Want to add “cheap” LED option to 800 watt COB array

Tstat

Tstat

Well-Known Member
Right now I am running 800 watts of cob in a 7x3 space. They are Timber and Northern Grow. I’d like to add another 200 watts or so, but don’t want to spend a lot. I see some Amazon cobs advertised here that are less than $100. There are also blurple lights advertised. Mine are 3000-4000k.

I don’t want to buy shit, but I’ve already sunk almost $2000 and I’m just looking for a cheaper option to get more lumens on the plants.

Anyone suggest something that fits this bill?
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Suggestion: bridgelux eb-strips, led on a strip, will work passive/no heatsink on 700mA. You get about 15 watts out of a 2' strips at 700mA of well distributed light. Several threads on these in the ledsection
 
Tstat

Tstat

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Suggestion: bridgelux eb-strips, led on a strip, will work passive/no heatsink on 700mA. You get about 15 watts out of a 2' strips at 700mA of well distributed light. Several threads on these in the ledsection
Click to expand...
I don’t think I want to DYI on this, however. Unless it’s super easy. I had someone build me 100 watt cobs and 2 out of 4 failed and they don’t seem very safe, imo. My grow right now is awesome with 800 watts, but my plan was to run 1000 in that space (ie. failed DYI cobs)
 
GBAUTO

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
Tstat said:
I don’t think I want to DYI on this, however. Unless it’s super easy.
Click to expand...
Can you operate a screwdriver and wire stripper without a trip to the ER? If the answer is yes. then you can build a bitchin' light with the strips or boards.
 
Tstat

Tstat

Well-Known Member
GBAUTO said:
Can you operate a screwdriver and wire stripper without a trip to the ER?
Click to expand...
LOL, well, I guess so! Have a site with detailed DIRECTIONS on how to accomplish this?

I mean, I'm good with doing things DYI, but electricity always scares me. I always said that if you fuck up some plumbing or something, it might be bad, but it won't burn down your house!

I did build my UC RDWC myself after taking pictures of a set-up in a store. I'm pretty smart, just afraid of electricity, hehe.

thetr33man said:
These are pretty decent if you dont wanna DIY...
https://cobshop.net/shop?olsFocus=false&olsPage=products
Click to expand...
I'm going to look into these some more, but they look pretty nice and portable. I grow several strains in my RDWC, so I do have lights placed at different levels. As I said, I love my set-up, I just always think I can do better!
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Havent tried a strip build yet but it seems a lot more straight forward than cobs, especially low amp brideglux: no soldering, no messing about with heatsinks and thermal interface, just basicly stick a 18 awg wire into a pushin connector. If you want minimum fuzz, do a serial build at 700 mA. 2 things for safety: make sure the total voltage doesnt go higher than what the connectors can take. Should be in user manual. 2: put shrink wrap over the connections so they stay safe if you get the light wet.
Maybe theres more advice, dont kbow.
Anyways, rdwc involves an electric pump and a lot of water, hows this different? Best of luck!
 
thetr33man

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
Evil-Mobo said:
I have 22 of these if that means anything didn't want to DIY either and I love the adjust ability over individual plants vs a fixed light being x amount of distance from the tallest plant etc. If you have any questions on these let me know.
Click to expand...
Only problem I can see with them is they could be more powerful. I actually made my own, but in 95w and 155w sizes and they work great!
20171122_185033.jpg
 
E

endlessz

Active Member
I would get the amazon COB to enhance the spectrums. The latest 2018 lights are slightly pink instead of white lights
 
Tstat

Tstat

Well-Known Member
thetr33man said:
Only problem I can see with them is they could be more powerful.
Click to expand...
I don’t really see the stats on their page. How many watts and lumens are they? I can certainly see a couple scattered in my array of cobs, but will it really make a difference? I’ll post pics of my lights tomorrow.
 
Last edited:
thetr33man

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
Tstat said:
I don’t really see the stats on their page. How many watts and lumens are they? I can certainly see a couple scattered in my array of cobs, but will it really make a difference? I’ll post pics of my lights tomorrow.
Click to expand...
They are good for the power they draw, I didnt mean they arent, but I wanted something more powerful so I could use less lights in my grow area. Double the wattage = 1/2 the adjustments when plants are growing, etc. I think I like the 95w versions I made the most as they are smaller and easier to handle. When you start passive cooling a cob drawing around 150watts, the heatsink you need gets to be much larger, still a lot easier to manipulate than large HID setups tho.
 
R

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
Tstat said:
Right now I am running 800 watts of cob in a 7x3 space. They are Timber and Northern Grow. I’d like to add another 200 watts or so, but don’t want to spend a lot. I see some Amazon cobs advertised here that are less than $100. There are also blurple lights advertised. Mine are 3000-4000k.

I don’t want to buy shit, but I’ve already sunk almost $2000 and I’m just looking for a cheaper option to get more lumens on the plants.

Anyone suggest something that fits this bill?
Click to expand...
Just move the lights closer 38w per square foot should be plenty
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top