pay for the amout of water I take in my apartment. I could just plug in my cooling blocks to the citys water and get water with 8C and just run it to sewage after it passed the coolers. That's the cheapest way for me to cool the lights, but is it right to do so?

 

[Teleon]

I could just plug in my cooling blocks to the citys water and get water with 8C and just run it to sewage after it passed the coolers. That's the cheapest way for me to cool the lights, but is it right to do so?

WHAT? Why didn't u do it????? But i know what u mean - from the ecologic reason it might not be the best thing to do it

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Liquid nitrogen?

 

[CraZysWeeD]

WHAT? Why didn't u do it????? But i know what u mean - from the ecologic reason it might not be the best thing to do it

That's right. But the rest I do isn't legal anyway. I don't think keeping a tap running is worse here than what I use it for...

 

[Teleon]

Liquid nitrogen?

or dry ice? no wait, dry ice could really be used in warm summers put some in ur reservoir and u'r fine, at least for a few hours

 

[TorturedSoul]

I love you rambling TS. I wish I would posses more capacity for writing the English language and answer you.

Thank you for the kind words, and you do just fine at communicating here.

but is it right to do so?

Not in my book; that's why I switched from run-to-waste to DWC (hydroponics) years ago. But this is a decision that you'll have to make for yourself. I'll still be your friend, regardless.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Thank you for the kind words, and you do just fine at communicating here.

It's great to hear that, but I feel I would like to write so much more but I'm not in possesion of all words and I don't find the words. Specially since the accident I lost a lot of my concentration ability since my nerves are affected, the doctor says.

Not in my book; that's why I switched from run-to-waste to DWC (hydroponics) years ago. But this is a decision that you'll have to make for yourself. I'll still be your friend, regardless.

I like the idea of hydroponics and I have been there and tried it. Now I'm half there again with the Autopots. I would like to switch again due to my injuries I can't carry soil in the same manner I used to. When growing a lot it soon ads up weight, and then you need to get rid of it when done.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

These old air conditioners would be a good source of parts for your application.

Those outdated units are very hard to come by here. The government is very hard on those units being recycled in the right manner.

 

[TorturedSoul]

It's great to hear that, but I feel I would like to write so much more but I'm not in possesion of all words and I don't find the words. Specially since the accident I lost a lot of my concentration ability since my nerves are affected, the doctor says.

I have that, and I haven't even had a TBI (did in 1989, but this isn't from that, it's too recent) - and this is my native language . Usually, the word ends up coming to me, or a word that is close enough to serve the purpose, or... I find myself thinking through the sentence over and over, then actually saying it out loud (again, several times) in hopes that the word will come and, if that doesn't work, I'll either delete the sentence and try to make the post flow anyway - or I end up getting frustrated and closing the browser tab that the thread is in (occasionally, after spending some time and having several to many paragraphs already created).

But most of the time the word comes. When I'm typing, I mean. I've been more comfortable doing that than speaking since at least as far back as 2011. IF I feel the need, I can take lots of time creating a post, but this is not feasible when speaking to people. Plus, I feel like a moron when I find that I am speaking slowly and haltingly all of a sudden. Then I get frustrated and angry (at myself). A girlfriend once told me that her mother asked her why she was with someone who appeared to be mildly retarded. She laughed, but... I didn't. Other times, I jabber vocally like I do in print. But it's not something that follows any kind of schedule; it comes and goes. IDK.

I like the idea of hydroponics and I have been there and tried it. Now I'm half there again with the Autopots. I would like to switch again due to my injuries I can't carry soil in the same manner I used to. When growing a lot it soon ads up weight, and then you need to get rid of it when done.

There is always passive hydroponics. What people started calling "hempy" when it became popular. It's technically drain-to-waste, but not always greatly so; I've seen recommendations to water to ~30% runoff, but I don't think many people follow that religiously. Also, the most common medium is perlite, which is very light (and reusable, or you can add it to your outdoor garden to lighten the soil and add to its drainage characteristics). As you can probably imagine, the growth rate is in between that of soil and active hydroponic methods (but probably somewhat closer to the latter).

 

[Blazinjones]

It's great to hear that, but I feel I would like to write so much more but I'm not in possesion of all words and I don't find the words. Specially since the accident I lost a lot of my concentration ability since my nerves are affected, the doctor says.



I like the idea of hydroponics and I have been there and tried it. Now I'm half there again with the Autopots. I would like to switch again due to my injuries I can't carry soil in the same manner I used to. When growing a lot it soon ads up weight, and then you need to get rid of it when done.

