Lighting Planning for a DIY COB build

[BigSm0]

Ya the reflectors still seem to be out of stock. And I hear ya on the addicting part. I seem to be adding new things to the tent (or a new tent) every week.

Back in stock on the reflectors. If it's a 600 in half of the tent 2 cobs would be all that's needed to beat it par, yield, and quality wise. Wattage is meaningless when comparing these 2 types of lights. 1 55 watt cob beats most 300 watts panels. Doing 4 is waaaay to much light for a 2x2. I would go with 3 in the whole tent and anyone growing with these citizen 1812's will most likely agree.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Back in stock on the reflectors. If it's a 600 in half of the tent 2 cobs would be all that's needed to beat it par, yield, and quality wise. Wattage is meaningless when comparing these 2 types of lights. 1 55 watt cob beats most 300 watts panels. Doing 4 is waaaay to much light for a 2x2. I would go with 3 in the whole tent and anyone growing with these citizen 1812's will most likely agree.

It's a mars 2 400, pulls 150-160ish from the wall I think. Supposed to replace a 250 hps(according to mars). In any case, you think I'd be good with just one cob for the other half of the tent? I figured with the four I'd get some real nice penetration and if I ran them at a lower amp the light output wouldn't be as high. Just been watching some growmau5 videos and thought it was a good idea. What about reflectors, what benefit do they have?

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[BigSm0]

Id ditch the 400 as it's dumping nearly 700 btu's of heat and only giving you 30-40 par watts. One cob at 50 watts is over 25 par watts. That's why I recommended 3 cobs which is 75-80 par watts and a much more complete spectrum. The same amount of heat to perfectly light the entire tent and not just half of it.

Growmau5 videos are great. The only thing is he doesn't grow autoflowers. If you do plan to add more than 200 wall watts in there I'd bet your plants wouldn't be to happy. I used to think the same way. More is better and for photos that's more or less correct in ideal environments.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Id ditch the 400 as it's dumping nearly 700 btu's of heat and only giving you 30-40 par watts. One cob at 50 watts is over 25 par watts. That's why I recommended 3 cobs which is 75-80 par watts and a much more complete spectrum. The same amount of heat to perfectly light the entire tent and not just half of it.

Growmau5 videos are great. The only thing is he doesn't grow autoflowers. If you do plan to add more than 200 wall watts in there I'd bet your plants wouldn't be to happy. I used to think the same way. More is better and for photos that's more or less correct in ideal environments.

Really appreciate your input. I've got some thinking to do. Oh, I don't mean to sound pushy, but do you mind explaining the benefit of the reflectors?

Sent from my red IBM Selectric

 

[BigSm0]

Reflectors focus light. As light loses intensity the further it has to travel it actually makes a shorter path going straight down vs bouncing off of tent walls. All my spot testing showed much higher numbers within a 2'X2' area. At some places more than twice the amount of light. But be cautious as cobs are so powerful and this power is coming from a smaller space -28mm cob vs a larger panel like an LED light the intensity is much higher and in certain instances could be to much

 

[Z_Burp]

You're in Oregon, right Duke? I've got a brand new'ish Mean Well HLG-240H-C1050B driver that I used for all of a month. It's 1050 mA, dimable (is that a word?) with a potentiometer or 10v pulse width modulation (PWM), and constant current between 119-238 V. It'll push four to six 36V COB's.
I'm only familiar with Bridgelux Vero COB's and it pushes them (3500K 80CRI) at about 37 watts each. Probably overboard for your area. But message me if you might be interested. No pressure, thought it could go to a hip cat.
But, you'd have to mess with a frame, heat sinks, thermal interface material, COB's, 18 gauge wires, possibly soldering depending on which COB's you got, (Vero 29 SE's don't need solder and come with a 500v holder built in), and reflectors which have already been mentioned. But, there's room for expansion...
Just my thoughts. You're going to be happy regardless! I'm excited for you! I enjoyed building mine. (I went way overboard on it)

 

[Raoul Duke]

Reflectors focus light. As light loses intensity the further it has to travel it actually makes a shorter path going straight down vs bouncing off of tent walls. All my spot testing showed much higher numbers within a 2'X2' area. At some places more than twice the amount of light. But be cautious as cobs are so powerful and this power is coming from a smaller space -28mm cob vs a larger panel like an LED light the intensity is much higher and in certain instances could be to much

Thanks, that makes sense. Would you recommend them for my space? Maybe I should try without first to see how my plants react.

Sent from my red IBM Selectric

 

[Raoul Duke]

You're in Oregon, right Duke? I've got a brand new'ish Mean Well HLG-240H-C1050B driver that I used for all of a month. It's 1050 mA, dimable (is that a word?) with a potentiometer or 10v pulse width modulation (PWM), and constant current between 119-238 V. It'll push four to six 36V COB's.
I'm only familiar with Bridgelux Vero COB's and it pushes them (3500K 80CRI) at about 37 watts each. Probably overboard for your area. But message me if you might be interested. No pressure, thought it could go to a hip cat.

Hey buddy, really appreciate that offer. Unfortunately, I'm in Canada haha.

Sent from my red IBM Selectric

 

[Z_Burp]

Hey buddy, really appreciate that offer. Unfortunately, I'm in Canada haha.

Sent from my red IBM Selectric

No worries! I edited my post, too.

I'm enjoying some Sweet Seeds Sweet Cheese currently and I'm not in full control of my thoughts. My mind is like concrete; all mixed up and permanently set.

I'm watching this thread intently to see what you decide!

 

[Raoul Duke]

No worries! I edited my post, too.

I'm enjoying some Sweet Seeds Sweet Cheese currently and I'm not in full control of my thoughts. My mind is like concrete; all mixed up and permanently set.

I'm watching this thread intently to see what you decide!

Cool cool. A hip cat eh? I feel honored haha. I just had me some Nebula, flyin pretty high myself.

I was thinking of getting 3 of the almost complete cobs from the cobshop. Seems like the least amount of fuss. Dont have many tools and need to keep noise to a minimum anyway. I'll eventually pick up some aluminum for a frame but I think I'll just hang em as is for now. Need to figure out my driver now. Should probably dig out my old soldering iron.

So many projects, so little time.

Sent from my red IBM Selectric