Pictures of your DIY lights - Post your pics!!!

But, that is all hypothetical.
What is the real life expectancy of a COB particularly if the LES is exposed to real world grow room or greenhouse conditions?

OneHitDone said:

But, that is all hypothetical.
What is the real life expectancy of a COB particularly if the LES is exposed to real world grow room or greenhouse conditions?

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If you're worried about COB exposure to the environment then put a lens on it. Problem solved. So far as I can tell, growers have been using Cree cobs on RIU for close to 2 years now, and the only failures I know of were due poorly applied TIM causing the cob to fry. I have yet to see anyone complain about their COBs fading out or failing in their real world grow rooms, even with the older CXA models. Bridgelux has a page on their site about the different environmental testing they've done with the COBs, and I'm guessing Cree has done the same. I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time typing this though, since I think you're too busy wackin off to a HPS DE catalog to even bother to try to understand what people are saying in this forum.

OneHitDone said:

You DIY'ers keep forgetting that it is the last graph in that test that is the one to beat. Not the decade old tech

View attachment 3507153

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Plants would fry @ 24" below that light. I have seen one of those AC/DE fixtures in person and they are hotter than shit. The reason they recommend 36"- 48" distance is for canopy temp control. I'm limited to 7' ceilings so this light would not be an option for me or most people that don't have 12' ceilings or higher.

The light I built was not intended to beat out warehouse lights. But it was intended to beat traditional 600w and 1000w fixtures. And apparently even Gavita's. I would say mission accomplished.

Had this light been built with the CXB3590's, I'm fairly confident that it would beat the AC/DE's par readings at any distance (with the exception of the flash point in the center of the foot print).

OneHitDone said:

You DIY'ers keep forgetting that it is the last graph in that test that is the one to beat. Not the decade old tech

View attachment 3507153

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Average PPF over 4x4

AC/DE 1000w
(1150w draw)
@ 36" - 564.06
@ 30" - 696.75
@ 24" - 918.87

My "DIY" Lamp
(950w draw)
@ 36" - 539.72
@ 24" - 710.19
@ 18" - 807.06

As I stated before, 24" is an extremely unrealistic distance to canopy for the DE fixture. Also, I don't care what anybody says, my almost 1000w of COB's doesn't feel half as hot as a traditional HPS bulb, 600w or especially a 1000w. I can take my fixture down to 14" from the canopy to maximize intensity before the COB spacing starts becoming a factor. I'd be willing to bet the average PAR of my fixture @ 14" might even beat the DE @ 24". All with a better spectrum, much less radiant/ambient heat and about 20% less energy.

OneHitDone said:

But, that is all hypothetical.
What is the real life expectancy of a COB particularly if the LES is exposed to real world grow room or greenhouse conditions?

Click to expand...

These chips are deigned to be run at a higher temp than most of us run ours. We overkill or cooling for efficiency reasons. You will continue to argue about how a 40% efficient light source that is not directional is somehow better than a 56% plus efficient directional light source. Facts are facts man. At the end of the day top end cob leds are more efficient end of story. Also those numbers from my light are using 41% of the energy that ac/de is using. I will post up the results of my 660 watt light as soon as it is complete and I promise it will be as good as the ac/de. You come here always bashing led. Well don't ever buy one leave the fan boys to the stupid led tech and stick with hps man. Somebody somewhere fooled with a tried and true mogul hps and made a de bulb. We are on the cutting edge and I promise in the near future there will be lights that kick all hps ass period. I don't care if you believe it or not. I'm waiting on the housing manufacture to finish up the housings now. I will have the chart up in less than a month of my 660 watt 8 cxb3590 air cooled unit and it will be settled. Also I will conduct a test on tent temps with it and I will buy an ac/de and put it in the same tent. Wanna bet I can get the same light levels in there as ac/de and the temp with just a fan will be in a lot better range than the ac/de. Lighting efficiency is not just about how much par you have but also how much cooling is required per given unit of light to the canopy. That is where my light design crushes hps all day long.

Dried thermal compund for example after a year of working

Castaman said:

Dried thermal compund for example after a year of working

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What brand if you don't mind me asking

Castaman said:

Dried thermal compund for example after a year of working

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KAPTON... you lost the vakuum... lol

Hmm. My 16 COBs (CXB3590 CD @ 1.4a) sit between 5-12" over my canopy depending on laziness levels. I was worried about bleaching the plants but so far it's been rare and of no concern - the leaves have to be within about 3" of the LES and they autofim/stop growing at that point.

Scatter losses are almost 0 at this height, and nodes are so tight losses to my tray are almost 0. There's no glass loss either...

800 watts of holy shit over here. I'm positive there isn't an HPS equivalent in a 4x4. I've considered adding another 200w bar but but what's the point?

As for greenhouse conditions... What conditions? COBs are designed to work in heat and humidity. All of this is on the gentle side of their designed environment - so these will be around forever. LESs stay clean, never get wet, never get touched in my setup. I have to water today, I will take another pic when they wake up.

BigYellowCob said:

If you're worried about COB exposure to the environment then put a lens on it. Problem solved. So far as I can tell, growers have been using Cree cobs on RIU for close to 2 years now, and the only failures I know of were due poorly applied TIM causing the cob to fry. I have yet to see anyone complain about their COBs fading out or failing in their real world grow rooms, even with the older CXA models. Bridgelux has a page on their site about the different environmental testing they've done with the COBs, and I'm guessing Cree has done the same. I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time typing this though, since I think you're too busy wackin off to a HPS DE catalog to even bother to try to understand what people are saying in this forum.

