DiY LED - Cree CXA3070

I think the pf on the chinese 1.4A drivers is .6 but not sure about the meanwell LPC-60-1400. If you have a large build you could use a cheap power factor correction to reduce the amperage on the circuit. I ordered one of these to test out.

Hey Supra I know you have some kind of nifty estimation calculation for cm2 per watt of heatsink for passive cooling. Would this profile heatsink in 24" length be good for 5 of the XM-L2s at 900mA whats that like 15w per heatsink bar?
http://www.heatsinkusa.com/2-079-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/
http://www.heatsinkusa.com/2-079-wide-extruded-aluminum-heatsink/

SupraSPL said:

I think the pf on the chinese 1.4A drivers is .6 but not sure about the meanwell LPC-60-1400. If you have a large build you could use a cheap power factor correction to reduce the amperage on the circuit. I ordered one of these to test out.

Click to expand...

How does that thing even work? I see no spot to plug something in and run power through it.

If I understand correctly it is just plugging in in parallel. So if you have your driver board plugged into a power strip you can just add that unit to the power strip and relieve some of the strain on the wiring for that circuit.

I have noticed that when you mix power factor corrected drivers with those that are not, the power factor corrected drivers actually help those that are not and raise the power factor overall.

24" of that heatsink is 2034 cm² which is good for about 18.5W of passive cooling for typical XML2 @ 900mA and still keep a low Tj.

I think you are referring to the XML2 4C U2 which is 46% efficient at 900mA so you could get even lower Tjs or you could install a few more watts.

To continue on with the good Captain's question about alternative COBs, what about Philip's offerings? Nice selection of bins, CCTs and CRIs, ton and a half of info on designing, good spectral output, LM-80, 110 degree beam angle, (could be marketing math ), and they even make the damn drivers. Or are they 3rd rate shite and PSU will be stopping by to piss on them in 5,4,3,2,...

SupraSPL said:

If I understand correctly it is just plugging in in parallel. So if you have your driver board plugged into a power strip you can just add that unit to the power strip and relieve some of the strain on the wiring for that circuit.

I have noticed that when you mix power factor corrected drivers with those that are not, the power factor corrected drivers actually help those that are not and raise the power factor overall.

Click to expand...

Ok I get it now thanks. Interesting that the power factor corrected drivers help the others out.

SupraSPL said:

24" of that heatsink is 2034 cm² which is good for about 18.5W of passive cooling for typical XML2 @ 900mA and still keep a low Tj.

I think you are referring to the XML2 4C U2 which is 46% efficient at 900mA so you could get even lower Tjs or you could install a few more watts.

Click to expand...

Thanks for answering my question for me. Those 4C U2 are indeed the ones I was going to go with from fasttech. I should be able to run 6 of those on each bar then safely with good Tj. A 24" bar with 6 LEDs would be average of 4" length of that heatsink profile per LED (~3w each at 900mA).


I measured some stuff with the Kill A Watt:

-1 CXA3070 Z2 COB on Meanwell LPC-60-1400 driver 0.60PF 58.9w 0.81A 96.7VA
-1 heatsink fan at full speed 12v with cheap chinese ac/dc adapter 0.51PF 3.1w 0.05A 6.1VA
-Sunsystem magnetic ballast 150w HPS on startup .31PF ~3.7A didnt record wattage as it just climbed as it was warming up the bulb. When warmed up 0.44PF 159w 3.0A 356VA.
-desktop mini fan blowing on 150w bulb 0.52PF 16.4w 0.25A 30.9VA
-Panasonic Whisper FV-08VKS2 80cfm (flowering tent exhaust) 0.59PF 14.6w 0.2A 24.9VA

Didnt measure the veg tent exhaust yet but with the 150w HPS in the flowering tent as it is right now 190w total draw with lights on and lights off 30w for the two fans.

edit: Also should mention that the testing was done on a power strip with other things plugged in so numbers could be a little off, not sure.

FJ, I get 103lm/W (minimum) for the biggest 3000K @ 900mA (LHC1-3080-1208 ). That puts it at about 32% efficient and dissipating 31W. Cost is $17.

Good info thnx BT. That panasonic whisper is awesome!

SupraSPL said:

Good info thnx BT. That panasonic whisper is awesome!

Click to expand...

The Panasonic is an efficient little bugger.

Here are 3 males I identified and removed today. 2 Pineapple Express x Exodus Cheese/SSSDH and 1 Exodus Cheese x SSSDH. I think my other Cheese x SSSDH is a male too but not positive yet and hoping atleast the last Pineapple x Cheese/SSSDH is a female. If not I have probably around 200 more seeds of the PE cross and 5 Cheese/SSSDH left from my original pack.

Anyway Cheese/SSSDH on right in first pic and in front of the others in the last two pics.







