Light Setup - 4x4 w/ 4 plants, COB LED (Luminus CXM-32)

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
Hi,

I'm a Canadian (Ontario) prescription holder and I'm trying to set up a system for a 4x4 grow area with 4 plants. I'm also keeping an open mind to future expansion as I will be applying for a nursery/research license.

My intent is to make an efficient lighting system while remaining behind the price break point for most items. In other words, I want the best lights available that aren't hyped up and over priced. Most of what I see are 2-4$/Watt for pre-assembled COBs/LEDs. I'm aiming to be around 1-1.50$/Watt with a DIY version.
For reference sake, the light I'm building uses the same COB as the MIGRO lights do. There's tons of info on them in their MIGRO youtube channel, comparing them to CREE 3590s. A MIGRO-100 sells for 350$CAD (3.50$/Watt).

From my research I've determined that full spectrum COBs would be the most ideal standalone lighting to have in terms of lumens/W produced, spectrum coverage and longevity. In combination with aeroponics (that's another conversation), this seems like the way to get the most out of your plants in the shortest time. I intend to under-power the COBs for efficiency, passive cooling and longevity. They'd be wired in series, two per power supply. The COBs are 140W (Max 200W) and I intend to run at 100-110W per COB. Please, correct me if I err.

Send links and info if you know of a supplier that has the same or similar items for a lower price, available to Canadians.

I'm looking at buying:

(4) Luminus CXM-32 COBs 3500K (51.69$CAD each on Mouser) (50-56V, max 3.4A, 200Wmax)
(2) ELG-240-C2100A (63.59$CAD each on Mouser) (240W, CC, 57-115V 2100ma w/ pot)
(4) Cutter HS125SQSPLAY (41.75$CAD each on cutter electronics) (125mmx125mm pin fin, rated for 125W apparently)
(PDF specs attached, I couldn't share links)


It works out to about 550$CAD for 400-440W at the wall. Roughly 1.25$-1.37$/W.

Now I have a few questions that I haven't been able to answer easily and some that I could just use more opinions on:

Is there anything wrong with choosing Luminus CXM cobs? My main concern is a diminishing return on Lumens/W.

Am I better off buying CXM-22 cobs (45W, ~20$ each) and making light bars out of them in regards to light penetration, distribution and lumens/W? I read a lot about having your lights as close as possible and this would allow that. However, I sort of like the idea of having bigger lights with longer distances and having to move them a little less often. Opinions?

Are there any other cheap suppliers of pin fin heat sinks big enough for 100W applications? It seems like the price per heat sink goes up disproportionately when they get larger, was this a weighing factor for anyone deciding to go with 40-50W COBS instead of 100W cobs>?

The ELG-240-C2100A power supply says it's rated for 240W, but when I look in the specs it says the power output is only 180W on 100-180 VAC input. My wall is 120VAC I believe so am I only going to get about 180W? Also, if my understanding of electronics is correct, this power supply should power two of these COBs in series, at or near 100W right?
If anyone knows of a cheaper way to power these COBs, I'm all ears. I've even looked at soldering chip board AC-DC converters with a rectifier but it seems like MeanWELL achieves an efficiency I wouldn't be able to attain on my own. In the long run the electricity cost would over match the savings, imo. Thoughts?

I notice people buy multiple light color temperatures sometimes, is there any significant benefit to using temperatures other than 3500k?

Should I get a lens for the COB? I haven't been able to find a PPFD map of this cob with and without a lens. Suggestions for type and supplier are welcome. Are COBs susceptible to water vapor damage/oxidization if left exposed?
I'm guessing that I can spread my light wider and get more even coverage by using a wide angle lens. But how wide and at what cost in terms of overall PPFD? (MIGRO uses "90 degree borosilicate glass lense with diffuser for maximum penetration")

Do lenses affect far red light at 700-800nm? The most cutting edge research indicates that this range increases leaf size and therefore photosynthesis capacity in the end.
 

