IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

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PSUAGRO.

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Hi again ive decided not to grow canna but chillis as itsa security risk for me sharing a place with a friend and renting but im not sure if chillis need the power of cobs compared to canna?
Should i just stick with the mars 300watt light and grow a really hot chilli plant under that? i know this is a canna site but i havent seen any good sites for chillis and love reading about canna too.
most peppers have a moderate/high dli requirement(day neutral ), generally around <20 mol and 16+hrs of light(depending on light source of course) for production....... highly efficient cobs is my suggestion for you as well, more light==== more peppers:)

good luck
 

Stealthstyle

Well-Known Member
most peppers have a moderate/high dli requirement(day neutral ), generally around <20 mol and 16+hrs of light(depending on light source of course) fo production....... highly efficient cobs is my suggestion for you as well, more light==== more peppers:)

good luck
So if i build a cob setup with minimum of two 3070's cree leds but may place one or more leds later, (driver suitable for 4) will i be paying extra power even though i might only be running two? then when i add one or tow more leds would the power usage be the same or increase? im confused on this. thanks for any advice.
I mean would i be better off getting two drivers, each suitable for two cree 3070's
 

Positivity

Well-Known Member
So if i build a cob setup with minimum of two 3070's cree leds but may place one or more leds later, (driver suitable for 4) will i be paying extra power even though i might only be running two? then when i add one or tow more leds would the power usage be the same or increase? im confused on this. thanks for any advice.
I mean would i be better off getting two drivers, each suitable for two cree 3070's

You just need to check the driver and LED data sheets.

min voltage on the hlg 185c is 71v so you should just make it at 72v with two cobs. Driver efficiency would drop from 94-95% to 92-93% efficiency. Not too bad I don't think.

I did something like that recently. Like you said, you can always add 2 more later. Separate drivers would work too, matters what you want in the end...modular or single..

my understanding, haven't been as busy building things lately. getting rusty

drive a 36v led at 1.4a and you get 50w....2 you get 100w...driver will only draw what you are using
 

mauricem00

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well the comparison grow has begun. my light meter tells me the led is providing 78% more light then the 2G11 CFLs for the same input power. so I am optimistic about this. concerned that resin production may not be as high but that remains to be seen
 

PerroVerde

Well-Known Member
well the comparison grow has begun. my light meter tells me the led is providing 78% more light then the 2G11 CFLs for the same input power. so I am optimistic about this. concerned that resin production may not be as high but that remains to be seen
As long as your temps stay in line and the plants are happy and healthy resin production should be as good or better...
 

nedelo

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Hi guys , can cree cobs cxa s work in parallel circuit , i ask because i got one meanweel driver HLG-120H-36A , ?????
 

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
As long as your temps stay in line and the plants are happy and healthy resin production should be as good or better...
temperature in the room stays between 70 and 75 degrees florescent and leds do not produce much heat but leds are more like HPS and florescent are more like MH lights in their spectrum the lack of UVB with leds may reduce resin production. the girls just went into flowering so I will know in 2 month. at 600ma those vero 18 are very effiecient butting out 40% more light than my florescents for the same input power so the plants may grow faster but thats the purpose of a controlled comparison grow.and it makes for a fun hobby
 

Stealthstyle

Well-Known Member
in a 50 by 90 cm area im not 100% running three or 4 cxb3070's (with no dimming) in a single row will be as efficient as running two rows of two or 3 on each row, even after watching that vid. but 50cm is pretty narrow so two rows might run too hotand have too much light..Sorry i guess another noob question just not sure yet how to setup the lights.

nobody seems to run a single row of cobs is what im saying.
 
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chatoo123

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Hi riu I am building a led grow light and I need to no a few things I got 100 3 watt bridgelux full spectrum 700ma I bought some drivers that are for 18-30 3 watt 650 ma 0.5 amp output voltage dc 33v-68v and 12-18 3watt 650 ma 36-60 volts LEDs I wanna know how I'm supposed to wire all them do I wire like 25 to the 30 3 watt drivers 2 of those i have and i got 6 of the other and like 10 or 12 to the 12-18 3 watt drivers in series or parallel I'm confused about that I hope someone can help a fellow grower out.
 

