DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

Iceveign said:

So I got my lights hooked up and working, 2 heat sinks 5.88" x 19" with 2 cobs on each(3590 3500k 36v) being run by HLG-185H-C1400.

My question is how hot should the heatsinks be? I touched for a few seconds and they are really hot, just wondering what I should be observing if any thing.

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Passive? I see no mention of a fan....passive cooling, each sink is good for 2.5 watts /inch....is that the problem?

Active cooling should place you in the range of 190watts for each sink, so that shouldn't be an issue either

Abiqua said:

Passive? I see no mention of a fan....passive cooling, each sink is good for 2.5 watts /inch....is that the problem?

Active cooling should place you in the range of 190watts for each sink, so that shouldn't be an issue either

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Yes, it's passive.

Iceveign said:

Yes, it's passive.

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Thats about 38- 40 watts [25 cm^2/watt] for a 19" 5.88 passively....So it seems you have over 2x that amount of wattage per heatsink ...That's probably why it is hot...I suggest getting some 120cm fans and running them @ 5v's.....1 for each heatsink........Or point a fan at them for Semi passive Cooling...

I think I'll take your advice and add a couple of fans. Thanks.

Iceveign said:

I think I'll take your advice and add a couple of fans. Thanks.

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A cheap 5v-12v power supply and two fans could be less than $15 for the thrifty shopper........





I am using this for my advice giving FYI and some ole fashioned wisdom from Supra

25 cm^2/ watt for Active cooling
100 cm^2 / watt for Passive cooling....
[Of course these are guideline #'s I used even with 40% efficiency #'s....so if your CXB's are even more efficient, in theory, it should take less cm^2 than even what I posted...]

1 inch of 5.88 is 260cm^2

@ brettsog I'm not sure about the quality of those FHP08 cpu coolers. CPU heatsinks are often rated by their wattage capacity.

For example both the intel q9550 and intel i5 2500 come with an intel branded heatsink rated the cpu's 95W TDP (total dissipated power). AMD has similar and you can look it up online. I'd err on the side of more capacity.

The cheapest Arctic cooler I can find online (Alpine 64 GT Rev. 2) is rated for 65W TDP.

On ebay there's lots of unused ones and you can get some ok deals.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Heatsink-Fan-For-Q9650-Q9550-Q9500-Q9400-SOCKET-LGA775-/252070637904?hash=item3ab094b150
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Intel-i5-Original-HeatSink-and-Fan-for-i5-2500-2320-LGA-1155-Socket-/221853517449?hash=item33a7800689

As far as the tubular housing, I'm not sure about that, if it's between the cob and the heatsink then it's a bad idea. You want direct cob/heatsink. Also you want ease of maintenance and installation.

As far as the shopping cart, I think you also need to get a dimmer/potentiameter and you're going to need all sorts of fiddly bits of wire and crap...

Double check my assessment, because I'm new at this too....

I have plenty of wire and bits. I mod consoles so I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron. I'm not so great with the science behind leds but I've never had a problem wiring them up. This is a work in progress. I have bought 2 vipar panels to try with while I build this light.

Would these be suitable??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arctic-Cooling-Arctic-F9-3-pin-92mm-Case-Fan-Quiet-High-Performance-/111249472927?hash=item19e6fc3d9f

With the 3rd pin I could wire a thermostat to run fan at ideal temp. Something like this http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/3455RC 01000245/480-3245-ND/1893843

SLITLOS said:

I dropped my $ on beans, but I was checking to see if they had them in stock and the cost. At the
price they gave me for 1@ is cheaper than hlg-185's I've seen posted here. I haven't lived in the U$ for 15 years and to get most things of good quality, U order on the web.
From some posts on this thread or another here, 5-6(??)@ 29's could be ran off a hlg-240.
I would like to build a flowering light with 6 to 10 29's, 35K's, have 4 now and will get more as time
goes on, dollar down and a dollar a month.
SLITLOS

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The driver you referred to (HLG-240H-42) cannot run V29s in series, only in parallel.
HLG-240H-C2100 can run (3) V29s in series at 2.1A.

A parallel circuit with LEDs on a CC driver isn't generally recommended but usually brings no troubles. For this, however, I couldn't vouch as the driver exceeds the maximum rating of V29 and the thermal runaway could damage it. Improbable but possible.

brettsog said:

I have plenty of wire and bits. I mod consoles so I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron. I'm not so great with the science behind leds but I've never had a problem wiring them up. This is a work in progress. I have bought 2 vipar panels to try with while I build this light.

Would these be suitable??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arctic-Cooling-Arctic-F9-3-pin-92mm-Case-Fan-Quiet-High-Performance-/111249472927?hash=item19e6fc3d9f

With the 3rd pin I could wire a thermostat to run fan at ideal temp. Something like this http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/3455RC 01000245/480-3245-ND/1893843

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No, not really. The third pin on the fan is for monitoring its RPM (tacho; Hall sensor output).

