Testing Timber's B-lux Decor Vero fixture(1750k)= Hello beautiful SPD, finger still on the trigger

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
What's up brother P! Been busy with life, work, family stuff. Just got back from a long eurotrip which was fucking awesome. Spent a good amount of time in Italy and a couple other countries. It was my first time over there, glad I went but good to be back. No place like home. Should be starting a new round of something nice here in the next week or so. May or may not do a journal, we'll see...Hope the dad life is treating you well homie. Peace
What parts of Italy?...................I haven't been back to the motherland in awhile, can't afford it, happy the euro rate was good for you though.

you better do a journal brother!......your the og led grower in here:)
 
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PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Alright finally got permission to post the sphere results...............Big thanks to Nick for letting us use his UL testing facility in OH again and Dan for sending in the gear, I sure as hell wouldn't do it:)........I'm trying to do this on my crappy android phone so bear with me. Edited some shit out that we're not privy to

"We finally had time to get your fixture in the sphere and I was able to do all channels at the same time, as well as each individual channel. Everything labeled Timber V2 below is from this round of testing. These actually performed a little worse than the stuff you sent me last year, but I'm guessing that's due to the high CRI. You sacrifice 10-15% of your efficiency by going to high CRI. It's worth playing around with to see if there is any noticeable difference between 80 and 90 CRI, but from everything I have ever played with efficiency is king.


The build looks great and I like the extrusions you used for the frame, we have a ton of that stuff around here that we use for shelving. I think you could gain some efficiency by running these at 75 watts but your parts list will increase and possibly be too expensive.


As far as UL goes, they want to see all wiring terminal connections inside an enclosure, all wiring pass throughs need to go through a grommet and you have to fuse anything over 100 KVA (approximately 100 watts). If you only sell to home growers you don't need to worry about it, but electricians cannot touch anything that does not have a UL or ETL label for the entire fixture.


Let me know how the testing goes and if you see any appreciable difference between the high CRI and standard.

Power (W) Flux (lm) Radiant Flux (W) Efficacy (lm/W) Radiant efficacy (W/W) Waste Heat (W) PPF (umol) PPF/J

Timber 660nm 4 94.78 1257 25.9 13.26 0.273 68.88 143 1.51
Timber 3000K 4 212.7 27824 86.19 130.81 0.405 126.51 402 1.89
Timber 3000K 4 Ref 212.8 25463 79.11 119.66 0.372 133.69 369 1.73
Timber 4000K 214.4 29084 89.8 135.65 0.419 124.6 410 1.91

Timber V2 658.2 67706 235.44 102.87 0.358 422.76 1082 1.64
Timber V2 1750K 208.9 14603 69.42 69.90 0.332 139.48 315 1.51
Timber V2 3000K 216.9 26243 81.97 120.99 0.378 134.93 381 1.76
Timber V2 3500K 214.7 27192 84.42 126.65 0.393 130.28 388 1.81

"

First three fixtures were the cxb3590 from last year, top bin, mw driver, 1.4 amps 4cobs, 50w a cob, mechatronix 100mm pin sink. 3000k Ref==with reflector, rest where bare. Also the osram oslon 660nm 4-"pucks " , top group mid bin I believe, Dan can correct me. All cobs 80ra, cri.

All V2 is the vero 29c gen 7 fixture just sent in, three circuits, two cobs per circuit, 1.4 amps, 100w per cob. All bare no reflectors, 3000/3500k 90ra,cri. Makes nick's life easier and just can test each circuit/ kelvin separately without moving fixtures in and out of the large sphere.

