Cxb3500 build for 3x3

First post and thought I would share a build I am starting. This light will be built for a 3x3x7 tent. Today I ordered 6 cxb3590 3500k CD bin, ideal holders and the graphite pads from Cutter. Just want to give a shout out to Mark! Their website was showing the cxb's as on back order. I messaged him to see when they would be restocked. Turns out he had 6 kicking around and said he would ship them Monday for me. His response was fast, and he even helped me find the ideal chip locs since I couldn't find them. This kind of customer service is missing in most businesses these days, he has earned a repeat customer. And when my friends are blown away by this light I will be sending them right to cutter. Ended up costing $299 including shipping using the discount code. Overall very happy.

Next I purchased 2 hlg-240h-c2100b from straightroad. Ordering was kind of complicated and I was never given a shipping quote. They were the last 2 they had in stock so I hope it worked.

I went with these drivers to basically copy Tasty's T3-2300. According to his specs each 3 light bar will be 245 for a total of 490 watts with a ppfd of 1280 in my 3x3.

This is a TON of light I know. This is why I went with the b version. I have a reefkeeper lite from a old fish tank. The reefkeeper is basically a Ardrino that does 1-10v dimming. I can program 90 minute a piece sunrise/set ramping to any given intensity between 1-100. I used this for years with a buildmyled.com light for years on my shrimp tank and it worked flawlessly. Should be pretty fun.

For heatsinks I thing I will be doing 2 of the heatsinkusa 5.8" profile at 30" a piece. 3 cobs per bar. This is one of the parts I am still up in the air about and would appreciate some input.
The other thing I am unsure of is fans. I am thinking 2 fans per hs with them mounted inbetween the cobs. This sound like a plan. Also I have seen a ton of different fan brands recommended. Would love to hear your opinions on the best fan with in a reasonable price range. My budget is not huge for the time being, hence running the cobs so hard for the time being, but I am willing to pay a little extra for higher quality. I want this light to be hands down bad ass.
That's about it for now. Look forward to getting to know the community and hearing your opinions. I have pretty thick skin(construction worker) so please be honest.

Oh and for the grow I will be running sherbet in 3 gallon smart pots. Running coco perlite mix with a layer of hydroton on top and bottom. System will be drain to waste.

Look forward to hearing from all of you. Also a big THANK YOU TO Growmous, supra, haha, realstylez, and many more than I can think of. This may be my first post but I have been lurking a researching the past few months to get this far.

I will update as parts come in and with build pics. My best friend is a electrician and will be helping me with the build.

So everything is ordered and shipped besides fans and misc wires and connectors.

Little hiccup though. Straightroad had indicated they had 2 2100 left so I designed my light around them. Well I got a call from Julia at 8am saying they were out and would not have more till March 14th. I was a little irked to say the least. She really pushed the 1750 on me, so I asked if a discount could be applied because of the mix up. She offered a whopping $0.60 per driver discount. Pretty lame. But they already had my cc info so I went with them. Julia was very responsive but really $0.60! I don't think I will go back to them. I also asked about a coupon code to share with the forum. She said asked management but had not heard back yet. IDK just not impressed, hopefully Mark at Cutter will come through with some good drivers. Cutter was by far the best company I dealt with throughout the process and will recommend them. Also their cobs are $13 a piece less.

If I had known I would only have the 1750 I would have added 2 more cobs, guess I can down the line. Just can't justify shipping for 2 cobs.

Still looking for fan advice. Want to do 4 140mm fans. Read some where hydro dynamic fans are the best?

Can't wait to start building and will document as I go.
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Just finished my first ever grow. I was given 2 clones of Romulan grapefruit from a friend, had nothing to grow but thought I had nothing to lose. He gave me all GH ferts in Gatorade bottles. Used a 36" buildmyled light I had from fish tank and 2 DIY Cree leds I was given from a friend. Might end up with 2oz of top grade stuff. But man the good stuff is fire, so frosty. Absolutely blew away my friends grown under 1000 watt hps that has been growing for 6 years. Literally spent $0 so I am stoked. Can't wait to see what I can do with the cxbs.