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Viking420

Member
Ive seen diy cob setups, where people have used pc processer heatsinks that have a fan attatched to them. Made me smile, imo its not the silliest ive seen. Good luck on your build. Hope you post some pictures for us to see when you start building them.
 

TrainingPineapples

Well-Known Member
Ive seen diy cob setups, where people have used pc processer heatsinks that have a fan attatched to them. Made me smile, imo its not the silliest ive seen. Good luck on your build. Hope you post some pictures for us to see when you start building them.

Yes, seek out a computer recycler and go to their warehouse ... most will have a showroom with salvaged parts like heatsinks and fans for server applications

You should be able to find what you need no problem for cheap ... plus having the ability to mount a fan directly to your heatsinks would be handy methinks
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
nice. Im using 4 of the CXM22s, and love them. Youv done some reading, Im sure you know of my setup. Not many of us here using Luminus.
 

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
nice. Im using 4 of the CXM22s, and love them. Youv done some reading, Im sure you know of my setup. Not many of us here using Luminus.
I have read the few cxm posts on here indeed. Luminus cxm series seems like the clear leader, yet no one is in to them. Why? The MIGRO channel appears to scientifically put them ahead of almost every other light, but can you trust someone comparing their own product?

In either case they are what I've settled on. Finding power supplies or parts for them is kind of hard given the high voltage of these cobs.
 

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
My current query is whether I would get enough even light distribution from a lens to get better use of the light in order to compensate for the loss compared to a reflector. The things I'm reading are inconclusive. There's a post on this forum that starts with "I did the measurements wrong" so I dunno what to think of those findings.
Has anyone tried some kind of a twist on and off lens? Like with a threaded collar. This would allow you to focus it to your specific needs. Like super wide for a sea of vegging clones and tight for a single plant. Like my Mag light, but that uses reflector positioning. So perhaps a static diffuser lens with a sliding reflector to change the spread? The plot thickens.

The other thing I'm currently pondering is the total cost of using two cxm-22 (55w) instead of one cxm-32 (110w).

All the accessories are doubled. Two heat sinks, two lenses/reflectors. There's only really a 10$ difference between them [cxm32: 51$ cxm22: 20.50$(x2)].

I can't answer this question accurately yet as I haven't made up my mind on lenses and reflectors yet and therefore havent sourced the best price for the ones I'd need. They do vary noticeably in price and availability when comparing between a 31.5mm LES (light emitting surface) lens for the cxm-32 and a 22mm LES lense for the cxm-22. Can't recall exactly how much though.

The prices are certainly higher for the larger cxm32 heatsink but I don't think it's quite double, so there's a bit of an incentive there to go with one bigger cob.
 

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
Has anyone used Alibaba to order things? Is it reliable? Their 130mm+ anodized pin fin heatsinks look amazingly cheap.
How heavily will I get hit with duties and taxes at the Canadian border though? Most of the suppliers are from China or South Korea.
 

InTheValley

Well-Known Member
From what Ive heard, Dont use the lens unless your in an open area. I think in a tent, light reflecting off the walls is a good thing for better penetration.

man, depending on your budget, in a 4x4, Id love to have a 3 bar, 9Cob setup- Tad over $600 But would kick some ass. Thats with active cooling. I use Cobkits active heatsinks that cool up to 400F and they are great. Pretty sure if you run the Luminus over 65 watts, you need active cooling.. So running 9 cobs, at 1400MA, 700potencial watts to use, but not needed in that area. Heck, even 50watts each is almost to much, LOL. But if you have the headroom, this will flower a 5x5 easy. Have them on a dimmer, be a great set-up.

at the end of the day, These Luminus are no joke, and Migro adverts on Yotube sold me, and that was 6 months or so ago. Sure, they are 22's but everything is the same other then size. Using 1 single COB, then sure, 32 would be great, but if you have the chance to do many, definitely the 22's, JMO..
 

