Chemist77 315 watt CDL grow
- Thread starter TheChemist77
- Start date
GOLDBERG71
Well-Known Member
It looks like you had good results. Just what I need more things to consider. I'm to far invested with MH/HPS at this point in time. We grow differently so what can you say about the penetration into the canopy?I veg longer and grow in 50/50 pro mix/perlite. So it's important that I get penetration. I start in 1 gallon pots and I top and super crop. My goal is 8 main colas per plant. 2 weeks before they're ready to flower I transplant them to 5 gallon pots. So my plants are about 12 to 16 inches when flower begins. By the time they've all stretched the room looks like a sea of green. They're about 4.5 feet tall.
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GOLDBERG71
Well-Known Member
I can't raise those lights anymore without taking off the "hooks" and using wire or something strong and straight so the hood hugs the ceiling. They give you those hooks so some air goes over the top of them. But I've had to do it a few times. Sometimes every inch counts.
GOLDBERG71
Well-Known Member
Here's a difference respective. 
GOLDBERG71
Well-Known Member
Just stopping by again to see about the penetration comparison? Would it match a 600 watt hps/mh? I'm sure it would not match a 1000?!
TheChemist77
Well-Known Member
VERY NICE LOOKING GROW!!!!! penetration with the 315 seems to be great 3 feet under canopy with nice size buds,, not little popcorn crap.. i keep my plants at a 3ft max as i dont have alot of overhead room either.. my tallest plant so far under the ceramic was in a 5 gal bucket on the side, only getting indirect lighting but finished at about 4 ft tall, buds were all of good size all the way down, i was surprised as it wasnt really getting any direct light either.. so i would guess that plants in the 3.5ft square under each unit would recieve penetration to about 4ft without losing much bud size and that is with the hood 2ft above the canopy.. now if you kept the hood at 18 inches above canopy which is easy and wont burn plants so long as the air is moving penetration may be good to 4 and a half feet.. penetration also depends on the amount of foilliage lots of leaves blocking the buds from the light will reduce penetration depths under any light source of course.
ill be posting the final pix under the 1k hps in a few days...i dont know what went wrong,, everything was same exept lighting, buds are not very big, crystalization looks amazing but bud size even directly under the bulb is poor.. trimming is going to really suck,, this is the WORST run ive ever had under hps..im not going to redue this run as i know the 1k hps usually gets me a gram per watt of nice size sticky buds.. and ive done many many runs under 1k hps;s..however this is the first time ive used my 1k hps in a few years,, i was usually running 2 600's as the yields were bigger with better coverage of my flower area..
i look forward to future runs under the 315's, i think consistency is a huge thing so my plants need to get used to the ceramics for a wile.. i may move the placement of hoods around but no more changes in lamps for at least 3 or 4 runs...
grow well and good will to all !!!
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Nice work I see.
I'm about to swap out an 860W CDM Allstart for two 315W CMH kits and I will have more light for less watts- especially since between bulb and obsolete magnetic ballast running on 240V (and not the 208V the wattage is advertised for) the '860W ' is actually pulling 1100W! WHOA! Check out my thread for what I did when I discovered that!
I'll do the same with a 600W HPS bulb, replacing it with a 315W CMH kit. Better quality of light for my veg, less heat, nearly the same output. Again, reduced power consumption by a third or better.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
So everyone knows all about the low freq square wave ballast that makes the 315W so powerful and efficient.
As I've discovered, the 860W CDM Allstart lamps run at 1000W on magnetic ballasts, bring low frequency, and 'forgiving', whatever that means in this context. Got me to thinking, though;
What if someone put an 860W Allstart on a Horti Platinum low frequency digital square wave thousand watt ballast?
Well, @dbkick is trying it and he's pretty pleased with how is working so far. If it provides the same 30% increase in output as it did for the smaller version for slightly less watts- digis being more efficient- this could well give the ol' girl a whole new lease on life!
As I've discovered, the 860W CDM Allstart lamps run at 1000W on magnetic ballasts, bring low frequency, and 'forgiving', whatever that means in this context. Got me to thinking, though;
What if someone put an 860W Allstart on a Horti Platinum low frequency digital square wave thousand watt ballast?
Well, @dbkick is trying it and he's pretty pleased with how is working so far. If it provides the same 30% increase in output as it did for the smaller version for slightly less watts- digis being more efficient- this could well give the ol' girl a whole new lease on life!
indianajones
Well-Known Member
that sounds like a great idea with the 860w, the problem was limited availability of LFSW ballast technology when the bulb was introduced. i'm really digging my 315w setup, that's for damn sure.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
These ballasts have been available for at least 5 years now, they've just been expensive. The ballast doesn't exceed the lamp's specifications and so far things seem to be running well.
TheChemist77
Well-Known Member
ttystikk, just thought you and other vertcle growers would like to see this new vert grow lamp from boulder lamp co.
Vertical Grow Light
Vertical farming maximizes production in a given space. Patent pending CDL+LED light towers are engineered to provide efficient lighting in a vertical grow operation.
315W CDL Light Module
Vertical Light Tower
Vertical farming in a covered greenhouse or in an enclosed warehouse offers many benefits, such as a large volume of crop production in a relatively small space, controlled environment and grow hours, up to 8 crop cycles per year and less pesticides. Moreover, hydroponic growing reduces water use by as much as 90%. Our CDL+LED light towers provide an outstanding choice for vertical horticulture lighting.