I first was puzzled why he thought the veros performed worse than the cxbs, YES high cri will knock it down, we know that, also isn't factoring in that their getting double the wattage, he just looks at the total draw= which is right (doesn't care what theoretically can be achieved at lower current, just what you sent him to test) . Asked if maybe the hlg splayed sinks are garbage? Reminded him that the 1750k, 15- 18% of it's spd is above 700nm and isn't factored in the ppf. Did ambient temps affect the outcome, hot as shit in Ohio! Lol..... essentially asked to elaborate
He responded:


"We let it warm up in the warehouse before it goes in the sphere, ambient temps were in the mid 70s. I like looking at the radiant efficacy because it sums the entire output of the fixture from 380nm to 800nm and doesn't give any weight to any particular wavelength, unlike PPF. Radiant efficacy is the sum of all light energy captured in the sphere divided by the actual input wattage at the wall, and it is the true efficiency of the entire system. For comparison's sake the Mega does 309 watts of radiant flux and has a radiant efficacy of 0.46. This is what all companies should be advertising, not PPF/watt.

I don't think the splayed heat sinks are performing worse, I think you're just seeing how poorly high CRI performs from an efficiency standpoint. If you put those old CREE ones we did last year in that same rig I think you might pick up a point or two.

I'm pretty sure all 3 you sent this time were high CRI, though that 1750K really highlights the shortcomings of the CRI tile measurement system. Those things are obnoxious lol. If you are looking for higher efficacy you are going to have to spread the heat out and the best way to do that is with lots of LEDs on big huge boards. Just for fun you should try some liquid phase change coolers like they use for CPU coolers in big gaming rigs. They can't be any more expensive than those crazy pin things."

We get it, you really hate high cri! Ha. Hlg Splayed sinks don't suck . He also seems to think that the 1750k are 95+cri like I did? Strange, vero datasheet says otherwise. Nothing new here really with the test, can go high power its a watt to watt de hps replacement with lower lumen maintenance/ depreciation. Active cooling (don't like liquid) with some low watt cpu fans are becoming almost mandatory with these pin sinks driven hard imo. If chasing efficiency, electrical savings==more cobs, lower ma ,way more $$$. Also qbs are a good option no doubt. Can't recommend any other boards until tested/ verified. Sorry but China Factory can sell/ tell you anything, doesn't mean is true. Enough bull shit in this industry already.


Edit........ phone, sorry I'll fix the results/ table when I'm back home again. Getting 4+ inches of rain tomorrow, crazy.


 
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PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
So the V2 fixtures were high CRI, running at twice the watts, and 6-7% less photon output? That's pretty impressive on the Vero side. At 50W and 80CRI they would be crushing the Cree on photon output.

Yeah the veros did quite well...... idk about "crushing" the cxb, that would have to be tested: )........I wanted 700ma included, I was told no. 1 k se hps swaps on the "cheap" is where the industry is going i guess. Manufactures Don't care about "efficiency whores"?, they don't buy fixtures anyways=diy

Edit......... harsh
 
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Profound Bastard

Active Member
Yeah the veros did quite well...... idk about "crushing" the cxb, that would have to be tested: )........I wanted 700ma included, I was told no. 1 k se hps swaps on the "cheap" is where the industry is going i guess. Don't care about efficiency whores, they don't buy fixtures anyways=diy
I think we've seen enough garage testing of efficiency curves with Apogee meters, cross-referenced with data sheets and professional testing at this point to be fairly certain that halving the wattage and moving to 80CRI will give you more than a 6-7% gain in efficiency. It's just how the curve curves. Crush is subjective, but LEDs are still progressing nicely :)

Cool to see everybody on the same page. I'd be skipping Cree in 2017 based on the grows I'm seeing in here. Very nice stuff.
 
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Hybridway

Well-Known Member
Alright finally got permission to post the sphere results...............Big thanks to Nick for letting us use his UL testing facility in OH again and Dan for sending in the gear, I sure as hell wouldn't do it:)........I'm trying to do this on my crappy android phone so bear with me. Edited some shit out that we're not privy to

"We finally had time to get your fixture in the sphere and I was able to do all channels at the same time, as well as each individual channel. Everything labeled Timber V2 below is from this round of testing. These actually performed a little worse than the stuff you sent me last year, but I'm guessing that's due to the high CRI. You sacrifice 10-15% of your efficiency by going to high CRI. It's worth playing around with to see if there is any noticeable difference between 80 and 90 CRI, but from everything I have ever played with efficiency is king.


