Lighting DIY COB Based LED Growlight Build In Progress!

[Ripper]

Nice bro, my first time building anything like this. 3 would be amazing.

You did a great job what was your total cost.. I am moving houses after my current grow is completed so my hope is that by the time I am ready to be up and running that the price comes down on the 3590's. Rumor has it they will drop in price this summer..

 

[Atulip]

The growmau kits use the mechatronix pin sinks, passive up to 50w each.

 

[Atulip]

If they don't drop in prices, other manufacturers will. Citizen leds offer the same efficiencies at $.35/w if you can find them. 3590s are $.55/w. (50% eff, ~160lm/w).


The cutter kits are a bit pricey though at over $2/w. That's almost the price range of a ready built cree cob fixture. The pin heatsinks aren't a very cost effective way of cooling(radials are half the cost). And 3590 is a better price point at around 75w, 3070 would've been better at 50w. That's ~$150 less for 164lm/w instead of 182lm/w.

 

[MeefChief]

Hey Pop, I just finished thought I would show ya, and you are right-don't look at it when you first turn it on

View attachment 566574

Game changer....

I'd like to see how this lights up a room.. What was your total cost? Wattage draw? What size chips are these?
Apologies, there's just so much jumbled info in this thread.

 

[Dazed]

I'd like to see how this lights up a room.. What was your total cost? Wattage draw? What size chips are these?
Apologies, there's just so much jumbled info in this thread.

Not a problem Meef, glad to help all I can. Total cost is difficult, I had some things had to buy others. The kit worked out at just short of £380 incl delivery/import charges. This unit will draw just over 200w, the chips are cxb 3590 - 50w each, the driver can handle another cob but that would have been way too much in my wardrobe.
The aluminium bar cost me £20, that was pre cut to the sizes I specified. I spent around £10 on wire and some bits of solder. I had everything else. So call it a straight £400. I can tell you, and I know this isn't politically correct around these parts, but this thing is so much brighter than my MS006, it's a very powerful light, when I fired it up it lit the damn house up. I can't recommend building your own light, it just makes sense in so many ways - had I bought a light (my original plan) I would have struggled to find something that gave the correct spread in my specific space. With this I can upgrade easily, tailor the spread to whatever the future holds and also add, upgrade and improve it constantly.

 

[Dazed]

The cutter kits are a bit pricey though at over $2/w. That's almost the price range of a ready built cree cob fixture. The pin heatsinks aren't a very cost effective way of cooling(radials are half the cost). And 3590 is a better price point at around 75w, 3070 would've been better at 50w. That's ~$150 less for 164lm/w instead of 182lm/w.

This is true, however no sourcing of individual parts (they bulk buy) and the big one is getting the sinks pre-drilled and tapped, with the correct nut/bolt sets. Unless you have that skill and those tools to hand, you will struggle to do put this together. I for one was happy to pay a little more and have it pre drilled and tapped.

 

[Atulip]

They come from mechatronix pre drilled. Search mechatronix distributors and we can probably find them. I've found cdi stocks them pre drilled for the citizen leds here in the states.

http://www.led-heatsink.com/global.php?area=2


But I mention the price because a 340w PLC (3070s @ 50% eff) is only $700 here, about the same price per watt as the cutter some assembly required kit. If you can drill and tap(or use kapton tape only) you can DIY in the $1-1.5/w range.

 

[Dazed]

They come from mechatronix pre drilled. Search mechatronix distributors and we can probably find them. I've found cdi stocks them pre drilled for the citizen leds here in the states.

http://www.led-heatsink.com/global.php?area=2


But I mention the price because a 340w PLC (3070s @ 50% eff) is only $700 here, about the same price per watt as the cutter some assembly required kit. If you can drill and tap(or use kapton tape only) you can DIY in the $1-1.5/w range.

Again you are correct, but I wanted mine pre drilling/tapping for the Ideal/Angela. You can save a few pounds if you wanted to take the time/effort to supply your own parts and drill them etc, hey, if/when I build another unit I will probably do that myself, but for a first attempt at building anything like this, the kit worked out perfect for me. Oh, and another big plus for the cutter kit is that you get detailed open source information from Growmau5-again, invaluable to me. This kit is for beginners, I am a beginner in the led build world. I'm super happy with this purchase and it's worked out great for me personally as it has a lot of other new builders.

Cheers.

 

[Atulip]

I'm saying they're pre drilled from mechatronix. Cutter orders them from China that way. The radials are also pre drilled and half the cost for the same cooling ability. Radials just lose cooling ability when tilted which is where the pin design wins.(and lighter weight)


It's definitely not a bad kit, just pricy. A radial build with 3070s would cost $150 bucks less and you get 50% efficiency still. Or a 3590 build with the bigger mechatronix mega radials at ~75w each. Thatd be near $100 cheaper for a 225w light at 50% eff instead of 200w at 56%.

 

[Dazed]

Fair enough bro,