Lighting DIY Mars to Cree Cob conversion

[Atulip]

Yea I noticed with the cxa2530s it is washing out the purple of 2 mars 300s. I think im gonna convert my other 2 with the cxa2530s and use them until next year since its so cheap to convert and then build a custom setup after my outdoor harvest. The cxb3590 may even go down in price by then lol. Do you know how much the temps rise with the passive vs active cooling? My room that the temt is in runs kinda on the warm side in the summer months.

Addressing heat. Heat is heat regardless of fans/passive/etc. 1 watt = 3.4BTU/hour heat.

Fans simply move the heat. Passive cooled will be no more heat created than active cooled of equal watts. (Active is actually slightly more heat, with the added fan watts)

But with an efficiency upgrade, you're also creating less direct heat in the fixture/heatsink, and more light on the canopy. And usually require less overall wattage when upgrading.


Timber kits are great, and cheaper and more efficient than anything you can buy currently. 56% through the Leds on a 95% meanwell is 53% at the wall.

 

[BigSm0]

Yea I noticed with the cxa2530s it is washing out the purple of 2 mars 300s. I think im gonna convert my other 2 with the cxa2530s and use them until next year since its so cheap to convert and then build a custom setup after my outdoor harvest. The cxb3590 may even go down in price by then lol. Do you know how much the temps rise with the passive vs active cooling? My room that the temt is in runs kinda on the warm side in the summer months.

The cooling of the cobs really only affects the cob itself. My take on the cooling passive vs active is this. Active is much better at cooling, a larger fan that hums as it blows air over a much smaller heatsync. But there is also the fan life that should be considered. I actually read here that someone burned themselves on an eBay light when the fan went out. Imagine how that affected the cob. Passive is a little more expensive but I think it's dropping since these porcupine quill pin heatsync are being so mad produced. For some of these crazy DIY guys that extra 3 watts of running a fan is enough to make them suicidal lol.

I like the passive, there is nothing moving, no noise, no extra watts it just hands there blasting the plants in great light

 

[BigSm0]

Didn't realize you posted that atulip. Well we were both close.

 

[Atulip]

Passive isn't much more expensive now, with the drilled and tapped pin heatsinks. These are good for up to 100w on cxb3590. For a little more than something like an Arctic 64.

http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/plc140mm-anodized-pin-heatsink/


And I see NGL has updated their stock. Now carrying some citizen gear too. Different sized/tapped heatsinks.

https://northerngrowlights.com/collections/all

 

[BigSm0]

Passive isn't much more expensive now, with the drilled and tapped pin heatsinks. These are good for up to 100w on cxb3590. For a little more than something like an Arctic 64.

http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/plc140mm-anodized-pin-heatsink/


And I see NGL has updated their stock. Now carrying some citizen gear too. Different sized/tapped heatsinks.

https://northerngrowlights.com/collections/all

This is why I recommend the timber kit. The photon180cxb is nearly the same price as 4 3590's with out the housing. They gotta make money too but not from me.

 

[Atulip]

Well, certifications, warranties, shipping, etc cause actual light prices to go up. Then some tack the prices up a bit more and give everyone a discount(for the people who don't bother with discounts). But $2/watt for something that's still 46%(43% at the wall) efficient through the leds in a framed up fixture isn't bad at all. And compared to a $1/watt light that's maybe half as efficient(like a mars), they end up near the same cost per par watt. But he has different sized pin sinks, and tapped for different chips, along with some other accessories.

PLC comes in in at a bit over $2/watt, right at it with the bulk pricing. And in a fixture you can spray down with the garden hose. These should be out in a couple weeks. 50% wall efficiency

http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cx-bar/

 

[Autonugs]

This is very interesting. Cxa2530 at 30+-% efficiency compared to the unknown efficiency of Mars and noticeable difference in 1 day. Says a lot about cob tech and a lot more about the blurple Mars hydro.

I'd recommend looking into the timber grow lights. They are cxb3590's with a much better driver, passive cooled pin heat sync and come pre wired. Direct from them to USA is 399 and on eBay is 439. 200 watts and I believe it's closer to 53% efficient. I'm running the 3590's and next to the drastic red and blue of the Mars panel it's almost powerful enough to cover those colors.

I have 2 reflector 96x5 and 1 Tasty T2-2100 and I can say the same that the white light is so powerful you'll notice it overtaking all of the blurple.

 

[BigSm0]

I understand the buisness end. Where it's tough to newer growers is they see the final price and read reviews on others using the panels with great success. I said the same thing awhile back. Why spend 600-900 on some cobs when the Mars appears to have a broader spectrum for 1/4 the price. Most don't step past this and are happy with the product. The end result with a Mars is more heat and less par watts. Just the opposite of what they claim. Cheaper panels aren't a bad choice for small grows but the cobs really can do a lot more with a lot less. As this is a DIY thread let me say do the DIY and ditch the blurple!! Efficiency is the only way to save energy and heat and blurple panels aren't efficient.

 

[Baxterwolfe]

Thanks for always being so damn helpful guys. Im gonna be doing the 2 mars panels next week and grabbing a meter for power draw and light to test. Im doing the mars panels now instead of full upgrade because I have some buddies that wanna do small closet grows with 1 plant and I think the small mars converted is perfect for that.

 

[BigSm0]

Thanks for always being so damn helpful guys. Im gonna be doing the 2 mars panels next week and grabbing a meter for power draw and light to test. Im doing the mars panels now instead of full upgrade because I have some buddies that wanna do small closet grows with 1 plant and I think the small mars converted is perfect for that.

What's great with these is you can decide what cobs to use based on the size of your space. Large rooms possibly use 3590's or 3070's and for smaller rooms cxb2530's