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My new COB lights and Why

Soilscience

Soilscience

New member
It's crazy how far we can obsess about this stuff once we dive in.
Time for new lights. Ready to go 400w HPS. But Bad Voodoo, here on this site got me thinking. Never even heard of a COB. Chip on board LED.

Just finished building my own. See pics. About 200 USD. Compete in theory with 315LEC. Only uses 150w. Crazy amount of light!!

And totally dimmable. So for the first few weeks of a grow I can save even more.

Can follow up with specs and stuff if there's any interest
 

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Just swapped out a T5 on some old clone mother's that I'm going to bring to flower. Today is first day. Probably switch to 12/12 in a week or so. Depending how quickly I can twist and prune them into shape.
 
I'm using a 3500k and a 3000k. The Vero29s have a very good mix of color for photosynthesis. If you go to the Bridgelux website, you can find color graphs for all of their products.
 
I am the ultimate cheapskate. So was running t5s for veg and supplementing with CFLs during stretch and flower. I was running up to 350watts with mediocre results. That is expensive. My new system runs at 150watts on full blast. Currently running it around half power for veg. Plants immediately, like in 24 hours, jumped! Growing like they're supposed to. BAM.
So yes, a bit of out of pocket. But will be ahead by my second grow. Actually, super excited. Like dropping a new V8 in a Chevy Nova but it gets the gas mileage of a new hybrid.
 
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I'll see if these pictures show off what I see. 36 hours apart. I wish I had a couple more of these to fill the tent. ...Next time.
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Soilscience Looks good, thanks. Let us know how your yield ends up comparing to the T5s. I've caught myself up on some GrowMau5 vids : )

Is that a 2x4 tent?
Is there a reason you decided not to use reflectors?
Are those two separate dimmer pots in the center? Do you find yourself using the dimming functionality much?
 
Yes, 2x4.
Yes dimmer on each light. See Mean Well site for dimming. I am not electronics savvy. I spent a couple weeks reading and then figured it was time to build something. Ordered some stuff that seemed like it would work, followed instructions where I could find them.
I already know what I "should have done" different. But really happy with what I have. Much of what I did I know I am going to re_do someday. But that's half the fun of it.
For instance, get one driver that will drive 3 lights at a lower drive current which increases efficiency, produces the same amount of light over 3, so it is better distribution. The money saved by getting one driver will pay for the additional COB. The thermal sinks will be smaller, so similar price for 3 instead of 2....
Reflector? Trying to keep price down. There are also lenses to consider.
And yes, I dim all the time. My picture is at about 50%. My plants are on a table and pretty close. When I go 12/12 I'll remove the table and try cranking it up.
 
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