Lighting Cob vs hps

[WalterW]

This was my first ever grow
Auto Northern Lights, I yielded a wet weight of 339 grams.
This was a with 2 x Citizen CLU048 1212 3000k on a 185-1400B
Dry weight was around 80 grams, so at 0.8gpw on my first grow with 1 plant, I am pretty stoked.

I know this is a bit old, but if you haven't bought anything yet, get the CLU048 1216

 

[BigSm0]

This was my first ever grow
Auto Northern Lights, I yielded a wet weight of 339 grams.
This was a with 2 x Citizen CLU048 1212 3000k on a 185-1400B
Dry weight was around 80 grams, so at 0.8gpw on my first grow with 1 plant, I am pretty stoked.

I know this is a bit old, but if you haven't bought anything yet, get the CLU048 1216
View attachment 779445 View attachment 779446 View attachment 779447 View attachment 779448

That's great!! Understand the citizen cobs are all basically the same leds within the chip. A 1212 is 144 leds, while a 1812 is 216 leds. Same leds but more of them. doing better with one over the other would be minimal as there isn't much gained besides their efficiency goes up with more leds running softer.

 

[pop22]

This girl liked her COBs..........

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

As far as cooling, I'd try passive with oversized heatsinks, you can always add fans if you need more, adding four fans, wiring and all would be less than 40. Currently I'm active cooling (alpine CPU coolers) however I would love to try passive. Less moving parts= less room for part failures.

Just had three fans fail and one cob meltdown.

$40 lesson learned, either proactively replace fans once or twice a year or go passive. However at 25 for 6 fans, still cheaper than a hps bulb

 

[Penrey]

Just had three fans fail and one cob meltdown. View attachment 779667

$40 lesson learned, either proactively replace fans once or twice a year or go passive. However at 25 for 6 fans, still cheaper than a hps bulb

That sucks man.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

That sucks man.

It does but still cheaper in all than a bulb so I can't complain too much, it was my own lackadaisical attitude that caused it lol

 

[BigSm0]

I would never run an actively cooled cob. These cobs run at high amperages and temps. If shit goes wrong it could be dangerous

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Unfortunately when I started building them, the only resource I could find was a old supraspl guide on another forum, so I copied that design. It used the artic heatsinks, having done used them, I wouldn't use them again. Just waiting for a good time to upgrade to pin heatsinks, well a good time for the ole wallet

 

[KonopCh]

I would never run an actively cooled cob. These cobs run at high amperages and temps. If shit goes wrong it could be dangerous

With passive heatsinks they run much more hotter and they have shorter lifetime.
And with proper set up and safety handling don't get anything wrong. Safety at first you told me, and with that in mind nothing can go wrong.

 

[BigSm0]

If you had 2 similar heatsinks then yes the one with a fan would be cooler. But most active heatsinks are not similar size. They generally are smaller and situations like this happen. Noise,cost and operating cost add up too when you have multiple fans humming along.

As for the lifespan I still haven't seen anyone burn out a cob under normal operation. Never heard about it either. What the cobs are rated for and what we typically run them at are well below danger zone. There is also less heat generated from a passively cooled than an actively cooled too.

Sorry rusty I wasn't picking on you directly just the setup. Most people aren't educated enough and things like this happen. Trying to make a point, not put you down.