Cbx Series cobs. Cumulative info and comp.

lol right, just buy a few for expansion

nogod_ said:

That is a screamin deal on those meanwell drivers!

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@SupraSPL could you link me the wiring necessary on amazon. Ill post a diy thread after Everything is in. I got a nice garage waiting for a project. I need the ac side and dc side connectors. I can just use crimp connectors with plastic covers, right? I THINK I just need the wire (idk what guage) then a socket. Then crimps to connect the wires. I got the holders for 3590 so there shouldnt be much solder work. if any. I got drill and tapss.I hope itll be up by the 15th.

Good source for wago connectors, 15% off blf15. The wagos are very easy and one of the safest options if you are going to have AC connections outside of a junction box.

As far as wire, to keep things "by the book" you probably want a wire with a jacket rating 300V or higher on the AC side and DC side. I like the red/black "Husky" brand extension cord wire from Home Depot. You can use the male on your AC side wiring and use the excess on the DC side. It has a heavy duty jacket but with a nice flex to it and without the overwhelming smell of rubber that the power tool wire has. It has a ground wire so you can ground your heatsinks.

Anyway that is one example of what you could use for wiring there are many options. The 18 gauge security wire is cheap, convenient, neat and it would do the job BUT it is technically not rated to carry any amount of current at voltages higher than 30V.

SupraSPL said:

So for 6 CXB3590s, you could use a pair of HLG-120H-C700 and put 3 on each driver @ 700mA. The string would be almost fully loaded which is good for driver efficiency.

If you went with HLG-185H-C1050, only 2 could fit on each driver and the string would be far from fully loaded, so you would need 3 drivers. A third option, the HLG-120H-C1050 could also fit 2 CXB3590s. The string would be closer to fully loaded so it is a good match and you would need 3 drivers in that case also.

So here is how they would compare:

CXB3590 CB X6 $360
Rosewill RCX-Z200 X 6 $84
HLG-120H-C700 X 2 $130
total cost $574
293W @ 51.7% = 151.5 PAR W + 141.5W heat
$3.79/PAR W

CXB3590 CB X6 $360
Rosewill RCX-Z200 X 6 $84
HLG-120H-C1050 X 3 $195
total cost $639
453W @ 45.6% = 207 PAR W + 246.4W heat
$3.09/PAR W

A nice $ savings/W up front and either option will work awesomely. At 700mA they are creating 13.4% more light/W and 12% less heat/W.

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First post on here after trying to read your 140+ page thread and I think I'm just on information overload at this point... I used a DIY LED setup over my old reef tank that I would like to repurpose. My old setup was all CREE 3W stars and I'll likely keep a few of them on the heatsink to supplement color (red and blues) but would like to add (3) of the CXB3590's to it. I'm looking to use a dimmable driver so I can hook it up to my controller, so would you suggest one HLG-120H-C700 driver in my situation?

Here was my old reef setup, it's a 24" heat sink so I figured adding 3 would be good at 6", 12", and 18" on the heatsink...


Also, if I can't find the 3590's, what dimmable driver would you suggest for 3070's?

Thanks for any advice you can give, it's nice to have a source of so much knowledge on the subject....

@FESTER665 , I am not the expert but I can help you. kingbrite on ali has the cxa3950 heres link. There is alot of info dont get overwhelmed. once you get things all lined up youll knoww how you can work it out.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CREE-3590-Original-CREE-CXA-diodes/32285802179.html

The new cxb I posted links to earlier if that is the 3590 you are refering to. I can help giuide you to resources if you need others helped me so id eb happy to pay it fwrd.

Lighterfighter said:

@FESTER665 , I am not the expert but I can help you. kingbrite on ali has the cxa3950 heres link. There is alot of info dont get overwhelmed. once you get things all lined up youll knoww how you can work it out.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CREE-3590-Original-CREE-CXA-diodes/32285802179.html

The new cxb I posted links to earlier if that is the 3590 you are refering to. I can help giuide you to resources if you need others helped me so id eb happy to pay it fwrd.

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Hey Lighterfighter,

Yeah I'm definitely looking at the CXB3590, I'm looking through Digikey, Newark, and Mouser for any of the parts needed at this point. If I have to go with CXA's I wouldn't be opposed, but if the CXB's are going to be in stock in mid-March I'll wait on those.

My biggest concern is the driver. I'm hoping to drive three LED's off one driver that's a 1-10v dimmable unit so I can use my controller with it. @SupraSPL made mention of running three off the mean well driver so I was hoping to see if that's what driver others would recommend so I order the right stuff.

I'm looking at this driver to run the three CXB3590's:


HLG-120H-C700B

Would that driver work well for three cob's ???

FESTER665 said:

Hey Lighterfighter,

Yeah I'm definitely looking at the CXB3590, I'm looking through Digikey, Newark, and Mouser for any of the parts needed at this point. If I have to go with CXA's I wouldn't be opposed, but if the CXB's are going to be in stock in mid-March I'll wait on those.

