Lighting DIY COB Based LED Growlight Build In Progress!

[pop22]

I've wanted a quality growlight for sometime now. My Mars lights have been good, but I see what's happening with high end lights that makes average LED growlights look like CFLs……. Big increases in photon density and efficiency. As I can't afford to drop $1200 -$1600 on a retail light, I've been scouring the DIY LED sections on other forums. I've learned a lot and I've been planning and saving for a couple months now.



My long awaited DIY LED project is about to begin! And usually the details of ordering and waiting are boring but………



I ordered my LEDs, Cree CXA 2530, from Newark Element 14 ( www.newark.com ). Ordering was smooth and I received my delivery quickly.

Next I gathered the funds to order a pair of :Meanwell HLG-185H-C1050B drivers from Arrow.com. I placed my order as their website said they had them in stock. Got my confirmation email for my order. 2 days later, as I'm getting antsy about not getting a shipping notification……… I get this email saying: “We regret to inform you that the seller has just notified us they cannot supply part HLG-185H-C1050B*2pcs unitl middle of April. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and that we were not able to notify you sooner. “

Please advise whether you would be interested in waiting for this part, or if you wish to cancel your order all together.
I email: cancel my order.
I find what I need at onlinecomponents.com and place my order……………
Get an email:
your card has been declined…. I card I load specifically for online purchases. Arrow's page says: We don't bill till it ships… uh huh, guess what? They billed me AFTER they canceled my order! And the card company took 5 days to fix it!

But, after this aggravation, online shipped my partb yesterday! Then also yesterday, I ordered heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com and have a pair of them on the way.

Shortly now, I'll have enough parts to build one light bar and I'll be ordering 11 more COBs next week! By May I should have enough parts to complete three bars that will cover a 4'x4' space easily.
As soon as the heatsink and drivers are here, I'll start the build! Lots of pics will be coming.
And I'll explain my parts and design as I build and post. In the meantime, check out Growmau5 on youtube! His lights and grows will wake you up!

 

[dcat0921]

Loving the DIY cob builds...more light for less money? Hell yes!! Can't wait to see what you do here...

 

[Wile e Peyote]

subbed up for this pop I'm thinking of adding another 250 cob panel it will cost me £550 delivered how much do you think it would cost to build something on par with what I'm using don't want to add any links dude don't want to highjack your thread just started a thread in the led section all the info there cheers

 

[Ripper]

Subbed my next grow will be a bar I think.. Been trying to follow growmou5 but with his you have to have a bunch of parts fabricated.. How are you doing your bars?

 

[pop22]

No worries, hijack away! We're all here to learn and we do so together!

depends what chips you build with. because I used an older, less powerful COB, my build will cost about $380 US but it will be a 15 cob light! I'm going to run with no lenses and run the light close to the plants. I'm considering doing a vertical SCROG with it also. Two lights with vertical scrog nets will double the available growspace. Using 12 CXB 3590s would cost about $580 plus the $347 for the unit minus cobs. $1000 US total for top of the line! However, a commercial equivalent would cost $1500 - $2000. I had to compromise with older chips, BUT, it will blow away 90% of non- cob based lights, and ALL of the Chinese based cob lights for photon output and and efficiency

my costs for the parts I'll detail in the build but a rough estimate is : $135 for the drivers ( 2 ), $140 for 3, 4.85" x 40" heatsinks, $20 for cob holders, $22 for wire, screws, etc., $30 for (2) 1" x48" aluminum angle. So about $347 to build a light minus COBS. The CXA 2530 that I'm using can be bought for $9.50 - $12 a piece.
top Bin CXB 3590 Cree chips run about $45 each now and CXA 3070 are around $30-35. The 3590 is the current pinnacle of COB chips, followed closely by the Bridgelux Vero 29. The CXB 3590 can produce up to 11,000 lumens per chip!

I'm using dimmable drivers and plan to run my light at about 1/2 power as the chips are more efficient run that way. Total draw should be around 370 watts at the wall.
I'm build to light a 4'x4' space, so you can estimate aproximate cost from there for bigger or smaller grows

subbed up for this pop I'm thinking of adding another 250 cob panel it will cost me £550 delivered how much do you think it would cost to build something on par with what I'm using don't want to add any links dude don't want to highjack your thread just started a thread in the led section all the info there cheers

 

[pop22]

I'm following his basic design as its simple. i'll be doing all the drilling etc myself. I won't polish the heatsinks as my computer background has proved that you get a better thermal junction with a slightly rough surface, it increases the contact area of the thermal compound. But laying out the COB pattern and hand drilling isn't difficult, you just need to proceed slow and steady, drill proper pilot holes and use cutting oil. I'm not bothering with the fancy cover, my light will stick with the "industrial" look lol! My plants won't care.........

Subbed my next grow will be a bar I think.. Been trying to follow growmou5 but with his you have to have a bunch of parts fabricated.. How are you doing your bars?

 

[Ozone69]

Starting to read up on DIY's myself. Need to start thinking of my next light upgrade and would luv to go the COB route. Subbing up...

 

[pop22]

Its all about par and these light are haed to beat!

Starting to read up on DIY's myself. Need to start thinking of my next light upgrade and would luv to go the COB route. Subbing up...

 

[pop22]

And its good to see the interest! This is one area where the other forums are far ahead of us. We need a strong, DIY LED section to show them how its done, In a RESPECTFUL manner!

 

[Ozone69]

This is more the level I'm at currently. Started watching this vid last night. Great vid that goes into explaining the basic terms, and then into the basics of sizing power, heat sinks, etc...