Help hanging cob lights

[PSlacks]

hey RIU folks and hope everyone is doing well this fine morning. Okay in a rush so gonna get to the point quick here, I've pretty much decided on going with a cob setup and I know they're about $40 apiece and all the details but I don't quite understand how I would go about hanging them? It seems to me that there is gonna be 16 different units to hang inside my 4x4 or 5x5 grow tent since I'm building 16 cob lights. I'm sorry if I'm over looking something but this is still a concept I'm studying on. I'd really appreciate the help guys. Happy wednesday

 

[RandomHero8913]

Make a frame out of angle aluminum

 

[PSlacks]

Make a frame out of angle aluminum

Alrighty I think I can manage that, does 16 cobs on one aluminum frame sound like too much? Will I be able to make this work inside of a 4x4 or 5x5 tent? I'm not quite sure of how much spacing between the lights is "too much" or "too little." Or is there even such a thing as this since I'm in such a small tent space? Sorry for the influx of questions and thanks for the help my friend

 

[coreywebster]

Look at the way this kit is framed.

Mine is similar but 3 rows of 3 all mounted in one frame. Its heavy as fuck but I went over board with oversized heat sinks, my tent can hold the weight. You can either hang 4 fixtures of 4 cobs each or make it as one unit.

Edit, Since the frame is L shaped I opted to use thermal putty which is cheap to hold the heatsinks in place. Its pretty solid. I went that direction because I didn't want to drill and tap.

 

[xX_BHMC_Xx]

Make sure you use 1/8" thick angle for a fixture that large so you don't get any flexing. 10"-14" spacing on center is normal for most COBs, depending on your desired output and hanging height.

 

[PSlacks]

Look at the way this kit is framed.

Mine is similar but 3 rows of 3 all mounted in one frame. Its heavy as fuck but I went over board with oversized heat sinks, my tent can hold the weight. You can either hang 4 fixtures of 4 cobs each or make it as one unit.

Edit, Since the frame is L shaped I opted to use thermal putty which is cheap to hold the heatsinks in place. Its pretty solid. I went that direction because I didn't want to drill and tap.

Thanks once again for the help my friend. DIY cob building seems like a daunting task so I'm just trying to get everything right my first go. Thanks so much for that video, answered just about all the questions I had!

 

[coreywebster]

Thanks once again for the help my friend. DIY cob building seems like a daunting task so I'm just trying to get everything right my first go. Thanks so much for that video, answered just about all the questions I had!

No worries man. I was in the same boat about a year ago. The good folks on here pointed me in the right direction. Its a pleasure to be able to do the same for somebody else.
Once you have this build up and running you will be wondering how you can expand your grow area just so you can build another light!

 

[PSlacks]

I was sure I couldn't be the only one that was facing this problem, so I knew where to go and as always anyways considering building another light, I've actually started concocting another possible grow that might sound complicated but may be very possible. Was curious if I could possible message you about it to get your take on it since you run a cob setup?

 

[PSlacks]

No worries man. I was in the same boat about a year ago. The good folks on here pointed me in the right direction. Its a pleasure to be able to do the same for somebody else.
Once you have this build up and running you will be wondering how you can expand your grow area just so you can build another light!

Another question, about the Mau5 IV kit from cutter.com, what the hell are these RZ diffusers and what do they do? They don't seem expensive but not quite sure if I need them or not.

 

[coreywebster]

Another question, about the Mau5 IV kit from cutter.com, what the hell are these RZ diffusers and what do they do? They don't seem expensive but not quite sure if I need them or not.

I run with no lenses or reflectors. Diffusers are not something I have looked into, I imagine they spread light to stop hot spots.
Mark (@welight ) would be able to tell you more about them.

 

[welight]

Another question, about the Mau5 IV kit from cutter.com, what the hell are these RZ diffusers and what do they do? They don't seem expensive but not quite sure if I need them or not.

the diffusers do as the name implies, diffusing the light in side the reflector, they also protect the COB a little, you will get some small loss in light output using them
Cheers
Mark

 

[PSlacks]

No worries man. I was in the same boat about a year ago. The good folks on here pointed me in the right direction. Its a pleasure to be able to do the same for somebody else.
Once you have this build up and running you will be wondering how you can expand your grow area just so you can build another light!

the diffusers do as the name implies, diffusing the light in side the reflector, they also protect the COB a little, you will get some small loss in light output using them
Cheers
Mark

thanks for the help mark, understood!

 

[PSlacks]

@coreywebster hey man was curious on what yields your achieving with your 9 cob light setup? Gram/watt ratio or numbers if you can, trying to see what others are achieving here on RIU

 

[coreywebster]

@coreywebster hey man was curious on what yields your achieving with your 9 cob light setup? Gram/watt ratio or numbers if you can, trying to see what others are achieving here on RIU

Nothing special gpw wise. I limit my plant count deliberately so If I get busted its less harsh.
When I did HPS I was pulling 18oz out of half my 8x4 tent, with the cobs I'm pulling 23-25oz off 660w in the same half.
I have only a few runs under the cobs so far. I could make that GPW much better but I limit my plant count in case I get busted. I'm also limited to how long I veg for perpetual reasons. Last run was 3 plants. 2 Topped and 1 scrogged in a 18"x24" screen, the scrog yielded 9.5oz, the others made the total 23oz dry with about 2oz of smaller buds. If I had more space to move plants about and more space to train them I would go for filling one half of my tent at a time with modular scrogs and that would really look good on paper.

 

[Nutria]

Edit, Since the frame is L shaped I opted to use thermal putty which is cheap to hold the heatsinks in place. Its pretty solid. I went that direction because I didn't want to drill and tap.

Whats that?
u mean to secure hetasinks in place on the frame?

