Fanleaf's Huge 42 COB Array Build Plus Other Builds

Awesome thread :adore:

I just started looking into the whole DIY scene recently, and I must say it's interesting but a lot to take in.
I'm in the process of (only theoretically so far) building a flower cycle light for a 4x4 area, and collecting all the knowledge I can;)

Where did you get that nice calculator?
Any questions just ask away! Theres quite a bit to take in at first I know. Once you do it once though it all comes together.

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I know fanleaf that you have put a rig together for 2x2 tent.
But was wondering if that's the most efficient money to value setup?
4x 3590 for such small soace seems like the most expensive option. I'm basing that on your 3 cost/efficiency tiers.
Am I right here ?

Would it not make it more sense to do 2 3590 (one red) for such small space?

I have my tent in the actual closet, so it's pretty easy to get it very warm. I have 200w cfl there at the moment and the minute I'll add any more cfl the temp rises to the top limit what's acceptable. So heat efficiency would be very important too.

What are your thoughts guys?


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It is the most value. 4 square feet and 1 chip per square foot. More money up front but when you consider I only need to run at 37w per chip at almost 60% efficient.
To be the most energy efficient and save the most amount of money over time the best way I know is to go 1 chip per square foot with the 3590 chips. That being said with such a small array those are the situations when running cheaper chips and building the light more inexpensively is a fine option. O would be great in that 2x2 with 5 of the Citizen 1212's. The light would have been about $100 cheaper to build. In that situation it would have taken the 3590 chips quite a while to catch up to the savings no doubt. That's why I say with bigger arrays it makes sense to do the 3590 chips even if you have to start with less chips and run them harder and add more later so you can eventually run them softer and more efficient. The cree chips just simply make sense on any array that has size to it.
I would not do four square feet with only two chips. To get even coverage all across the canopy with no bad hotspots in the center and then really weak numbers on the outside edges going for would be what I would consider a minimum with five being the best.

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Finally got to use my saw, cutting angle
1487453449509-1286699406.jpg
 
I'm so tired of showing how many ways going with more efficient chips pays for it's self
....1212....

Let's get back to what this thread is about

Me again. Looks like i have to make my self clear on that one. you realise i asked for something else aye?

The question was:
low/medium cost CXB setup vs your CXB setup
@same PPFD on canopy level

it was you involving the 3000K 1212 all on your own over the last pages. no one wants a large room full of 3000K 1212s......no one on the planet . .

I aimed in another direction to get an idea how long it would take in actual light hours at a specific kwh price to even out the cost for different price ranges when buying all the stuff to fill a room.

Just to know how long it would take to say

'OK, NOW I AM AT THE POINT IT WAS WORTH IT SPENDING 2000 INSTEAD OF 1000 BUCKS ON CXB3590s FOR MY 4X4'

-> This is a big factor when you grow for your own and only get back to 0 by saving energy
 
Is apogee the equivalent of fluke in quality

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Yes, Apogee is a great tool. Very good reputation. There is a step avove it though. There is a Licor. It costs over $1000. Great tool but I studied the accuracy charts and to me the Apogee was the way to go.

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Oh Seymore... it doesn't really matter what changes in the Light Industry in the next few years. If you build a huge array at 49% efficiency or a huge array at 61% efficiency it's not like you're just going to get rid of it in a year-and-a-half because something new came out. Unless you're totally unhappy with it you're going to stick with it and keep growing with it not sell it off to keep with the Jones's. If we use that kind of mentality we would never buy a computer at all because we know something better is going to be out a year from then. Have you ever heard the old saying" buy right once or buy wrong several times".
I'm not saying if you don't use Cree you will be buying several times but if you want the best light you can build do it once and do it right.

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True, but i wrote alot more than that. And one more time: i talk bout a cree ONLY scenario... LOL

Cree

VS

Cree

Maybe it is me talking chinese, just dont get angry, ok? there is no universal answer to everyone whats the best bang for THEIR buck.

It's an important point and i took my time to explain it pretty well imho

Especially important point for NOT selling growers on average sized canopies like the average person stumbling across threads like this one.

I dont want to start a holy war on lil COBs dude, but you cannot deny that aspect has its place when giving an individual and independent purchase advice, do you . .

Current Grow SeymoreNuggets Flowering Journal - Nebula & Atomical Haze - Soil - 2x3 - 420W DIY COB
My journey seeking the light. Found some
SeymoreNugget's DIY talk - Building lights - Sharing ideas
 
True, but i wrote alot more than that. And one more time: i talk bout a cree ONLY scenario... LOL

Cree

VS

Cree

Maybe it is me talking chinese, just dont get angry, ok? there is no universal answer to everyone whats the best bang for THEIR buck.

It's an important point and i took my time to explain it pretty well imho

Especially important point for NOT selling growers on average sized canopies like the average person stumbling across threads like this one.

I dont want to start a holy war on lil COBs dude, but you cannot deny that aspect has its place when giving an individual and independent purchase advice, do you . .

