Bueno Grows w/ DIY COB LEDs

[Bueno Time]

Actually not going to run either of these next round but still going to be pulling some clones off these ladies real soon any day now. Day 29 of continuous light 24 hours a day they are in full veg mode and have enough normal nodes where I can cut them where I want to when I take cuts. I like to take the cuts so I can bury a node or two below the soil level and also cut the clone off at an angle through a node, seems to work well enough for me.

Going to experiment with straight Aloe Vera on some of the cuts since its handy in the yard I can just snap a piece off and dip the stems in the gooey insides. I read it is supposed to work very well for cloning so I will see for myself vs some ez cloner brand gel I got from a buddy.

 

[nephrosis]

beauty! I just ordered a COB so i hope to get it soon!

 

[StoopheadFred]

Damn man the garden is looking like they're loving those LEDS! I know it's too early to call, but how do you feel these are stacking up to the 150 so far?

 

[Bueno Time]

beauty! I just ordered a COB so i hope to get it soon!

Thanks man, I just ordered/bought 3 CXA3070 3000K 80 CRI AB bins! WOOT, going to be selling my 3000K 80CRI Z4 and Z2 bin COBs. The AB bins are over 40% efficient at 1400mA an increase of 15% over the Z2 bin and 7% increase over the already stellar Z4 bin. Got some good things happening for next round that should be real awesome.

Your going to love your COB bud, get prepared to spend more money soon these LED projects are addicting! I originally planned a 12-16" sq cab for the first COB I ordered the Z2 bin and was going to do a test grow and see the yield per sq ft with the single COB before replacing the 150HPS. Well that didnt last long before I started ordering more parts, haha.

Damn man the garden is looking like they're loving those LEDS! I know it's too early to call, but how do you feel these are stacking up to the 150 so far?

Thanks there are several issues that could be better this round and I am always horrible at estimating yield in early or mid flower. I know that if 2 of the 6 females didnt hermie and I had a full canopy the size of the tent footprint wall to wall like I like to do, not having the early yellowing on the PECC, and having enough headroom in the tent or if the plants stayed shorter to stay under the light emission area of the COBs, I would say I would easily meet or surpass my 150w HPS yields with just the 104w of COBs.

My average harvest with the 150w HPS in the 1.5x2.5x3 tent has been about 100g per 10 week flower cycle. Now I cant tell how this run will yield with all the issues Ive had that will be dialed out of the equation next run (hopefully) but I think that I will still hit close to 100g this run if Im lucky but definitely much room for improvement over this run.

 

[Bueno Time]

I should add though that the buds do look super dank already his run and the lower buds further down the stalks are small but developed they dont look nearly as fluffy and light green as they did under the 150w HPS, this leads me to believe the penetration is better on the COBs (which I kind of expected).

 

[Bueno Time]

Some closeups from the Day 37 12/12 update pics

3 different phenos of Blackberry Jones Buds

 

[Bueno Time]

Another Blackberry Jones bud

Pineapple Express x Cheese n Chaze buds

 

[budelight]

Looking frosty as always buddy!

Keep on cranking thos COBs, loving the build and grow along

Best,
BeL

 

[hush]

Keep up the good work, homie.

 

[Bueno Time]

Looking frosty as always buddy!

Keep on cranking thos COBs, loving the build and grow along

Best,
BeL

Keep up the good work, homie.

Thanks for stopping in and enjoying the show!

 

[clp]

Thanks man, I just ordered/bought 3 CXA3070 3000K 80 CRI AB bins! WOOT, going to be selling my 3000K 80CRI Z4 and Z2 bin COBs. The AB bins are over 40% efficient at 1400mA an increase of 15% over the Z2 bin and 7% increase over the already stellar Z4 bin. Got some good things happening for next round that should be real awesome.

Your going to love your COB bud, get prepared to spend more money soon these LED projects are addicting! I originally planned a 12-16" sq cab for the first COB I ordered the Z2 bin and was going to do a test grow and see the yield per sq ft with the single COB before replacing the 150HPS. Well that didnt last long before I started ordering more parts, haha.



Thanks there are several issues that could be better this round and I am always horrible at estimating yield in early or mid flower. I know that if 2 of the 6 females didnt hermie and I had a full canopy the size of the tent footprint wall to wall like I like to do, not having the early yellowing on the PECC, and having enough headroom in the tent or if the plants stayed shorter to stay under the light emission area of the COBs, I would say I would easily meet or surpass my 150w HPS yields with just the 104w of COBs.

My average harvest with the 150w HPS in the 1.5x2.5x3 tent has been about 100g per 10 week flower cycle. Now I cant tell how this run will yield with all the issues Ive had that will be dialed out of the equation next run (hopefully) but I think that I will still hit close to 100g this run if Im lucky but definitely much room for improvement over this run.

Where you finding these unreal BINS?!

 

[Bueno Time]

Where you finding these unreal BINS?!

I know some guys on another forum that are pretty much obsessed with obtaining and having the newest and most efficient available. He kind of talked me into upgrading but it made sense to do it now since I was wanting to add a third COB to my lighting.

Also to have all 3 COBs from a matching BIN seemed nice and the fact that we really dont know when or if there will be more AB bins for quite a while, its hard to find the Z4 bins even.

