htg 3.0 COBs... Good?

[Elephunk]

Hey guys...

I've been recently looking more into COB led lighting. I was originally planning to run a small 150hps with a 175mh dual set up.

Never really felt the LEDs were able to do as well for density and yield as the HIDs, but after checking into these COB leds I'm thinking about them more and more... the trade off in heat and quieter fans might be worth it. And frankly I'm seeing some pretty nice quality coming off the COBs. Maybe the yield is less, but for a small personal cab... It just doesn't matter. I'll have enough to keep me happy.

I was recently looking at the HTG 3.0 540w COB system.

Are these things any good or is the gear crap? I don't really want to drop $500+ on a bunk light. If that was the case I would probably just go the HID route because I know it's performance.

Cab is only 22 w x 58 l x 60 h

I was going to put it on a 3 foot light mover that I have to track down the length.

But adding further indecision is the fact that you can also buy individual COBs... And just position them as needed. Not sure if that negates the mover or if the mover would have any benefits or actually make things worse.

Any thoughts from the guys in the know would be appreciated!

 

[warpese]

Hey guys...

I've been recently looking more into COB led lighting. I was originally planning to run a small 150hps with a 175mh dual set up.

Never really felt the LEDs were able to do as well for density and yield as the HIDs, but after checking into these COB leds I'm thinking about them more and more... the trade off in heat and quieter fans might be worth it. And frankly I'm seeing some pretty nice quality coming off the COBs. Maybe the yield is less, but for a small personal cab... It just doesn't matter. I'll have enough to keep me happy.

I was recently looking at the HTG 3.0 540w COB system.

Are these things any good or is the gear crap? I don't really want to drop $500+ on a bunk light. If that was the case I would probably just go the HID route because I know it's performance.

Cab is only 22 w x 58 l x 60 h

I was going to put it on a 3 foot light mover that I have to track down the length.

But adding further indecision is the fact that you can also buy individual COBs... And just position them as needed. Not sure if that negates the mover or if the mover would have any benefits or actually make things worse.

Any thoughts from the guys in the know would be appreciated!

hi bro I'm happy to tell you're wrong. today LEDs are more efficient than hid. for a box like yours I would discard the cobs and I would aim on smd, quantum board or other. look at the samsung lm561c and lm301b. more efficient than cob and hid.

cheap chinese cob are another story

 

[Elephunk]

Are we talking about individual bulbs I have to buy and build a unit myself?

If that’s the case... I just don’t have the time to be devoting to learning all this stuff. It’s interesting and all, but I just want to be able to buy a real performing LED unit that is good to go, tried and proven.

That’s why when I saw these at htg, price didn’t look horrible. Question in my mind is quality/longevity.

While the manufacturers tout the whole 150k hours or whatever... I see pics of peoples set ups with bulbs out. Kinda like, wtf is with that?

It’s a small cab. Want it to be as stealth as possible, but give me quality herb. I just don’t want to invest all the time and money if it’s knly going to produce spaced out popcorn buds.

I’ll definitely read up on what you mentioned. What was the other one... CREE or something like that. I’ll look.

 

[Elephunk]

Man I checked out the smd lights... a lot of these claims sound like outright bullshit. I would need to see journals and results.

I’ll check around for quantum grows for results too.

I’m a bit confused on how these lights are actually marketed for wattage... are they talking about the actual power draw wattage or the equivalent to the HID it is supposed to compete with?

Trying to keep this at 300-400 actual power draw watts for the light itself. No idea what that is an equivalent to for HID.

 

[Koondense]

Hey elephunk,
usually most led sellers rate the max power in the model number or whatever, truth is the only relevant data is power consumption. The proper producers always state the draw power.
The spec sheets for cobs and leds in general have numbers provided from tests, so a manufacturer like Samsung or cree state detailed parameters under which their leds performance is measured, some data out of those parameters is extrapolated(at low currents for example).

There's a lot of fake infos in the led market, so checking proper specs is a must if you want to know what to expect from a product. And a rule, if there are no specs to be found, stay away from that light.

I can say for sure cobs are amazing to grow plants and qbs are probably a bit better. If you're interested in plant pics check my signature and older pics from my first grow. There are no trees but the jungle is still very thick.