The build looks great and I like the extrusions you used for the frame, we have a ton of that stuff around here that we use for shelving. I think you could gain some efficiency by running these at 75 watts but your parts list will increase and possibly be too expensive.


As far as UL goes, they want to see all wiring terminal connections inside an enclosure, all wiring pass throughs need to go through a grommet and you have to fuse anything over 100 KVA (approximately 100 watts). If you only sell to home growers you don't need to worry about it, but electricians cannot touch anything that does not have a UL or ETL label for the entire fixture.


Let me know how the testing goes and if you see any appreciable difference between the high CRI and standard.

Power (W) Flux (lm) Radiant Flux (W) Efficacy (lm/W) Radiant efficacy (W/W) Waste Heat (W) PPF (umol) PPF/J








Timber 660nm 4 94.78 1257 25.9 13.26 0.273 68.88 143 1.51
Timber 3000K 4 212.7 27824 86.19 130.81 0.405 126.51 402 1.89
Timber 3000K 4 Ref 212.8 25463 79.11 119.66 0.372 133.69 369 1.73
Timber 4000K 214.4 29084 89.8 135.65 0.419 124.6 410 1.91
Timber V2 658.2 67706 235.44 102.87 0.358 422.76 1082 1.64
Timber V2 1750K 208.9 14603 69.42 69.90 0.332 139.48 315 1.51
Timber V2 3000K 216.9 26243 81.97 120.99 0.378 134.93 381 1.76
Timber V2 3500K 214.7 27192 84.42 126.65 0.393 130.28 388 1.81

"

First three fixtures were the cxb3590 from last year, top bin, mw driver, 1.4 amps 4cobs, 50w a cob, mechatronix 100mm pin sink. 3000k Ref==with reflector, rest where bare. Also the osram oslon 660nm "puck " , top group mid bin I believe, Dan can correct me. All cobs 80ra, cri.

All V2 is the vero 29c gen 7 fixture just sent in, three circuits, two cobs per circuit, 1.4 amps, 100w per cob. All bare no reflectors, 3000/3500k 90ra,cri. Makes nicks life easier and just can test each circuit/ kelvin separately without moving fixtures in and out of the large sphere.

I first was puzzled why he thought the veros performed worse than the cxbs, YES high cri will knock it down, we know that, also isn't factoring in that their getting double the wattage, he just looks at the total draw= which is right (doesn't care what theoretically can achieve at lower current, just what you sent him to test) . Asked him if maybe the hlg splayed sinks are garbage? Reminded him that the 1750k, 15- 18% of it's spd is above 700nm and isn't factored in the ppf. Did ambient temps affect the outcome, hot as shit in Ohio! Lol..... essentially asked to elaborate
He responded:


"We let it warm up in the warehouse before it goes in the sphere, ambient temps were in the mid 70s. I like looking at the radiant efficacy because it sums the entire output of the fixture from 380nm to 800nm and doesn't give any weight to any particular wavelength, unlike PPF. Radiant efficacy is the sum of all light energy captured in the sphere divided by the actual input wattage at the wall, and it is the true efficiency of the entire system. For comparison's sake the Mega does 309 watts of radiant flux and has a radiant efficacy of 0.46. This is what all companies should be advertising, not PPF/watt.

I don't think the splayed heat sinks are performing worse, I think you're just seeing how poorly high CRI performs from an efficiency standpoint. If you put those old CREE ones we did last year in that same rig I think you might pick up a point or two.

I'm pretty sure all 3 you sent this time were high CRI, though that 1750K really highlights the shortcomings of the CRI tile measurement system. Those things are obnoxious lol. If you are looking for higher efficacy you are going to have to spread the heat out and the best way to do that is with lots of LEDs on big huge boards. Just for fun you should try some liquid phase change coolers like they use for CPU coolers in big gaming rigs. They can't be any more expensive than those crazy pin things."