One of the reasons i went to dwc buckets and i use advanced nuterients ph perfect conniseur nutes. An then i only have to change once a week and it doesn't require to check ph jus dump measurements out and go. For my autos i was only getting about a half oz to full if i was lucky lol per plant. Then i did one in my dwc bucket and got alil over 3 oz the first time. So i made the switch to hydro for my autos. And now i got docs kit cause i wanted to give hibrix a shot so i have a gorilla glue #4 in 10 gallons hibrix soil. Plus a few others in plain promix/sunshine mix#4 getting dyna-gro nutes. But after this round ill only have hibrix soil and dwc nothing else. But yea if ur back is am issue docs kit is great as for there are big long breaks where u do nothing but stare an love ur girls lmao. So tht is kinda easier on my back cause i have tons of back issues myself. But so far its been alil work no matter what i do either carry 1gal water jugs 2 ata time or soil totes/pots 1, 3, 5, and 10gal pots and 2 20 gal totes. Altho for my hydro i have the option to get a hose an use a water pump to pump the water out of the bucket out the window or where ever. Then its no work on my back. Other then filling but its only two 1 gal jugs of ro water twice each plant so not bad.

 

[Blazinjones]

I have that, and I haven't even had a TBI (did in 1989, but this isn't from that, it's too recent) - and this is my native language . Usually, the word ends up coming to me, or a word that is close enough to serve the purpose, or... I find myself thinking through the sentence over and over, then actually saying it out loud (again, several times) in hopes that the word will come and, if that doesn't work, I'll either delete the sentence and try to make the post flow anyway - or I end up getting frustrated and closing the browser tab that the thread is in (occasionally, after spending some time and having several to many paragraphs already created).

But most of the time the word comes. When I'm typing, I mean. I've been more comfortable doing that than speaking since at least as far back as 2011. IF I feel the need, I can take lots of time creating a post, but this is not feasible when speaking to people. Plus, I feel like a moron when I find that I am speaking slowly and haltingly all of a sudden. Then I get frustrated and angry (at myself). A girlfriend once told me that her mother asked her why she was with someone who appeared to be mildly retarded. She laughed, but... I didn't. Other times, I jabber vocally like I do in print. But it's not something that follows any kind of schedule; it comes and goes. IDK.



There is always passive hydroponics. What people started calling "hempy" when it became popular. It's technically drain-to-waste, but not always greatly so; I've seen recommendations to water to ~30% runoff, but I don't think many people follow that religiously. Also, the most common medium is perlite, which is very light (and reusable, or you can add it to your outdoor garden to lighten the soil and add to its drainage characteristics). As you can probably imagine, the growth rate is in between that of soil and active hydroponic methods (but probably somewhat closer to the latter).

Ive done hempy myself and as soon as that tap root hits below ur res. Hole that u make which is the only drain hole in ur pot tht u end up using. An its on the side of the pot about 2 to 3 inches from the bottom. Once tap root gets past tht point its starts growing super fast jus like hydro. I had great results doing hempy. I even got to the point of experimenting and using different size pots. I used a 5.25 gal waste basket as a hempy bucket and filled it with perlite lol. An i cud reuse the perlite a few times jus had to cook it on a cookie sheet. I wud get about 3 to 4 uses b4 the perlite wud be to broken up an turned to dust. Man i had perlite EVERYWHERE in the house lol. My back yard had kiddy pools full of it all over the place hahaha. Then i wid throw it in the outside garden wen i was done with it. My yard looked like winter year round. Lol i member thinkn in the summer i bet wen people drive by they get confused for a sec. Seeing snow in the middle of summer when its 98°f out lmao. But also a very good way to grow thts easy on the back. An if u use some nites tht dnt require u to adjust the ph then its even easier.

 

[Leandrop]

Hello guys. Sorry to bring this thread back to life, but I intend to buy these Cob Leds (6040-F2525 A1 COB) and have a lot of questions. They are real good stuff? The seller told me that they have only 1280 Lm, is that correct? Is that even matter? Can I use this leds on veg and grow? thanks a lot, you guys already halped me!!

 

[TorturedSoul]

Didn't feel like reading the thread, huh? No, they're junk. If you buy some, be sure to buy more than you think you'll need, in order to allow for ones that arrive in a non-functional state, ones that fail almost immediately, and ones that fail quickly. Also, to allow for the ones that still technically work, but end up significantly dropping in light output. Oh, and get a light meter, because "a significant reduction in light output" in regards to the growth and flowering of light-loving plants does not require such a great degree of reduction that the human eye can detect it.

