DiY LEDs - How to Power Them

GFS_Nic

GFS_Nic

Well-Known Member
Hi everybody,

I would like to upgrade my setup next month or so, i want to get more juice out of my Vero29 v2.
Right now i have got 10 Vero29 (3000k and 4000k) wired to 2 Mean Well @ 1050mA (5 cob on each driver). I really want to switch them all to 1400mA for a better intensity in my 3x3 tent.

I look for some ideal drivers to do the job, and i found these:

Anyone have already used some Inventronics driver ? From the datasheet it seems to be good. Would you choose another option ?

Thanks for your help.
 
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Solandras

Member
Howdy all. First post.


How many CXA2540's ran with a HLG-120H-C350 (which can run 12 CXA2540's @ 56.2% efficiency, from what I understand) would be needed for a 4x4 veg tent?


Should I run 24 @ 350ma? (12 per driver)

Should I run 16 @ 500ma with 2 HLG-120H-C500 drivers? (8 per driver)

Should I run 12 @ 700ma with 2 HLG-120H-C700 drivers? (6 per driver)


I'm having a difficult time determining how to calculate the amount of light being produced by these configurations, and what would be requisite for a vegetative environment.


Been lurking on the COB threads for the past two months, and am getting very close to ordering parts for the first build. I am planning on having two 4x4 tents, one for veg and one flower. They'll both be Gorilla tents.


I'm first determining the vegetative setup, but will be purchasing all of my COB's on discount clearance from newark. I can go into what I plan for the flowering environment as well, but I'd rather save that for another post. I'm trying to determine the best efficiency driver for the other COB's in the flowering tent.


I'm checking my dump for heatsinks, to see if there is anything viable, and have an eye on "no name" heat sinks online as well. Heatsinkusa is an option as well.




Just to spill the beans a bit more, and reiterate-


2 4'x4' tents


Veg

CXA 2540 5000K


Flower

CXA 3050 3500K

CXA 2540 3000K


How many COB’s of each would I want for each 4x4 space, and what amount of light is requisite for each of the tent conditions for the COB's? I would rather set up more COB's and run them at a lower ma if that increases the efficiency. Seeing that I can fit 12 CXA 2540 5000K on a HLG-120H-C350 is quite nice, I must say.


I plan on documenting the process of my DIY assembly, and the progress of my first grow for everyone to see.
 
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Solandras

Member
So far, I'm finding all kinds of opinions about how much coverage is needed. How many lumens for veg, and for flower varies quite a bit.

If my math is right, running 12 CXA 2540 5000K on a HLG-120H-C350 would have a lm50c of 2163 each.

For 24 CXA's on two of these drivers in a 16 sq ft space-

24(2163lm)= 51912 lm

51912lm/16 sqft = 3244 lm/sqft in a 4'x4' space.

Is this feasible?

The COB's costs $10.20 each ---- 24($10.20)
The drivers cost about $60 each.

Would it make more sense to run 16 @ 500ma with 2 HLG-120H-C500 drivers? I think the dimmable option might make sense, but I'm running into issues concerning how much dimming capability there is, the range, and the lumen output along the capacity of the driver.

This COB stuff is slowly making more sense to me. I just keep on reading, learning more, and finding out that I need to learn more. Thank you to anyone who has advice or opinions.
 
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speedyganga

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Can someone lead me to ELG 150 2100mA for cheap ? I can find any for less than 40euros...
I saw some say we better go with ELG instead of LPC because there is only a few $ difference but there is 15$ difference for the best deal i found. ELG would be killer, because I have been using HLG 185 and not having dimmable option would make me sad... So easy to use !!!
 
A

AnjaG

Member
Just ordered 12x cxb3590 3000k from kingbrite for my first diy build and first indoors grow ever. I was thinking id make 3 panels with 4 cobs each, would you recommend heatsink or cpucoolers?
And what size should the heatsink be if I intend to run them on hlg-185-1400a (or b, difference is u solder dimmer to b right? And A has a dimmer built in?

Also, what tent size would be ideal for this setup?
Thankful for any replies :)
 
CanadianONE

CanadianONE

Well-Known Member
AnjaG said:
Just ordered 12x cxb3590 3000k from kingbrite for my first diy build and first indoors grow ever. I was thinking id make 3 panels with 4 cobs each, would you recommend heatsink or cpucoolers?
And what size should the heatsink be if I intend to run them on hlg-185-1400a (or b, difference is u solder dimmer to b right? And A has a dimmer built in?

Also, what tent size would be ideal for this setup?
Thankful for any replies :)
Click to expand...
Your right on the dimming options but there is one more difference. The integrated pot can only DIM to 50% where if you add your own pot to the B model you can DIM to 10%
 
CanadianONE

CanadianONE

Well-Known Member
AnjaG said:
Just ordered 12x cxb3590 3000k from kingbrite for my first diy build and first indoors grow ever. I was thinking id make 3 panels with 4 cobs each, would you recommend heatsink or cpucoolers?
And what size should the heatsink be if I intend to run them on hlg-185-1400a (or b, difference is u solder dimmer to b right? And A has a dimmer built in?

Also, what tent size would be ideal for this setup?
Thankful for any replies :)
Click to expand...
At 30w/sqft you would be good for about 20sqft tent. 4' x 4' would give you 16sqft and 37.5 w/sqft roughly
 
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speedyganga

Well-Known Member
@EfficientWatt
Thanks for answering
I found it at TME, the only draw back is I can't find the ELG in 2100mA over there... I needed it for 2 vero 29.
40$ is not that cheap, you can find a 200W driver HLG for 50$ so i bet there are still the best for anything under 1400mA.

