DIY DIY Upgrade to the Roleadro 400w COB

[Screwauger]

It was suggested I create a simple tutorial on how I modified my Roleadro Cob Lights.
I have done both or two of them, both upgraded to Citizen cobs (details below) resulting in more lumens, less wattage and a better overall lamp for growing in veg and flower alike.

My first upgrade was somewhat intimidating as I opted to self-solder my connections, something that was outside my experience and comfort level. But that upgrade went smoothly so I quickly grabbed up the parts to modify my second lamp. This tutorial will chronicle my second lamp upgrade where I opted for cob connectors (BJB) and Ledil reflectors vs my direct solder connections and use of the manufacturers shroud and reflectors.

Both lights continue to work flawlessly and the bonus is, I have 4 extra LED drivers that I removed and could use to build some type of other light. I look forward to that and a qb purchase.

The original fixture drew approx 195w from the wall, the upgraded light draws approx 92w with greater coverage and intensity (plus reduced blurple color).

So here goes:

The original, store bought light

Parameter
Chip size: 45mil
Input voltage: AC85-265v
Working current: 600ma
Working frequency: 50-60Hz
Lifespan: 50,000hrs
Actual wattage: 200w±5%
Warranty: 2 years warranty

Upgrade Parts list/cost [I saved some money by going with Gen5 vs Gen6 cobs]


Citizen CLU048-1212 90CRI GEN5 - 4000K 1 × 2 $18.00
BJB holder for Citizen CLU048 series and Luminus CXM22 × 2 $5.00
LEDiL Angelina reflector for BJB Holder (Citizen CLU048) × 2 $11.00
Arctic thermal pads for Citizen CLU048 series × 4 $4.00
Subtotal: $38.00
Shipping: $6.76 via USPS Priority Flat Rate w/insurance
Payment method: PayPal
Total: $44.76
Tools Required for Upgrade
Wire cutters
M3x5mm machine screws (flat head phillips or preference)
M3xM5 Drill and Tap
Solder Iron (tinning wire tips)
Rosin core solder
Phillips screw driver
Rubber gloves (for handling cob chips)

We Start:
The original light has 5 drivers. One powers the fans and two drivers for each cob/heatsink. This picture is of the first lamp I upgraded and is only to show the lamp prior to disassembly and to show that some lamps come with soldered connections, some with clip connections (this upgrade). It’s not really relevant as you’re going to snip those wires off regardless.


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The two drivers on each side are not wired together (parallel) and each connected to the original cob chips. We will be removing two of the four drivers located on the outer aspects of the lamp and they disconnect with handy clips from the manufacturer. Here you see two drivers gone. All of the driver connections to the cob chips are Red and Black wires. The unstripped ends in this photo were just snipped off the original chip.


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Once the two excess drivers are removed and the remaining driver connections snipped from the chips, it’s time to remove the original cob chips. These are fastened with four screws and thermal grease and a fair amount of force is required to start the brass colored plate up/off the heatsink. Gentle but steady force will get the plate moving then it’s easy going. The chips removed, both heatsinks were cleaned with 91% iso to remove the thermal grease.


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Looks pretty good, eh? I thought so, now the most challenging aspect, drilling and tapping holes for the bjb cob connectors. Only two holes each so not too bad huh? But I managed to beak off my tap in two different holes (one on each heatsink) then had to go to the store to buy another tap. All in all, the holes do not have to be that deep, maybe 1/4" or thereabouts and in the end, this was fun and not that difficult. I advise using some lube, a slow progression with the tap and to watch some YT videos first. Being the most taxing process and frustrating having to file off the broken tap ends, I realize now I toook zero pictures of the drilling and tapping process. Apologies. The only other tip I have is to mind your metal shavings etc as your working above the fans and that sh*t goes everywhere!!

Here are all the parts laid out prior to installation.


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Here is how you fasten the chips to the bjb connectors

BJB Connector Series for Bridgelux COB V-Arrays
About an hour later, here are the bjb connectors installed each with a thermal pad applied and fastened to the heatsinks.


