High End COBs vs $2 COBs...

muleface

Well-Known Member
I get what you're saying Goerilla. I think there should be a better way to classify lower quality COBs than just saying Chinese COBs since pretty much every COB is made in China.
I think the best method might be to list them as lumen per watt then factor cost into that.

So i picked up some Getians (I'd call them the upscale cheap Chinese cobs), they are listed as 145 l/w, paid about $4.60 per cob. I also have some Vero 29's, I think they list at 155 l/w, but i paid $25 a cob. So to gain that extra 10 l/w (6.45%) it cost me $20 a cob. So I guess it would depend on your application. If i was running 100's of cobs, i could probably get a price break, and the 6.5% efficiency boost might be worthwhile.

With a $3 cob at 100 l/w it might take far less then cobs to see the cost difference made up.

When we start to get upward of 200 l/w or higher, then things will change again

likewise there should be a better classification of "full spectrum" than blue mono + wide band of deep/far red
always wondered what they meant by "full spectrum"
 

RandomHero8913

Well-Known Member
always wondered what they meant by "full spectrum"
What they should mean is this:
Full-spectrum light is light that covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near-ultraviolet, or all wavelengths that are useful to plant or animal life; in particular, sunlight is considered full spectrum, even though the solar spectral distribution reaching Earth changes with time of day, latitude, and atmospheric conditions.

"Full-spectrum" is not a technical term when applied to an electrical light bulb but rather a marketing term implying that the product emulates natural light.[1]

From Wiki
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
So i picked up some Getians (I'd call them the upscale cheap Chinese cobs), they are listed as 145 l/w, paid about $4.60 per cob. I also have some Vero 29's, I think they list at 155 l/w, but i paid $25 a cob.
its pretty generous to comapre a $4 getian with a vero 29, they are entirely different classes of chips. the getian is prob 145 lm/W at somewhere around 30W, where the vero is 155 at somewhere around 100W and over 170 lm/W at 30W
 

muleface

Well-Known Member
its pretty generous to comapre a $4 getian with a vero 29, they are entirely different classes of chips. the getian is prob 145 lm/W at somewhere around 30W, where the vero is 155 at somewhere around 100W and over 170 lm/W at 30W
lol! that's a very fair statement, no argument from me.

Did you do some charting on these awhile back on l/w for a number of different chips? Would love to see them again, if you can find them and repost them
 

RandomHero8913

Well-Known Member
its pretty generous to comapre a $4 getian with a vero 29, they are entirely different classes of chips. the getian is prob 145 lm/W at somewhere around 30W, where the vero is 155 at somewhere around 100W and over 170 lm/W at 30W
True that, but if generalities like 30-35w/sqft are being pushed then why would a new buyer not choose the $4 chip which would be enough for 1 sqft?

I think people are being swayed back and forth between differing opinions. If you're running your shit soft that why worry about the L/W at higher currents if you'll never run them that hard.

On the other hand people that are on a very tight budget should spend the extra $s on a higher end COB so they can run it hard.
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
True that, but if generalities like 30-35w/sqft are being pushed then why would a new buyer not choose the $4 chip which would be enough for 1 sqft?

I think people are being swayed back and forth between differing opinions. If you're running your shit soft that why worry about the L/W at higher currents if you'll never run them that hard.

On the other hand people that are on a very tight budget should spend the extra $s on a higher end COB so they can run it hard.

because once you add heatsink and drivers youve only saved $20 on your rig vs say using $10 citizen chips and that performance penalty will be with you for the life of the fixture.also if youre running more chips as a result your cost goes up quick with holders and heatsinks etc
 

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
I think I must share my experience with some Chinese cobs I have used.
I used them for chili and tomato seedlings but wondered why it seemed that the plants did nog grow very well.
The lamp had 2 different cobs a cool-white and a warm white, lumens about 15000.( I know but I don´t have the meter )
When I moved the chills to a window with a 15W cool white spot the growth really took off.
The tomatoes stayed and they grew very slow compared with what I´m used to.
My new cob though is a completely different story,under that the plants grow. ( Cititzen 1212 3500K Cri90

Rilla.
you should have mixed the cobs with full spectrum because if the lower lumen cobs and they didn't have the light they needed
 

Goerilla

Member
The problem with the cheap cobs is that we never know anything about then, only the wattage.
That´s makes it impossible to predict if they will work as a grow light or not.
We don´t know the spectrum and the amount of light they produce and the sellers just steal data
from different producers and present them with the product they sell.
On Ali Express there are a lot of sellers that sell look alike cobs but we don´t get a name or anything we can trust.
I also can tell that I have one cob that works ok but off cause now when we can have 10$ dobs that are twice as good I will never buy the cheap ones again, it was different if there only were Cree at the marked.

Rilla.
 

frica

Well-Known Member
The problem with the cheap cobs is that we never know anything about then, only the wattage.
That´s makes it impossible to predict if they will work as a grow light or not.
We don´t know the spectrum and the amount of light they produce and the sellers just steal data
from different producers and present them with the product they sell.
On Ali Express there are a lot of sellers that sell look alike cobs but we don´t get a name or anything we can trust.
I also can tell that I have one cob that works ok but off cause now when we can have 10$ dobs that are twice as good I will never buy the cheap ones again, it was different if there only were Cree at the marked.

Rilla.
At this point they're all more efficient than CFL so they'll all work.

That's the real problem, people who have little experience or only experience with CFL will think these cobs are great because they're (far) superior to CFL bulbs while in reality every other option is currently better than CFL.
 

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
Almost done with the new light

1497187408142.jpg

And don't see any blurple I'm starting to see a lot of guys don't know what they are talking about. If you are not a lighting engineer stop taking about blurple lol.
 

CobKits

Well-Known Member
And don't see any blurple I'm starting to see a lot of guys don't know what they are talking about. If you are not a lighting engineer stop taking about blurple lol.
i dont know if there is a standard definition of "blurple" on this board? are california lightworks blurple? how about Kind? both have a fuller spectrum than that cob
 
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