Cheers

 

[Elephunk]

Hey KD,

Your latest journal looks great! So you're running 300 actual draw watts?

This has been tough to decide on... Price of LEDs is rough. Especially if it doesn't produce. I have no doubt about the actual quality. Looks like they do a great job with that. The yield is what I'm finding hard to actually compare with HID.

A lot of guys seem to only shoot the top/best kolas. You don't really see the entire plant to judge how far down the flowers filled out.

I'm looking to get tight internode spacing and filled out bud sticks.

I'm just not sure the LEDs are going to do this. The idea of lower heat is definitely attractive. Or the possibility of running lower wattage and get solid results. I still am not convinced running lower wattage is going to get an even comparison to whatever the equivalent HID light is pumping out full power draw.

Are the flowers fluffy/ loose under your LEDs? Or are they dense?

Right now I'm actually thinking I just run with a 315 CMH set up or a 150HPS/ 175MH combo. (likely CMH as I drop an additional ballast)

Been having a hard time finding good documented journals of guys running a HPS/MH combo in flower. Curious to see that compared to a CMH.

search keeps turning up nothing no matter which way I ask it.

 

[warpese]

I don't understand your hostility towards the cobs or quantum boards, there are many photos around where you can see the results. the internodes are close, buds are compact. the wattage indicated for the qb and cob is real and not compared to other light sources. a 240W kit consumes 240W (roughly), if you set it to 150W the panel consumes 150W. it is not like the ufo or vipar that declare the maximum nominal value of the LED chip.
you could take 2 x 240w quantum board kits and you'd be great for that amount

have you seen these?
hope to helpful

 

[Elephunk]

There is no hostility here at all mate. Don't feel defensive of your grow lights simply because I'm skeptical. We are talking about a tool... an inanimate object... I'm trying to find out the most efficient use of the tools available to us to grow the best herb I can. Seriously... No hostility.

I've been searching through tons of journals on here to view the pictures, review the lighting set ups, and see the yield reports.

While a dialed environment is critical, I want to be sure I'm investing in the best lighting I can to yield the best possible out of my dialed environment. LEDs are expensive. I don't want to make a mistake with my decision.

There are many LED journals I've been in that literally only show the top of the canopy. It looks quality for sure. But I'm not seeing a ton of photos showing the plant down to the dirt to really view the extent of the light penetration and calyx formation. And I feel like I rarely come by a full documented grow under LEDs with wet/dry weights and final yield tally. (I'll keep sifting through though, I'm sure someone has done it.)

If I was seeing that and everything looked good, of course, I would be setting my sights on the best LED set up I can get. Lower heat is a major attraction to me.

My lack of the jargon and tech science behind these also hinders me from really feeling like this would be a sure bet. I need a simple way to decide because I don't want to sit here and learn about every type of diode out there. Hence why I was asking about these HTG COB lights. I can just buy the light, hang it, and get going. The unknown is if it's really proven. (Which is why I asked here)

What it comes down to for me is... If I'm buying an LED set up that requires say, 400w in, but my yield comes out nowhere near a 400w HID... Then I would rather deal with the temps and run HID.

I was under the impression that LEDs could cut your wattage and heat down and still produce results comparable to an HID. I'm thinking this is not really the case. If it is, please, link a journal so I can look into it.

I couldn't care any less about dick swinging on the whole LED vs HID thing. Don't give a shit. I just want the best gear that makes sense for my set up.

 

[Michael_Phelps]

For such a tight space, I would go with quantum boards rather than COB or HID. HID you will lose out on a ton of overhead space, which if you are trying to get big spears, you would really have to have your tops all in order, plus lack of height, so the spears will only be so big anyway. With small space grows, you need to focus on the initial top footprint, since any lighting in a small space will have a tough time penetrating very far (think 250 vs 1000w HPS penetration). Quantum boards may or may not penetrate as well as COBs, but I have used both recently and for small spaces, can see that quantum boards or similar are the most logical choice. No movers, just buy the number of panels you need and if anything, you will need to dial the panels down at first. They are very bright. I have seen reports of at minimum 1 gpw, with some threads (no references at the moment, but here on ICMAG) showing yields of upwards of 1.5 gpw.

Even the most dialed in HID grow would do well to hit 1 gpw, and I see the average to fall somewhere under that number, depending on strain of course.

