COB NOOB Help needed!

So I have chosen to buy 4 Vero29 SE 7th gen.

Now for the questions.

Is there any place I can order them that ship from inside Europe. I looked it up on digikey and it would cost me around 30€ for shipping and about 20€ for VAT , that's about 50€ for nothing which is almkst the price I would pay for the LEDs themselves. I'm from Latvia btw.

What driver should I use to power them ? Also where to buy it from?

Can I use any passive 130mm heatsink? If not, what would be my cheapest option and where to order it from?

What would be the best lens?

What would be the most efficient way to layer them out? 2x2 square or 1x4 line, assuming I have unlimited grow space? I will be growing autoflowers. How far apart should the leds be then?

And lastly, should I take the 4000k version?

Thank you so much for the person, who Is going to amswer all of this! I am breaking my head over all of this for the past weeks.

you should specify which cobs youre looking for because availability varies from region to region

CobKits said:

you should specify which cobs youre looking for because availability varies from region to region

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Didn't I specify in the first line? I would like to buy 4 Vero 29 7th gen SE cobs

doh! i missed that sorry. was just trying to help, not be a smartass!

im sure some europeans will be up soon and chime in with what they know

He probably means what voltage and color too. For example: mine are in the same family as what you want. But mine are the 69.4 Volt versions. In a more reddish 3500k spectrum.

Their model is: 35E10K0C7. And I do belive they are the 90 CRI version.

actually i did mean brand as far as avaialbility but i boned it and didnt see the first line. but yeah, which vero he chooses to use is relevant for the rest of his questions


OP, check out ledgardener.com its a good resource

Nugachino said:

He probably means what voltage and color too. For example: mine are in the same family as what you want. But mine are the 69.4 Volt versions. In a more reddish 3500k spectrum.

Their model is: 35E10K0C7. And I do belive they are the 90 CRI version.

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I have heard that the 4000k are the overall best for veg and flower. Is that true?

4000k is the most balanced in the red and blue peaks. But every time I've asked which cobs to pick. I've almost always been told to go with the 3500k option.

There's probably only about 15-25% less blue in a 3500k cob than their 4000k counterparts. But, I've been told I'll appreciate the extra red come flowering time.

CobKits said:

actually i did mean brand as far as avaialbility but i boned it and didnt see the first line. but yeah, which vero he chooses to use is relevant for the rest of his questions


OP, check out ledgardener its a good resource

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Yeah, I have already visited that site. But I am too scared to try and do things myself. This will be the first time I am going to be using any light. I planted my first plants a few weeks ago outside as an experiment and am really getting a lot of joy from just watching them grow. But whenever there is a cloudy day, it breaks my heart, so I decided I will need lighting for my next grow. Maybe even this one, If I find everything In time. They still have 6+-weeks until harvest.

So I really don't want to srew up and burn any of the COBs with wrong heatsinks or whatever. My budget Is limited.

Nugachino said:

4000k is the most balanced in the red and blue peaks. But every time I've asked which cobs to pick. I've almost always been told to go with the 3500k option.

There's probably only about 15-25% less blue in a 3500k cob than their 4000k counterparts. But, I've been told I'll appreciate the extra red come flowering time.

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They will yield more? Do you have results?Are you happy with your lights?

If it's any consolation. I'm on my first light build too.

And if I can do it. I'm sure you could do it too. Just takes a lot of reading and triple measurements before you drill or cut.

Others who have them are definitely happy with the results. I'm still putting everything together in my grow space. But, I've seen them fired up. And they make my old light look like a small torch.

Nugachino said:

If it's any consolation. I'm on my first light build too.

And if I can do it. I'm sure you could do it too. Just takes a lot of reading and triple measurements before you drill or cut.

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I think the drilling and cutting would be the easiest part. How far apart will you space your cobs?

Too scared to do things yourself + limited budget is not a good start.

Your english is excellent, have you tried viewing Youtube instructional videos? Quite literally positive to positive, negative to negative connections.. Not too hard.

Expect to pay 200%+ actual cost/ premium if someone builds it for you/ provides a warranty etc.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the Fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Now I gotta watch Dune again..

Due to limited space. My cobs are probably not an optimal distance apart. But from the center of each cob. They are 22cm apart. Which left me enough room to put my driver if I desired it.

Each has its own 14cm x 8cm heatsink rated at 100w passively cooled. You could go higher wattage with just a pc fsn on top of each pinsink.

MasterpieceNutes said:

Too scared to do things yourself + limited budget is not a good start.

Your english is excellent, have you tried viewing Youtube instructional videos? Quite literally positive to positive, negative to negative connections.. Not too hard.

Expect to pay 200%+ actual cost/ premium if someone builds it for you/ provides a warranty etc.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the Fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

"Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Now I gotta watch Dune again..

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Connecting everything togather doesn't intimidate me at all. I'm concerned with getting the most up to date COBs that have proven to be effective and other parts that would work nicely with them. I have chosen 4 Vero 29s and now would like to know what driver and heatsink would be the best for them, without breaking the bank. I mean, I have seen heatsink that cost up to 80€ a piece. Can I not buy a cheap 140mm passive heatsink from alibaba?

Alex check out this vid and the rest of the 7 part series, it will help you understand drivers and most aspects of building a Cob set up.

Alex77145 said:

Connecting everything togather doesn't intimidate me at all. I'm concerned with getting the most up to date COBs that have proven to be effective and other parts that would work nicely with them. I have chosen 4 Vero 29s and now would like to know what driver and heatsink would be the best for them, without breaking the bank. I mean, I have seen heatsink that cost up to 80€ a piece. Can I not buy a cheap 140mm passive heatsink from alibaba?

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If you want Alibaba heatsinks then try kingbrite on there. They probably sell everything you need including the Veros and drivers.

You still need to make a decision on your grow space though, that's super relevant to the whole thing. Once you make that decision you can then work out how hard to run the vero and from that work out the driver and the heatsink needed.

Kingbriteled.m.en.alibaba.com is a good source but you asked for inside eu. Check export-estonia on ebay but I think it does sell only citizen cobs.

coreywebster said:

If you want Alibaba heatsinks then try kingbrite on there. They probably sell everything you need including the Veros and drivers.

You still need to make a decision on your grow space though, that's super relevant to the whole thing. Once you make that decision you can then work out how hard to run the vero and from that work out the driver and the heatsink needed.

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But lets say I have 4 Veros and I want to grow as much bud as I possibly can with those 4 Veros and doing it as efficiently as possible, talking about the electrical bill. What would be my setup then?