We get it, you really hate high cri! Ha. Hlg Splayed sinks don't suck . He also seems to think that the 1750k are 97+cri like I did? Strange, vero datasheet says otherwise. Nothing new here really with the test, can go high power its a watt to watt de hps replacement with lower lumen maintenance/ depreciation. Active cooling (don't like liquid) with some low watt cpu fans are becoming almost mandatory with these pin sinks driven hard imo. If chasing efficiency, electrical savings==more cobs, lower ma ,way more $$$. Also qbs are a good option no doubt. Can't recommend any other boards until tested/ verified. Sorry but China Factory can sell/ tell you anything, doesn't mean is true. Enough bull shit in this industry already.


Edit........ phone, sorry I'll fix the results/ table when I'm back home again. Getting 4+ inches of rain tomorrow, crazy.


Thank you for sharing. That clears up so much BS around here.
 

Stephenj37826

Well-Known Member
Yeah the veros did quite well...... idk about "crushing" the cxb, that would have to be tested: )........I wanted 700ma included, I was told no. 1 k se hps swaps on the "cheap" is where the industry is going i guess. Don't care about efficiency whores, they don't buy fixtures anyways=diy

Well we have been talking with a lab or two and just like anything else once Wall Street moves in the deceptive testing will be over. Goniophotometer is not perfect but apparently they are working on a near field light distribution system that will give us the ability to accurately simulate real world light distribution.

Can we have our high CRI and Eat our Efficiency cake too? Time will tell soon ;)
 

Hybridway

Well-Known Member
Well we have been talking with a lab or two and just like anything else once Wall Street moves in the deceptive testing will be over. Goniophotometer is not perfect but apparently they are working on a near field light distribution system that will give us the ability to accurately simulate real world light distribution.

Can we have our high CRI and Eat our Efficiency cake too? Time will tell soon ;)
Sure can. I think you already know how too. Also, wanted to say, I recognize your hard work @ trying to develop better products & share w/ people what you've learned in the process. Props. Not joking.
Putting the small issue in the past behind me now.
 

Profound Bastard

Active Member
Thank you for sharing. That clears up so much BS around here.
What BS? Those numbers are right in line with basically everybody ever for those wattages. From @SupraSPL to @CobKits , @alesh ... pick your guy. Right around 1.8 PPF/W for relatively hard driven cobs with driver losses taken into account, CXB3590s coming in right where you'd expect as well. I think PLC tested theirs at 1.8 PPF/W.

DIY builds with newer COBs at 50W or less would likely be somewhere in the 2-2.2 PPF/W range.

No real surprises, a lot of very smart people figuring things out with data sheets and relative comparisons with PAR meters around here. We know the big name manufacturers like Cree, Samsung, Citizen, Bridgelux are staying honest, and data sheets are conservative.

It's still valuable and reassuring to see real life ass-kicking by the Veros at 100W, confirming both @CobKits measurements and data sheet lumen/W numbers. So yeah. Not much "BS".
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
hey @PSUAGRO. do you know if he used a sharp cut at 400 and 700 nm to define PAR?

some testers use 350-750 nm. obviously makes a huge difference with far red in there

It's still valuable and reassuring to see real life ass-kicking by the Veros at 100W, confirming both @CobKits measurements and data sheet lumen/W numbers. So yeah. Not much "BS".
i still have yet to do the big chip shootout, but multiple vero Cs tested right on the money with citi1825 gen5. i have both 1825 gen 6, 3618 gen 6, and luminus cxm32 gen 3 to test against them, the three latter ones are all the same 38mm size.

i think as good as the splayed heatsinks are, the veros would really benefit from active cooling at 100W. im thinking adding a <1W fan would return 2+% in efficacy. Im running an experimental setup in my tent, 4 cobs on a 133 with a 50mm fan, im running at 120 total watts and the heatsink is under 45C

@robincnn did a fan test on heatsinks a few months back with same fans and he had same conclusion- the fans are worth it. i think if you can get yourself in a situation where you are depending on the fans for an efficacy boost, but still have enough mass on your heatsink to dissipate the cob's heat with the fan off, its a win-win. if you design the latter situation to be 85-100 Tc with the fan off, you just have to notice the fan is off sometime in the next 50000 hrs or so to avoid cob damage :bigjoint:
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
Well we have been talking with a lab or two and just like anything else once Wall Street moves in the deceptive testing will be over. Goniophotometer is not perfect but apparently they are working on a near field light distribution system that will give us the ability to accurately simulate real world light distribution.

whats involved with that, i imagine test>demonstrate>propose standard to ies?
 

