New led setup OPIONIONS WANTED!! Cxa3070 cob leds

J

Jbrollin20

Member
So I'm looking to have a small build led grow light . I have a. 8sq ft closet for my system. I've been looking into the led side of growing and I think it's a great idea . I've read a lot about the new led cobs and what a high out out they have it seems they've had a lot of success . anyways I'm going with the cxa3070 model I'll be working with the z4 bin with a lumen output of around 10,000 they have these anywhere from 6500k-2700k . to use these lights you need a driver I'm looking at the LPC-60-1400 mean well driver
Specifications:
Input Voltage 90~264vac Universal Input
Constant Current 1400 mA
LED Total Fwd Voltage Min 9.00 vdc
LED Total Fwd Voltage Max 42.00 vdc
Output Power 58 Watts.
I think these should be plenty to push my led s to full potential .
So I'm going with 6 cobs 3 5000k and 3 2700k with 6 meanwell drivers 1 for each light I'm going with a peice of sheet metal for the frame I'm gonna cut it to fit wall to wall but still raiseable . I am not going with a heat sink for this build but I plan on placing my drivers outside of the grow room under a fan . I'm very confident in this build I made my own choices after reading a lot about it for months I'm hoping to have a great grow . my questions are do you think I have enough light for the area ? Should I cut on some if not all of the 2700k lights during vegging ? And the the same with flowering should I cut on my 5000I lights with my 2700k lights? Is mixing the spectrum of light good ? Mainly looking for options from well exsperieced growers happy growing ! Thanks
 
G

grouch

Well-Known Member
Have you bought the parts already? Much more efficient bins are available now and easily sourced. I would also recommend drivers that are dimmable in case they get to much light. I like the spectrum choices.

I would base the veg lighting off of how the plants respond. To much stretching, cut back on the 2700k and see if that helps. Running all six at full power in flower would be a nice goal to hit.
 
J

Jbrollin20

Member
Haven't bought the parts yet but have been pricing looking to buy in the next few weeks just really been reading up on it before investing this much money . the cheapest I found the cobs was 32.00 that's for the z4 bin so it's around 200$ for all 6 then the drivers and around $15.00 a peice so I'm looking at aroun 98$ for that. So I'm guessing aroun 300-350 for the setup. I know with a better bin means more money ? What's your opinion on this ? I like what you said as far of the spectrum that's really what I was thinking about doing , I know for flowering all 6 seems like it would produce a good yield !
 
G

grouch

Well-Known Member
Cutter and kingbrite are selling cxb-3070 in higher bins for about the same price and cxb-3590 for $10 more. They don't have 2700k but do have 3000k and 5000k. Mouser has some 38.5v cxa-3590 2700k bb bins for $51 which would be much more light imo. Digikey has vero29 in 2700k for $27 which would be comparable to the cxa 3070 and they dont need separate holders.

I would look into the hlg-120 or hlg-185 "B" series drivers. Pick one that can run three cobs and set it up with a dimmer. Dimming will allow you to turn them down without reducing your light coverage for more even spread while dimmed. This will also allow you to fine tune how close you can keep them to the canopy. Just cutting lights will leave you with the same intensity but gaps in coverage.
 
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J

Jbrollin20

Member
So would you recommend the cxb3070s over the cxa3070 ? I'm deffinetly going to have to do some more reading there's a lot to indoor growing it's really a science . you sound well informed I will be looking at those lights and if the drivers are in my price range I will think about them as well it would be a good feature to have . thanks a lot
 
PicklesRus

PicklesRus

Well-Known Member
Jbrollin20 said:
Could you possible post a link to the ones your talking about
Click to expand...
Hey dude,

Goto www.ledbuilder.org and check under quick links (have to be on a computer) for the Driver / LED Efficiency link to the spreadsheet. You'll see how many cobs you can fit into each mean well driver, and you'll also notice that you can fit more cxb3070 or cxb3590 onto the same driver because they use a little less voltage but actually give off more light.

There are also tabs on the spreadsheet that show you a bunch of numbers like how much lumens the chipS produce when you run them at different currents (A/mA)

Edit: if you poke around on the quick links you'll find some other info like links to the mean well driver catalogue
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
i run the single drivers on cxa3070's ,, yes turning some off will help if your too bright, also raising the lights if you have height works while the plants get stronger, but I must admit, dimming is best, looking back I wish mine were dimable as my last grow during early veg the lights were too strong, if you dont use dimmers you may have to get some t5 or cfls during seed or early clone stage,,
the cxbs are better but they are more expensive,,, using the cxa's are just fine if you want the lower price
 
J

Jbrollin20

Member
Tim Fox said:
i run the single drivers on cxa3070's ,, yes turning some off will help if your too bright, also raising the lights if you have height works while the plants get stronger, but I must admit, dimming is best, looking back I wish mine were dimable as my last grow during early veg the lights were too strong, if you dont use dimmers you may have to get some t5 or cfls during seed or early clone stage,,
the cxbs are better but they are more expensive,,, using the cxa's are just fine if you want the lower price
Click to expand...
Yeah I think I'm going with the cxa3070 I reall can't afford no more than what I got in it but I may look into different drivers dimmable. The main thing that's got me throwed off now is the hate sink I realize now they have to do with the led lifespans .. Can you build a big heatsink all 6 leds
 
J

Jbrollin20

Member
This discourages me I know nothing about heat sinks but basics and now I gotta try to figure it out as well or create a way that I can distribute most of the heat off my leds without heat sinks , really would like to not have it . I'll come up with something , what if all 6 are spear out on a peice of sheetmeatal as wide and long as my closet evenly spaced with strong plug in fans blowing down into the metal from above ? If you get what I'm say in
 
PicklesRus

PicklesRus

Well-Known Member
Hey man why don't you use cpu coolers? They don't cost much.

I got mine for 8$ each used. Goto kijiji and search for Cpu cooler
 
G

grouch

Well-Known Member
Sheet metal will not be able to cool six cxas. Grab some alpine 11 plus cpu coolers and mount them to that. You need to prevent catastrophic failure from to much heat. Life span is not the most important factor as the chips will last long enough to become obsolete if you dont run them super hot. Two years from now cree cobs will be more efficient and cheaper and your chips will still be chugging along
 
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