Current Grow SeymoreNuggets Flowering Journal - Nebula & Atomical Haze - Soil - 2x3 - 420W DIY COB
My journey seeking the light. Found some
SeymoreNugget's DIY talk - Building lights - Sharing ideas
Didnt I post 3 charts with Cree vs Cree? Yep, sure did. All the figures are there along with 1 month 18/6 and 12/12 light power costs for each one. 16 cob vs 24 cob vs 32 cob.
For A Cree array you can figure about $100 per chip by the time everything is said and done counting drivers, framing materials and everything A-Z if going passive heat dist. If going active sinks it will be cheaper.
Ill get on the laptop and calculate more now.

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Ok, so I am building a new grow room 4'x6'x8'. The dimensions were determined by the available space and the flood pan I am using as a floor basin. The floor basin is a safety measure since the room is in the house and a flood would be very costly. I will be using the Orca Grow Film for the interior walls and ceiling. The Orca website has great information about the light characteristics of the product but they fail to mention that it is primarily made from HDPE which is nearly impossible to glue. There is a new 2 part glue product out there but it is really expensive and I don't know if it is flexible. Sewing leaves pin holes that would need to be sealed with some kind of glue for efficient CO2 use. So through experimentation I have determined that working swiftly with a Hi-temp glue gun I can weld the seams and zippers in satisfactorily. Anyone with a better idea working with this film let me know.

My existing DIY COB is made with citizen 1212s and my intentions have always been to replace the 1212s with 3590s when the price comes down. In reading various threads around the internet it has been mentioned many times that Cree is coming out with a new better cob for agriculture and that the 3590s would come down in price with the release of the new ones. Well I cannot verify those claims anywhere from Cree's internet presence. Does anyone here have any information about such an event? I suppose even if this is not true I will be able to replace the 1212s one driver at a time as the budget permits.
 
4X8 array.

Cree cheapest route Roughly $1600. 16 chips and all of the framing for 4X8, drivers and all. This is driving 16 chips at roughly 75.56W each for 1208 true watts total. This provides a ppfd of 846.19 to the plants
Cree_cheap.JPG


Now a very efficient Cree of the same size but adding 12 more chips to make it almost 1 chip per square foot. Adds roughly $900 since most of the framing is already there to the cost over the 16 chip array shown above.
Ca154651e.JPG


Now, even though there is 12 more chips in this array you are using less total power. Only 995 true watts running all 28 chips at 35.5 watts each. Also notice that even though we are using 213 watts less we are providing a ppfd of 15 more to the plants as well. So we could even turn this array down more and run even less wattage to do as much as the top array. Not to mention the 28 chip array has 225 less heat watts to dissipate.



8 week veg, 9 week flower
Top array. $293.77 per cycle
Bottom array $242.19 per cycle with 15 more ppfd.

$51.58 cheaper per cycle and a stronger light and 213w less heat to deal with.
Cree vs Cree

That pretty much covers 1 chip per cycle + heat

That's the difference between the top array at 49.71% efficient (thats good) and the bottom array at 61.6% efficient. (can't beat it).

PS. That's also at 0.12 kWh power cost. Some people pay a butt load more




 
Ok, so I am building a new grow room 4'x6'x8'. The dimensions were determined by the available space and the flood pan I am using as a floor basin. The floor basin is a safety measure since the room is in the house and a flood would be very costly. I will be using the Orca Grow Film for the interior walls and ceiling. The Orca website has great information about the light characteristics of the product but they fail to mention that it is primarily made from HDPE which is nearly impossible to glue. There is a new 2 part glue product out there but it is really expensive and I don't know if it is flexible. Sewing leaves pin holes that would need to be sealed with some kind of glue for efficient CO2 use. So through experimentation I have determined that working swiftly with a Hi-temp glue gun I can weld the seams and zippers in satisfactorily. Anyone with a better idea working with this film let me know.

My existing DIY COB is made with citizen 1212s and my intentions have always been to replace the 1212s with 3590s when the price comes down. In reading various threads around the internet it has been mentioned many times that Cree is coming out with a new better cob for agriculture and that the 3590s would come down in price with the release of the new ones. Well I cannot verify those claims anywhere from Cree's internet presence. Does anyone here have any information about such an event? I suppose even if this is not true I will be able to replace the 1212s one driver at a time as the budget permits.

I have heard the same rumors man. I hope they do. I know they came out with a tiny chip like 2w or 3w for horticulture but haven't seen this new cob yet. I hope they come out with something awesome though lol. The 3590 can be had at a decent price if shopping around though. $37 per chip is pretty darned good though compared to the other high efficient cobs out there they arent much more.
 
Any attachments I need to order with mq500, going to order from their website

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Nope. Comes with everything needed. I found it 40-50 bux cheaper at an aquarium store online than Apogees website. After I ordered I called apogee a few days later and they just finished building my unit.

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Any attachments I need to order with mq500, going to order from their website

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Dude. You will be so happy you got that once you start testing your lights. It tells you exactly where your doing good and lacking with every adjustment you make.

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