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
Pretty sure if you run the Luminus over 65 watts, you need active cooling.. So running 9 cobs, at 1400MA, 700potencial watts to use, but not needed in that area. Heck, even 50watts each is almost to much, LOL. But if you have the headroom, this will flower a 5x5 easy. Have them on a dimmer, be a great set-up.

at the end of the day, These Luminus are no joke, and Migro adverts on Yotube sold me, and that was 6 months or so ago. Sure, they are 22's but everything is the same other then size. Using 1 single COB, then sure, 32 would be great, but if you have the chance to do many, definitely the 22's
The appeal to the cxm-32 is that it runs cooler and more efficiently. The downside being even coverage. Migro uses passive heat sinks on their 100w.
Also, if the fan were to somehow crap out the COB would probably burn. I've lived through too many of my pc fans dieing to trust them.

My idea is to make my exhaust fan dual purposed and draw the air directly from the Cobs. Much like HPS setups that run an aluminum foil flex pipe from the hps fixture to the vent fan. This would just be for extra cooling and efficiency though, the passive heat sink should still be designed to work with no flow.
 
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Hadez411

Well-Known Member
MIGRO claims the CXM-32 is 50% efficient, so I'm assuming roughly 50W of heat is produced. They also say that their light should run at 20 degrees celcius above ambient. So, I'm deducing that they have a 0.4C/W heatsink.

The way heat sinks are rated is # of degrees celcius you will gain above room temperature per watt of heat energy. In this case, 0.4 celcius per watt, of which there are 50, gives you 20c above room temp. (0.4c x 50w). So if your room tempt is 25 celcius your light temp is 25 + 20 = 45 celcius.

Anyhow, all that to say I've deduced that the CXM-32 should be running a heat sink rated at 0.4C/W. I'm guessing that 0.5 would suffice as well.
 
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Hadez411

Well-Known Member
...
Total $218.52 + Other stuff like aluminum to mount the strips, wires, connectors, etc

Look it up man, you wont regret it

I'm liking the lumens/W (180 to the cxm-32's 165) and the spread is obviously nice. What I don't understand is how they have flipped the script and SMD LEDs are somehow more efficient than COBs now? I thought that was the whole premise behind COBs being all the rage now. They are the same cost per watt for the LEDs themselves, but you're right that I wouldn't need to spend so much on heatsinks, which is a large chunk of the cost. Damn! Back to the drawing board.

I'd suggest you go with more efficient power supplies, you'll save it in the long run on electricity.
 
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eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
the bridgelux EB gen 2 can run at up to 1.05 amps at stock voltage without a heatsink, there's a bunch of tests that have been done in these forums...
I've actually done it myself. I'm in love with these things, lol, i actually bought the 1ft ones just to test it out because i couldn't believe it.

Of course the Aluminum would help dissipate some of the heat and act as a minor heatsink, but you can literally hold the sticks by the sides and at some point on the center and they will operate within the standard parameters.

I also have Cob's i have 4 cob grow lights that i built, and i love them! One of them is using Citizens 1212's and the others got Luminus CMX22, so i tried them out, and i love these lights. But when i bought them i paid over $1 US per watt. And with these Bridgelux builds i'm paying much less than a dollar per. And much of the cost for the cobs was actually the heatsinks...

COB's are a great step up from other less efficient choices, but cobs are a single point light source where all the leds are ridiculously close together, which creates a massive hotspot, some of my plants would get bleached by growing into the cobs... That's not cool. Now the strips give much more even light accross the board.

For example, you can calculate PPFD with your cobs and get a value like 800 PPFD for a 16 sqf space, but then you have 4 massive hotspots with values like 1300 PPFD, and then the corners are actually 500. But with Strips you can space them in such a way that you actually can get even values over most of the canopy... Also since you're not using those heavy COB heatsinks, your light is ridiculously light.

Check this thread out and notice the level of light distribution this guy gets using Logarithmic distribution for the strips, it sounds ridiculous, but it's actually really simple to do:
http://www.rollitup.org/t/bridgelux-eb-series-on-a-2-x-4-scrog.943414/page-4#post-13623954
 
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Hadez411

Well-Known Member
the bridgelux EB gen 2 can run at up to 1.05 amps at stock voltage without a heatsink, there's a bunch of tests that have been done in these forums...
I've actually done it myself. I'm in love with these things, lol, i actually bought the 1ft ones just to test it out because i couldn't believe it.

