Lighting Relearning- Trying to Modifying/Upgrade Lights - Looking for Guidance.

[AllDayToker]

Hello AFN members! First time poster.

Firstly I do understand this is an Autoflower forum and I don't tend to run Autos often. Im hoping for you guys to be able to look past that so I can gain some knowledge on COB lighting. I haven't been able to find such an active group for DIY lighting and I'd love some help.

I've made 4 lights total now. Three smaller ones that only run around 20w a piece, each with two Vero 13s or two Cree 2590s, I think . These are for veg. I also have my larger one I use for flower which is 8x Cree CXB3070 ADs ran at 25w a piece with 2x HLG-185H-C1400B Mean Wells. I built these a couple years ago and havent made any new lights since then, but I've recently made some upgrades to get some more room so I need to modify my flower light and add some more lighting also.

The person who helped me build my lights before is no longer around, and even back when I was first learning I kind of struggled with all of the math and numbers of light building. Like par, ppfd, umoles, mA,ect.

My hope is to be able to get some help relearning a few things, gain some knowledge, and build/upgrade some lights. Please feel free to send me links, I am not afaird to read! I will also be doing my own searching around the forum.

So my goal for the lights. Looking to add around 200w or so of COBs to my current 400w setup. I'm covering a little over 4x4 in a custom box I made. I also want to build a new veg light to cover a 2x6 area.

The first thing I need to do is cut my heatsink for my 400w light in half. Would it be wise to remove the COBs from the heatsink before cutting, or can I leave them on? If I need to remove them is 91% isopropyl safe to remove the thermal compund, or should I purchase an actual thermal compound remover?

Thank you for taking the time to help me! I really do appreciate it.
ADT

 

[Jim Ray]

Some thermal compound are extremely toxic, and I advise you to wear chemical gloves or be very careful. adding a couple of bridgelux vero29 generation seven with 2.1 amp current will give you your 200 W.


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[AllDayToker]

Some thermal compound are extremely toxic, and I advise you to wear chemical gloves or be very careful. adding a couple of bridgelux vero29 generation seven with 2.1 amp current will give you your 200 W.


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Thanks for the heads up on the thermal compound!

Are you saying to run two vero29s at 100w a piece? I feel like I'd be happier with more COBs and less power for better coverage.

 

[Jim Ray]

Happy to help. It is a choice on coverage and wattage.


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[AllDayToker]

Happy to help. It is a choice on coverage and wattage.


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Alright cool.

So are vero29s the best choice right now? A couple years back, when I was first building my lights, Cree was top of the line for efficency and Veros were a cheaper option, but now it seems like they weren't that much better. I'm also reading a lot about these Citizen COBs, which is a new brand to me.

 

[Jim Ray]

I switched from Cree 3070 to Bridgelux vero 29 Gen 7 with wire insertion connector because it works better for me.

 

[AllDayToker]

I switched from Cree 3070 to Bridgelux vero 29 Gen 7 with wire insertion connector because it works better for me.

How do they stack up as far as efficiency goes? The easy connectors Vero makes are great but I don't mind the trade off to solder for more efficient COBs.

 

[Hippy_BiotabsF70]

Personally I wouldn't get over bogged down in the one cob vs another cob interns of efficiency mate, assuming we are talking about the main players at the moment.

Citizens are very cheap and produce very good results for lots of people on here. 200w is sod all in terms of cash. Will perform equally as well, very slightly worse/very slightly better than similar spec cobs you could mention.

50w per cob is very popular, as is a dimmable driver (most commonly used meanwells are dimmable one way or another).

Range of holders for citizens for poking, soldering or whatever else you fancy doing to connect the wires.

All very simple stuff when it's actually in front of you.

 

[AllDayToker]

Personally I wouldn't get over bogged down in the one cob vs another cob interns of efficiency mate, assuming we are talking about the main players at the moment.

Citizens are very cheap and produce very good results for lots of people on here. 200w is sod all in terms of cash. Will perform equally as well, very slightly worse/very slightly better than similar spec cobs you could mention.

50w per cob is very popular, as is a dimmable driver (most commonly used meanwells are dimmable one way or another).

Range of holders for citizens for poking, soldering or whatever else you fancy doing to connect the wires.

All very simple stuff when it's actually in front of you.

Okay nice, thank you for all of the info. Yeah if they have some easy connectors I'd definitely go for them but soldering doesn't bother me.

So do you know of a particular combo of Citizens and Meanwells that would work well together or you would suggest? Also do you have a site you normally use to purchase your gear? I figured I'd just use digi key as I have before.

 

[Hippy_BiotabsF70]

Those meanwells you have would run 4 x citizen cobs at 50w each mate. Can also be dimmed.

Citizens are 36 volt. Driver is 1.4 amp. So 36 x 1.4 = approx 50 watts to each cob.

Which side of the pond are you based?