Diy cob help
- Thread starter Mztoker
- Start date
ANC
Well-Known Member
You can do a 4x4 area with between 6 and 9 80W COBs. The lower you go, the shallower the canopy gets. If you use 3 COBs per bar. You can drive those sets each on its own 240W adjustable driver. This allows you to concentrate more lights together when the plants are small and adjust power draw according to need. As they get bigger you can space the bars apart again. You will need things like the drivers, heatsinks, COBs, possibly a driver/transformer to drive active cooling if you can't afford passive heatsinks. Price them out per bar and start with one.
freemanjack
Well-Known Member
I'll do my very best to sort out a parts list and costings for you and hold yer hand thru wiring it up (if you ain't into soldering wago blocks are your best friend!). As to will 1200 watts of led replace 1200 watts of incandescents? FUCK YEAH! latest vero 29's are nearly twice as efficient on paper and more like 3x in practice. I'm only running around 600w in a 3 x 9 with 3 foot deep canopy with full penetration right to the bottom leaves.
Mztoker
Well-Known Member
Your the man. So do you think 1200 watts of cobs is overkill could i get by with maybe less? And add on as i feel nessesary
freemanjack
Well-Known Member
Personally, I would run with the 1200 if you can afford a killobuck build then use dimable drivers, if you wanna save bucks you could underdrive the cobs with smaller cheaper drivers or build my style rig but with each 3 cob bar cut into 3 x 16" sections mounted sideways, then you could have one driver per cob and simply add more 3 cob sets as you need them. 4 x 8 = 32 sq ft 1200 / 32 = 37.5w/sq ft which looks about perfect. I'm just a pauper who runs wotever I can cobble together, all my big builds are for others with money! but i'm not looking for a pound a month, I just grow for personal subsistence for my epilepsy medicine and am fully organic/biodynamic and not interested in crop weights, just medicinal efficacy.
topcat
Well-Known Member
It isn't that daunting. If I can do it, so can you. You're just making a lamp. The most challenging thing is connecting the dim potentiometer because it requires soldering but just a little research will tell you how to solder successfully. Even then, it's just a few touches with the iron. It's a fun hobby and very satisfying. I have to resist making more lamps, though, then feed my seed collecting habit. It never ends.
Mztoker
Well-Known Member
Thanks and yeah i know i can do it. But i wanna do it tothe best of my ability these guys have a lot more knowledge then i do on the subject and know what kind of drivers and what cobs and what to run them at. Stuff that may impact my light greatly. I am just looking fir guidence. I am quite handy as i work maintaining and fixing cnc machines. I just wanna make sure if im building a light i build one to the best of my ability
freemanjack
Well-Known Member
I build my lights at cost plus 30% for labour, they usually come in just a few pence under a pound (£) a watt so each 600w unit would cost the client £600 depending on if they go with my budget recommendations or opt for a one off special which obviously incurs far more build time and testing. Fuck nose how much i'd have to charge to ship to the states tho, I suspect quite a margin ontop of that due to appalling exchange rates and customs charges.
VegasWinner
Well-Known Member
VegasWinner
Well-Known Member
4x4 = 32 SF recommended 50w/sf = 1600w total / 200w per driver = 8 drivers with four cxb3590 36v cobs per menwnell HLG-185H-C1400B driver
8 drivers x 60 = $480
32 cxb3590 w/heatsinks etc $60 x 32 = $1920
electrical accessories $20 x 8 = $160
total $2560 plus S&H $250 = $2750 say $3000 easy
or you can do 8 chilLED grow light 175w kits mount your own heat sinks and drivers
8 x $190 = $1600
heatsinks 8 x $45 = $1160
drivers 8 x $60 = $480
total $3240
close to the same cost
8 drivers x 60 = $480
32 cxb3590 w/heatsinks etc $60 x 32 = $1920
electrical accessories $20 x 8 = $160
total $2560 plus S&H $250 = $2750 say $3000 easy
or you can do 8 chilLED grow light 175w kits mount your own heat sinks and drivers
8 x $190 = $1600
heatsinks 8 x $45 = $1160
drivers 8 x $60 = $480
total $3240
close to the same cost
DrBlaze
Well-Known Member
Yeah he doesn't like cobs, so when anyone new asks what it costs to build a fixture he likes to quote prices that are 2-3 times what is necessary.
12 cxm22 at 50w each will give you 600w per 4x4, which is more than enough. Plenty of people are building fixtures and paying $1 watt or less (depending on how fancy you want it to look). To get more efficient than the cxm's you'll prob need to spend at least 50% more
VegasWinner
Well-Known Member
4x8 = 32
CoB_nUt
Well-Known Member
Yessir. typo above.