Lighting COB or driver upgrade

[Baxterwolfe]

Ok so my plan was to upgrade my cxa2530s to clu048 1212s and still use the 700ma drivers for now. But Im not sure if I have the height to run the clu048s. I pretty much maxed out the height with my last grow but the cabinet was really crowded and the plants stretched some fighting for space and light. So the question is should I go with new 1050ma drivers on the 12 cxa2530s or upgrade the COBs to 6 clu048 1212s? The cabinet has about 55" from floor to light with a couple inches to raise the light.

 

[Proph]

What is it that you are looking to gain through either upgrade? Sounds like you have
already maxed out hieght in your current set up, but are still looking to add more light, which will add more size..

 

[Baxterwolfe]

What is it that you are looking to gain through either upgrade? Sounds like you have
already maxed out hieght in your current set up, but are still looking to add more light, which will add more size..

I really want to get rid of some of the drivers as they are the ones out of the mars 300 cases. So 6 drivers running 12 cxa2530s and 2 fans just takes up a lot of space lol. The COBs Im running now are doing a damn good job on the drivers as Im in the middle of harvesting a Northern Lights and a Himalaya Orange Diesel at 84 days and looking to be a 300-350g yield cured.

 

[F.N.]

That is some good weight already IMO.

 

[Baxterwolfe]

That is some good weight already IMO.

Yea Im happy with the performance just want to streamline/improve the setup some.

 

[Slater]

hey dude hows it going..,
sounds like your 12 cxa2530 are doing a fine job and I would stick with them. If it all about space and height I would upgrade the driver first to a dimable one, preferably Meanwell (you can then dim if the lady's get to high). Keep the fans on the same driver from the Mars. Re-build your rig with your drivers on the out side of the tent, you will save on space, weight, heat and height. I run 5 x 1212's in a tent of 80cmx80cmx160cm... I rarely run them above 80%.

 

[KonopCh]

Swap those cheap drivers with Meanwell. You need 1 or 2.
Get SCROG net or LST plants if they're autos. If they're photoperiod you can try some more training to keep them small.

 

[Baxterwolfe]

Awesome thanks for the input guys thats why Ive always loved this site. Im gonna grab some meanwell dimmable drivers this week to replace the cheapo ones. Im more than likely going to go with 1050ma as well as redo the cooling and wiring.

 

[Slater]

Awesome thanks for the input guys thats why Ive always loved this site. Im gonna grab some meanwell dimmable drivers this week to replace the cheapo ones. Im more than likely going to go with 1050ma as well as redo the cooling and wiring.

I'm driving 3 x 1212's @ 1050ma in my second tent and loving it, here's the link to the build. Will be up-grading my main tent from 1400ma to 1050ma on the next build. 1050ma make sense for the smaller space, I'm finding 1400ma a bit much for main tent size. I only have 160cm head room.

 

[Baxterwolfe]

I'm driving 3 x 1212's @ 1050ma in my second tent and loving it, here's the link to the build. Will be up-grading my main tent from 1400ma to 1050ma on the next build. 1050ma make sense for the smaller space, I'm finding 1400ma a bit much for main tent size. I only have 160cm head room.

Very nice work on your light man she is a beauty. I was thinking about adding some far red and blues like on yours but Im still on the fence on adding them or not. I also need to figure out how I want to do my cooling because the setup now is at its limits at 700ma. Going to 1050ma is going to be a little more heat and I want negate as much heat as possible at the COBs. I may just get creative and do a custom water cooled setup because I really love to tinker and build. That and I have most of the parts needed from old gaming pc builds. I have like 2 weeks to make a decision and make any changes to the light as I have 3 photo ladies that are about to be flipped to flower in the veg box. Im going to have them in the veg box under 5000k until they show signs of flowering to hopefully reduce some stretch then into the cabinet under the new light. Here is the link to my current journal https://www.autoflower.org/threads/baxters-diy-basement-hideout.58750/#post-1400112