I'm saving up to get a meter, but for now I'd like some opinions on visual appearance. I just upgraded from cheapie cobs to Brigelux Vero 18's so I have good test data to rely on. I'm driving them a bit hard, pushing 5500 lm (+) out if each, three cobs on a 28" bar giving min 15,000 LM, estimated actual 16,000-17,000 LM, could possibly be as high as 18,000-19,000 but unlikely. So for fair est I'll just go with 15,000lm (3500k), which is 5,000 lm less than a 4' 4bulb t5, my personal comparison since I happen to have one is while the t5 has better spread at a closer distance it seriously lacks in penetration compared to the LED. With the t5 at 2" above canopy and the LED at 11" above canopy with the same plant the LED got to the bottom (I grow small sog, so keep in mind short plants) and the t5 really only got a couple nodes down before it really faded. Here's some pics, 10 plants in veg, 1 gallon pots (6.5" top rim for ref), tallest plant is 9" from the light and shortest is 11". How's this look to you? My t5 doesn't even come close, and I'm only burning 135 watts compared to 216 and if I have to replace cobs "often" from driving them harder they're a whopping $12 each, same price as one t5 bulb and only 3 instead of 4....
For anyone interested in the build, you can find more tech data and the build list on this thread: 12v (battery powered) off grid diy COB build, anyone ever do this? Input?
I plan on ordering a lux meter soon. I don't trust the apps and my phone is a pos so I'm not even gonna try an app, likely get false readings anyway.
Honestly hope to get a par meter but they're spendy. None under $125-ish that I saw and lux meters you can find for $20 and $40-ish+ for a good one. But par is all that matters, don't mean diddly if I can see it if the spectrum is off and the damn plant can't, lol. But $20 for a lux meter to satisfy my curiosity would at least give me some sort of idea on output. My next build will be with 3 100w Vero 29's run at 75-80w ea. I'll have a par meter before I build more. Won't likely build anymore with the Vero 18's either, but it was a cheap way to get the crap part out of this first build and get it performing as cheap as possible and they just happen to match to my driver's quite well.
I'm looking to add sum cheap satellites around my pants as they just got to big for the lights. So smaller cheap ones ill work best at this point for me as i really cant afford anything I already have a buncha pc coolers n fans and most of the other misc parts. mainly looking for suggestions for cobs for flower and driver. And id rather have more driver then i need so i can run them real hard and or ad cobs ( i think) Head injuries and constant migraines make it hard for me to do alot of research or figure out details and such anymore which is frustrating for a forced to retire too soon mechanical technician. I was looking at 25xx series and some others but getting holders and such seems like itll drive up costs and be harder to get all at one place which can also drive up costs as many of these places have real high shiping. Not to mention the connector will help as my hands are in pretty rough shape also. I'd like to try and afford 4 or 5 smaller cobs and as mentioned maybe a driver that will push there limits running around 50% ? to leave headroom.