Thinking a bit, I might take 2 HLG 185 c1400B and plug them in //. It would make a 2800mA 143V equivalent driver.
One single Pot to dim both of them, I could have a 40-400W lamp.
I would be good to go with 4 vero 29 ( 4x 39V = 156V < over voltage protection kick at 160-170V) that will perform between 38 and 52% efficiency.

What do youy think ? possible ?
 
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Seriousbuds

Active Member
I've been looking around here for a few days and can't find a definitive answer:

What would the most efficient LED setup be for my 2x4x5 grow tent?

I'm planning to do Realstyles LED panel however I need to know if there's something that maths out more efficiently for my space
 
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speedyganga

Well-Known Member
@ Seriousbuds
I have designed a lamp for a 2x4x5 recently,
If you want to go cheap : 2 arctic cooling or any other good CPU cooler, 2 LPC 150-1750, 2 vero 29. Plug the 2 driver in // and then the led in serie. It would give you aprox 315W of led at 37% efficiency (veros driven @3,5A) for about 170$... With pico ez, no soldering.

If you want to go efficient than you better mimic Realstyle's CXB and drive them low.
The way I see it, 40% is already better than HPS and 170$ is really cheap. Go for it and add new modules when you get the budget while lowering the output on the vero so that they get to 45%+ eff.

Also, 1 years ago I paid high price to have 40% instead of 30% efficient lamp, now it would be at least 15% cheaper to achieve this goal. So why not just going with the more interesting solution money wise (while still beating HPS) and upgrade for cheap in 2 year or so to 50%+ or maybe even more if led continue to evolve this way...

Cheers
 
S

Seriousbuds

Active Member
speedyganga said:
@ Seriousbuds
I have designed a lamp for a 2x4x5 recently,
If you want to go cheap : 2 arctic cooling or any other good CPU cooler, 2 LPC 150-1750, 2 vero 29. Plug the 2 driver in // and then the led in serie. It would give you aprox 315W of led at 37% efficiency (veros driven @3,5A) for about 170$... With pico ez, no soldering.

If you want to go efficient than you better mimic Realstyle's CXB and drive them low.
The way I see it, 40% is already better than HPS and 170$ is really cheap. Go for it and add new modules when you get the budget while lowering the output on the vero so that they get to 45%+ eff.

Also, 1 years ago I paid high price to have 40% instead of 30% efficient lamp, now it would be at least 15% cheaper to achieve this goal. So why not just going with the more interesting solution money wise (while still beating HPS) and upgrade for cheap in 2 year or so to 50%+ or maybe even more if led continue to evolve this way...

Cheers
Click to expand...
You've appealed to my cheap bastard mentality 100%.

I find myself thinking man if I could just WAIT another year I bet efficiency ratings will be off the charts and the COBs would be even cheaper.

Would this setup "beat" a 600w HPS?

I like this idea and would potentially add another vero 29 + driver to it just because it's so much cheaper than the $700 LED bar build

I'm looking to get an insane yield without spending an insane amount of money, and I like your style!
 
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OrganicCanuck

OrganicCanuck

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone, I decided to go with vero 29s, (12)-3000k + (3)-4000K. 3 separate heat sinks 36"length by 8" width. 5 leds/ Heat sink, with switch Veg/Bloom, Bloom being all lights On, and veg being 2 led per Heat sink (1)3000k + (1)4000k. Couple Fans each heat sink. Driven by HLG-185H-C1050ma 191Vmax, 5 LED/ String @ 38W per Led. With a grand total of 570W Bloom, 342W Veg. To be Hung In a 4X4 Tent each units spacing to be
6" 8" 6" 8" 6" 8" 6" - 8" being the width of the heat sink and 6" being the space between heat sinks. 36" length heat sink with 6" space in front and behind.
Does this sound alright? Any suggestions would be grand

The reason I am using so many Led is for future if I want to upgrade to larger space, I just have to upgrade the drivers and push the leds more.
 
EfficientWatt

EfficientWatt

Well-Known Member
As I said, including VAT (...) but if you really have a source that cheap, please share !

From what I can see, TME sells HLG 185H for ~60€ if you buy 10+, that's nowhere close to 50$ (~45€)

Not sure about using drivers in parallel, but interested to know how well this works.
For the rest, I don't look at veros :p

speedyganga said:
@EfficientWatt
Thanks for answering
I found it at TME, the only draw back is I can't find the ELG in 2100mA over there... I needed it for 2 vero 29.
40$ is not that cheap, you can find a 200W driver HLG for 50$ so i bet there are still the best for anything under 1400mA.

Thinking a bit, I might take 2 HLG 185 c1400B and plug them in //. It would make a 2800mA 143V equivalent driver.
One single Pot to dim both of them, I could have a 40-400W lamp.
I would be good to go with 4 vero 29 ( 4x 39V = 156V < over voltage protection kick at 160-170V) that will perform between 38 and 52% efficiency.

What do youy think ? possible ?
Click to expand...
 
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speedyganga

Well-Known Member
@nevergoodenuf
So you said you ran them in parallel before without any probe.
What driver was it and what did you put with them ? Did you consider them like an equivalent driver model enabling choosing your led ?
in theory I know you can add as much sources as you want in parallel as long as you agree with all of their Voltage range. In // Intensities add, but not voltage.
Then my driver with the lowest voltage range would be the one determining the maximum voltage in each branch of the circuit. And vice versa for the min.

Ex: driver1 (I=700mA Vout= 24-153V) in parallel with driver 2 (1050mA Vout= 78-350V) is equivalent to a driver with Vout =78-153V @1750mA.

Then again I know theory but no idea in practical. so i am glad you tried, please could you tell me a little more on the setup ? :)
 
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