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The next step is trimming wires and tinning them for conductivity and in our case, easier insertion into the bjb connectors. Each wire needs to be stripped to 6-7mm of bare wire. There should be no bare wire showing after inserted into the bjb connectors.


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The wires in this lamp were “strand” type and even with the tinning, they insert into fairly stiff connections. It took a bit of consultation and finesse and patience to get them all inserted properly. Needle nose pliers were necessary to grip the wires close enough to the bjb’s to prevent the wire from bending when pushing into the connector.
This video should prompt to 3:16 where it demos the wire insertion.

BJB Connector Series for Bridgelux COB V-Arrays
These are really cool connectors, I must say!!


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The Ledil reflectors connect right to the bjb cob connectors


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All that’s left is a test drive!!!


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Thanks for reading along:

Roleadro 400w COB Upgrade

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[4d-Rock]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the process that you went through to do the upgrade. I just recently purchased the very same 400W Roleadro light for my first tent setup. I will likely use it as is until there is need for an upgrade (one COB burns out or something), but I will definitely return to this post when the time comes.

I had a couple questions though.

You said it produces more lumens. Did you conduct any test measurements of the light output of pre- and post- upgrade? Is it significant or is the main benefit the reduction in energy draw? I assume these are probably better quality COBs as well but are you saying that they are a better grow light due to the 4000K light temp. vs what is in there currently?
I'm not sure if it matters to you but I noticed that the fan noise is a bit on the high end. Did you look into what fans it uses and if upgrading the fans at the same time may be worthwhile?
I'm pretty new to the COB/driver scene, but do you know why they use 2 drivers per COB? And why are you able to only use one driver per COB in your setup (more efficient COB?)? Could this reduce lifespan in anyway as using 2 drivers may share the load?

Thanks and good work!

 

[bad dragon bzzz]

cracking job and write up

 

[MickJ]

I'm not a genius in this but it looks like two 50w cobs were combined in one chip and then two drivers were used for each part. Why? No clue. Would be interesting to disconnect one driver and see what happens.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing the process that you went through to do the upgrade. I just recently purchased the very same 400W Roleadro light for my first tent setup. I will likely use it as is until there is need for an upgrade (one COB burns out or something), but I will definitely return to this post when the time comes.

I had a couple questions though.

You said it produces more lumens. Did you conduct any test measurements of the light output of pre- and post- upgrade? Is it significant or is the main benefit the reduction in energy draw? I assume these are probably better quality COBs as well but are you saying that they are a better grow light due to the 4000K light temp. vs what is in there currently?
I'm not sure if it matters to you but I noticed that the fan noise is a bit on the high end. Did you look into what fans it uses and if upgrading the fans at the same time may be worthwhile?
I'm pretty new to the COB/driver scene, but do you know why they use 2 drivers per COB? And why are you able to only use one driver per COB in your setup (more efficient COB?)? Could this reduce lifespan in anyway as using 2 drivers may share the load?

Thanks and good work!

Sent from my comfy chair.
[emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]

 

[Screwauger]

Hey thanks for taking a look. I am not very educated as to the parameters and such or the specifics.
I have a forum buddie at another site who is an LED and COB guru.
He talks all the technical stuff and compares the chips using charts that are greek to me.
These are much more efficient cob chips that give better spectrum, brighter light and run on less than half the power.

There was really nothing wrong with my Roleadro other than I fought with them because it did not draw the wall watts advertised.
They said I could return it for a full refund and he convinced me to hack it (or both actually because I did two).

I will have Rob type me up the pro's and con's. It was his idea I do the tutorial on the other site and it would be a great addition to the write up.

I know these are 36w cobs therefore they would run on one of the drivers and I believe the other poster nailed it with them being 50w chips and thus, requiring both drivers to one chip.

As for "lumens" I may have the wrong terminology. It was my impression that in addition to the reduced energy use, the chips are of better quality because of his analysis of the charts that show the spectrums of light and lumens or par or whatever, hahaha sorry. I don't mean to dismiss the details but your questions made me realize how much I did not know.