Of course the Aluminum would help dissipate some of the heat and act as a minor heatsink, but you can literally hold the sticks by the sides and at some point on the center and they will operate within the standard parameters.

I also have Cob's i have 4 cob grow lights that i built, and i love them! One of them is using Citizens 1212's and the others got Luminus CMX22, so i tried them out, and i love these lights. But when i bought them i paid over $1 US per watt. And with these Bridgelux builds i'm paying much less than a dollar per. And much of the cost for the cobs was actually the heatsinks...

COB's are a great step up from other less efficient choices, but cobs are a single point light source where all the leds are ridiculously close together, which creates a massive hotspot, some of my plants would get bleached by growing into the cobs... That's not cool. Now the strips give much more even light accross the board.

For example, you can calculate PPFD with your cobs and get a value like 800 PPFD for a 16 sqf space, but then you have 4 massive hotspots with values like 1300 PPFD, and then the corners are actually 500. But with Strips you can space them in such a way that you actually can get even values over most of the canopy... Also since you're not using those heavy COB heatsinks, your light is ridiculously light.

Check this thread out and notice the level of light distribution this guy gets using Logarithmic distribution for the strips, it sounds ridiculous, but it's actually really simple to do:
http://www.rollitup.org/t/bridgelux-eb-series-on-a-2-x-4-scrog.943414/page-4#post-13623954

OK, I'm sold on the price aspect. I found this chart about heat sink mass vs wattage and the mass climbs exponentially. After 50W it's expensive. I guess that's why everyone's going with these 50W cobs instead of the 100w.

One question I have about the Light Strips is the penetration and distance that it will throw this nice even PPFD. Will I be forced to SCROG or otherwise have a bunch of weak buds down low? Am I in for constant adjustments in order to keep the PPFD within 100-200 of what I want?

I'm looking at the ppfd spread on the SpydrX and it's promising, goes from about 1100 ppfd to 850 between 6" and 18"
 
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eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
OK, I'm sold on the price aspect. I found this chart about heat sink mass vs wattage and the mass climbs exponentially. After 50W it's expensive. I guess that's why everyone's going with these 50W cobs instead of the 100w.

One question I have about the Light Strips is the penetration and distance that it will throw this nice even PPFD. Will I be forced to SCROG or otherwise have a bunch of weak buds down low? Am I in for constant adjustments in order to keep the PPFD within 100-200 of what I want?

I'm looking at the ppfd spread on the SpydrX and it's promising, goes from about 1100 ppfd to 850 between 6" and 18"
PPFD will be even depending on how you space them. You will have enough photons to not have to worry about any "penetration".... Strips rock!
 

GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
Welcome, Hadez
My indoor space(5x5 closet) uses a pair of 4 array Vero bars run at 320w/fixture. Definitely does a good job of producing a photon blanket. Having said that, I have also done a few builds using F strips and Vesta strips and will say that they are just as powerful as the Veros. If the Strips were available when I designed my original fixtures, they would be hanging in my grow room now.
 

eyderbuddy

Well-Known Member
Welcome, Hadez
My indoor space(5x5 closet) uses a pair of 4 array Vero bars run at 320w/fixture. Definitely does a good job of producing a photon blanket. Having said that, I have also done a few builds using F strips and Vesta strips and will say that they are just as powerful as the Veros. If the Strips were available when I designed my original fixtures, they would be hanging in my grow room now.
My thoughts exactly. I built 4 grow lights using cobs. I'd replace every single one with strips if i hadn't spent the money already....
 

Hadez411

Well-Known Member
OK! I'm sold.

One change I want to make to the typical setup is to have four independently hung sections as opposed to one big unit. This way, I can grow different plants that grow at different rates.
The challenge with that setup will be wiring it all to be on one power supply, yet allowing them to have some freedom of movement from each other.
 
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