Lighting Cobshop.net info, questions and answers

[BigSm0]

Also to increase the sale to 15% off.

Ya, part of whats going on is that everybody is adding their name to the schedule and the wrong timezone, i say we get in in 28 more minutes which will be 11:00am my time...

good with me. See you in 23 minutes now. All the cob followers are welcome to join in for the fun.

 

[Raphi]

The site is back up and shouldnt have an issue again. I contacted the hosting company and they didn't have an answer for me besides it's working now.

Thanks man, got any idea how much longer till the reflectors go up? Got that childhood Christmas feeling!

 

[BigSm0]

Thanks man, got any idea how much longer till the reflectors go up? Got that childhood Christmas feeling!

It will be about 5 hours from now.

 

[Budson 420]

Hey @BigSm0 ive been interested and looking at LEDs and your cobs, at the moment I'm running 600w HPS, in a 1x1x2m or (3x3) as you'd call it, so I would need the x4 auto cob kit @ $690Aud, or I could opt for a mars ll 1200 @ $555Aud, both options equal to my 600w hps, currently I understand more about LEDs then I do your flashy lights, so good sir, sell me your product! Because for now my uneducated eyes are only seeing $555 for LED or $690 for lights I don't know how to build.. do you see what I'm getting at? sooo what's some advantages, the pro's and con's? (Please be detailed, but in a noob friendly way)
Reply when you have some free time dude, I understand it's busy for you now, take your time, happy days bro!

 

[BigSm0]

Hey @BigSm0 ive been interested and looking at LEDs and your cobs, at the moment I'm running 600w HPS, in a 1x1x2m or (3x3) as you'd call it, so I would need the x4 auto cob kit @ $690Aud, or I could opt for a mars ll 1200 @ $555Aud, both options equal to my 600w hps, currently I understand more about LEDs then I do your flashy lights, so good sir, sell me your product! Because for now my uneducated eyes are only seeing $555 for LED or $690 for lights I don't know how to build.. do you see what I'm getting at? sooo what's some advantages, the pro's and con's? (Please be detailed, but in a noob friendly way)
Reply when you have some free time dude, I understand it's busy for you now, take your time, happy days bro!

How much I'd like to give you some facts on lights and lighting for that matter I am a little limited on what I can say as the two lights you brought up are both vendors here.

What I can tell you is not all lifts are created equal and this have been proven in many grows. Wattage is nothing more than a unit of measure and not a unit of light. Some lights emit much less light per watt. Some as low as 20% per watt while lights like cobs are in the 50% range. That's the efficiency. The higher the efficiency the more light you get from it and therefor save on your electric bill each month. This is just a very brief explanation on the amount of light but just as important is the spectrum. Cobs have a full spectrum unlike these bands you read about. Again I can't say much but I can say that plants need green as much as they do red and they need yellow just as much as they do blue. The cobs I use mainly and sell the most of are the 3500k and as you can see covers the blue to red ends very well.

 

[Evil-Mobo]

Hey @BigSm0 ive been interested and looking at LEDs and your cobs, at the moment I'm running 600w HPS, in a 1x1x2m or (3x3) as you'd call it, so I would need the x4 auto cob kit @ $690Aud, or I could opt for a mars ll 1200 @ $555Aud, both options equal to my 600w hps, currently I understand more about LEDs then I do your flashy lights, so good sir, sell me your product! Because for now my uneducated eyes are only seeing $555 for LED or $690 for lights I don't know how to build.. do you see what I'm getting at? sooo what's some advantages, the pro's and con's? (Please be detailed, but in a noob friendly way)
Reply when you have some free time dude, I understand it's busy for you now, take your time, happy days bro!

I'm a regular user here, and I can chime in because I do not need to be limited to my opinion. Maybe my more lack of diplomacy on this matter can help you out in addition to the info @BigSmo provided. I would first off like to say I do not work for CobShop.Net or any other company for that matter. I'm a sick person that grows this plant as medicine for myself.

That being said, I have owned a Mars in the Past as well as a Hydroponics Hut Pro gro light. Both lights were garbage and did not last, were very in-efficient, do not draw the stated amount of "watts" on the wall when you check them with a kill a watt meter, generate a ton of heat, etc, etc. I will say that you can grow plants under these lights, but you can do much better under the newer technology available today.