Very impressive. Can't wait to see the show

Ill be watching this one, good show!

Thanks guy. Just got email from DHL, cobs will be here Thursday! I ordered a bunch of stuff quite a few from California. Somehow the order from Australia will be the first to arrive. Man I love cutter.

Got a confirmation from straight road. My email "Yes please. So 2 Mean Well hlg-240h-1750b and 2 Mean Well 12-12. Charged to the same credit card I placed my original order with. You are not interested in offering a coupon code for me to share with rollitup?" This is a copy and paste of my order to Julia. Well in the confirmation it shows only 1 of the apv 12-12. Man these guys just can't get it right!
Need to order fans tonight it looks like. Please any input would be appreciated. I spent so much time looking at the actual cob, driver, hs design I totally over looked fans. Will 1 apv 12-12 run 4 fans?

These are decent fans with good reviews.

Have you thought about those two extra cobs yet? It might be fun to try put some 2700k or 6500k to supplement your 3500k crees.

Ended up ordering 4 of https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AEGRGNO/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1455602446&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=noctua+140mm+case+fan
Seem to be top of the line.
Thanks for the input @grouch really appreciate it. Looks I could have saved myself $20

Also ordered the wago connectors so all I need now is worried pig tails, will try to source those locally

Oh and sorry for not answering your question on the added cobs. I will not be adding any more cobs till at least after my first run is complete. This build has gotten a tad out of hand budget wise haha. But hey do it right the first time.

If after the first run I feel more light is needed or want to experiment with spectrum, it will be easy with the ideal holders. Simply unscrew the holders and then drill new holes for the new spacing. I am thinking maybe some 5k if I did. This first run I believe my lights were in the 6k range. IDK if it was the spectrum or just leds but I totally killed my buddy's 1000 watt de hps buds. He obviously destroyed me on yield and density but as frost goes they didn't even look like the same strain. Obviously his are the monsters and mine are the frosticles haha.
I'll need to pull my tablet out at some point. I have a Nikon d5200 with 60me macro that does true 1-1. Have some pretty killer macro bud pics.

Looks like everything will be here by Friday except the wagos. Hopefully Amazon pulls through and gets them here faster.

Noctua fans came today. Works of art! You can tell just by the thought that went into the packaging alone these are the highest of quality units.They came with a 4 pin adapter 30cm extension 5v resistor they call ultra low noise and 10v resistor they call low noise adapter. These alone make up the difference in price to the cheaper fans. It will be nice to simply swap a resistor during winter when temps drop.


Got a free trial of Amazon prime and man is it addicting. Ordered some ul waterproof connectors I will use to disconnect the lights inside the tent.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BGJEQ6S/ref=ya_st_dp_summary
Also ordered 45ft of 18awg solid wire, 15ft each of red black and green. Added a automatic center punch to make drilling easier.

Big package day tomorrow. Tents, leds(cobs, ideal holders, graphite pads), and drivers(both led and fan drivers). Looks like it will be a rain day so it will be a long day waiting for packages haha. At least some of my first harvest is dry. So I can stay occupied doing final trim and moving into cure.

good luck.and take your time ..it might get frustrating at first but you will get the hang of it putting it together

Thanks @john0000 . I feel like I have done so much research I could build it in my sleep. I work do construction for a local electrical municipality so I am fairly familiar and work pretty well with my hands. I will be building the lights in my friends shop who is a electrician. So any questions or problems I have I feel he will be able to assist.
@grouch did you use a #37 drill bit for the #4 screws? That's what I'm finding is recommended. Can this be sourced at say home depot or should I order off Amazon?

Norcalknugs said:

Thanks @john0000 . I feel like I have done so much research I could build it in my sleep. I work do construction for a local electrical municipality so I am fairly familiar and work pretty well with my hands. I will be building the lights in my friends shop who is a electrician. So any questions or problems I have I feel he will be able to assist.
@grouch did you use a #37 drill bit for the #4 screws? That's what I'm finding is recommended. Can this be sourced at say home depot or should I order off Amazon?

