Cheap and Cheerful DIY using Citizen cobs

Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Jay7t5 said:
Hey my friend neat builds I like them a lot, I want to try my hand at a 2 COB system for supplement lighting to go with my GOD 4 I'm looking to add extra 100w of light, what driver should I use for that I'm running 220v mains in uk, thanks in advance
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Hlg-120. depending on wetter you use 36v or 50v citizens, determines the amperage. either 1400, or 1050.
 
Jay7t5

Jay7t5

Well-Known Member
Airwalker16 said:
Hlg-120. depending on wetter you use 36v or 50v citizens, determines the amperage. either 1400, or 1050.
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Ok cheers mate,so 2 36v would be more efficient and cheaper than the 50v but sacrifice lumens? Or have I got that wrong lok
 
Jay7t5

Jay7t5

Well-Known Member
CobKits said:
a 50V cob at 1400 ma is about as efficient as a 36v cob at 1400 ma and about 50% brighter

a 50v cob at 1050 ma is more efficient and about 5-10%brighter than a 36v cob at 1400 ma
Click to expand...
Ah right, I see what you mean thanks for explaining that mate, interesting facts
 
Jay7t5

Jay7t5

Well-Known Member
JorgeGonzales said:
So, this is my first cob build, but not my first DIY light. I built to a modest budget, and chose Citizen over Vero 29s after crunching the numbers and realizing Citizen is way ahead of Bridgelux at the moment, likely because they are a generation ahead right now.

These are a minimalist design, meant to be easy to build in modular chunks, with aluminum angle, pre-drilled heatsinks, and hand tools.

The parts for one lamp, not including screws and wire:

4x Citizen CLU048-1818 $100
1x Meanwell HLG-120H-C700B $52
4x Mechatronix 9980 Xtra heatsinks $38
4ft 3/4 x 1/8 aluminum angle $10

Total with CLU048-1818: $200

Draws 160W at the wall, ~167lm/W @ 3500k

Same build with CLU048-1212 would be $150, and ~160lm/W. 1212 is a great deal, if it was easily available. It isn't. This type of build would work fine with anything smaller than a 3590, like a CXB3070 or Vero 29.

I wanted one cob per square foot, so with the heatsinks that ended up being two 16" and two 12" lengths of aluminum angle, in an H shape like so:

View attachment 3684362

Honestly, single rivets and a dab of epoxy would have been just as effective as two screws in preventing slippage. I just wanted to be able to dismantle if I forgot anything, but it all went together fine.

Then the heatsinks, which I attached with two thread rolling M4 bolts each. The holes are already drilled in the heatsink for a different cob holder. Test fitting the driver as well. The HLG-120H is a perfect fit for the 12" spacing.

View attachment 3684368

And the hard part was over at that point. I only snapped one bolt head, which is pretty good for me.

Skipping to the finished light, I used solid core wire. If this was something that would be flexed a lot or taken apart and put back together a lot, no way. But I wanted something that stayed neat without being fussy, so it was perfect here.

Editing to add, I forgot to mention the wire routing holes were sanded smooth to prevent wear on the insulation. Alesh shows safer and potentially neater routing aids here https://www.rollitup.org/t/cheap-and-cheerful-diy-using-citizen-cobs.909460/#post-12606160

View attachment 3684373

View attachment 3684374
View attachment 3684371

Love these cob holders. I ordered the Ideal to try as well, but they were fiddly as hell, and these allow an Angelina to attach directly.

The only other interesting bit is the switch. A bit of magic with some resistors and a DPDT on-on-on, and et voila:
View attachment 3684378
View attachment 3684376

Basically just putting one or two 24k resistors in series, using crap I had around the house. The 100% setting is an open connection between the dim wires, so it runs about 10W over the 150W it pulls with a 100k resistor.

And that is about that. Some more pictures:

View attachment 3684390 View attachment 3684393

View attachment 3684395
Click to expand...
Fucking great build mate
alesh said:
Nice build. I suggest these for routing the wire through the alu angles. 6 mm hole required and the can take 2x .75mm2 wire (easily) or 2x AWG 18 wire (not that easily).
View attachment 3684729
And these ones for routing the wire on the angles.
View attachment 3684731[/Q

Great build mate neat work
Click to expand...
 
topher73

topher73

Active Member
JorgeGonzales said:
So, this is my first cob build, but not my first DIY light. I built to a modest budget, and chose Citizen over Vero 29s after crunching the numbers and realizing Citizen is way ahead of Bridgelux at the moment, likely because they are a generation ahead right now.

These are a minimalist design, meant to be easy to build in modular chunks, with aluminum angle, pre-drilled heatsinks, and hand tools.

The parts for one lamp, not including screws and wire:

4x Citizen CLU048-1818 $100
1x Meanwell HLG-120H-C700B $52
4x Mechatronix 9980 Xtra heatsinks $38
4ft 3/4 x 1/8 aluminum angle $10

Total with CLU048-1818: $200

Draws 160W at the wall, ~167lm/W @ 3500k

Same build with CLU048-1212 would be $150, and ~160lm/W. 1212 is a great deal, if it was easily available. It isn't. This type of build would work fine with anything smaller than a 3590, like a CXB3070 or Vero 29.

