rebuilding my first lights, adding supplemental reds

As I began looking into ordering more leds to build somemore lights and fully convert to an all led setup, i realized my first few lights i built could use a little reworking, and im super jelly watching growmau5' video of his canopy10 grow light, what a thing of beauty. That, and a few good bowls of this pink grapefruit got me motivated to take on some new light projects, step up my diy led game and phase out all my hid lighting.
So lets get started with this first light project.
Here is what i am working with.
Bigger unit 4 creecxb3590 4000k
MW hlg320h-36a
Heatsink usa 6" of 4.9"profile
Smaller unit 2 cxa3590 5000k
MW hlg120h-c1050a
Heatsink 7" of 4.6" profile
all actively cooled by artic f12 120mm fans 250mw each
Fan power 12v 2.0 amp ac adapter
Angelina 90° reflectors

Using 4-40 tap and matching drill bit to make screw holes to attatch the L shaped aluminum together. I wont be adding reds to this light(eventually rebuilding other cxb lights to make room for more cobs running them softer and adding reds but ill get to that later) but i left a screw mounting hole on the heatsinks in case i end up adding some supplemental blues to this light later. I also have 4 more angelina reflectors for the 4 that are bare.

This will be my main veg light for a 4x4 tent. With these drivers i can dim down the lights as needed, shut off the fans and run more efficiently during periods where i dont need the full power(~75w each cob). Also the option of having only 2 or 4 cobs on at once. I really like the versatility of a modular light system.
So i ran into a little problem, when i first powered up the 4 cxbs 4000k, only the first two cobs in the parralel string lit up. Wtf, checked the wiring, no loose connections. Did a little reading and decided i had some thermal runaway, where the first two cobs were hogging all the power. So i split the circuit into two parallel strings and bing bang bam, we had power to all cobs. Anyone else had this issue? I read it was common as leds begin to age. I dont have the testing equipment to measure voltages and such to see exactly what my numbers are.
I do have a killowatt meter so i can adjust my dimmer and get the total power consumtion of my lights.
Fans are using 16.5 watts
Hlg 120 uses 140w and can dim down to 66w
Hlg320 uses 355w and dims down to 114w
So total light uses 511.5w on full power

On order are 8 more cxbs, 16 xpe2 reds and also 3 vero29s in a kit that i will be putting together here soon.

looks real nice mate!!!

id probably have the 5000K in the middle with out reflectors and the rest with.


Have you considered running monos off ur fan power supply? I'm considering this for a veg light also, perhaps with dc input CC drivers

5000k is in the middle. I suppose i dont even need reflectors since this will be in a 4x4 gorilla tent but i like the reflectors for protecting the cobs and my head from getting a bald spot burnt into it.
Im still deciding how i want to power my monos and whether i should add another seperate heatsink or just mount em on the heatsink with the cobs.
Probably just going to get a seperate driver to power the reds.

Banana444 said:

5000k is in the middle. I suppose i dont even need reflectors since this will be in a 4x4 gorilla tent but i like the reflectors for protecting the cobs and my head from getting a bald spot burnt into it.
Im still deciding how i want to power my monos and whether i should add another seperate heatsink or just mount em on the heatsink with the cobs.
Probably just going to get a seperate driver to power the reds.

Click to expand...

yeah i think u can get away with mounting monos on the alu frame even, I've done that before


i was looking at this driver for monos run off the power supply

900mA
https://www.fasttech.com/products/1110705

600mA
https://www.fasttech.com/products/3507000

both convert ur 12v into constant current(12v output) so like 6 monos per driver

I ended up getting meanwell lpc-35-700. I decided to make two identical lights except i added 16xpe2 reds @700ma to this light. These new xpe2 are nice, and the solderless makes for quick assembly. This is the first i have ever worked with monos, i could see how it could be a pain if you have 50+ stars to mount and solder together vs a couple cobs.

Nice. Like it. Yeah its a pain but having supplemental colors makes the light comparative to the expensive lights
I am also using Deep Red and IR both run at 700ma also. I ended up getting a mean well 200-48 power supply 200w 48v enough to run 65 3w leds. Peace

I have had it in action now for a couple weeks. They vegged very well and seemed to take off when moved from the veg area, using 4000k and 5000k cobs and an indagrow 420. Switch to 13/11 3 days ago and added the far red for 5 mins after lights out.

First time with this 4x4 scrog setup, strain is raredankness, lee roy. Using some blumats since these things always seem thirsty.

looking good and healthy. nice fixture too. peace