COBs produce a lot of heat and need noisy fans. I believe most if not all quantum board designs using heat sink alone, so less noise, less heat that would require the extra fans for COBs, which can run up to 100w+ on a very small area, thus heating up significantly, coupled with glass lenses and other components that don't dissipate the heat very well.

The 65 and 100w panels don't even need a heat sink and can be daisy chained or framed together very easily.

For about the same as your initial COB in question, you could probably get the two quantum boards suggested further up and use less power while achieving the same yield. I'd have to check the prices, but it would be worth it after even one grow.

 

[Michael_Phelps]

Then there are strip lights, samsung and some others, that I see being used more and more. Quantum boards and the like are easier because its basically plug and play. It says DIY kit, but that amounts to little more than attaching nuts and bolts to the boards and plugging in a few cables.

 

[Michael_Phelps]

Out of curiosity, if you were to use HID in that space, how would you go about it? If you have something for us to compare LEDs against, it would aid in the process of elimination to narrow down the options you feel would be acceptable and best for your space.

 

[positivity]

Cmon bad boys let's talk. Screw these quantum board guys...they are called Samsung leds anyway. Sure sign of a led seller in disguise.
Cmh from sunsyatem would be great, or even a nanolux I think it's called

 

[Michael_Phelps]

okay not a seller, I have like under 20 posts. There are tons of sellers of these boards not under the quantum name, which I was implying by suggesting "others" so really, think about it. I am not even advertising one specific brand, plus I think it has already been established earlier in the thread that the actual diodes (op indicated did not want to wire stuff) are made by Samsung. So yeah, I guess I must work for samsung. Because they are really raking it in from the suckers here on ICMAG, only one small fraction of the entire online growing community. I come here to get other's experience when I lack some specific insight, as I think the op is probably doing with this very thread. I have no dog in the fight, I just know that if you are going to get into LED, COB's have not been all that great for me. I would just stick to HID, except recently been using led array boards and think it it pretty neat and appropriate for smaller spaces.

 

[positivity]

That's bullshit it's all white leds with a phosphor
Same smell. Cobs work all the same

 

[positivity]

okay not a seller, I have like under 20 posts. There are tons of sellers of these boards not under the quantum name, which I was implying by suggesting "others" so really, think about it. I am not even advertising one specific brand, plus I think it has already been established earlier in the thread that the actual diodes (op indicated did not want to wire stuff) are made by Samsung. So yeah, I guess I must work for samsung. Because they are really raking it in from the suckers here on ICMAG, only one small fraction of the entire online growing community. I come here to get other's experience when I lack some specific insight, as I think the op is probably doing with this very thread. I have no dog in the fight, I just know that if you are going to get into LED, COB's have not been all that great for me. I would just stick to HID, except recently been using led array boards and think it it pretty neat and appropriate for smaller spaces.

I like how you call fellow growers suckers

 

[Michael_Phelps]

You are really dense. It is called poetic/literary license. You are obviously a troll. HID in such a small (narrow) space is asking for trouble if efficiency is at stake. Sure you could do it, but only if you have real cold intake. Nothing wrong with hid either, just seems like either one of us could be accused of shilling when you really look at things as cut and dry as you seem to.

You have more things in your pocket and within arms reach right now made by Samsung, so who really is the selling shill? You live for Samsung and you can't even see it.

Love to my fellow growers who are not just hanging around trying to stir up the Negativity.

 

[positivity]

19 posts...so who really dense man

 

[positivity]

Wanna buy a Samsung light. I'll get one from alibaba and sell it to you

 

[Michael_Phelps]

we are taking the thread way off track, but it just irks me that pretty much every time I make a suggestion or offer my experience to someone on these boards asking about gear, especially with lights, especially, for now like 18 years that I have been part of so many online cannabis communities, that I am immediately called a seller shilling some brand whatever popular brand of the time. Without fail, someone will always be there to say exactly the same thing.

I don't really know what post count has to do with anything. Anyone can make lots of posts. Wouldn't it behoove a hypothetical shill to have a high post count and perhaps create a large presence on it's target website/forum?

This interaction is one reason I try not to make posts. Good day.

 

[positivity]

Bye Phelps come back with a grow log showing how you love weed