Lighting Mars Reflector 96 COB conversion

[Terra Firma]

I've unpacked my COBs and I must say they look pretty cool. Can't wait to get building when the heatsinks and drivers get here.

 

[Terra Firma]

Hi everyone, I ended up making 2 entirely new COB lights with 4 COBs each. I've set them to 150W each because @ 200W they produced quite a bit of heat. Here are some pictures.

 

[BigSm0]

Be careful with the light. You went from 30 par watts in the mars to 150 par watts. You can dim them down to 30 watts per bar and still get the same amount of light.

 

[Terra Firma]

Be careful with the light. You went from 30 par watts in the mars to 150 par watts. You can dim them down to 30 watts per bar and still get the same amount of light.

Thanks for the tip! I actually replaced the Mars Hydro Reflector 96 and 2 GN1 LEDs with my 2 new COB LEDs. I have them set to 125W each. I have a plan for making a cool tube for each light from some 150mm ducting, as the temp in my room swings between 29 and 33°C.

 

[Gonnagrowmore]

Hi everyone,

I've decided to convert a Mars Reflector 96 to use COB LEDs.
I've opened up the light to check what type of drivers it uses (see the pictures).

I decided to connect 2 x 36V COBs in series per driver putting out 0.65A.
I bought the items below on Ebay and they should arrive beginning of next week.
6 x Citizen CLU048-1212C4-353H6M3-F1 Version 6 (90CRI) 3500K COBs.
6 x BJB CLU048 holders.

I then looked into getting new quieter fans, and got confused about connecting 0.3A fans to a 0.65A driver. Each fan is connected to separate wires (than the LEDs) coming out of a driver. Would the current output of these wires be less than 0.65A? I don't have a multimeter so can't check.

After reading through the LedGardener website tonight I sketched a plan for building 2 completely new COB lights instead of converting the Mars light. My idea was to attach 4 COB's to a heatsink and connect them in series to a 1050mA or 1400mA Mean Well driver (if dimmable to a lower current for veg). I got carried away and calculated the thermal resistance of 4 x 36V cobs running @ 1050mA attached to 1 heatsink: 0.4C/W I couldn't find a website in Europe that sells heatsinks large enough to space out 4 cobs on (app. 400x400mm) so I gave up for now. Does anyone know a good company?

I'm still not quite sure whether I should build 2 new lights or modify my Mars light. I need the light to cover two plants on a 1 x 0.75m area. 2 separate lights would give better coverage and flexibility, but would cost quite a but more. The Mars conversion would be cheaper but won't cover the required area very well. What are your thoughts?

Did the clu cobs work well with plants ?about to do something. But wondering if the clu 1212 are out of date now. I have the Epistar 2 chips. So not even sure what sort of power difference I’d get off clu? Never played with cobs. But looks pretty easy to make a good light cheap

 

[Terra Firma]

Did the clu cobs work well with plants ?about to do something. But wondering if the clu 1212 are out of date now. I have the Epistar 2 chips. So not even sure what sort of power difference I’d get off clu? Never played with cobs. But looks pretty easy to make a good light cheap

Yes they worked extremely well. On my last grow I harvested 2.2 grams per watt. Check it out here. I built a makeshift cooltube around the lights as well. Works pretty good. The 1212 cobs are relatively cheap, so I'm very happy.

 

[Gonnagrowmore]

Yes they worked extremely well. On my last grow I harvested 2.2 grams per watt. Check it out here. I built a makeshift cooltube around the lights as well. Works pretty good. The 1212 cobs are relatively cheap, so I'm very happy.

View attachment 1008285 View attachment 1008286

That is great work. I am going to rig up the mars 400 for it. Looking forward to making it. Do I need any other cobs ? I see the c3 or c4 on the end. What’s that mean? Sorry 1st time looking into diy