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im in construction also work on elevators ..got to make a living right lol...i found most all my bits at home depot but i used #6 screws i think should be fine though

Norcalknugs said:

Thanks guy. Just got email from DHL, cobs will be here Thursday! I ordered a bunch of stuff quite a few from California. Somehow the order from Australia will be the first to arrive. Man I love cutter.

Got a confirmation from straight road. My email "Yes please. So 2 Mean Well hlg-240h-1750b and 2 Mean Well 12-12. Charged to the same credit card I placed my original order with. You are not interested in offering a coupon code for me to share with rollitup?" This is a copy and paste of my order to Julia. Well in the confirmation it shows only 1 of the apv 12-12. Man these guys just can't get it right!
Need to order fans tonight it looks like. Please any input would be appreciated. I spent so much time looking at the actual cob, driver, hs design I totally over looked fans. Will 1 apv 12-12 run 4 fans?

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Most 140mm fans are .5 amp. 12-12 only has an amp. You'll need 2. I did.

Norcalknugs said:

Thanks @john0000 . I feel like I have done so much research I could build it in my sleep. I work do construction for a local electrical municipality so I am fairly familiar and work pretty well with my hands. I will be building the lights in my friends shop who is a electrician. So any questions or problems I have I feel he will be able to assist.
@grouch did you use a #37 drill bit for the #4 screws? That's what I'm finding is recommended. Can this be sourced at say home depot or should I order off Amazon?

Click to expand...

if you truly want the EASIEST way, get a 7/64" bit. Harbor freight has a titanium nitrate set in 1/64" steps for $7.

http://m.harborfreight.com/13-piece-titanium-nitride-coated-drill-bits-1800.html?utm_referrer=direct/not provided

Use that for holes and buy THESE screws. \/


http://m.ebay.com/itm/200Pcs-M3x8mm-Black-Harder-Phillips-Round-Head-Self-Tapping-Electronic-Screw-/161169202928?nav=SEARCH


200 will be PLENTY & they ship faster than it says. Did for me.
These eat through the pilot hole and create their own threads. Just hand screw them in with a screwdriver and slowly turn, back out, turn, back out. You don't have to back out all the way by any means, just once you feel pressure, turn back a 1/4 turn and keep going. They don't make shavings, but instead PRESS them in. I always used 1 screw for the threads, and a new one to actually use for mounting. (They get kinda weak after youve made the threads) but its frickin simple. You DO NOT need to tap with this method. I've built 3 lights this way. These screws also hold the lens holders if you want to use them.

@Airwalker16 thanks for the input. Just looked and man these fans are efficient .08 and only .96 watts haha. Stills moves 68 cfm at 12v. I will be using 2 fans per hs, and my 2 apv 12-12 will be here tomorrow. I had ordered 2 just to keep each hs separate not even knowing what fan I would use. Looks like my drivers will have a very light load haha, should help to their longevity.

As far as the screws good I appreciate your help but I would have to disagree with you on your way being the easiest solution. The m3 are metric, Ideal likely speed these for customers outside the US. Hence their scarcity and you having to buy from out of the country. If you look at the Ideal PDF, they also state #4 or 5 pan head screws can be used. I'm not sure where people got the information that m3s were the best /only option but I feel people should know there are much easier options. I got 48 #4 Philips pan head black oxide finished self tapping screws. Posted it on the other thread talking about screws but here is where I got them.https://www.servocity.com/html/_4_pan_head_phillip_screws__bl.html
They were like $12 shipped, will have them tomorrow 2 days after ordering.

@john0000 does a #31 drill bit sound familiar? That is what I am seeing suggested for the #6s.

Norcalknugs said:

@grouch did you use a #37 drill bit for the #4 screws? That's what I'm finding is recommended. Can this be sourced at say home depot or should I order off Amazon?

Click to expand...

In all honesty, I held the screw up to the bit and eye balled it to find the best one. My drill set is in 1/64" increments not the number sizes.

Drill sizes come in LETTER, NUMBER, FRACTIONAL and METRIC. You can get close by eyeballing or you can google drill bit tap size chart and see exactly what size is recommended. Also, there's an app for that.