DiY LED - Cree CXA3070

[Kuifje76]

Kuifje, the Ideal holders are a little fussy to use. Did you find my COB Holders - The Basics thread?

Doing a few dry-runs without the paste might be advisable. You know by now that the Ideal holder relies on that tiny spring arm to keep the COB in place. The spring arm can easily lose grip as you're trying to set the holder onto the heatsink. If the COB falls out as you're flipping it over you know you gotta try again. What's more dangerous is if the COB slips partially out as you set the holder in place. If that happens the COB can be damaged as you tighten the screws. Triple-check before tightening!

After a few dry runs, you'll want some alcohol nearby because it's likely that you'll be cleaning things off and starting over at least once. It's hard to keep all the surfaces perfectly clean while you set the COB in the holder, spread the paste, position the COB & holder assembly directly over the tapped holes, etc.

The smallest bit of crud can push most of the COB off the sink, completely destroying thermal transfer. I've seen it. I needed magnification to realize that my install sucked. It looked OK without magnification.

It's very easy to slobber too much paste on and cripple the thermal transfer. Don't do it. Use a credit card or something similar to spread the thinnest layer that you can apply evenly. If the paste keeps peeling right back off as you drag the credit card across, then you gotta thin the paste with a few drops of alcohol stirred in or back off the pressure a little. You can YouTube videos of guys applying thermal paste to their fancy CPU coolers to get an idea.

Just went through it, great thread, thanx alot !
Yeah it's a learning curve, i went too fast and must clean again , it's in bits and pieces

btw can anyone advise me on what's the easiest way to power 10 Arctic alpine 11 plus fans and dim them as low as possible ?

 

[Merkin Donor]

Saw this at Lowes today. Normally the LEDs you see there are pretty lame but this one stood out at ~ 135lm/ dissipation W and deserves a mention (for human use).

4.2W, 466lumens, 2200K fire/candle light orange color, $15

View attachment 3387173

Home Depot has them for XX Sorry, I'm a dumba$$....and that's why they call it "Dope"

 

[SupraSPL]

Must be a different model looks like they are $16 at HD
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electric-Vintage-Style-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2200K-ST19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BPST19-LED/205880876

 

[bizfactory]

Finally finished wiring up my light! Ended up tapping the holes in the heatsinks and using the ideal holders thanks to all the help in here! Turned out almost perfectly! I may be blind.

Check it out!! http://gfycat.com/OccasionalBadCaiman

Edit: Also, the video is from the very first plug in, nailed it!

 

[Positivity]

Very cool clip!

 

[bizfactory]

Thanks! Just uploaded a few other pics I snapped last night. If anyone wants up close of anything just let me know.

http://imgur.com/a/ZqPSc

 

[Scotch089]

I about shit when it came out purple at first

Rocking cxa3070s?

 

[bizfactory]

I about shit when it came out purple at first

Rocking cxa3070s?

4 x CXB3070 AB bin and Mean Well HLG-185H-C1400B driver. 200ish watts.

 

[CellarDweller]

Yeah it's a learning curve, i went too fast and must clean again , it's in bits and pieces

btw can anyone advise me on what's the easiest way to power 10 Arctic alpine 11 plus fans and dim them as low as possible ?[/QUOTE]
Hey mate......I have 8 arctics running thus (well actually, I don't have 8 Arctics running this, I have them tested to run thus......lost my job, so the final build gets relegated to "shit I do when I have an income")":

http://www.aquatuning.de/kabel/luefterkabel-und-adapter/17806/modmytoys-4pin-pwm-auf-8x-4pin-pwm-splitter?c=448
http://www.aquatuning.de/wasserkuehlung/ueberwachung/steuergeraete/11886/phobya-slimguide-controller-black-sleeved
http://www.aquatuning.de/cases-hardware-psu/netzteile/netzteile-extern/17686/phobya-externes-netzteil-mit-schalter-230v-auf-4pin-molex-90-watt-inkl.-euro/uk-stecker?c=436

You'll need to get a couple of adaptor cables in between but those are the pieces I use

 

[Getgrowingson]

4 x CXB3070 AB bin and Mean Well HLG-185H-C1400B driver. 200ish watts.

If I may ask where did you source the aluminum angle iron for the frame? I love this idea makes me excited in my pants. Looks mint brotha

 

[bizfactory]

If I may ask where did you source the aluminum angle iron for the frame? I love this idea makes me excited in my pants. Looks mint brotha

I got the angle pieces from a Lowes. Most hardware store should carry them.

 

[beppe75]

I got the angle pieces from a Lowes. Most hardware store should carry them.

hello bizz ...its a nice light man...congratulations.
what did you use to power those fans? i'm a little confused about what to use to power them.
also... i have time to think since kingbrite is taking his time to ship...
what if in our setup's the driver of the fans fails... we will find ourselfs with burned cobs?
have you thought about it?

 

[bizfactory]

hello bizz ...its a nice light man...congratulations.
what did you use to power those fans? i'm a little confused about what to use to power them.
also... i have time to think since kingbrite is taking his time to ship...
what if in our setup's the driver of the fans fails... we will find ourselfs with burned cobs?
have you thought about it?

I just used a 12v AC to DC adapter, I think it was from a network switch. It's rated at 1100mA I believe. Wired in parallel. I have a small oscillating fan above the lights so if a cooler fan died, I think it would have enough airflow not to burn up but who knows! I'm not so worried about it, the LED would be pretty easy to replace.

 

[augusto1]

Thanks! Just uploaded a few other pics I snapped last night. If anyone wants up close of anything just let me know.

http://imgur.com/a/ZqPSc

I believe that the way you installed the heat sinks are not correct as you are blocking the channels avoiding the air to flow freely wich will also force the fans making them to work harder, but that just me maybe I am wrong.

 

[bizfactory]

I believe that the way you installed the heat sinks are not correct as you are blocking the channels avoiding the air to flow freely wich will also force the fans making them to work harder, but that just me maybe I am wrong.

I believe that the way you installed the heat sinks are not correct as you are blocking the channels avoiding the air to flow freely wich will also force the fans making them to work harder, but that just me maybe I am wrong.

Yeah they would have better airflow if they were turned 90 degrees but there is a nice raised section on the heatsink that aligns perfectly with the L brackets if arranged how I have them. Another member here did the same and then later cut out the L piece were it was blocking air. He said there wasn't really a temperature difference. I'm not worried about it

 

[uzerneims]

So basically 4x Veros 29 could be run under HLG-185H-C1400B hmm....

 

[Bigger Bud]

I have some CXA3070AB's available (AD bin) PM me if interested.

 

[SupraSPL]

Do you mean 3K CXBs or 4K CXAs? Have a pic of part number?

 

[1947 Boy]

Hey Supra, how do you calculate the efficiency numbers? I cannot figure that out.
Thanks.

 

[SupraSPL]

We convert from lumens to PAR W using LER, which represents the calculus to convert a particular spectrum from lumens to Watts. Each different spectrum has a different LER. So the spreadsheet takes that into account and converts from lumens/W to electrical efficiency.

Example, Cree CXA/B 3000K 80 CRi spectrum LER is 325. So if the COB is rated to put out 138 lumens/W at a certain current and temp, that works out to: 138/325 = 42.4% efficient