I am currently running (2) 3x3 tents myself as well, and in one of them I have (4) 3500K Autocobs in there doing a wonderful job. I replaced a 600W Blue MH in there because the ballast blew and I wanted to try a new light. These COB's draw less power, generate less heat, and are more efficient than the Mars or the HPS. When the light runs more efficiently you get more usable light (photons) on your canopy instead of just generating heat. The biggest thing for me, and I cannot stress this enough to folks, is that you can adjust the COB's individually. When you run a perpetual grow like myself and use different strains this is PRICELESS because I can adjust each light separately from the others for the specific needs of what's under it. I can adjust distance to canopy, if I need more light I hang another and plug it in, too much light, take one down, and I am not disturbing the rest of the plants. I have not found one con to these lights yet at all, not a single one, and those who know me well can tell you how picky I am and when I do not like something for it's intended purpose it's gone ASAP. I don't have time to be wasting in my grow with stuff that doesn't work. Which is why I have spent a lot of my own money testing various lights. I have grown with T5's, HPS, MH, CMH, COB, and now QB also.

In my other 3x3 I have a Quantum Board light and I am currently doing comparison grows with both lights. I like the QB as well it has some different points where it shines, but it's not as versatile as the AutoCob;s. In any tie breaker the AutoCob's get the nudge because of this. Both lights are excellent it just depends on your uses. For a tent as you speak which is what I have always grown in, these lights are the winner easily.

If you have any other questions please ask. Life's too short to grow with shitty lights!

Some pics of the current state of the AutoCob 3x3

 

[NebulaNuggets]

Totally agree with everything mobo said

I just set up four autocobs this week. Love the ability to move them around as I want. They are in a tent along with two other hid hoods and I am getting closer by the day to selling them for more autocobs. The ability to have an even spread over the canopy, move them easily and hang them anywhere is great. Any space that can accommodate an autocob can be used. Any parts of my tent not getting enough light can be remedied by simply plugging in an autocob, which is great for someone using different lights and hoods of different sizes.

 

[Budson 420]

How much I'd like to give you some facts on lights and lighting for that matter I am a little limited on what I can say as the two lights you brought up are both vendors here.

What I can tell you is not all lifts are created equal and this have been proven in many grows. Wattage is nothing more than a unit of measure and not a unit of light. Some lights emit much less light per watt. Some as low as 20% per watt while lights like cobs are in the 50% range. That's the efficiency. The higher the efficiency the more light you get from it and therefor save on your electric bill each month. This is just a very brief explanation on the amount of light but just as important is the spectrum. Cobs have a full spectrum unlike these bands you read about. Again I can't say much but I can say that plants need green as much as they do red and they need yellow just as much as they do blue. The cobs I use mainly and sell the most of are the 3500k and as you can see covers the blue to red ends very well. View attachment 737916

Well I'm glad about the efficiency! My biggest worry is sending my power bill sky high now I have a HPS/MH, I'd like to keep the cost of power as low as I can, as that factor alone decides if keep growing or not, so cobs have the win there, I mean clearly cobs are the way to go and I will get there, I just like to know what I'm buying and how to use it affectly before I buy it, another thing is the price, it looks good in USD but once converted to AUD my jaw drops, I guess you have to pay the big money up front.. and in return you save on electricity in the long run?
Do all your model of cobs have the same spectrum range you said the most popular is 35k? So would a different model cover different areas of spectrum?
Thanks for the PM to brother, if you still can't say what you need to in there I'll give you my email.

I'm a regular user here, and I can chime in because I do not need to be limited to my opinion. Maybe my more lack of diplomacy on this matter can help you out in addition to the info @BigSmo provided. I would first off like to say I do not work for CobShop.Net or any other company for that matter. I'm a sick person that gorws this plant as medicine for myself.

That being said, I have owned a Mars in the Past as well as a Hydroponics Hut Pro gro light. Both lights were garbage and did not last, were very in-efficient, do not draw the stated amount of "watts" on the wall when you check them with a kill a watt meter, generate a ton of heat, etc, etc. I will say that you can grow plants under these lights, but you can do much better under the newer technology available today.

I am currently running (2) 3x3 tents myself as well, and in one of them I have (4) 3500K Autocobs in there doing a wonderful job. I replaced a 600W Blue MH in there because the ballast blew and I wanted to try a new light. These COB's draw less power, generate less heat, and are more efficient than the Mars or the HPS. When the light runs more efficiently you get more usable light (photons) on your canopy instead of just generating heat. The biggest thing for me, and I cannot stress this enough to folks, is that you can adjust the COB's individually. When you run a perpetual grow like myself and use different strains this is PRICELESS because I can adjust each light separately from the others for the specific needs of what's under it. I can adjust distance to canopy, if I need more light I hang another and plug it in, too much light, take one down, and I am not disturbing the rest of the plants. I have not found one con to these lights yet at all, not a single one, and those who know me well can tell you how picky I am and when I do not like something for it's intended purpose it's gone ASAP. I don't have time to be wasting in my grow with stuff that doesn't work. Which is why I have spent a lot of my own money testing various lights. I have grown with T5's, HPS, MH, CMH, COB, and now QB also.

