One more DIY noob for you guys to deal with

Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
Hello everybody. Been lurking for months. This is my first post.

I've been using leds for several years, but mostly as supplemental lighting along side 600 HPS. Some Kessils, a couple blurples, and a pair of RW-75s. I recently have been upgrading to cobs. I purchased a T4 and a pair of T1s from Rahz, and spoke with Dan about picking up one of his DIY kits. I plan on purchasing more from these guys, but I'd also like to build a very simple single cob just to get my feet wet and understand the technology a bit better.

So, my question is more along the lines of a parts list. I'd like to build a single cob, but I don't really care if it's older tech(3070) or soon to be outdated tech(current vero). What I'm looking for is the easiest to build single cob, preferably with a pin cushion heat sink, again, just to sorta get my feet wet. Can you guys help me out with this? Or if it's easier, can you simply link me to threads where others have asked the same question.

Thanks in advance, guys.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
Hello everybody. Been lurking for months. This is my first post.

I've been using leds for several years, but mostly as supplemental lighting along side 600 HPS. Some Kessils, a couple blurples, and a pair of RW-75s. I recently have been upgrading to cobs. I purchased a T4 and a pair of T1s from Rahz, and spoke with Dan about picking up one of his DIY kits. I plan on purchasing more from these guys, but I'd also like to build a very simple single cob just to get my feet wet and understand the technology a bit better.

So, my question is more along the lines of a parts list. I'd like to build a single cob, but I don't really care if it's older tech(3070) or soon to be outdated tech(current vero). What I'm looking for is the easiest to build single cob, preferably with a pin cushion heat sink, again, just to sorta get my feet wet. Can you guys help me out with this? Or if it's easier, can you simply link me to threads where others have asked the same question.

Thanks in advance, guys.
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The only difference between a single cob fixture and multiple cobs, is the wires in between the leadds man. If you're going to build a light buy a driver that can run a few and build a good fixture
 
researching

researching

Well-Known Member
@Johnny Lawrence You will be amazed at how easy they are to wire and assemble with just some angle aluminum. So much so the savings makes it well worth it. There are a couple ones gromau5 makes on u tube that are very simple. Drivers are not that expensive and you can easily get one that runs 4 cobs for abt $44. You can then buy cheap cobs to get started and upgrade. I am happy to help if needed.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
researching said:
@Johnny Lawrence You will be amazed at how easy they are to wire and assemble with just some angle aluminum. So much so the savings makes it well worth it. There are a couple ones gromau5 makes on u tube that are very simple. Drivers are not that expensive and you can easily get one that runs 4 cobs for abt $44. You can then buy cheap cobs to get started and upgrade. I am happy to help if needed.
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Yup, frames are a breeze. Just make sure you go to harbor freight and buy the cheap $10 or so riveter (comes with rivets) and a few packs of drill bits of the size holes you'll need to make for the rivets and a nice hacksaw with some good new blades. These things make building a frame very simple. Riveter especially rather than nut and bolting it all together. Plus that's bulky.
 
researching

researching

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
Yup, frames are a breeze. Just make sure you go to harbor freight and buy the cheap $10 or so riveter (comes with rivets) and a few packs of drill bits of the size holes you'll need to make for the rivets and a nice hacksaw with some good new blades. These things make building a frame very simple. Riveter especially rather than nut and bolting it all together. Plus that's bulky.
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Also for the 18ga wire go to lowes and buy the spooled thermostat wire by the foot. It's super cheap.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
researching said:
Also for the 18ga wire go to lowes and buy the spooled thermostat wire by the foot. It's super cheap.
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Disclaimer: I've used this and also sprinkler wire. The insulation on this wire isn't rated for Jack Shit in voltage and I was given tons of shit for reccomending it. But I can say, I haven't had one problem on 4 separate diy lights using all sprinkler wire with no problems.
 
sixstring2112

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
yeah both types of wire recommended here are designed for 24 volt systems,i personally would not build anything over 100w with this type of wire and if you do use it keep each wire seperated from the other,no crossing or touching/grouping them if you must be cheap.
@CobKits you ever think about selling custom lengths of 18ga wire ? was just thinking about this the other day when i was using some off my spool of 500ft thinking thats alot of fucking wire lol
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
I just wanted to build a single cob unit for a little, tiny cabinet. Instead, I got answers to a question I never even asked. Yes, I plan on building a couple of multiple cob units in the near future, but I was simply asking for help for a single cob build.
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
I just wanted to build a single cob unit for a little, tiny cabinet. Instead, I got answers to a question I never even asked. Yes, I plan on building a couple of multiple cob units in the near future, but I was simply asking for help for a single cob build.
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And all I'm saying, is its more work time and money to build another one after that small one so I'd personally just build one worth hanging.
 
S

Shugglet

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
I just wanted to build a single cob unit for a little, tiny cabinet. Instead, I got answers to a question I never even asked. Yes, I plan on building a couple of multiple cob units in the near future, but I was simply asking for help for a single cob build.
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Theres hundreds if not thousands of ways to skin that cat...

When you say you want to "get your feet wet" in what regards are you referring to? The whole DIY side of it, new to soldering and wiring?

Everything is pretty simple once you have a grasp on it but can be fairly daunting for someone with no understandings of the basic things that go into making a DIY COB.

From your original post it would seem you just want someone to show you a driver, do you have any background knowledge on them?
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
And all I'm saying, is its more work time and money to build another one after that small one so I'd personally just build one worth hanging.
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Yeah, you've already mentioned that. Thanks.

The space I'd like to build this particular light for is tiny and can only realistically fit one cob, so I don't understand why you keep answering a question I never really asked.
 
Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
Shugglet said:
Theres hundreds if not thousands of ways to skin that cat...

When you say you want to "get your feet wet" in what regards are you referring to? The whole DIY side of it, new to soldering and wiring?

Everything is pretty simple once you have a grasp on it but can be fairly daunting for someone with no understandings of the basic things that go into making a DIY COB.

From your original post it would seem you just want someone to show you a driver, do you have any background knowledge on them?
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Basically, everything I know about them I picked up from here. I think I have the basics down. And like I mentioned before, a four cob light and frame is in my near future.

In the mean time, I have a spot that would be perfect for a single cob. I'd like to build this light first, so that when I do move onto building a four cob setup, I'm not a complete virgin at it.
 
S

Shugglet

Well-Known Member
Johnny Lawrence said:
Basically, everything I know about them I picked up from here. I think I have the basics down. And like I mentioned before, a four cob light and frame is in my near future.

In the mean time, I have a spot that would be perfect for a single cob. I'd like to build this light first, so that when I do move onto building a four cob setup, I'm not a complete virgin at it.
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So what do you need from us?
 
S

Shugglet

Well-Known Member
I like meanwell drivers, but it depends on how many watts you want going through the COB. There are plenty of drivers that will work and it all depends on what your requirements are.

Probably about any Constant Current driver that puts out ~36v will work for any of those COBs.
 
S

Shugglet

Well-Known Member
People need to be much more specific in their requirements when asking about DIY LEDs. You could get 100 different answers and they could all be correct.
 
S

Shugglet

Well-Known Member
As far as ease goes, the vero series have solderless connections. Depending on whether or not that matters to you.
 
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