Stephenj37826

Well-Known Member
whats involved with that, i imagine test>demonstrate>propose standard to ies?
Apparently they will test over a pretty large area 6x8. If the fixture is symmetrical they will actual test 1 quadrant against that area and then duplicate it 4x for a total test area of 12x16. Apparently they have software that will take that data set and generate the ies file. The only difference is with this method if you test at say 18" the simulation will only be accurate if you position the fixtures in the software at the tested height. So you will want to have 3+ mounting heights tested Imho.


IES already had this protocol in the 90s but abandoned it to the then more usable Goniophotometer point source data. I guess they are just going to bring it back.
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
hey @PSUAGRO. do you know if he used a sharp cut at 400 and 700 nm to define PAR?

some testers use 350-750 nm. obviously makes a huge difference with far red in there



i still have yet to do the big chip shootout, but multiple vero Cs tested right on the money with citi1825 gen5. i have both 1825 gen 6, 3618 gen 6, and luminus cxm32 gen 3 to test against them, the three latter ones are all the same 38mm size.

i think as good as the splayed heatsinks are, the veros would really benefit from active cooling at 100W. im thinking adding a <1W fan would return 2+% in efficacy. Im running an experimental setup in my tent, 4 cobs on a 133 with a 50mm fan, im running at 120 total watts and the heatsink is under 45C

@robincnn did a fan test on heatsinks a few months back with same fans and he had same conclusion- the fans are worth it. i think if you can get yourself in a situation where you are depending on the fans for an efficacy boost, but still have enough mass on your heatsink to dissipate the cob's heat with the fan off, its a win-win. if you design the latter situation to be 85-100 Tc with the fan off, you just have to notice the fan is off sometime in the next 50000 hrs or so to avoid cob damage :bigjoint:
Yes 400- 700nm cut, "definition" of PAR......... also his sphere is conservative?, ul power supply gives sort of a worst case scenario, idk what that means...... his words not mine.

slightly used gavita 1000w pro de got 1.55 ppf/w in his sphere with less than a dozen fires on the bulb.
 
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Profound Bastard

Active Member
@robincnn did a fan test on heatsinks a few months back with same fans and he had same conclusion- the fans are worth it.
I didn't see that test, but I have an IR thermometer and even the slightest air movement is enough to knock 10C off a heatsink hitting 60-70C in still air. Real air movement will cause 2-3x that temperature drop. It's significant, and can be the difference between 70C and 40C at the heatsink.
 

salmonetin

Well-Known Member
hey @PSUAGRO. do you know if he used a sharp cut at 400 and 700 nm to define PAR?

some testers use 350-750 nm. obviously makes a huge difference with far red in there



i still have yet to do the big chip shootout, but multiple vero Cs tested right on the money with citi1825 gen5. i have both 1825 gen 6, 3618 gen 6, and luminus cxm32 gen 3 to test against them, the three latter ones are all the same 38mm size.

i think as good as the splayed heatsinks are, the veros would really benefit from active cooling at 100W. im thinking adding a <1W fan would return 2+% in efficacy. Im running an experimental setup in my tent, 4 cobs on a 133 with a 50mm fan, im running at 120 total watts and the heatsink is under 45C

@robincnn did a fan test on heatsinks a few months back with same fans and he had same conclusion- the fans are worth it. i think if you can get yourself in a situation where you are depending on the fans for an efficacy boost, but still have enough mass on your heatsink to dissipate the cob's heat with the fan off, its a win-win. if you design the latter situation to be 85-100 Tc with the fan off, you just have to notice the fan is off sometime in the next 50000 hrs or so to avoid cob damage :bigjoint:
...some testers use 350-750 nm.... obtained with a spectroradiodemeter... we can obtain data outside de 400-700 par zone from what i saw on youtube vids from testlab on monstergarden....