In my other 3x3 I have a Quantum Board light and I am currently doing comparison grows with both lights. I like the QB as well it has some different points where it shines, but it's not as versatile as the AutoCob;s. In any tie breaker the AutoCob's get the nudge because of this. Both lights are excellent it just depends on your uses. For a tent as you speak which is what I have always grown in, these lights are the winner easily.

If you have any other questions please ask. Life's too short to grow with shitty lights!

Some pics of the current state of the AutoCob 3x3

View attachment 738254 View attachment 738255 View attachment 738256

Hey man thanks for the add info!
What model mars did you have if you don't mind sharing?
I can see how having the ability to move a single cob to suit a single plants needs is a huge factor (personally) I have two seedlings sitting in a bench in the tent, stretching and bending towards the light, if I had a cob this wouldn't be a problem, I had to build a diy seedling grow box just for them, and I probably will have a perpetual grow going, so in this aspect if I was to go down the cob road, you wouldn't suggest building a frame, but instead leave them seperate? How's penetration to the lower buds? As you'd know HPS is hopeless at this my current plant has undeveloped buds left right and centre, speaking of buds, how do they form under the cobs? Are we talking nice phat dense colas, or airy lose buds? Did you see an increase in yield/resin/potency, more rapid explosive growth? List of of the most noticeable changes you've come across since ditching the hps?
One more question for now, where I live it's hot summers and cold winters, there's no in between, even my hps with cool tube got to hot in summer, but the affect is opposite atm cause its providing heat.
(To give you an idea, its 18degrees outside of tent, and 25 in the tent) so this time of year it's actually a benefit, do the cobs provide any extra heat? ( so if it's 25 outside your tent room temperature, is it still 25 in your tent or do they give off heat?)
So sorry my questions are all over the place and not ordered properly, I'm at work and I'm stopping and starting the comment haha,
Appreciate any info my bro, have a good one champion

 

[Budson 420]

Totally agree with everything mobo said

I just set up four autocobs this week. Love the ability to move them around as I want. They are in a tent along with two other hid hoods and I am getting closer by the day to selling them for more autocobs. The ability to have an even spread over the canopy, move them easily and hang them anywhere is great. Any space that can accommodate an autocob can be used. Any parts of my tent not getting enough light can be remedied by simply plugging in an autocob, which is great for someone using different lights and hoods of different sizes.

Did you buy the kit, or buy each cob separately? What type of lighting did you upgrade from? And what made you switch to the cobs?

 

[NebulaNuggets]

Did you buy the kit, or buy each cob separately? What type of lighting did you upgrade from? And what made you switch to the cobs?

This grow for me is my first in a few years. I had a few things from old grows but never grew in a tent before. The autocobs were an addition and not necessarily a replacement. I needed light, and knew cobs was what I wanted,

I bought the 4 autocobs for a 3x3 space deal. i had already in an 8x4 a 600w hps and a 315w cmh. The space needed more light. I have the 4 autocobs surrounding the 315w cmh. This easily covers the 4x4 half of the tent. 515 watts for a 4x4 with some lighting overlap on the other half of the tent. And runs cooler than the 600w hps side of tent. Here's the 4x4 half of the tent with the autocobs

I am going to see how the 515 combined watt cmh/autocob does versus the 600w hps. Split the tent in half. And honestly, I need a 1000 w hps to cover the 4x4, a 600 doesn't cut it.

I switched to cobs because I want to see for myself what they can do. I knew I wanted to go with citizens or crees after doing some research. I had another hps but sold and bought the auto cobs. I also went specifically with the AutoCobs because of the versatility. I have plants of multiple strains, different stages of growth, some open space in the tent that does not need light atm, and another space that is 3x3 that I could put one or two autocobs if I want.

When it comes to money, it's a no brainer for me. These lights have enabled me to use less of my window ac and less fans, as well as run the lights 19/5 instead of 24/0. If I have the means, next grow I am going to run two tents versus each other. One 19/5 cobs and one 24/0 hid lights.