I wanted one cob per square foot, so with the heatsinks that ended up being two 16" and two 12" lengths of aluminum angle, in an H shape like so:

View attachment 3684362

Honestly, single rivets and a dab of epoxy would have been just as effective as two screws in preventing slippage. I just wanted to be able to dismantle if I forgot anything, but it all went together fine.

Then the heatsinks, which I attached with two thread rolling M4 bolts each. The holes are already drilled in the heatsink for a different cob holder. Test fitting the driver as well. The HLG-120H is a perfect fit for the 12" spacing.

View attachment 3684368

And the hard part was over at that point. I only snapped one bolt head, which is pretty good for me.

Skipping to the finished light, I used solid core wire. If this was something that would be flexed a lot or taken apart and put back together a lot, no way. But I wanted something that stayed neat without being fussy, so it was perfect here.

Editing to add, I forgot to mention the wire routing holes were sanded smooth to prevent wear on the insulation. Alesh shows safer and potentially neater routing aids here https://www.rollitup.org/t/cheap-and-cheerful-diy-using-citizen-cobs.909460/#post-12606160

View attachment 3684373

View attachment 3684374
View attachment 3684371

Love these cob holders. I ordered the Ideal to try as well, but they were fiddly as hell, and these allow an Angelina to attach directly.

The only other interesting bit is the switch. A bit of magic with some resistors and a DPDT on-on-on, and et voila:
View attachment 3684378
View attachment 3684376

Basically just putting one or two 24k resistors in series, using crap I had around the house. The 100% setting is an open connection between the dim wires, so it runs about 10W over the 150W it pulls with a 100k resistor.

And that is about that. Some more pictures:

View attachment 3684390 View attachment 3684393

View attachment 3684395
Click to expand...
Nice Bro. I am trying to find reflectors that will work with the bjb holders for 9 clu058-1825s, but having challenge finding them.
 
CobKits

CobKits

Well-Known Member
there arent any. you can modify a ledil 13838 with a dremel, or modify the vero or cree adapter rings for these reflectors
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
danthepluhmain said:
hey can some one help me out i built 2 CLU058-1825 3500k but i cant find a mw driver that fund a 2,250ma for just two 50v cob chips
Click to expand...
Why do you specificly need 2250 mA? Its a very uncommon current. Is it the one they are run at in the datasheet?

I would suggest running them with a hlg240h-c2100 on full power, no dimmer attached to the dimmer wires. Meanwell drivers tend to output a little bit more than their spec, you will probably be somewhere near 2200ish mA
 
Go go n chill

Go go n chill

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
Why do you specificly need 2250 mA? Its a very uncommon current. Is it the one they are run at in the datasheet?

I would suggest running them with a hlg240h-c2100 on full power, no dimmer attached to the dimmer wires. Meanwell drivers tend to output a little bit more than their spec, you will probably be somewhere near 2200ish mA
Click to expand...
Hell yeah that will light up a 2x2 nicely
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Go go n chill said:
Hell yeah that will light up a 2x2 nicely
Click to expand...
You can light up more than that: each 1825 @2100 should do aprox 0.5m x 0.5m at about 0.5m height (20inches). These nrs w reflectors, not sure of bare cobs but shoul be similar.

You should be able to do more or less an 2x4, maybe a little less. Watch closely for bleaching/light burn, make sure you got dimming unless you can hang them high, for young plants as they will fry seedlings.

Edit: i realize how contradictory this sounds, no dimming, yes dimming. 100w cobs are really strong light, likely to shock your plants if you dont start them out high
or dimmed. But if you want to get absolute full power (a bit over 2100ma) you should disconnect the dimmer as it lowers the max output.
 
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Go go n chill

Go go n chill

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
You can light up more than that: each 1825 @2100 should do aprox 0.5m x 0.5m at about 0.5m height (20inches). These nrs w reflectors, not sure of bare cobs but shoul be similar.

You should be able to do more or less an 2x4, maybe a little less. Watch closely for bleaching/light burn, make sure you got dimming unless you can hang them high, for young plants as they will fry seedlings.

Edit: i realize how contradictory this sounds, no dimming, yes dimming. 100w cobs are really strong light, likely to shock your plants if you dont start them out high
or dimmed. But if you want to get absolute full power (a bit over 2100ma) you should disconnect the dimmer as it lowers the max output.
Click to expand...
You shouldn’t lose that much power, not trying to argue I just think a dimmer gives you some options
 
topher73

topher73

Active Member
CobKits said:
there arent any. you can modify a ledil 13838 with a dremel, or modify the vero or cree adapter rings for these reflectors
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I thought about modifying adapter rings, but I just went and purchased 180 degree glass optics which work really well.
 
optzulu

optzulu

Well-Known Member
any news on the new citizen ? @CobKits when do you expect the new high voltage citizen will be in stock and whats the price for the 1825.
 
1

1212ham

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
But if you want to get absolute full power (a bit over 2100ma) you should disconnect the dimmer as it lowers the max output.
Click to expand...
The problem is that many/most 100k pots are actually less than 100k, and anything less than 100k will not give full power.
I bought 5 cheap pots and they ranged from 89k to around 96K.
To assure full power, most people put a 10k resistor in series with the pot.

I ordered one of these and will report after I test and use it a little.
https://www.amazon.com/Aluoflower-Counting-3590S-2-104L-Rotary-Potentiometer/dp/B072KNCV4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528664972&sr=8-1&keywords=3590S-2-104L
 
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