Spider COB- Self Modification

[Greenmoss1310]

HI Peeps- Hoping someone can give me some advice. I have 2 Spider COB fixtures that I ordered from China. One has 6 lights, the other has 4. Each light is 90w. I don't now what brand the COB chips are but I'm pretty sure they are budget Chinese. I'm thinking of replacing them with CREE chips, which in theory should be easy, but I'm not experienced so would like a few tips.

1) Would the process be as simple as just replacing the chips? No particular specs are given for the drivers, so not sure if I need to do anything there.
2) Would I get any benefit from replacing the cheap COBs with Cree COBs?
3) If I do order CREE replacements, what specs should I be looking for.

Sorry for the novice questions, but any guidance is appreciated.

[Jolly Green Giant]

welcome to the forum first off! and done worry about novice questions!! we all were at some point .

1. it could be that simple.. or it could be gutting the whole thing! http://www.twilightgroups.net/Spider-CO ... s-403.html. your talking about this company's light?? yes those are not "real" cobs.. first thing would to be take a multi meter to the drivers to figure out what you can hook to it to fit in its range. need voltage and amperage numbers.

once you know what the drivers are look at the heat sinks and fans... New upgraded chips might not fit well or might be to hot for that heat sink they come with. you might have to replace those.

2.yes yes yes if it's the light I linked it's that Blurple spectrum... it will grow plants but white light cobs will do it 10x better! wether it be Cree, citizen, vero29's, or luminous cobs.

3. it depends on what the drivers are.. it will determine your voltage range of cobs you can use.. other main thing is spectrum.. 4000k normally better for vegging 3000k for flowering.

[LEDG]

Are there no markings on the drivers at all?

[Greenmoss1310]

Thanks Guys for the help-

Jolly Green Giant - My lights are the twilight lights you sent the link to, and they do give the blurple light. I will need to do some digging. I brought lamp with me to work to disassemble some, but forgot thr proper tools. I did manage to take some picks and to open the case to take a look at the drivers. I have attached some pics.

[LEDG]

How many of those drivers are there?

[Greenmoss1310]

There are six- one for each chip.

[Jolly Green Giant]

to me that seems like a odd driver size.... double check with a multi meter to make sure it's close to what they say... I'm going to let LG think on what would fit those well only thing I could think of is the 72v vero29. ( C version) the data sheet shows they run roughly 66.2v at 855ma giving out 56watts. and that's the lowest they show... putting them at 530ma I'm guessing will drop v to 65ish which they end up putting out 35watts or so. which is running them really really low power and efficient( lumens per watt is really high) you would have a 140ish and a 210ish watt fixtures with way better quality of light

now if those drivers said up to 115v at that ma I would say ditch cobs stick QB304's on them

[Greenmoss1310]

I’ll get a multimeter and check. If the wierd drivers are an issue, does it make sense to replace drivers and chips?

[LEDG]

The Vero 29-C is exactly what came to my mind when I saw this as well. With such a low current output, you need a light that runs at a higher voltage to maximize the power you get through it.

At this current, according to Bridgelux's calculator, each Vero 29-C will put out 6800 lumens at a voltage of 63.7V (works out to 34W per COB).

[Greenmoss1310]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Based on these I would be loosing some wattage Power. How many watts of COB would be ideal for a 4x4 tent?