CREE is pretty inconsistent with the supply of the good BINs but it seems like they want a large minimum order quantity by a supplier like say 1000 plus (say a website that sells them) and then they start production on the COBs. I am assuming this because a lot of websites wont have anything over a Z2 bin in stock and have a minimum order quantity of 100 pieces to get a higher bin and it will often say a factory lead time on the order of several weeks to a month.

Pretty much just grabbed them while I could and the timing was right for the upgrade. Going to be sticking with these AB bins until something drastically better comes out. Not looking to keep upgrading COBs every time a new bin comes out thats 3% more efficient.

I also sold the Mean Well LPC-60-1400s I was using and grabbed 3 matching drivers of a different brand that are a cheaper cost per driver than the Mean Wells but are also more efficient and are power factor corrected.

 

[budelight]

I also sold the Mean Well LPC-60-1400s I was using and grabbed 3 matching drivers of a different brand that are a cheaper cost per driver than the Mean Wells but are also more efficient and are power factor corrected.

 

[Bueno Time]

Heres the CXA3070 3000K 80CRI AB bins and the drivers I ordered for them. Also got 3 Ideal CXA30 Series COB Holders you can see one in the bottom pic. CXA30 holder is Ideal part # 50-2234C

 

[SweetDee]

got any link as to where to buy the drivers ? I can't read the model # could you post it up for Me ?Curious to try less out as I am half way through flowering my 165 watt pol and would mind checking these out .Thanks !

 

[Bueno Time]

got any link as to where to buy the drivers ? I can't read the model # could you post it up for Me ?Curious to try less out as I am half way through flowering my 165 watt pol and would mind checking these out .Thanks !

The brand on the driver is JHX LED , they are power factor corrected so they pull only the current they use to operate from the wall, supposed to be 90% efficient, put out just over 1400mA current, they say max vF 37 but will go up to around 40V on the LED side I guess according to someone else's testing on another forum he has tested 52 of them and they have all been good. He had issues with a Chinese vender of drivers that looked almost exactly the same but they didnt put out half the rated current.

As long as you stick with this auction you will be good, I got 2 of them hooked up tonight and they are working fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181399694068?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Not sure what COBs you are looking to go with but the CXA3070 is pretty much maxing this driver out as far as vF or forward voltage to the COB, the CXA3070s run around 37-38vF depending on current and temperature.

 

[hestah]

Nice you got the sockets/holders. And what beautiful results. Good job!

 

[Dr 4 four]

Just curious how much you spend total for the new setup? Here I'm trying to figure out which red's and blue's and your just blasting away with just 2 white. You are getting some excellent results. Blown my mind. Almost getting me convert. Did you think of getting one of those heatsink that has the heat pipes?

Keep it up, and if ya could get some pictures of the new lights with the sockets.

 

[Bueno Time]

Just curious how much you spend total for the new setup? Here I'm trying to figure out which red's and blue's and your just blasting away with just 2 white. You are getting some excellent results. Blown my mind. Almost getting me convert. Did you think of getting one of those heatsink that has the heat pipes?

Keep it up, and if ya could get some pictures of the new lights with the sockets.

Pretty inexpensive setup the AB bins were $49.33 each, the 1400mA drivers are $13 each, Ideal COB holders were a little over $4 each, the Alpine 11 Plus CPU Coolers (fan/heatsink combo) are $10 each and those are all prices with shipping included. Of course you need soldering iron, solder, heat shrink, bullet or spade connectors are nice to have, wire, thermal paste, wire strippers, power cord, AC-->12V DC power supply for the heat sink fans, etc. Depending on what all of that you have handy already the cost may be more or less. I had almost all of the electrical tools and parts around already so I didnt have to buy all that at the same time.

You could use heatsinks with the copper pipes if thats what you mean just make sure it is up to the task of cooling the COB, I think the Alpine 11 Plus coolers are rated for 100W of cooling but I wouldnt go much if any higher than 1400mA on them (~52W). Cooler running is less heat in the grow room, more efficient light emission per watt, longer lasting, and light output wont diminish as much over time as when run hotter.

I know a lot of the CPU coolers with the copper piping work very well but there may be some that dont work that great so just be careful when choosing heatsink.

I still am going to add 2 24" bars with 9 R/B LEDs per bar. 5 660nm, 2 630nm, and 2 440-450nm per bar. They will go on the front and back sides of the tent and the 3 COB modules evenly spaced across the center line of the footprint of the tent.

No doubt you can get good results with just warm white COBs the spectrum is very good for plant growth.

I havent assembled the new modules yet, still waiting on an Alpine 11 to show up and then need to flatten/polish that heatsink and drill and tap all 3 of the heatsinks for the COB holders. Have to figure out what size drill bit and tap and screws I am going to go with and purchase all of those too still. I also have to sand flat/polish the 24" heatsink bars which probably wont be fun and then assemble and solder/wire the R/B lights up.

By next run it will all be running.

 

[Bueno Time]

Upgraded the tent so I wont have issues with height anymore unless I do something really stupid like run a sativa untopped or veg way too long. Also a little larger footprint which is always welcome.

The wiring is ran pretty haggard but didnt want to bother trying to run it clean when Im going to be switching the lighting up.

Day 41 12/12