Also, if you want them to live, attach them to good heat sinks and add fans to those heat sinks.

COB Light Issue

This generation of COB lights are trivial to connect. Just connect the 110V ac or 220Vac to the unit - all of the power regulation is built into the COB light. The AC voltage is rectified but never smoothed with capacitors. Capacitors are what typically fail as the best ones are rated for 105C and for those of us fixing motherboards, TVs, monitors and other electronics well know - the failure is nearly always caused by the capacitors. Because there is no smoothing the lights will flicker at 120Hz. Basically the 110V units have strings of LEDs which turn on at 80V. So when the recified line voltage exceeds 80V they turn on and the COB power regulator limits the current.

The issue is that LEDs are 4x more efficient (~10%) than incandescent lights (~2.2%) and so the 70W COB light draws 95W and 85W of that is heat that has to be removed.

To remove the heat I tried a flat aluminum plate and then ~2010 AMD heatsinks - the aluminum blocks and then the 125W rated ones with a copper plate and four heat pipes. Both only seem to work for perhaps 15W without the cooling fan - so the COB LED will exceed 100C after ~5 minutes and start to reduce it's power output. Having the fan turn at a very low speed is good enough to keep the 20W and 30W COB lights working at full power. Either heatsink, with a 20W or 30W COB light held down with two secrews, only lasted 5 minutes before it exceeded 100C and started to reduce it's power output.

And at least read post #15, and strongly consider following that person's suggestions. In other words, add an RF choke to the power cable and enclose your grow in some sort of metal shield (because, if you simply enclose the lights in a metal box, the rest of your grow space will be dark) and ground that metal shield.

Or you could just save yourself the hassle, and tell the seller to throw the things into his trash can so that you won't eventually have to throw them into yours, lol. . . .

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Hello guys. Sorry to bring this thread back to life, but I intend to buy these Cob Leds (6040-F2525 A1 COB) and have a lot of questions. They are real good stuff? The seller told me that they have only 1280 Lm, is that correct? Is that even matter? Can I use this leds on veg and grow? thanks a lot, you guys already halped me!!

In short, there are much much better lights to buy than this crap...!

 

[Leandrop]

Thanks for the help guys...

 

[The Celt]

Well I am going to chime in here as there is some misleading info in post #15.

These chips are definitely cheap, I bought a bunch of them years ago for $2 each and run at 50 watts and can be bought in numerous colour temperatures. I actually use them in my nursery where I am not concerned about penetrating power.

They definitely require a good cooling system as well or they will burn out in short order.

Now for the “wrong” information in post #15:

They LEDs that make up the chip are powered by DC, not AC and do not cause RF issues or flickering. Those little “bumps” you see at either end of the chip are the driver components, rectifier, caps, etc. The discrete light emitter chips are connected in series allowing for 120/220 AC input and rectified to 120vdc. This arrangement negates the need for transformers and buck converters and as they only draw 2.5 amps, components can be small.

No need for RF shielding or chokes.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

They LEDs that make up the chip are powered by DC, not AC and do not cause RF issues or flickering.

Don't get me wrong here, but why is the light flickering when looked at through a camera then if this wouldn't be the case?

 

[The Celt]

Try doing the same thing just as the sun is going down on the horizon. If the light is too intense, digital cameras don’t have a physical aperture that can be narrowed to limit the incoming light so they have to flip the on/off switch to limit the incoming light, same way a buck converter “chops” input power to limit current and voltage through it.

I often have to play with my ISO to get pictures or I get black bars rolling through the image.

If you can adjust the ISO on your camera, try changing it and looking at the light, if they still look like they are flickering, then they probably do. I have a bunch of those type chips in 3000k and 5500k that don’t flicker. They are all cheap, but some are cheaper than others depending on who made them.

 

[CraZysWeeD]

Well I don't get these lines under my 600W lm301b grow lights.

This cheap on board driver is guaranteed only rectifying one part of the sinus from my 220V 50Hz outlet that's why the lines appear and not when looking at the lm301b lights which is driven by a stable switching DC driver from Mw.

Another interesting thing with these COBs are that if they overheat they gradually step down the power to protect the circuit on the boards but problem is its almost impossible to cool them down not to start doing this, I even tried water cooling them a while back.