Lighting ?'s about converting mars type led to cobs

[GoatFarmerDan]

Hello. First post! I am thinking about converting my 300 watt led unit to cobs.

I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of how to actually make the switch but need some advise on what cobs would work best for the drivers that are in it.

Here are a few pics...











I am leaning towards the Citizen CLU048-1212 or 1818. Im just not sure what I can run and how many with these drivers.

Thanks!

 

[Puddentane]

Not sure how much you will be able to do with the drivers. You might consider a new driver and a set of citizen 1212's to build out the case. Look around in the diy here and you will see several mentions of this kind of rebuild. You can get a rather mean light provided you match the parts up correctly. It's pretty affordable too provided you don't go off the deep end.

@BigSm0 would be a good choice for starting a thread search. His knowledge and experience is rather extensive on this subject.

And Welcome to AFN! Be sure to drop in the Live Chat and introductions thread and introduce yourself to the group. They don't bite, or at least not much. You will be hard pressed to find a more informative and friendly place on the web so kick your shoes off and sit a spell.

 

[GoatFarmerDan]

Thank you Puddentane. I have some reading to do!

 

[Dr Fluff]

Hello. First post! I am thinking about converting my 300 watt led unit to cobs.

I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of how to actually make the switch but need some advise on what cobs would work best for the drivers that are in it.

Here are a few pics...











I am leaning towards the Citizen CLU048-1212 or 1818. Im just not sure what I can run and how many with these drivers.

Thanks!

First things first, let me welcome you to AFN, it is always nice to meet a new member!
If you head over to our intros section, we'd love to get to now you better and we ca give you a proper AFN welcome.
Here's the link for you - https://www.autoflower.org/forums/live-introductions-stoner-chat.35/
It's a great way to start getting to know our awesome members.

As for your Project, like puddentane said BigSm0 knows his onions on this matter.

@BigSm0 & @pop22 are also our safety officers in the LED section and any advice they give on safety should be followed.
We take the safety of our members very seriously, If we see anything unsafe we reserve the right to take it down.
With these guys here to help you out that won't ever need to happen! Remember safety always comes first! If in doubt check it out with BigSm0 or pop22 first.
They are my eyes and ears and do a fantastic job helping the members.

I very much look forward to seeing your completed project.:smoking:

Check out Live Stoners Gossip too, it is where our members come together to chat and have a laugh (and maybe a smoke or three)!
Be sure to keep you eyes peeled for our Live Interviews in Live stoners, where you can ask questions to some of the canna communities leading names such as Dinafem for instance and many more!

Have fun and I look forward to your journal

All the best

arty

 

[GoatFarmerDan]

Thank you Arty! I really appreciate that!

 

[Dr Fluff]

Thank you Arty! I really appreciate that!

Always a pleasure Goat
We have something called the AFN vibe, which set us apart from other forums.
The AFN vibe is " be nice and helpful to all members"!
It is represented by Harry the Hairy vibe monster ->He wiggles with the vibe!

If you run your cursor over the badges under my avatar you will see harry wiggling and the titles will appear.
Badges are earned by doing thing in the forum!
Here is an example of how the good samaritan badges are earned.

There are many badges out there and some people make it a hobby to collect as many as they can.
Visit the Badge master index to find out more or just ask in Live Stoner where Rebel hands the badges out!
https://www.autoflower.org/threads/afn-badge-collectors-master-index.51573/
You can only display 9 badges at a time, so if you have more than that, you just have to choose which 9 to wear!
Passing to Goat

 

[BigSm0]

Welcome to afn! I love to see new members start in DIY section too.

To figure what cobs will fit you need to know the drivers voltage which is listed. 70-100v. Next is to find an affordable but efficient cob within the drivers specs. Citizen 1212's are 36v and the 1812/1818 are 49.8 volts each. So theoretically you could use 2 of each cob per driver. The 1812&1818 might be pushing the less expensive drivers limits so I'd probably recommend going with the 1212's.

The downfall is with the lower amperage of the less expensive drivers. 500ma on a 1212 cob should put you at 16w each. The 1812 should put you at 24w each cob.

From an efficiency stand point the upgrade is well worth it but it won't be a high wattage light. Not sure the actual wattage now. If it's 150 wall watts your plants are seeing around 30 of those watts since the leds are 20% efficient.
6 citizen 1212's will draw 96 watts at the wall but also give your plants around 50 par watts. Since the cobs are over 50% efficient.

 

[BigSm0]

Quick math, if you spend $100 and a few hours of your time you can just about double the usable light. Eliminate quite a bit of heat too, from 120 watts down to 50 watts of heat and gain a skill that you can use for along time in the future. DIY is fun and exciting, it's also challenging at times but seeing the new enhanced light with a REAL full spectrum cob inside is very rewarding and worth it.

For 32$ you could also pick up a new driver from cob kits which would be much more reliable, gain some efficiency and increase the wattage a little too. Options are endless.

Either way I'm happy to walk you through either upgrade. Again welcome to afn, the best canna forum on the internet.

 

[GoatFarmerDan]

Wow! You guys are great! Thank you for all the info.

After reading a lot and seeing your take on it BigSmo, I think I may leave the 300 intact and build something from cobkits.com.

I have a 2x4x5 tent. I'm thinking about getting the HLG-185 driver with 3 CLU048-1818 3500k cobs. I would get 3 heatsinks and hang them individually.

Any thoughts would be great!

 

[Puddentane]

Quick math, if you spend $100 and a few hours of your time you can just about double the usable light. Eliminate quite a bit of heat too, from 120 watts down to 50 watts of heat and gain a skill that you can use for along time in the future. DIY is fun and exciting, it's also challenging at times but seeing the new enhanced light with a REAL full spectrum cob inside is very rewarding and worth it.

For 32$ you could also pick up a new driver from cob kits which would be much more reliable, gain some efficiency and increase the wattage a little too. Options are endless.

Either way I'm happy to walk you through either upgrade. Again welcome to afn, the best canna forum on the internet.

You way to helpful to everyone to not say this:



That is all...