Hey GC! I'm getting ready to go into my next round of flowering soon (I harvest the current plants in 2 weeks) and I'm trying to get everything set up to fill up my entire area for next grow. I currently have 3 240 watt quantum boards and 2 supplemental COB lights in my flower area. The supplement COBs are Rolaedro lights I got off amazon a while back but they are pretty decent and run at 300 true watts. I was originally planning on getting another QB or two but I have since decided I want to build my own 250 watt COB light. I have seen great results using these lights and after all the research I've done it's definitely caught my interest! I know there are a lot of people who believe QBs are the future and I totally agree but I'd like to give this a shot and if I don't like it as much as I though I'll use it in my veg tent in the future For the light I would be getting: -5x CLU048 1212 -1x MW driver HLG-240H-C1400B -5x Ideal holder 50-2303CR -5x Ideal 50-2300AN -5x Reflector KB-D82-90RF -5x Pre-drilled Passive heatsink 135*H70mm(for 55-65W) -5x of Wago quick connectors -1x (soldered) 100K linear dimmer -5x thermal tape -Cables + Screws I believe that is everything I need, please let me know if there is anything else! In total I will be paying $237.12 for everything shipped to my house, so in my eyes it's a great deal! Here's where I need your guys help the most! So I will be building the frame for the light and I have seen a ton of designs. I was wondering if you guys think a square design or a strip design would work better for my grow? Which set-up would provide the best coverage? I have included some (very rough) drawings of my area, the frames I'm considering and the two ways I'm considering setting them up! The last picture is just a estimate of how many plants I can have set up. Sorry in advance for my drawing skills lmao Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated since this is my first time doing anything like this! Hopefully there are still some DIY COB users out there
I was also wondering if it would be possible to switch out or replace the COB chips in the future? I have built PCs in the past so I'm wondering if it's just like switching the CPU? Can you just take off the thermal tape and use a new chip with the same heat-sink? Are most heat-sinks compatible with all COB chips? Thanks again for any input
I’ve been using cobs for a few years now in a 6’ x 15’ room split in two by a small path way for me. Currently I do 4 2’ x 4’ tables with six 5 gals in coco “ hand water” on each table for that I made bars similar to your last pic, works great I stagger my load One table every two to three weeks so this lets me adjust heights easy for each table. Currently I’m transitioning to 15 gal no-til and I can achieve the same canopy with two instead of six so I am going to change the config to more of a square design so one light over each plant. Hope that helps Oh and yea you can replace them using the same heat sink but I would replace the thermal tape when changing the cob
Yeah that helps a lot, thanks for the information!! What is the frame on your cobs like?? If assume it's a square based on your set-up? I most likely will have around 15 plants in the area at most but I'm trying to get it set up so I can start harvesting every couple weeks! Also what kid of COB chips do you use?? I was thinking about getting something more updated but the kit I can get comes with the citizen Clu048s and I've heard good things about them.
I use 3/4“ aluminum angle from Home Depot. Currently I have them in bars of four just w pieces one down each side of the round, pin type heat sinks then the driver mounted across the angles at one end. I have some 15 gal smart pots for no-til that are cooking now when I start using them I will reconfigure to 5 cobs in a #5 on a dice config using the same angle. Probably about a 2’ x 2’ square to cover about a 3’ x 3’ canopy when I started using cob’s the 3070 was the shit so I have 5 bars with the 3070’s I had to source it all my self, expensive and a pain in the ass! By the time I was ready to do the other half of my flower room the 3590’s where out and growmau5 was putting out videos on YouTube about making bars and had set up a package deal with an electronic place in Australia and I got the rest from them.
That's exactly what I was looking for! I'm thinking the square/dice set-up will suit me best! I've seen some pre-built frames but building your own with the angled aliuminium seems easy enough! Do you remember how much you paid for all of the frame parts? Without the frame I'm sitting at $237 so I'm hoping I can stay under $300! growmau5 is the shit! That's where I have been getting all of my info from! I've seen the kits they have but I've had really good success with the supplier Kingbrite on Alibaba and they have the whole kit there so that's what I'm going to do Thank you so much for the info! I'm really excited to get all the parts in and start working on it. I love DIY stuff so this has me stoked
I think I paid like $9 for a 6’ stick of angle and something like $5 for a box of small bolts to attach the angle to the heat sink I think they were like 5mm or something it wasn’t much. If I remember correctly I think I paid closer to $500 a bar. But back then the cheapest I could find 3590’s for was $65 a piece.