I'll get it from the source and report back to this thread. @4d-Rock

 

[AutoWonders]

FYI: I use my reflectors for veg only. Nice job on the lights.

 

[4d-Rock]

I'm not a genius in this but it looks like two 50w cobs were combined in one chip and then two drivers were used for each part. Why? No clue. Would be interesting to disconnect one driver and see what happens.

Sent from my comfy chair.
[emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]

When you say that it's 2x 50W cobs combined, are you saying that each circular side light is a combination of 2 single 50W chips but driving one circular output light (sorry, don't know the terminology here)? But the one he upgrading to, is a single 36W chip, driving one circular output light, and it is not only more efficient due to the lower wattage, but because it is a better quality chip, also has a better spectrum and light output?

Hey thanks for taking a look. I am not very educated as to the parameters and such or the specifics.
I have a forum buddie at another site who is an LED and COB guru.
He talks all the technical stuff and compares the chips using charts that are greek to me.
These are much more efficient cob chips that give better spectrum, brighter light and run on less than half the power.

There was really nothing wrong with my Roleadro other than I fought with them because it did not draw the wall watts advertised.
They said I could return it for a full refund and he convinced me to hack it (or both actually because I did two).

I will have Rob type me up the pro's and con's. It was his idea I do the tutorial on the other site and it would be a great addition to the write up.

I know these are 36w cobs therefore they would run on one of the drivers and I believe the other poster nailed it with them being 50w chips and thus, requiring both drivers to one chip.

As for "lumens" I may have the wrong terminology. It was my impression that in addition to the reduced energy use, the chips are of better quality because of his analysis of the charts that show the spectrums of light and lumens or par or whatever, hahaha sorry. I don't mean to dismiss the details but your questions made me realize how much I did not know.

I'll get it from the source and report back to this thread. @4d-Rock

Thanks, I appreciate it. No rush on my end as I'll be using mine as is until it makes sense for me to change it up (or I get bored and want to take on another project). I just found it interesting and wanted to learn more.

When you said it didn't draw the wall watts as advertised, I see you had measured 195W draw and the specs state 200W +/- 5%. What was the issue? Or was the issue that they advertise it as a 400W light where in reality it is 2 Cobs at 100W each. Myself, I just equated to when LED lightbulbs advertise a 60W equivalent bulb that only draws 9W.

FYI: I use my reflectors for veg only. Nice job on the lights.

What's the reasoning behind this? Concentration of light to the exact location of the plant being beneficial for veg? While more of a diffuse/scattered light being better for flowering?


Thanks guys!

 

[MickJ]

Yes , it has two live, hot feeds, so has to be.

Sent from my comfy chair.
[emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]

 

[Screwauger]

When you said it didn't draw the wall watts as advertised, I see you had measured 195W draw and the specs state 200W +/- 5%. What was the issue? Or was the issue that they advertise it as a 400W light where in reality it is 2 Cobs at 100W each. Myself, I just equated to when LED lightbulbs advertise a 60W equivalent bulb that only draws 9W.

I looked back in my emails to Roleadro sales/support. My second lamp only drew 175w from the wall which was greater than the +/-5%. The first drew 195w. That's why I tried to send the second back and then decided to hack it. I never expected it to draw 400w from the wall, no.

My buddy did a write up for me on the pro's. It's a complicated picture but I will post after work today!!

 

[Banjacked]

I'm not a genius in this but it looks like two 50w cobs were combined in one chip and then two drivers were used for each part. Why? No clue. Would be interesting to disconnect one driver and see what happens.

Sent from my comfy chair.
[emoji16][emoji41] [emoji43][emoji848]

My bet is that they "double up" because a single driver cannot produce enough current for one light, but using a driver big enough would take up too much space and compromise any cooling and/or result in a bigger overall "package". Can't see the details on the drivers so can't be sure.

It's something I hate seeing as if one driver goes squiffy then the other one takes on more load, and then goes Pffzzzt.