...upss here i can see the photos or imagens on this post.... when i can see the pics?...

...and sorry bros not much time to post....

Saludos
 

bobrown14

Well-Known Member
Yes 400- 700nm cut, "definition" of PAR......... also his sphere is conservative?, ul power supply gives sort of a worst case scenario, idk what that means...... his words not mine.

slightly used gavita 1000w pro de got 1.55 ppf/w in his sphere with less than a dozen fires on the bulb.

New here so hi everybody, Thanks for the hard work on the lighting tests! Awesome, congrats on the little one PSUAG, sorry to hear about going to NJ.. hahahaha I'm in Philly on top of the hill.
Also congrats on your harvest... that was a decent haul @ 4.7ish zips per plant, I'd take that all day indoors.

Soo to my question.... given the PPF/w on the Gavita 1000, are we saying that the COBs are better brighter more efficient?... and one more question. How many COBs would it take to output the same amount of lumens??
I run Vero29 V7 COBs and finished 2 rounds in LOS all organic soil.... water FTW, bottles are for holding beers, just sayin.. Did very well and am happy with the results.
 

Stephenj37826

Well-Known Member
I'm sure his lab can do 300 - 800nm....... but when asked about the ppf range for last year s cxb test he said he was following the par cutoff........ figuring it's the same this round to keep it consistent.
He still gives total radiant flux which is how efficient the light is. Yes it still doesn't answer how many umols you have between 300-800 but at least it gives us a good idea where the light stacks up. Radiant efficiency will go down regardless when going more red shifted/higher CRI as you are measuring mw in mw out and we know there are less mw in a red photon +. So we can still not be sure that higher CRI infact produces significantly less photons than the 80CRI counterparts. Perhaps @alesh will work his magic and give us the missing photon count above 700nm. He has the SPD and total radiant flux and it should be doable for the master.
 
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PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
New here so hi everybody, Thanks for the hard work on the lighting tests! Awesome, congrats on the little one PSUAG, sorry to hear about going to NJ.. hahahaha I'm in Philly on top of the hill.
Also congrats on your harvest... that was a decent haul @ 4.7ish zips per plant, I'd take that all day indoors.

Soo to my question.... given the PPF/w on the Gavita 1000, are we saying that the COBs are better brighter more efficient?... and one more question. How many COBs would it take to output the same amount of lumens??
I run Vero29 V7 COBs and finished 2 rounds in LOS all organic soil.... water FTW, bottles are for holding beers, just sayin.. Did very well and am happy with the results.
Another Philly grower, nice. How about the Snyder family getting in the med/canna game?:)...........remember I'm a lazy trimmer and didn't break down some of the large buds either; had to post something before cure. Round 2 is where I kind of have a better feel of the light and give it a proper go; also off season for me with more time on my hands.

I'm a LOS/ROLS grower, stupid easy and cheap............bottles are for beer,or wine too.what Dry ferts are you using ?

Yes, cobs from reputable manufacturers are more efficient watt to watt with proper thermal management than a Gavita 750/1000w de........it's up to your budget how much efficiency you want to gain over the hid king. sorry for the short answer and generalization; so many ways and builds to go at this; it's late too. I suggest reading up in this section.

He still gives total radiant flux which is how efficient the light is. Yes it still doesn't answer how many umols you have between 300-800 but at least it gives us a good idea where the light stacks up. Radiant efficiency will go down regardless when going more red shifted/higher CRI as you are measuring mw in mw out and we know there are less mw in a red photon +. So we can still not be sure that higher CRI infact produces significantly less photons than the 80CRI counterparts. Perhaps @alesh will work his magic and give us the missing photon count above 700nm. He has the SPD and total radiant flux and it should be doable for the master.
yeah, haven't seen @alesh since that egomaniac trolled up his thread...........hopefully we can get some chilLed #s! lol
 
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