 

[PSlacks]

Nothing special gpw wise. I limit my plant count deliberately so If I get busted its less harsh.
When I did HPS I was pulling 18oz out of half my 8x4 tent, with the cobs I'm pulling 23-25oz off 660w in the same half.
I have only a few runs under the cobs so far. I could make that GPW much better but I limit my plant count in case I get busted. I'm also limited to how long I veg for perpetual reasons. Last run was 3 plants. 2 Topped and 1 scrogged in a 18"x24" screen, the scrog yielded 9.5oz, the others made the total 23oz dry with about 2oz of smaller buds. If I had more space to move plants about and more space to train them I would go for filling one half of my tent at a time with modular scrogs and that would really look good on paper.

Very nice numbers my friend. I hear ya on keeping the plant number down, even in a legal state there's a limit on the plants we can have so we gotta make it count, lol. Besides that I noticed you mentioned that you're growing inside of a 8x4 tent. I actually have a question concerning your 8x4 tent and if you think I might be able to run this setup in one. Okay well I only have a little while longer left at my current residence, 5 months to be exact. I'm planning on going with just a small autoflower grow in a 4x4 tent with the 4 mau5 diy kits we were discussing. I figured this simple setup will be sufficient in supplying a few ounces to hold over until I'm in the next place. So the next place is where the real question concerning your tent comes in. I've been tossing around the idea of a perpetual harvest but just couldn't come down to a solid plan. We'll I've got this idea now that I could possibly do a monthly perpetual harvest. The 4x4 tent will be repurposed into a veg tent and I will buy a 8x4 tent for the plants in final. I was thinking I would put a total of 8 mau5 diy kits in that 8x4 tent. Basically one plant would be harvested at the end of the month and it would be replaced immediately by the following plant.. blah blah I knew you're probably fimilar with the perpetual harvest so I don't need to explain further. Just curious on what you thought of this? My main worry is that the 4x4 tent might not be big enough to allow 2 months worth of veg growth? Since each plant will spend 2 months in veg and 2 in flower. Oh! Almost forgot to mention that I most definitely plan on using scrog method on this setup.

 

[coreywebster]

Whats that?
u mean to secure hetasinks in place on the frame?

I think its known as thermal putty or thermal silicon. Its dirt cheap. I didn't want to use it for the actual cobs but yeah since the cobs sit on the frame that secures them. It pretty solid.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Halnziye-HY910-5g-tube-Silicone-Heatsink-Plaster-Thermal-Adhesive-Glue-/263108860455?epid=565823394&hash=item3d42829a27:g:UfEAAOSwDk5UDNfG
I wouldn't use it as TIM though.

 

[coreywebster]

Very nice numbers my friend. I hear ya on keeping the plant number down, even in a legal state there's a limit on the plants we can have so we gotta make it count, lol. Besides that I noticed you mentioned that you're growing inside of a 8x4 tent. I actually have a question concerning your 8x4 tent and if you think I might be able to run this setup in one. Okay well I only have a little while longer left at my current residence, 5 months to be exact. I'm planning on going with just a small autoflower grow in a 4x4 tent with the 4 mau5 diy kits we were discussing. I figured this simple setup will be sufficient in supplying a few ounces to hold over until I'm in the next place. So the next place is where the real question concerning your tent comes in. I've been tossing around the idea of a perpetual harvest but just couldn't come down to a solid plan. We'll I've got this idea now that I could possibly do a monthly perpetual harvest. The 4x4 tent will be repurposed into a veg tent and I will buy a 8x4 tent for the plants in final. I was thinking I would put a total of 8 mau5 diy kits in that 8x4 tent. Basically one plant would be harvested at the end of the month and it would be replaced immediately by the following plant.. blah blah I knew you're probably fimilar with the perpetual harvest so I don't need to explain further. Just curious on what you thought of this? My main worry is that the 4x4 tent might not be big enough to allow 2 months worth of veg growth? Since each plant will spend 2 months in veg and 2 in flower. Oh! Almost forgot to mention that I most definitely plan on using scrog method on this setup.

Well going on my experience my 4x4 veg tent limits me a bit. I wish I had room for either another 4x8 or at least a 5x5 which would allow me the space to do multi scrogged plants and have room to move them about to train them. My 4x4 allows me to have 3,4 or 5 plants vegging and the next lot of clones, so I can pop my vegged plants in , take more clones, pot up the clones ready, start to flower the plants I take out and keep repeating this process.
2 months veg and 2 month flower you might want a bigger tent for veg, its hard to say, some strains will really go crazy when you put them in flower and others might hardly stretch. It never hurts to have more room than needed, in veg you not going to need to high amount of light so you could use the same light in a 5x5 for veg that you would use for 4x4 in flower, power wise I mean.

Put up a link to the lights you want to use for the 8x4 and I will have a look and see if you have enough or too much. I know theres a lot of different mau5 kits available. 8 full kits or 8 cobs in total?

 

[nevergoodenuf]

@PSlacks I'm in a tight space also, not a tent, but an L shaped room no wider than 6'. And 2 months veg only if your doing 1 plant per 4'x4'. I use 3'x3' trays on rolling carts that I can put the res under. If your perpetual, then each tray needs 20g or more. 4 plants with 3 weeks veg should fully fill the canopy by week 2 of flower. Even if you aren't doing hydro this setup will save time and mess. Now, if you go 2 tents for flower, they you will be able to control problems better and also stagger electrical load.
This is 3 weeks veg, 4 bubba kush, netted to 4.5'x4.5' with 650w of COB's at week 6.

 

[Gquebed]

the diffusers do as the name implies, diffusing the light in side the reflector, they also protect the COB a little, you will get some small loss in light output using them
Cheers
Mark

What kind of lenses are available for the cree 3590s? I have angelina reflectors and wonder if lenses might fit them

And where to get them?