Enough light for full life cycle?

I would have thought so. I was talking to some knowledgeable people on here the other day and they were suggesting 400w cobs to replace a single 600w hps. I know anecdotally that cobs yield more per watt than blurples though.

 

35-40 watts per square foot

520/16 puts you at 32 watts a square foot.



Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

In short you could do it. I’m not sure what you’re going to get out of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

That’ll a be sufficient! Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

Ive had 1.7gpw from blurple leds but cobs should be better... should. 2gpw is ment to be possible

 

I never have gotten into the math part. I just set up lights and can tell by pennetration

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

 

it’s 50 watts per sf or cheap blurple led. Or 800 watts in a 4x4. I think Mars can do a little less with their pro series and Crees.

 

More light, more plant. If you make the assumption (a bad one to make) that all lights are created equal than more watts more weight. You'll get better gpw at lower intensities because the plant will start to have diminishing returns but about 600w true power in 4x4 is best balance.

 

It’s not about watts when using the qbs. We can equate real watts to the many unspecified LEDs out there just to get those that insist on using them, kind of in the ballpark. In this case it’s about 800 watts (50 watts per sf) of HID or old 3-5w chip led tech.

With the qbs and their versatility, it’s about even coverage with 1000 ppfd throughout the canopy. This is accomplished in my 4x4 with 12-qb120’s running at about 700 watts.

4- qb96elite v2’s will do the same if spaced properly (10” away from all sides of tent) and run at 160-200 watts each and 16-20” of height.

There is so much information on the diodes and specs that a conversion factor can be used with a lux meter to provide a semi accurate ppfd measurement.

With all the dimmable options, board variations and versatility with powering them, they are an investment that will grow as your needs grow too.

 

Which is why I said watts is a bad measurement. Because LED efficiencies vary and driver efficiencies vary. Watts gives people a ballpark. It used to apply when most products were within 10% of each other in efficiency with fluorescents and incandescents.

The made up "wattages" that are out there on these CBL's (Chinese Box Lights) are a deceiving and misleading. They are what they "should replace" which is completely made up. You're right, the # of watts per chip is also a crock. They give the maximum drive of the LED but not what they are driving it at. So all you can really gather is if they're using a 5W vs a 3W it has less chance of overheating and is probably more efficient since it is being driven at less of its total upper limit. You could have two same powered lights, same everything, and one has 3w chip and the other 5w and the only difference will be like a 8% efficiency between % of maximum drive current.

Lux meter is a terrible way to measure between light vendors. Those meters are tuned for white light for a specific light source type. They often don't pick up deeper reds and drop off in the blues closer to UV so you could test 2 lights of the same brightness and get different results if they are different spectrum. Only way to really know is what is called a quantum meter that gives you a more 1:1 on the readout for each unit of light. Lux meter is only good for managing your grow and picking luxes with the same light that work for you.

 

Lux meter works great with a conversion factor on quantum board LEDs for those that don’t have the $$ for an apogee. We have a few threads here devoted to building and testing various combinations of quantum boards with multiple wattages. Here is the info only thread that I made to keep the bullshit aside.

QB96ELITE V2 ***No BS, information only***

 

Okay ya so if you stay within one product type it can work. If you want to be more precise I'd re-calibrate for new quantums when they went to LM301B. Spectrum changed for same CCT. Trust me, nothing I hate more than BS.

 

There’s nothing better on the market for the price than diy qbs. The qb96elite changed the game man and I’m happy to be one of the first to build with them. Almost ready to harvest some organic Great White Shark from under two of them

 

Solid canopy, looks really good man

 

Got a buddy vegging with them now too and killing it. Even with the red diodes, the 4000k whites bring the spectrum right around 3500k.