LED design for 5 x 5 tent

[Tune]

Hi all,

I have been reading a lot of topics lately about LED DIY. But still can't find the right things that i'm looking for.
I want to have an overall good/uniform light spread in my tent.

Maybe a bit of data first.
I have a 5 x 5 (150cm x 150cm...yes we have the metric system here ) Gorilla tent.
Now I have a Gavita 1000W HPS lamp hanging in the tent. The lamp is a few years old and i'm thinking of replacing it with LED. This because different reasons : Hopefully lower electricity consumption, better efficiency, less heat.

So I want to have an even spread of light where the plants get the most PPFD.
From what I have been reading this is what i had in mind :
16 x CXB 3590 CRI CD Bin 3500K 36V
4 x Meanwell HLG-185H-C1400
Cob holders and wiring.
For the Heatsink i want to mount 4 COBs onto a long heatsink ( 4 Foot ).
These heatsinks will be mounted onto an aluminum L bar frame.

What do you guys/girls think about this setup?
Is it better to have another driver or cob's?

Like to hear from you.
Grtzz
Tune

[Jolly Green Giant]

I love the idea. I was planning the same rough cob build for a 5 x 5. I was looking at the HLG 600h-36b driver over having multiple drivers to hook up. ( I am still very new to this and 1 driver seemed easier for my first build) That HLG600 has 16.7 amps on it to use. ( it has to be wired in parallel) 12 36v cobs (cxb3590 clu48-1212's vero 29 SE's I think the SE is a true 36v) it would run them at 1400ma (50watts each) With 16 of them on there they run closer to 1050 (around 37.5 watts each) But they would be a better efficiency than at the 1400.

If you think you will be low on watts with just 1 600h-36 you can try duel 480h-36's. The 480h has 13.3amps on it and you could run 8 in parallel on each driver. that would take them to 1663 ma each ( 60watts+) you would be closer to the 900 watt range over 600.

Also the hlg600h-36 and 480h-36 should be more efficient than the 185's.. they are 95%. I think the 185's are around 92-93%. Its not much but every little bit counts. Any "good" LED will save you heat and power over a HPS.. . A remote driver setup would eliminate that extra heat all together. Mainly you get less heat from a LED over a HPS because the LED's use it more efficiently. on avg LED use 55% and leave 45% to heat.. If I remember right hps is the opposite. or something even worse like use 30% and give off 70% as heat. So even going the same wattage in the tent the LED "should" put off less heat.

I like the cob on the rapidLED frame because of the ability to move them so you don't get hot spots and can make full coverage.. I one thing that made me go to Quantum boards instead is the price of those damn heatsinks lol Getting enough cobs and heatsinks to at lease start the build was to much for me at this time.. So I ordered 4 QB's and a 480h-2100 with my rapidLED frame. almost 500 watts should work for 1 go around in the tent. Then I can order another 4 boards and driver and be over what I need in the area. I want to dabble with adding extra color also. but my base should be awesome before that..

The best part about DIY is ( if you plan ahead) you can add what you need when you need it.. I wanted a chilled light but I cant break out 2500 bucks at once!!!! I can handle spending 500 here 500 there and build up to it! Also being able to mix different types of lighting. ( qb chilled boards cobs mono colors ect) instead of having just one type from a pre built is always a good thing. because you can test what works better for your situation.

again welcome to the party of making your own LED fixtures And LEDgardens if I messed up anywere LOL at me and correct for another newbie

[LEDG]

Sounds like a solid plan for a first build; your quantity and parts will work well. If you can't get the CXBs for a good price, you can also use Vero 29-D (Gen. 7 or SE) or Citizen CLU048-1212.

I think since it's your first build, it'd be best to stick with those HLG-185H-C1400 constant current drivers you mentioned. You can't go wrong with the constant current drivers but the big constant voltage drivers with parallel COBs can get a bit tricky - COBs in parallel on constant voltage can sometimes pull more current than you might want, whereas a constant current driver regulates this automatically for every COB. There's nothing wrong with CV drivers and I'd be willing to bet that JGG's recommendations would work flawlessly, I just think the CCs are better for beginners.

As JGG also mentioned, 16.7A would be a little on the low side for these 16 COBs as well, since they are covering a 5x5. A lot of people run 16 COBs in a 4x4, though 1,400mA is on the high side for these setups. Running multiple driver gives you a little redundancy as well - if something were to happen to one of your drivers, you'd still have enough light to get by until you could replace the faulty one.

Fun fact - these Mean Well drivers usually put out considerably more than they're rated for. For the 600H-36A, if you check the spec sheet on the Mean Well site, you'll see it's rated for 16.7A like JGG mentioned. However, the REAL place to check is the "Reports" Section. I have found this section to be a much more accurate predictor of how much power the driver will put out. This section for the HLG-600H says their test unit actually put out 18.8A. http://www.meanwell.com/productPdf.aspx ... BERg==&a=2

[Tune]

Thanks both for your input.

I think it's better to have more drivers than 1 big one. I don't like Murphy and his law.

I have to read more about these Quantum Boards. Is this is the newest in LED lighting?
Do they have a better light spectrum or are they more efficient?

Do you think that 16 COB's are sufficient for a 5 X 5?
Is there a PPFD measurement for the CXB3590? I want an even light coverage all thru the tent.