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
Hi riu I am building a led grow light and I need to no a few things I got 100 3 watt bridgelux full spectrum 700ma I bought some drivers that are for 18-30 3 watt 650 ma 0.5 amp output voltage dc 33v-68v and 12-18 3watt 650 ma 36-60 volts LEDs I wanna know how I'm supposed to wire all them do I wire like 25 to the 30 3 watt drivers 2 of those i have and i got 6 of the other and like 10 or 12 to the 12-18 3 watt drivers in series or parallel I'm confused about that I hope someone can help a fellow grower out.
on each driver you will need to wire atleast the minimum number of leds in series (12 or more for the 12-18 and 18 or more for the 18-30 going below this minimum number on each driver may cause your leds to flash rather then light continuously. going over the maximum number will cause the same thing . you may also want to add some cool white diodes to help reduce stretching and produce healthier plants.
 

selfmedicator462

Well-Known Member
Im thinking about switching to LED in my little 3x3 grow room. I do a 1 plant scrog with 400w veg and 600w flower right now. Temps are usually in the mid to high 80s in flower. Id like to get the temps down and reduce my running cost as much as possible. Anybody have any recommendations on store bought units or DIY set ups? Building a light is no problem for me, its just the picking the components is kinda confusing. Lots of opinions and different components out there. Thanks in advance.
 

Positivity

Well-Known Member
Hi riu I am building a led grow light and I need to no a few things I got 100 3 watt bridgelux full spectrum 700ma I bought some drivers that are for 18-30 3 watt 650 ma 0.5 amp output voltage dc 33v-68v and 12-18 3watt 650 ma 36-60 volts LEDs I wanna know how I'm supposed to wire all them do I wire like 25 to the 30 3 watt drivers 2 of those i have and i got 6 of the other and like 10 or 12 to the 12-18 3 watt drivers in series or parallel I'm confused about that I hope someone can help a fellow grower out.

wow..thats a lot of stars. Did about 80 once, takes some time but not too bad.

Little confusing how you wrote that up but I'll give it a try.

So the driver 36-60v...You need at least 36v and no more than 60v basically. Assuming the drivers specs are accurate. You need to look at the place you purchased your leds and see what the typical current is for that led at 650 or 700ma. Say its 2.5v....60/2.5 = 24. You can put at the most 24 leds. If the string is dim or doesn't light you may need to remove a few or check with a multimeter what the voltage actually is.

Same process for the 33-68v...

Wire them in series. Positive from driver to positive on star. negative on that star to the positive on the next until you end up with a negative out on the last star to the driver negative. Thats it...

When you use a better brand of driver like meanwell you can count on the driver specs to be accurate and they will normally light up every time if you calculated the leds total voltage right
 
I'm looking into building single chip per driver COBs with pretty big chips, I'm thinking 80-90 actual watts each should do the trick, and saving $$ is always stoke. So I pulled this cpu fan and heatsink off an old Dell yesterday... 1.5" x 1.5" x 7/8" deep heatsink. My question is can I cool ANY COB chip with this fan/heatsink, let alone a COB of as high of wattage as I need?IMG_20151213_103434.jpg
 

mauricem00

Well-Known Member
I'm looking into building single chip per driver COBs with pretty big chips, I'm thinking 80-90 actual watts each should do the trick, and saving $$ is always stoke. So I pulled this cpu fan and heatsink off an old Dell yesterday... 1.5" x 1.5" x 7/8" deep heatsink. My question is can I cool ANY COB chip with this fan/heatsink, let alone a COB of as high of wattage as I need?View attachment 3563585
that heatsink is a little small for anything more then a 10 watt led you want a heatsink that is at least 4" by4" by1" with forced air cooling
 

Stealthstyle

Well-Known Member
Im thinking about switching to LED in my little 3x3 grow room. I do a 1 plant scrog with 400w veg and 600w flower right now. Temps are usually in the mid to high 80s in flower. Id like to get the temps down and reduce my running cost as much as possible. Anybody have any recommendations on store bought units or DIY set ups? Building a light is no problem for me, its just the picking the components is kinda confusing. Lots of opinions and different components out there. Thanks in advance.
If you used 4 cxb3070's with a matching driver from here
https://www.rollitup.org/t/matching-drivers-and-cobs.883866/ rated at 1400 milli amps (HLG 185HC1400) im sure that would beat a 400 watt hps or be equivalent thats what im doing it would pull 200 watts or 220 watts from the wall including fans.
Or if you've got the cash to go a vero 29 which is stronger and more efficient but more costly run those.You will also needa different driver and possibly different voltage and milliamps, im not sure as i havent looked into them that much (around 60$a cob)

Im new to this too but reading a lot but the last numbers on each driver are what milliamps the driver will run them at and im sure that will run 4 cree 3070's.
If im wrong anyone please correct me.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/if-you-are-new-to-led-and-want-help-choosing-what-to-buy-post-here.633304/page-385#post-12142487
 
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