Looking for cheaper COB LED alternatives...

JSB99

JSB99

Well-Known Member
I'm going to build 2 x COB arrays, one for each side of my 4x4 tent. Right now I'm going to run my 600w HID for one side, and one of the COB LEDs for the other, until I can afford to build the second.

I've got my parts list together, but I know there are other, less expensive, equivalents out there. Looking for some direction on piecing together something similar, for less.

Parts (6 COBs):
COBs - Kingbrite CXB-3590 (36v) $26.00 ea x 6 = $156.00
Driver - Meanwell MW HLG-240H-C1050B $45.00 ea x 1 = $45.00
Pin Heatsinks $5.00 ea x 6 = $30.00
COB Holders $3.00 ea x 6 = $18.00
Glass Lenses $1.00 ea x 6 = $6.00
Total $255.00

That was based on having 6 COBs on each side. Originally, I was going to have 8 COBs per side. Obviously, the price goes up, but would it be worth it for the 2 extra COBs, or would it be overkill?

Parts (8 COBs):
COBs - Kingbrite CXB-3590 (36v) $26.00 ea x 8 = $156.00
Driver - Meanwell MW HLG-320H-C1050B $64.00 ea x 1 = $64.00
Pin Heatsinks $5.00 ea x 8 = $30.00
COB Holders $3.00 ea x 8 = $18.00
Glass Lenses $1.00 ea x 8 = $6.00
Total $308.00

Thanks for the help!
 
C

CobGrower

Member
Go with Citizen cobs for the cheapest, bridgelux for what imo is the best value, or pay the ‘cree’ fee which lets you brag that you have crees, which are quality, but honestly not worth the extra cost, and that is coming from a long time cree fanboy.
 
JSB99

JSB99

Well-Known Member
CobGrower said:
Go with Citizen cobs for the cheapest, bridgelux for what imo is the best value, or pay the ‘cree’ fee which lets you brag that you have crees, which are quality, but honestly not worth the extra cost, and that is coming from a long time cree fanboy.
Click to expand...
Cool! Thx!
 
C

CobGrower

Member
Short answer, yes, 6 cobs will cover a 2x4 area just fine, but I would recommend a 2100ma dimmable driver vs a 1050ma driver because during flower that extra power will help out immensely, and during veg you can turn it down to 1050ma to save on electricity.

This link and tool may help you more than I can.

http://ledgardener.com/cob-led-driver-selection-tool/

As far as other components cheaper, I have a hard time recommending anything other than meanwell for drivers. I am sure there are other good ones on the market I am not aware of and hopefully someone else can chime in with what those may be, but I have literally bought hundreds of meanwell drivers in the past decade and never had a issue with any of them. I have also tried cheap china drivers and blew them up weekly because their ratings listed are severely over estimated from my experience. You can save a little by not buying the holders and optics as those are really not needed, and can cause more issues with even light coverage if you don’t have enough cobs. You may get 1000 par under the cob but 2” to either side it drops in 1/2 because of the optics.
 
JSB99

JSB99

Well-Known Member
CobGrower said:
Short answer, yes, 6 cobs will cover a 2x4 area just fine, but I would recommend a 2100ma dimmable driver vs a 1050ma driver because during flower that extra power will help out immensely, and during veg you can turn it down to 1050ma to save on electricity.

This link and tool may help you more than I can.

http://ledgardener.com/cob-led-driver-selection-tool/

As far as other components cheaper, I have a hard time recommending anything other than meanwell for drivers. I am sure there are other good ones on the market I am not aware of and hopefully someone else can chime in with what those may be, but I have literally bought hundreds of meanwell drivers in the past decade and never had a issue with any of them. I have also tried cheap china drivers and blew them up weekly because their ratings listed are severely over estimated from my experience. You can save a little by not buying the holders and optics as those are really not needed, and can cause more issues with even light coverage if you don’t have enough cobs. You may get 1000 par under the cob but 2” to either side it drops in 1/2 because of the optics.
Click to expand...
Seems like MW is one of the only ones making these drivers So, I'll stick with them, especially after your recommendation.

I'll run some numbers with the 2100mA COBs. Thanks for the advice!
 
thetr33man

thetr33man

Well-Known Member
Id prolly go with the cxm22s and a hlg-185-48a driver, you can run that driver up to 220ish watts and it will handle the 50v cobs fine. Cxms have better r9 values and are cheaper than citi 1818s. 3500k 90cri...
 
C

CobGrower

Member
I agree, those heatsinks sound like an amazing deal @ $5ea until you realize they charge $15 shipping for each one.

Check out tastyled, he had 140 heatsinks left the other day @$10ea, I picked up 10 because it was a great deal.
 
Go go n chill

Go go n chill

Well-Known Member
I'm new to the cob scene, I just finished mine yesterday. I'm driving 4 CXM22 at 1400ma in a 2x3. I'm glad I purchased the pre assembled "engines" less hassle. Skip the reflectors and lens. I used 1"angle for th frame.. The 1" angle gives you room to drill for the remote dimmer a on/off switch. I only have a cheap lux meter...... So I don't have a great way of comparing my blurple lights to my cobs but we've all read the data. It's amazing the spread that these cobs have. I can visibly see the difference from my Mars hydro' and Vipar lights.
 

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JSB99

JSB99

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
I'm new to the cob scene, I just finished mine yesterday. I'm driving 4 CXM22 at 1400ma in a 2x3. I'm glad I purchased the pre assembled "engines" less hassle. Skip the reflectors and lens. I used 1"angle for th frame.. The 1" angle gives you room to drill for the remote dimmer a on/off switch. I only have a cheap lux meter...... So I don't have a great way of comparing my blurple lights to my cobs but we've all read the data. It's amazing the spread that these cobs have. I can visibly see the difference from my Mars hydro' and Vipar lights.
Click to expand...
Sweet!
 
mcnasty_nug

mcnasty_nug

Well-Known Member
yep cxm-22s. Im running a little over 2100 watts of cxms and I love em so far. SO do the plants. also cobkits is right, any of the alibaba stuff I checked had INSANE shipping costs. Not worth it unless you are buying a TON of stuff.
 
K

key4

Well-Known Member
This is perfect for a 4x4 and expandable depending on budget.Just half it if you cant afford it all right now.

*6-8x 125mm Square splayed pin heatsink or 140mm straight pin.
*6-8x luminus cxm22 gen3 cob.
*6-8x 0.5mm Arctic Thermal pad.
*6-8m solid core wire.
*2x hlg-240h-48a Driver.
*4x 5 Way wago connectors.
*2x Ip67 cable connector.
*2x 2m wire with plug.

Cobkits will have all the above.
 
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