LED was the future

HydoDan

Well-Known Member
i still like and use this setup i made 4 years ago. cxb1830s each run at 25 watts. gonna upgrade soon but not sure to what as these have been running hard for a while now. i’ll either change out the diodes and fans on this one or buy a bar style like mars hydro has.
If it ain't broke don't fix it! They don't look broke. Got at least another 5 years.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
The 3618s are 180 watt emitters at nominal voltage. The citizens I've used are 1825s which are 60% efficient at 50 watts. I haven't done the math on the 3618s but I would be surprised if it's not 70% efficiency for 3618s in the 25 watt range. :shock: Expensive, but I want that. The AC savings would be worth the investment. One day.
It's the 1825s I have, was mistaken.
 

tstick

Well-Known Member
Can't say that I am as big a fan of COBs as I thought I would be. The fixture that I have doesn't spread the light out very evenly. I haven't used my COB fixture in years.
The last run (just now finishing) was grown under a combination of an old Area 51 light and a Nextlight Mini. I'm pretty convinced the Nextlight is the style of light I like the best...so far!

Whatever happened to those plasma lights that everyone was nuts for a few years back? They're like non existent now!

I dunno...in my experience, marijuana will grow well under almost any lights that are intense enough. I mean, you probably can't get a good run under yellow fluorescent tubes and black lights...but, who knows? heh heh
 

Rahz

Well-Known Member
Can't say that I am as big a fan of COBs as I thought I would be. The fixture that I have doesn't spread the light out very evenly. I haven't used my COB fixture in years.
I've used (and have in operation) bare cobs, lenses and reflectors. My lamps are all 4 cob, either 12x12" or 15x15" emitter to emitter. I also have a couple CMH's running. I really like using the optics because the PAR readings are more sustained further from the lamps. They're all 50 watt emitters so for reference I generally run the bare cobs up to 4-5 inches from the tops. Reflectors and Lenses can be as close as 7 inches from tops, and if a top is closer it's fine as long as it's not directly under the cob. There will be a bit of drop off but it's still a benefit when the lamp's prime area is closer to the canopy. I get very even readings through that area with or without optics. In contrast, the CMH is heavier in the center through it's optimal zone. The CMH also throws more side light than cobs with optics fwiw.

I've come to prefer these small 2x2 cob units. 12"x12"s or 15"x15"s will fill out pretty much any size tent and of course could be scaled out to commercial size. Very even lighting.
 

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Yeah leds are more efficient, cost less to run, have tunable spectrums etc. I have hlgs and they’re the shit. Bud quality and plant physiology wise though, out the box, they can’t compare with cmh. Even the ones with uva chips don’t even come close.

The only thing that keeps me using led + hps (in a cooltube) is the fact that hid still explode and you can’t put cmh in a cooltube unless you wanna give up their main advantage
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
Luv me some COBS … Running Citizen 3500k with Quantum rig since 2016 . They haven’t failed yet. HLG used to sell them as DIY and light systems back then.

Even got a couple of G8 630-660nm “ bloom “ lamps still going ( 2016 too ) .

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Rahz

Well-Known Member
nobodies tries using rings pcb to suplemental the old COBs with uva or violet or blues or reds or far reds mising on the cobs???... its rare to me saw CJilled or Timber or other cobs lovers not to go on that way... the old cobs needs a bit of help with new actual monos leds... seems to me its more doable an economical (not an expensive way) in actual times...they needs less leds to go on that route... lot of cobs users like the update on actual times... separate channels for colors its an update too on actual times (on light controls to give more spectrum control)...
I recall a couple red based cobs, one was a red/white flip chip (?) or something like that and the other was a solid red cob. There were some compact PCB based arrays but they were really pricy! I would be interested in the small PCBs if the price was better.

My interest would also be peaked if there were controlled studies showing yield and content differences using supplemented spectrums. Without being convinced there's a benefit to quality or cost it's hard to get excited about it. I'm a skeptic, but open to news.
 

tstick

Well-Known Member
LOL! Does anyone remember the guy (Chinese sales rep) who was here years ago and had COBs that could be printed to look like yin/yang symbols, etc.? And the COBs he ws advertising could be run over by an army vehicle and not go out. In fact, I think that's what they were trying to sell to the army -lights that wouldn't go out under almost any circumstances. Anyone? I remember the guy was very good natured...of course he took a lot of shit from the naysayers and disappeared, but some of those videos he posted were funny! I never saw any more about those COBs anywhere after that. I guess that's the testament to them...unless the army DID pick them up! Who knows?
 
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crimsonecho

Well-Known Member
If it ain't broke don't fix it! They don't look broke. Got at least another 5 years.
good eye dan pics are from 3 years ago so we’re nearing the end there :D

when i first set it up i havent attached those pc fans on the fixture so it was running considerably hotter then it is now. now its barely warm but that one run i did without fans may have degraded the diodes even faster than usual.

anyway my new setup will include 4 20 gallon pots in that 4x4 so hoping to set one fixture dedicated to each pot so i can adjust them individually. i do multi strain runs with 100% sativas and hybrids together so that kind of adjustability works better for me.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
I recall a couple red based cobs, one was a red/white flip chip (?) or something like that and the other was a solid red cob. There were some compact PCB based arrays but they were really pricy! I would be interested in the small PCBs if the price was better.

My interest would also be peaked if there were controlled studies showing yield and content differences using supplemented spectrums. Without being convinced there's a benefit to quality or cost it's hard to get excited about it. I'm a skeptic, but open to news.
http://instagr.am/p/CZUm14vppTZ/
 

Rahz

Well-Known Member
Nice. That was in January. Was the grow finished? I can't tell a difference by eye, would be nice to know final weight, purity, terpine content etc.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
Nice. That was in January. Was the grow finished? I can't tell a difference by eye, would be nice to know final weight, purity, terpine content etc.
The info is all in dudes thread or whatever it's called on instagram
Apparently notably higher potent and cannabanoid contents :peace:
 
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