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Its a legitimate concern especially for the future and for builders of DIYs and Commercial Fixtures....

I myself have a few fixtures running north of 12 months of constant operation...But my grow rooms are humid and do expose the LES to moisture, thats a legit concern.

Lenses are not going to stop humidity sorry, that's not a solution at all....

They ask the tough questions, but the newbs want to AdHom it....Just because it hasn't happened to you in your multiple month grow, Doesn't mean it can't happen....

Don't shut the conversation down and devolve into the shitheads....So what if he whacks off to DE, it still was a legitimate question....That I really only see SDS having tackled in any sort of realm on these forums, at least recently.....Maybe that should be a starting point....

Stephenj37826 said:

Yeah but you forget a few things. 1 the ac/de isn't cheap. 2. Yearly bulb change is a minimum and 3 yearly reflector change because they degrade faster than the de bulbs. Add it all up plus extra electricity and cob led still is the better investment bottom line.

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gavita recommends changing their reflectors more often than once every 3 years, closer to annually.

PurpleBuz said:

gavita recommends changing their reflectors more often than once every 3 years, closer to annually.

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Forgot the period after 3. Yes yearly change. Also reread my post lol.

DocCox said:

Hmm. My 16 COBs (CXB3590 CD @ 1.4a) sit between 5-12" over my canopy depending on laziness levels. I was worried about bleaching the plants but so far it's been rare and of no concern - the leaves have to be within about 3" of the LES and they autofim/stop growing at that point.

Scatter losses are almost 0 at this height, and nodes are so tight losses to my tray are almost 0. There's no glass loss either...

800 watts of holy shit over here. I'm positive there isn't an HPS equivalent in a 4x4. I've considered adding another 200w bar but but what's the point?

As for greenhouse conditions... What conditions? COBs are designed to work in heat and humidity. All of this is on the gentle side of their designed environment - so these will be around forever. LESs stay clean, never get wet, never get touched in my setup. I have to water today, I will take another pic when they wake up.

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disclaimer ... so far I am running all my DIY leds without lenses, or covers of any sort and take full advantage of running them within a foot or less of the canopy ... unfortunately that means I have to raise the lights just so I can spray.

considering the safety (exposed wire contacts),
possibility of water being sprayed on the LES and into the unit
and the stupidity of many people, The LES should be covered.

gee nowadays even hockey players ALL wear helmets

so please don't advocate running around without protection even though you can get away without it.

A thread for enclosure considerations would be more appropriate for those concerns, not the post a picture of your DIY light. Lenses do provide type 4 protection if applied sensibly, and 100% could be used to control humidity exposure if sealed. Moisture exposure is an environmental concern that is optional, when your growing indoors. Not being a shithead... I come to this thread for LED porn and inspiration

@PurpleBuz
I don't spay under my lights. I don't even water under them. They all come out every 3 days for health inspection, watering, etc. I don't advocate spraying anything on any light or mixing water and electricity. I have to raise my lights to move my plants, and that's what I do. Hopefully I have the downtime to setup an arduino and automatically adjusts light height in the future

The lenses make them humidity proof. At least KBS do. The rubber seal is air tight. How do I know? I actually mounted one to a heatsink without a cob. I sprayed windex in it before mounting. It was still fogged up just the same a couple days later.

So have any of you sprayed you COBs to see what happens.

Nothing happens. Even with unfiltered tea. Full spray to the chips.

Not recommending it. But they are not as fragile as many think.

Stephenj37826 said:

The lenses make them humidity proof. At least KBS do. The rubber seal is air tight. How do I know? I actually mounted one to a heatsink without a cob. I sprayed windex in it before mounting. It was still fogged up just the same a couple days later.

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I don't know if windex still has ammonia in it, but back in the late 70's we were told
not to use in on aluminum, causes corrosion and probably not good to use around
copper(wires), this was in aircraft.
SLITLOS

SLITLOS said:

I don't know if windex still has ammonia in it, but back in the late 70's we were told
not to use in on aluminum, causes corrosion and probably not good to use around
copper(wires), this was in aircraft.
SLITLOS

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Oh I know this was just to see I did it with alcohol too. Just trying something that would evaporate out quickly

Abiqua said:

Its a legitimate concern especially for the future and for builders of DIYs and Commercial Fixtures....

I myself have a few fixtures running north of 12 months of constant operation...But my grow rooms are humid and do expose the LES to moisture, thats a legit concern.

Lenses are not going to stop humidity sorry, that's not a solution at all....

They ask the tough questions, but the newbs want to AdHom it....Just because it hasn't happened to you in your multiple month grow, Doesn't mean it can't happen....

Don't shut the conversation down and devolve into the shitheads....So what if he whacks off to DE, it still was a legitimate question....That I really only see SDS having tackled in any sort of realm on these forums, at least recently.....Maybe that should be a starting point....

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Agree that it's a legit question, my aggression was more of a personal frustration with OneHit's inability to ever acknowledge anything positive regarding COBs in general. I should have just zipped my lip, but I was on the rag that day. Hope we can all smoke a bowl and get back to posting DIY light porn.