BLI’s vertical grow light tower with CDL grow lamps with color augmenting LED panels. The following picture is for illustration purpose and depicts front LED panels only. CDL lamp modules are opposite to each other. Number of CDL lamp modules depends on ceiling height. For more information contact Boulderlamp(BLI):
BLI’s vertical grow light tower with CDL grow lamps with color augmenting LED panels. The following picture is for illustration purpose and depicts front LED panels only. CDL lamp modules are up direction. Number of CDL lamp modules depends on ceiling height. For more information contact Boulderlamp (BLI):
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Fascinating. I wonder what overall efficiency comes out to?ttystikk, just thought you and other vertcle growers would like to see this new vert grow lamp from boulder lamp co.
Vertical Grow Light
Vertical farming maximizes production in a given space. Patent pending CDL+LED light towers are engineered to provide efficient lighting in a vertical grow operation.
315W CDL Light Module
Vertical Light Tower
Vertical farming in a covered greenhouse or in an enclosed warehouse offers many benefits, such as a large volume of crop production in a relatively small space, controlled environment and grow hours, up to 8 crop cycles per year and less pesticides. Moreover, hydroponic growing reduces water use by as much as 90%. Our CDL+LED light towers provide an outstanding choice for vertical horticulture lighting.
BLI’s vertical grow light tower with CDL grow lamps with color augmenting LED panels. The following picture is for illustration purpose and depicts front LED panels only. CDL lamp modules are opposite to each other. Number of CDL lamp modules depends on ceiling height. For more information contact Boulderlamp(BLI):
BLI’s vertical grow light tower with CDL grow lamps with color augmenting LED panels. The following picture is for illustration purpose and depicts front LED panels only. CDL lamp modules are up direction. Number of CDL lamp modules depends on ceiling height. For more information contact Boulderlamp (BLI):
TheChemist77
Well-Known Member
hey ty,, i was just wondering the distance from canopy you use with the cob lights? from my understanding the only reason big grow ops have not gone all led is that the cobs need to be 18-24 inches above the canopy.. and in a big setting you want to place the lamps higher up so that the overlap from lamp to lamp creates a more even coverage.. im probably wrong,, you know better than me and thats why i ask? can cobs be placed 3 feet above the canopy say 3feet apart to create an even coverage? also how is the penetration? say i have a 300 watt cob over a 3x3 area 2feet above canopy with 4ft tall plants will the lower branches and buds be of better size,,not popcorn??
have you seen,
50000 square feet. Colorado Legal rec grow
TheChemist77
Well-Known Member
could cobs replace the 315 watt ceramics without a huge difference in that colorado grow?
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Different situations call for different approaches. Just substituting COB LED for HID leaves a lot of advantages on the table.
Yes, you can run the COBs closer because they're not as hot. You can also crank up the output on them so they need to be hung as high bay units, which is great if that's what the situation calls for.
It's a highly versatile technology, we're just scratching the shade of what's possible with them.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Absolutely. The question is one of cost effectiveness.
GroErr
Well-Known Member
You might want to check out @Greengenes707 thread, he's setup some commercial size ops with COBs. Haven't seen any as large as that Colorado op using the 315's but large enough to prove out COBs.
Greengenes707
Well-Known Member
Ya, they could. I've set up a couple bigger facilites. Not quite that big though. 95 lighter is the biggest I have converted to my lights.
LED's used to have to be so close to the plants because they were not actually putting out even close to what they were trying to compete with(sodiums). Now days we(the community/industry) have been putting out some great LED fixtures. Not all are winners, and there are still many scams...but is getting much better and results are getting out.
Long story short...When you reach the amount of light that is needed(desired/optimal PPFD), height is the same as with the other fixture/system. There may be small variations due to optics(reflects, lenses, whatever), but once you have the actual equal amount of photons...the hanging height issues are gone.
Great grow(s) man. Keep it up.
LED's used to have to be so close to the plants because they were not actually putting out even close to what they were trying to compete with(sodiums). Now days we(the community/industry) have been putting out some great LED fixtures. Not all are winners, and there are still many scams...but is getting much better and results are getting out.
Long story short...When you reach the amount of light that is needed(desired/optimal PPFD), height is the same as with the other fixture/system. There may be small variations due to optics(reflects, lenses, whatever), but once you have the actual equal amount of photons...the hanging height issues are gone.
Great grow(s) man. Keep it up.
TheChemist77
Well-Known Member
thanks for the info guys,, guess ill be spending some cash.. i really need to get a 300 watt cob and do a small 3ftx3ft grow comparison..sucks as i already have multiple lamps being unused and nobody is going to want to buy my hps/mh lamps..now its all about talking my wife into letting me spend my money on a cob lamp...is it worth the argument?? to me it is..lol
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I'd suggest doing a 4 COB LED fixture with CXB3590 running on a 200W driver. This gives 56% efficiency and pulls about 225W from the wall. I think such a fixture is a head to head match for a 315W CMH setup, using only 2/3 the watts and thus also needing less cooling. This is a very popular configuration because it does a great job of fully utilising the driver, maximizing its efficiency as well as the chips.
A 300W fixture is a little harder to build due to the vagaries of the combinations available, and I think it would be so much more powerful a light source that you might have some trouble with even light distribution over the canopy. Then again, if you've run 1kW HPS you're probably used to it.
If you want to match an HPS thouie outright with COB tech, you could do a lot worse than to buy a Johnson Grow Lights Maximizer. He's been watching various distributors run it head to head vs HID lighting and even other LED panels, and it's been kicking everything else's ass up one side of the grow tent and down the other.
Better hurry tho, his gear has just been discovered and I think he's going to be really busy with backorders soon.