Oh damn that's alot cheaper than I originally thought it would be! I'm thinking about just getting the kit as it is for the $237 and then buying some better chips... like Vero29 gen 7s or something! I could grab 5 for around $100 but I'm really not sure if it's worth it! Hopefully someone with more knowledge on the differences can chime in For the heat-sinks, are there already pre-drilled holes in the side for screwing into the frame? Or do you have to drill them yourself? Again thanks for your help!
You want these just switched to flower and looking amazing so far. Next grow I will position the lights parallel to eachother like your 4th drawing.
Akinnamon94, Yes my heat sinks where drilled and tapped on the side for mounting 2 screws on each side. I’m by no means an expert on sizing a heat sink I’m sure some one here can but I kinda think a watt puts out so much heat weather it’s led hps or cmh so I would think if your not changing the number of cobs or the driver “power each cob the same as it was” it should be ok. But again that is a guess I haven’t looked into that kinda stuff for many years. Sade, Who makes those they look cool. Are the red ones for something special like flower initiator or something?
@maximusmin frow what I've seen most of them come pre drilled, I just wanted to make sure! As far as using the heat-sinks for the different chips I'm pretty sure I'll be fine! Growmau5 was using the same heat-sinks I plan on getting so it should work. I'll probably stick with the Clu048s at the start and then if I feel like it's necessary I can switch them out later! @Sade your set-up is freaking awesome! I've heard that COBs have better penetration on the canopy compared to QBs and so far the results definitely speak for themselves How many watts do you have? What size tent? I feel like if I go with the parallel strip I will be able to get the cobs over my entries grow area and then stagger the QBs so that each plant is getting similar light. I have a 3000 K QB, 3500K and 4000 K so I plan on staggering them across in a way that the early flowering plants are under the 3000 K and the late flowering are under the 4000... hopefully I can make it work. I'm so excited to get my kit in and start building... I should be placing my order soon
WTF is a COB light ?????? From my understanding COB is a technology and not a led .. I have 3 cree/cob lights I made from LED supply grow light kits .. they are 3 or 5 channel with a makers controller . the cost of making two 150 w and one 75 watt Cree.cob was 1400 .00 which if fucked up .. I can make 3 times the lght using Samsung boards and do it for half the energy costs Cree cob LED lights use twice the energy . So at 3 x the cost and twice the energy I would be dropping the COB lights like a hot potato . One of the meanings of COB is chip on boards … that's it …
There is no such thing as COB's Its chip on board COB ,,,nots chip on board's COB's Sounds like a fucking cookie advertisement I have two extra 75 watt cree cob boards
Lmao what the hell are you even saying man? Its almost impossible to read your sentences... I feel like I'm having a stroke. I know that COB means chip on board. I know exactly how they work, like I've said I've done a lot of research and already use some supplemental COB LEDs! If you paid $1400 you really fucked up and that sounds like an idiotic mistake. I just paid $217 for the entire kit minus the frame and like others have already said that shouldn't cost more than $50... So $267 total for a 250 watt light. Im not sure if you even read my post whatsoever I use Samsung boards already and like I said I've heard great things about these exact lights I'm getting. Here is some information for you: "COBs vs Mid Power Diode Boards (Samsung LM561C, LM301B, etc) A question we hear often is "Which is better, COBs or boards?" Boards traditionally consist of long strings of 100's of mid power diodes driven at low current outputting on average 1/2 a watt per diode. This power, or PPF, is spread out over a large area, typically an 8x12" MCPCB and is designed to be used close to the canopy. Our COBs are driven at over 100 watts each emitting a 120° beam angle from an area roughly 2" in diameter. As a result of this concentration of photons, COBs penetrate plant canopies better and when placed in an array at 18" above canopy provide more even coverage and spread the PPF out more broadly than board style lights, which typically concentrate the power in the center and then drop off on the edges and corners." I have no clue why you're trying to call me out for saying COBs because that's how people refer to them. Anyways thanks for your reply!
COB is a technology not a light emitting diode . In the beginning the word Cob was only used with what was considered Quality LED's like Cree diodes using Cob technology . Then all the cheap china made lights started using words like COB. and quantum boards trying to mislead they're customers into thinking they are getting a quality led lighting when they are not . Then you come up with making COB plural , which I don't understand how COB technology is now being called COB'S