Actually, the 42v version wouldn't be as happy unless you put 2 @ 120 watts, I wouldn't recommend that. If one fails, the other is sure to follow. Now the HLG240-36 is within the range you are looking for, up to 90 watts, but if you are running 6, your lumen per watt is over 150. You would have to have five COBs fail, but the over voltage protection would save your last COB. If you put 3 on the driver, you are only around 130 per watt. Should also cool easier due to wider heat dispersion. At about $260 for 6 Veros and a driver. When wiring I wire all the COBs with the same length wires, soldier them together, then soldier the group to the driver.

brettsog said:

Would these be suitable??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arctic-Cooling-Arctic-F9-3-pin-92mm-Case-Fan-Quiet-High-Performance-/111249472927?hash=item19e6fc3d9f

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Arctic fans have a good reputation and seem to be the standard for a good value. Of course you still need heatsink material. I like the looks of those massive heatsink bars people are using.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/mau5capades-builds-grow-journal.881192/

alesh said:

No, not really. The third pin on the fan is for monitoring its RPM (tacho; Hall sensor output).

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Ah. Thought case fans had a thermostat control. That one was set at 42c I think so surely will ramp up rpm to keep surface area of heatsink at set speed.

Edit: learnt something new, would need a 4 wire fan. Cheers for pointing that out.

brettsog said:

Ah. Thought case fans had a thermostat control. That one was set at 42c I think so surely will ramp up rpm to keep surface area of heatsink at set speed.

Edit: learnt something new, would need a 4 wire fan. Cheers for pointing that out.

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Bonjour
About the heat sink...are you in U.S or U.E
If you are in U.E it is 43 € for the h.s you need
What bin are your cxb and how much did you buy them
Have a great day★

And normally there's no soldering to do at all...

Maybe worth mentioning that the latest bin BB gives off close to 40% more light than the Y4 you selected ... (outdated)

Oh, and CXB use less electricity than CXA too, and have better "compatibility" numbers with drivers ...



PS : Don't buy those CXA's unless you get a huge discount or something ...

PS2 : Maybe you should read some more to avoid regreting later how you spent your $$$

brettsog said:

@SaltyNuts I would use a fin style heatsink inside the tube with a thermal compound between the 2 and have a fan mounted over heatsink pulling cool air across the fins. I also saw on digikey, cob heatsinks. Exact fits. I will have a look at cpu heatsinks but sure I read somewhere that they aren't cool enough

What my thinking was I could use the tube as the housing. Mount cobs on bottom side, heatsinks internally directly above cobs with 3" holes directly above that to allow the air to escape/draw in depending on which way fan is mounted.

That is my basket. Other than a housing is there anything else I will need?
View attachment 3492242

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EfficientWatt said:

Maybe worth mentioning that the latest bin BB gives off close to 40% more light than the Y4 you selected ... (outdated)

Oh, and CXB use less electricity than CXA too, and have better "compatibility" numbers with drivers ...



PS : Don't buy those CXA's unless you get a huge discount or something ...

PS2 : Maybe you should read some more to avoid regreting later how you spent your $$$

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After reading about bins I have realised that cxb3590 is the one I'm looking for. But thanks for the heads up. £68 a cob are these really that much more efficient than hps

brettsog said:

After reading about bins I have realised that cxb3590 is the one I'm looking for. But thanks for the heads up. £68 a cob are these really that much more efficient than hps

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They are and you can get them from Kingbrite for about $50 a pop.

I looked at kingbrite and could only find lenses. Kingbrite.cn ?

Edit: nvm u meant on alibab.

I have placed an order for 5 of those (min order) and a meanwell driver. $255 plus shipping. Will wait for reply from them. Probably be £200 in total for better equipment so much appreciation for the heads up
CREE CXB3590 3500K, CD 36V 80CRI, CXB3590-0000-000N0HCD35G

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arctic-Cooling-Alpine-64-GT-Rev-2-AMD-CPU-Cooler-UCACO-P1600-GBA01-AC-Artic/121255513633?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=32694&meid=426cb29dfe57455ebe5121f864e71ff4&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=6&sd=151679816071

Are these individual fan and heatsinks enough to keep cobs cool?

alesh said:

The driver you referred to (HLG-240H-42) cannot run V29s in series, only in parallel.
HLG-240H-C2100 can run (3) V29s in series at 2.1A.

A parallel circuit with LEDs on a CC driver isn't generally recommended but usually brings no troubles. For this, however, I couldn't vouch as the driver exceeds the maximum rating of V29 and the thermal runaway could damage it. Improbable but possible.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, electrical thing are not my thing, but I was under the impression that you could turn down the amps and voltage with the 2 adjustment
screws on the top of the driver?? Or do I have things fucked up as normal?
SLITLOS

nevergoodenuf said:

Actually, the 42v version wouldn't be as happy unless you put 2 @ 120 watts, I wouldn't recommend that. If one fails, the other is sure to follow. Now the HLG240-36 is within the range you are looking for, up to 90 watts, but if you are running 6, your lumen per watt is over 150. You would have to have five COBs fail, but the over voltage protection would save your last COB. If you put 3 on the driver, you are only around 130 per watt. Should also cool easier due to wider heat dispersion. At about $260 for 6 Veros and a driver. When wiring I wire all the COBs with the same length wires, soldier them together, then soldier the group to the driver.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'm trying to learn as much as I can and defiantly still in the early
planning stages.
SLITLOS