Lighting Need some advice.

[LaughingOwl]

Ok so first off some background.

Newish grower, have dabbled a bit in the past but never really went far with it. Have a fairly strong green thumb.

First time posting here but have been lurking for a good bit.

Big thanks to all on these forums, you all have been a wealth of knowledge. Hoping to gain a bit more specific to my wants/needs.

Ok so the main reason for this post.

Im working towards getting a smallish grow cab set up but need some direction on lighting.

Plan is a 2'wx3'lx4'h(60x90x120mm) cabinet type setup.

Plan for the light as of now(may change depending on advances in lighting and or the advice I receive here) is 3 cree CXB3590 3000k 90cri cobs and a couple of secondary arrays for supplemental(if/when needed)blue and uva for a finisher array.


While I have been doing a lot of reading on diy led more info is always better so...

1. Where does everyone source their diy led supply's from?

I know i can find everything I need but hoping maybe theres a better 1 stop shop for everything I may need.

2. Any tips as far as diy information resources?

Have read and learned quite a bit already but more is always better.

3. Any constructive criticism as far as my lighting choices go?

Cant guarantee I will take said advice but it will be given consideration.

Thanks to all in advance for the help.

 

[Arthur]

Your space would fit a quantum board better, given your height. 6 sq feet shouldn't require more than 150 to 180w. A kit like the 135w would work, or they sell by piece, you could drop a version on the board, and build it out yourself. The version 2 heatsink and driver (driver from Amazon) could be done around $150.

 

[Arthur]

I run diy cobs, 9 @ 50w each in a 4x... love them, but I like the QB for short applications... hell I like them for all... just like my cobs too...

 

[LaughingOwl]

Well not apposed to qbs, was looking into smd panels. Main reason I am leaning cob is 1. They would seem to be capable of better penetration than panels(though I could be very wrong about this)
2. I recall reading long ago that canna preferred point source lighting over diffuse lighting(again this could be very wrong)
3. And this is really the biggest reason and maybe a total moot point in the scheme of things but it seems a lot easier to find the spectrum im after with cobs.

Right now with panels your restricted to whatever spectrum chips are on the board and itsnot so easy to change out a bad chip or change out to a different spectrum should knowledge of the ideal spec improve/change.

Guess I'm a bit of a control freak in this respect. Id be much more open to a panel set up if I could diy the entire panle so I had control over what chips were on the board.

 

[Arthur]

The only issue I see is 3000k is pretty much a flowering spectrum. 4000 is more towards the veg. 3500k is a happy medium, which is what I run. 450w diy citizen cobs in a 4x4. Happy with the quality of the bud, and the quantity...
But... if I were building now, it would be with the QB288 V2 R-spec board. I cut my teeth on hps & didn't switch to LED for over a decade. Cobs are great... your tent is 4'... that's 48", take another 10 off for your grow bags so 38, cobs are 4" tall with heat sinks, so 34" left from top of soil to the light.... and you'll need 24-28 inches in veg, 18" to 24 in flower.
QB... driver outside the tent, you can put it at the top. Samsung LM301B currently THE cutting edge diodes.

 

[Arthur]

Forgot this...

 

[LaughingOwl]

Well cab isnt set in stone yet. May be willing to go up to 5ft though im trying to keep things to the smaller side. Plan was to under drive the cobs quite a bit for efficiency and to hopefully avoid the need for large amounts of headroom.

Unfortunately with this being a sort of stealthish set up I'd rather not be mounting drivers outside the cab though they definitely would be remote mounted because well mounting a heat generating driver to a heat sensitive led just doesn't strike me as a good idea.

The R spec does look fairly good though the crees I have my eyes on are pushed a lot further into the red, which may or may not be useful.

This is for the cxb3590s.

Plan was to add an array of blue to supplement the heavy red leaning spec to try to achieve a near full spec output.

Idk I'm sure im way over thinking and complicating things.

I'll have to do some searching and number crunching and see how the 2 will work out price wise.

Even if I go with the qbs id still want to build a blue array. 1. For a finisher light 2. Because from what I've seen all white led has a severe dip in the 480nm range that I feel should be shored up. Though again my thinking may be flawed.

 

[Arthur]

Just so you know, while it all generates heat... I can rest my palm comfortably on the top of my cob heat sinks, as well as the drivers, so unless temp is a factor... not something I'd try with my hps. Burned myself more than once.

 

[LaughingOwl]

I don't think heat should be a problem for me. Pretty much all the heat generation should be contained to the top of the cab and thats where me exhaust will be located, so im figuring it should do well with managing any heat. Though idk about in the summer months. Being a sealed cab other than intake and exhaust I might run into some trouble during peak summer temps.

As a side note the plan was to run active cooling on the cobs. Not because it would really be needed most of the time but more just incase I felt the need to push the cobs hard enough for it to be needed.

Idk just the no kill like overkill mentality I guess lol

 

[Arthur]

If your gonna run them easy passive is fine. Just match the heat sinks to the wattage you want to run. They come in many sizes. Getting rid of fans gets rid of one more thing to break, and between fans and leds... it'll be the fans that crap out.