Why no red COB's?

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
With 'horticultural' lighting getting to be a big business, why arent there any red cobs (like 3590s) available? Id think they could use a similar coating process that they use to make the blues white, to get a spread spectrum, much higher efficiency (compared to lower K whites) red cob starting around 600 and going up to the infrared zone.... Am I crazy?
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
With 'horticultural' lighting getting to be a big business, why arent there any red cobs (like 3590s) available? Id think they could use a similar coating process that they use to make the blues white, to get a spread spectrum, much higher efficiency (compared to lower K whites) red cob starting around 600 and going up to the infrared zone.... Am I crazy?
Because people use these.
https://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut2203
These are COBs. Just not as big. There's an entire thread on this.
 

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
Because people use these.
https://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut2203
These are COBs. Just not as big. There's an entire thread on this.
Yeah ive seen those. Those single LEDs are nice, but arent they all pretty much focused on a single wavelength, or very near. Something with a curve starting at 620ish and peaking around 660, slowly diminishing to 740 might not be horrible. Maybe I should email Cree.... :P
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Yeah ive seen those. Those single LEDs are nice, but arent they all pretty much focused on a single wavelength, or very near. Something with a curve starting at 620ish and peaking around 660, slowly diminishing to 740 might not be horrible. Maybe I should email Cree.... :P
That's the red spectrum mate... you can't have a cob that is white like a cxb3590, paint it red, and have it be in that range.
 

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
That's the red spectrum mate... you can't have a cob that is white like a cxb3590, paint it red, and have it be in that range.
Ok, my understanding is that there are basically 2 main colored LEDs available, blue around 450, from which white is created by adding filters, and red around 620, which other shades of red are created from by adding filters. So if you can make a white cob from blues in a bunch of different variations, why cant they make a red cob similarly, using the red LED's? Maybe Im way off base on this.

For example go to the BML custom site and drag a 3500k white onto the bar, youll see its listed as 25% efficient and it peaks at about 620nm, because of the filters used to create the white light at this desired spectrum. These are created using 450ish nm blues which are originally in the high 30% efficiency range, and they still retain some of the initial spike at this color range. If you drag a 615 red onto the bar, youll see that its 44% efficient. So to create a broad spectrum in the red range, couldnt they just create a cob using this very efficient red, with some filters applied to create a broader spectrum range cob, which would be more desirable AND more efficient in the process, while easier to use than individual stars and significantly more efficient than going with a extremely filtered white, like a 2700k, to get a good boost in that nm range? Maybe Im tripping but this seems feasible in my warped sense of reality. Less heat, more output, better spectrum seems like a win, win, win...
http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-led-strip/
 

Rahz

Well-Known Member
Cree would need to believe they would sell. White cobs is where the money is, residential, commercial, business. Agricultural COB is still a niche business. There are a few Chinese companies making red cobs but efficiency isn't close to competing with Cree, so useless for our purpose.
 

Resinhound

Well-Known Member
We are getting a lab grade PPFD reader, it's coming in next week, it's incredibly expensive and it will run under lab conditions.
I'll have the values as well as coverage area soon.
Just so I understand this clearly...cree doesnt know how to make a proper red COB,but you guys have the secret technology to build them...you just dont have a ppfd meter to get the specs from them huh? Is that right or am I misunderstanding?im not saying this is what it is but it looks like a money grab to me,I truly hope thats not the case.I can just say for the last 2 weeks "specs are coming next week".Im truly hoping we have a good alternative to cree for a horticultural led application,but when you come in here and talk about how cree doesnt know how to build a red spectrum,yet you cant even get readings off your chips cause you dont have a ppfd reader that seems kinda dodgey to me.
 

BOBBY_G

Well-Known Member
Just so I understand this clearly...cree doesnt know how to make a proper red COB,but you guys have the secret technology to build them...you just dont have a ppfd meter to get the specs from them huh? Is that right or am I misunderstanding?im not saying this is what it is but it looks like a money grab to me,I truly hope thats not the case.I can just say for the last 2 weeks "specs are coming next week".Im truly hoping we have a good alternative to cree for a horticultural led application,but when you come in here and talk about how cree doesnt know how to build a red spectrum,yet you cant even get readings off your chips cause you dont have a ppfd reader that seems kinda dodgey to me.

chill brah, just cause these guys dont have crees budget doesnt mean they dont have good intentions, give em a chance
 

coolj

Well-Known Member
The reason why company's like cree/citizen can't make red spectrum is because they have yet to find the right material to convert the red spectrum.

Too bad. We have one of the best materials on earth to convert the spectrum with minimal loss. Trade secret.

I want some !
 
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