The DIY COB Addiction

The HLG65 comes with THIS driver. MEAN WELL OWA-60U-24
 
Hi Everyone,

I am planning my first grow at the moment, am looking at a 1.2m x 1.2m x 1.8m tent and am going through the lighting options now. I will be growing a max of 3-4 plants at a time i think, and my initial research has led me to think 600w is where i need to be.

Rather than screw it up by guesswork (as there is a lot of conflicting information out there, some of it old perhaps?) i was hoping you good people might be able to help with the finer details..

I am going the DIY COB route because
a) Want to control heat (over HPS type lighting systems still very popular in my country)
b) Want to reduce the electricity bill ($0.30c p/kwh)
c) Want to future proof myself somewhat
d) Want to keep my light build/buy costs down (over a pre-built unit, still very expensive here) with a budget of about $600 NZD for the light.

Any help or information would be really appreciated.

Cheers,
From a guy sick of dealing with shady people.
 
Try to search these terms in Google, "rapidled" and "QB304". Both should return results to sites that I can't link here. Each of those sites should be able to help you refine your questions about different options.
 
Hi Everyone,

I have been doing a lot of reading and reasearch since my post last night, but it looks like my budget will need to increase. Cant seem to find a combo of COBs, drivers and heatsinks that will give me approx 600w of light for a 5x5x5 tent within my limited budget (around $600NZD)

This is my first grow so everything is a bit of guesswork based on hours of internet reading..

Have settled on 3500k 90CRi with min 2 drivers and looking at the below..

Bridgelux BXRC-35G10K0-B-73-SE x 6 @ $35ea = $264.50 inc Tax
HLG-240H-C1750B x 2 @ $108.23ea = $248.93 inc Tax
Either Pin Heatsinks from RapidLED x 6 @ $44ea = $$303.60 inc Tax (OUCH)

OR, im thinking if i can use readily available CPU heatsinks and fans for $10ea..

Any thoughts?

Many thanks from a confused guy,

Edit. @Skybound Found a few board kits on AliBaba, they look like the goods, thanks for the tip. Question, whats better... lm561c s6 or lm301b ?? Seem to be the main two i see from the supplier im checking out.

Supplier: Shenzhen Meijiu Lighting Co., Ltd. - LED High Bay Light, LED Floodlight
The two boards im looking at, the second one im not sure is actually available however..
1) Best Selling In Usa Quantum Board With 800pcs Lm561c 600w Led Grow Light Fixture - Buy Quantum Board,Led Grow Light,600w Led Grow Light Product on Alibaba.com
2) QB800 Samsung led grow light for indoor garden fit to 4X4 ft grow tent kit, View Samsung led grow light for indoor garden, Meijiu Product Details from Shenzhen Meijiu Lighting Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com
 
I'm still learning too and have a very long way to go before I'd consider myself competent. Generally speaking though, pretty much everything you linked will replace a 600w HID. From what I've read, the HIDs will put out more lumens than a comparable LED fixture, but that's it. And the HID literally uses more electricity that is wasted creating heat. Just last night I learned that maybe/probably the Quantum Boards may outperform COBs because the way the diodes are spread out over a wider foot print, the result is less shadows in the canopy and more light dispersion. It's too late for me as I already am about $1100 USD into my COB fixtures and I can't afford to write that off so I'll keep using them, but in my experience, I overpowered my rooms in terms of light output. I already light stressed my last 2 harvests and my buds were really funny looking and small. My oldest in bloom now is doing well with the power set to about 55%. So I essentially spent more and got too much for my space and the extra will just not get used.

@TheGreenYeti - Care to chime in?
 
I have settled on 4 x qb288 lm301b 3000k boards, HLG-480H-48B driver and heatsinks etc from the above supplier. They have a package for $330USD + shipping + Local Taxes on my end (about 20%). Seems to be the best price i can find for a quality light with reasonable wattage. Ideally i would want a little more for my 5x5x6 space, but i am sure this will do the needed duties until i can add supplemental in the second grow.

Currently negotiating to see if they will do $300USD for the above package, wonder how much shipping will be......
 
Know this is a old thread but if you are still looking to build a good coverage light for cheap you might consider 6 Vero29B 90cri 3K's 140mm pinfin heatsinks and a HLG-600h-54B driver.

Does about 590W (the "A" type driver will do about 630W) @ the cob and has a efficacy of 1.91umol/j
for about 400$ US built (using 1/8" thick. 3/4" aluminum angle)
 
RapidLED has good kits too. Their kits list the bill of materials if you want to try and source components elsewhere, though I was not able to find those 140mm pin heat sinks anywhere else on the web, so I just ordered all of the materials from them, and got aluminum angles locally to build my own frames. I suppose I could've saved maybe $20 from each fixture if I sourced the components elsewhere, but then would've lost it right back shipping from multiple vendors.
 
I use Vero 29 1750K and 3000K COBs in a 2:1 ratio

Plants main stem grows to the 1750K cobs, they will grow right into the lamp and burn.
They like it that much.

I of course train them away at the last minute.

Plants love it so long as room temps are under 85F.

The plants get heat stress - even with a lot of fans running above 85F.

I'm getting frosty nugs! :passitleft:
 
@bobrown14 , I have all 3000k's now. Do you think the plants would still respond if I swapped out 2 of each 6 instead of 4/6?
 
Skybound said:
@bobrown14 , I have all 3000k's now. Do you think the plants would still respond if I swapped out 2 of each 6 instead of 4/6?
Click to expand...

Swapping lamps is a thing. I keep finding reasons to do it regular. lol

I just got a 3K 260W QB board. Not sure where I was gonna put it now!
 
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