Or is it better to run them on 700ma?

Thanks for answering my noob questions.

[Jolly Green Giant]

i figured led gardener would give more info than me I've always liked bigger over multiple. maybe that's just because i'm a giant and bigger is always better for me lol.. but yea if that one blew your screwed without a back up.

he' s right about wiring them in parallel.. the first one in the line can over volt and blow up with out protection. i always forget about that when wiring parallel. you need fuses everywhere to protect them.

the Quantum boards are a newer product from horticultural lighting group.. they use Samsung LM561C S6 bin mid power diodes. they have the 288QB. which is a 54V version. and the 304QB. which is 115v( or close to it) at the moment most are saying its the most efficient micromole rating you can get. the HLG550 light the make says it does 2.4 micro moles system level. they have them in most spectrums.... later on this year they are introducing a enhanced "red" spectrum. they are trying to make a white dominate board with some extra 660nm on it.

i am using one of the 135 watt kits with the 4k spectrum board over a 90cm by 40cm ish ( 36 inch by 16 inch ) geo pot i keep seedlings/mothers in.. its freaking bright!!!!! i have it dimmed down to just under 100 watts and they are loving it!

the 2 major factors that made me pick QB over cobs are.. the prices of the pin heat sinks compared to the Slate heat sinks that the QB's use. pin heat sink 20-25 bucks x16. the Slate 3 is 8.75 x 8 ( on avg two cobs at 1400 are equal to a QB running close too 100 watts.) second there is no need for any TIM ( thermal interface material) you put the board on the heat sink and screw it in.. no sticky pads no grease mess

last part of my long @$$ post is yes. 16 cobs is the recommended number for covering a 5 x 5. if you want to keep it simple space them 25-30cm (10-12 inches) on center 4 per bar and go.. If you want to get into maxing out coverage try to make it so your cobs can slide on the rails to where you need it. RapidLED's new frame they put out has that option. they use little "T" bars that slide into the frame rails so you can move them all close or spread them out if you leave enough wire.

[MaineGrower]

I thought my 12 cobs over 4x4 was going to be bright.

The other thought mentioned as well was using the Vero29, like the PLC6 that have a high micromole rating as well.
I'm going to initially be under driving mine at 50watt each but I kinda messed up on which needed driver and could send back but ill just use it.

[Tune]

Thnks JGG & MaineGrower.

I'm going to check out those QB then.
How much of these boards would i have to have for a 5 x 5?
@JGG : you say 2 COB's equal to a QB of 100W. So then i would need 8 of them for my tent.
Hmmm...interesting. What is the pricing of these boards.

@ MaineGrower : Going to check out the pricing en specs on the Vero29's.

[LEDG]

You've got it. One 260W Quantum Board kit can juuuust cover a 3x3, so you'd need 4 kits = 8 boards.

[Jolly Green Giant]

https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/ HLG's main website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37w09GbQ-Y growmau5's QB video with Robin

according to HLG's website the 54v 288QB running at 2100ma puts out around 111.6 watts the board costs 71.50 (us) and the heat sinks cost from 8.75 for the slate 3( the newest one they got suppose to distribute heat better than the slate one) to the slate two that costs 19 each.. the slate one costs 12 on sale atm.. the slate one and slate 3 are suppose to hold 120 watts easy without any cooling. and the slate 2 I believe is 150 watts. those are the single board heat sinks.. they also have double slate 2's and triple board slate 3's.. they also make square heat sinks that hold 4 boards at 500 watts.( slate 4 75 bucks each and a rectangle one that holds 4 boards at 600 watts ( the slate 5.. 99 bucks each... its a slate 2 style that holds 4 boards)

yes I am planning a 8 board build for my 5 x 5. I ordered the rapidLED frame work and 4 288 boards at 3.5k spectrum and a 480h-c2100b for a driver.. by the end of summer early fall they are releasing a new board with enhanced red spectrums..( they are planning on adding some 660nm maybe 730nm.) I plan on using 4 of those boards with my 3.5k 288 boards and what ever 480 driver I need to power them the same to equal 8 boards at roughly 800-850 watts.. if I did my PPFD numbers right I should be sitting right around 900PPFD with that build.. I had also though about adding some 660/730nm red and 420nm/450nmblue color pucks to bump up the PPFD to right at 1000. I don't run CO2 so I should be limiting my self from that and not amount of light.

The only downside I have been hearing about the QB's is they can be a little weak in the corners.. some people been talking about adding a cob at the very outside to bump that up... I have yet to get mine going to see if that's true with the tent walls

[Tune]

Did some reading and you tubing on these QB.
They are a lot easier to assemble then COB's. You screw 'em on a plate and finish.
No thermal grease, no drilling holes and no extra wires for cooling fans.

I'm not quite sure what the difference is between the QB288 and the QB304?
Except that the one has 288 LED's and the other 304. Is there a "huge" difference in PPFD?

Then if I would buy 8 of these boards is there a slate that can hold all 8 boards?
Or better 2 slates of 4 boards or 3 slates of 3 boards where the middle would only hold 2QB's. Anyone knows about this?

For me what is important is that i have an equal spread of light across my 5 X 5 tent.
@Admin did you ever do a test (ppfd reading) in a 5 X 5 area?