My biggest concern is the driver. I'm hoping to drive three LED's off one driver that's a 1-10v dimmable unit so I can use my controller with it. @SupraSPL made mention of running three off the mean well driver so I was hoping to see if that's what driver others would recommend so I order the right stuff.

I'm looking at this driver to run the three CXB3590's:


HLG-120H-C700B

Would that driver work well for three cob's ???

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Yes, it will work and the driver will be fully utilized with maximum efficiency.

amazon is cheap 19 w shipping for 50 for wago connectors, thanksk man. @FESTER665 that is actually supras recommended setup.

$2.70 per parwatt btw. @SupraSPL Ps these are legit,

http://www.amazon.com/Push-On-Wire-Connector-12-18Awg/dp/B005E0KH22/ref=pd_sim_hi_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0GQ06X2ETQWC8EV16R9N

So if Digikey isn't able to get the CXB's, will that driver still work well with the CXA's ? They're both showing up as 72v in the Cree information I'm seeing so I think that they should be okay? I'm going to get on the list with them to see if they go through, but if they don't then I'll just grab CXA's since they're in stock from what I can tell.

Also, would I be okay with (3) 3000k's and then (24) royal blue 3w LED's for veg or should I do (2) 3000K's and (1) 5000k and then just have the 5000K and RB 3w's on during veg? I'm planning on running the (24) Royal Blue 3w's during veg, and then (24) photosynthetic red 3w's during flower...

Thanks for the help guys!

I believe it is fine, the thing that will change is the efficiency ratios. the cxa is 77v too. lol They better BE cause I was def banking on that fact. I told supra that was my backup of cxb are over 1 week late. He didnt mention that would be an issue, but it doesnt mean it wouldnt be either. I am pretty sure it just affects lumen output and efficiency

Lighterfighter said:

I believe it is fine, the thing that will change is the efficiency ratios. the cxa is 77v too. lol They better BE cause I was def banking on that fact. I told supra that was my backup of cxb are over 1 week late. He didnt mention that would be an issue, but it doesnt mean it wouldnt be either. I am pretty sure it just affects lumen output and efficiency

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They were on order at Mouser and due in 3/20 or something but I believe they were $88 each... We have a Digikey account at work, maybe I'll check with them Monday and see if they have any info...

FESTER665 said:

So if Digikey isn't able to get the CXB's, will that driver still work well with the CXA's ? They're both showing up as 72v in the Cree information I'm seeing so I think that they should be okay

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and @Lighterfighter

Yes unfortunately the driver is not a perfect match for CXA3590, the Vf is higher so the driver might only be able to push them to 900-950mA.

SupraSPL said:

and @Lighterfighter

Yes unfortunately the driver is not a perfect match for CXA3590, the Vf is higher so the driver might only be able to push them to 900-950mA.

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Is there a dimmable driver you would recommend over it if I have to go with the CXA3590's? My current 3w versions are all on Inventronics drivers, but I've heard nothing but good stuff about the Mean Well drivers...

Hopefully They'll be getting the CXB's in and it won't matter, but I still want to make sure I cover all my bases before then.

900mA is a perfectly good option to run at so you could use those drivers. What is the model # of the inventronics?

I can check them tomorrow morning, I'm running (5) 700mA for the red/blue/cool whites, and (1) 1050mA for the 10 "high noon" 3w's.... Was a great setup for my old reef tank, just going to be changing things around and wanted to try these cob setups. I never got into the dimming features but since I bought the newer cards for my controller I'll have full control of that feature so I wanted to make use of it now.

Has anyone done a simulated sunrise/sunset with their setups or is that just a waste with this application? I know a few people who were able to simulate entire lunar cycles in their reef tanks and even get corals to spawn and things like that.

In any case, I just think it'll be nice to be able to dim them during certain times when the light just isn't needed to be on full power....

Thanks for all your help with this though, I camt wait to start ordering stuff again, I loved building this first fixture

You can control the "B" versions of the Mean Well drivers with a pwm signal, which might be a way to program ramp up ramp down cycles.

Ya, I got a model A 1050, it had dimmable amps so I could push it (down to 500), worst comes to worst. Still not a bad deal.

bad news Current Lead/Quantity Expected Ship Date Estimate quantity 2-3/11/2015 quantity 4 4/12/2015 so only 6 total lol.

Might have to talk to our Mouser rep and see if they can match pricing and get it out on 3/20... We'll see how it goes.

I'm going to be repurposing my old reef controller for this so I have full control with 1-10v so I'll be using the B versions for sure. It'll allow me to monitor times, temps, Ph, etc easily and log everything.

This is my controller:
http://www.aquacave.com/ghl-profilux-3-starter-pack-profilux-3-digital-pab-6-socket-power-bar-generic-ph-probe-temp-probe-pab-cable-cali-s.html

Only difference is I've added a bunch of extra 1-10v ports so I can control even more drivers..