They were 3 of 11 plants under the 1 COB module. 8 left unsexed, 3-4 more days and they will be in the flowering tent under both COBs.

SupraSPL said:

I think the pf on the chinese 1.4A drivers is .6 but not sure about the meanwell LPC-60-1400. If you have a large build you could use a cheap power factor correction to reduce the amperage on the circuit. I ordered one of these to test out.

Click to expand...

I was very curious to see this device. I am a big believer of getting my hands on any gadgets, particularly test equipment.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371041491688?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3617wt_1071

15KW Power Electricity Saving Energy Saver Box Save 30% US Plug

I found reviews on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Electricity-Saving-Energy-Saver/dp/B009A3R3ZS

From what I can tell from googling, it has a 6.8uf capacitor inside, not enough for what I think I will need. Power factor, non linear loads and harmonic current is above my head but I am willing to give thing a shot to see if it reduces current at all.

Another website pointed out that these devices should be as close to the load as possible and should be switched off when the load is switched off, so after the timer.

This site goes into a lot of detail
http://sound.westhost.com/lamps/power-savers.html

SupraSPL said:

From what I can tell from googling, it has a 6.8uf capacitor inside, not enough for what I think I will need. Power factor, non linear loads and harmonic current is above my head but I am willing to give thing a shot to see if it reduces current at all.

Another website pointed out that these devices should be as close to the load as possible and should be switched off when the load is switched off, so after the timer.

This site goes into a lot of detail
http://sound.westhost.com/lamps/power-savers.html

Click to expand...

Super,

Thanks

Great info, explains it all.

Cleaned the tent out with Chlorox Wipes and bleach spray. Swapped plants in and hooked up both COBs in there. Wow am I impressed. To the human eye it looks much brighter than the HPS and the spectrum is so much nicer. I dont even need to use the camera flash to overcome the yellow effect like I did with the HPS. Plants look healthy and happy so far. Cant wait to see the real test for these COBs when it comes time to building buds...

I tried to make it pretty easy to wire and hook everything up and take it down and also to be able to swap out COBs if something drastically better comes out, so I went with bullet connectors on the drivers to COBs wiring and a molex connector on the connection between the heatsink fans and the 12v adapter for them. Easy enough.

The wiring is pretty sloppily ran for now just to quickly hook it all up tonight. I have a better idea for mounting the light modules and running the wiring a little cleaner. That will happen in the next few days.



Heres the parts layed out ready to plug n play.



After 9 days 12/12

Not sure why it looks so dim in the pics with no flash but it is not in person. I took the 3rd pic with flash on and thats basically close to what it looks like when I look in there. Bright clean yellowish white and the plants look so much nicer under it you can see the plants and how green they are much better than HPS. I have a feeling these babies are going to rock, but we will have to wait and see...

Day 9 12/12

Looking good..can't wait to see how that nice canopy fills out

I rocked that tent my past few grows..3 x 1.8 ??

Positivity said:

Looking good..can't wait to see how that nice canopy fills out

I rocked that tent my past few grows..3 x 1.8 ??

Click to expand...

It's 18" deep x 30" wide x 36" tall. I have rocked the 150w HPS in this tent somewhere around 7-8 runs and she did fairly well. With some beneficials, some organic nutes, and FFOF based medium average around 90-100grams per 10 weeks flowering.

Looking to get the same 100g and higher density buds off these COBs. Is that too much to ask?

Kill A Watt #s
1 CXA3070 3000K Z4 and 1 CXA3070 3000K Z2 both on MW LPC-60-1400s wired to same plug
0.63PF 121W 1.6A 191VA
2 Alpine 11 Plus heatsink fans @ 12v full power on chinese 12v adapter
0.54PF 5.7W 0.08A 10.3VA
Total 126.7w with both COBs and heatsink fans running (total power consumed by light devices). That is at the outlet.

Also

Just checked the temps in the tent are 3 degrees above ambient right now with the COBs. Ill have to wait until the tent is in full bloom to see how the temps are then when the airflow is restricted by large plants densely packed together in there. I think the 150w HPS was running about 8-10 degrees over ambient with the tent packed full. So far its running much cooler though which is excellent!

Little different..I had 5' height. Tent was great for the price..

That will be a good comparison grow then! Few less watts..possibly more bud..AND running cooler

Thanks for the pic that lays all the parts out

SO happy to your plan coming together so well in action

Here is my second build, part a. I am using a 20 inch box fan for my project, box fan serves as my frame, and cooling fan for the COB LEDs


Please let me know your thoughts, comments, critiques.

Cool design... Are those cobs you have there, Chinese? They look like the ones I used to use for my business. If they are, you might want to check if they have the right color. I thought mine were 5000K (i bought them as 5000K) but at a qualitytest it appeared they were 7000K. Chinese quality, they said that it was normal. No Chinese leds for me anymore.