Lighting Roleadro 400w conversion

[jamesd3]

I was hoping you'd say that lol thanks

 

[BigSm0]

Who has two thumbs and is stoned... this guy. that really didn't come out right. Your right I don't really need more light in there.

Because I have a journal with the Roleadro's I've been asked by several people about them. The main idea behind this build is that at 109 (mine were 99 a few months ago) currently on amazon you get everything you need to start a small led cob op on the cheap. Throw in 2 Citizen 1212's @ another 30 bucks and I think this is a good cheap option for most @ 140ish for a light featuring two high quality cobs.

I really think this is an easy build that could benefit a lot of folks on a tight budget with minimal diy effort. Plus I like the smell of solder fumes in the morning! except I will probably use an Ideal 50-2204-CT but you all get the idea...

And since I'm a diy led noob I figured it would be a good idea to call in the experts for back up! @pop22 and @BigSm0 thanks for the assistance As I dig into this more I'll be sure to tag you two up!

I understand being on a budget but with the cost of electricity then adding in additional heat that needs to be vented or cooled there is no savings at all. What's happening is people are hearing so much about cobs and then think they are all the same. There is an instant savings when swapping out the cobs in these to a citizen or Cree brand. It's atleast 30% more light per watt. 30% more light should equal 30% more yield and at $200 an oz $30 dollars in cobs seem awefully inexpensive.

 

[BigSm0]

please keep this updated, im thinking of doing the same thing myself..

if you get the cree 3950s and run the drivers in parrallel, wouldnt it be possible to get up to 75watts per chip? I read someone else mention that anyway in another forum, was going to investigate.

some people here were discussing similar shit: https://www.420magazine.com/forums/do-it-yourself/321338-could-i-put-cobs-these-led-fixtures-2.html

Multiply the wall wattage by .2 and them multiply the new cobs wattage by .5 and that's the par wattage. Overworking these plastic drivers to squeeze extra wattage is a recipe for disaster. I'd take a 40 watt cobs over 100 watt cobs any day. Less light overall but more light per watt. Higher grams per watt, less wattage to cool and an easier environment to control. It's better to focus on the long term side of things and understand what's more important, wattage or light.

 

[MateraGaia]

Multiply the wall wattage by .2 and them multiply the new cobs wattage by .5 and that's the par wattage. Overworking these plastic drivers to squeeze extra wattage is a recipe for disaster. I'd take a 40 watt cobs over 100 watt cobs any day. Less light overall but more light per watt. Higher grams per watt, less wattage to cool and an easier environment to control. It's better to focus on the long term side of things and understand what's more important, wattage or light.

Couldn't agree more which is why we have this thread.

 

[typingofthedead]

hey guys i did a convert on this unit using cree 3590s...i did not want to mess with converting their reflector, so i just screwed the holder into the existing heatsink and used an angelina reflector.. little space but works well..

there are 4 drivers, 2 per light.. i made it drive with a single driver by default.. i took out the daisy chain part and added 2 switches to optionally enable the second driver per light, pulling 95, 150, or 205 watts from wall depending if 2, 3, or 4 drivers are on.. good luck on any convert

 

[MateraGaia]

Well I finally had a chance to carve some time out of my busy schedule to get this build buttoned up. I decided on 2 citi 1212's for this budget build and I couldn't be happier with the results!


I drilled and tapped each heat sink and fitted the ideal holder with a thin even smear of thermal paste on the back of each cob.

Pick any two drivers and insert wires into ideal holder and that's all for wiring.

I did have trouble getting the thin gauge wire to go into the ideal holder properly. Maybe a bjb holder would work better. Also there is a small space between the factory reflector and the ideal holder. Again a bjb holder might solve this.

As you all can see the original reflectors line up and will work well.

All in all this is a practically plug and play upgrade to these lights!

 

[hashead]

Ive just bought a roleadro 400w with this exact thing in mind! Cheers! Does it still draw the original 200w's or half that (since your only using 2 drivers)? How does the light intensity compare to the original chips?