Canadian DIY COB Questions and Material List Request.

Hello I've been looking around the forums for about a week and figured it was time to post my questions all in one place instead of going between threads and looking through some out dated ones. I have to appologize in advance for not having any links (site wouldn't let me because being a new account with no other posts so i had to take them out) and the length of this post but i believe if we can get detailed answers to all these questions this could be an invaluable resource to Canadians looking to create their first DIY COB set up

I got a lot of questions so i'll try to number them as best as possible to allow for easy responses!

1. My first question pertains to Canadian suppliers of everything someone would need to create a DIY COB set up. It seems that in Canada (according the the threads i've read) it is not possible to get all your materials from one place and further more that it is impossible to get extruded passive heat sinks here in Canada (although the latest forums about this i can find were dated 2016 so perhaps there is now?) If answers to this questions could be known suppliers specifying whether they have cobs, holders, reflectors, drivers, wires, and HEATSINKS and the brands they carry that would be wonderful.

2. I have looked into .digikey and the problem i see to them is that i cannot find any meanwell products on their site, nor do they carry ideal cob holders or large etruded heatsinks. This also leads to another problem that I'm having which is that for example: I'm looking on digikey for vero29s.. I search search vero 29 and bam i get this which is 39 results. Which of these should be using? Even im looking at a site for cree cxb 3950s i get more than 1 result and don't know which i should be getting. so my question is that, when i see several results for a cxb3950, which should i be getting?

3. ca.mouser/ seems to be a good place, that although situated in the US, offer free shipping on orders over a certain price and pays the taxes and duties for the stuff coming over the border. They have Meanwell drivers, cree cobs, have ideal holders,

4. canada.newark seems to be the most legit place that i have found so far and the most important reason for that is.... you guessed it, they have heat sinks. I was able to find the hlg meanwell driver, vero 29s, ideal cob holders, reflectors and CML7001-52-10-101(had to remove link) heat sinks. So my question for this is, has anyone used this site as it seems it would pretty much be a 1 stop shop for canadian DIY COBS.

5. This is the question that I think would be not only most helpful to myself but anyone else in Canada looking to do a DIY COB set up.

What would be the best parts i should buy for a set up for a 4x4 tent including cobs, holders, reflectors, drivers, heat sink, wires, with exact brands, models, and links to those things. Preferable on the least amount of sites possible. It seems that Newark would be the ideal place to get it all in one place, but again, looking through the site myself I don't know the exact models of each part i should be getting. I feel someone going through newark with alot of experience with cobs could probably make a list of things to get for a set up from that site alone. My personal budget is $500 ideally(i could budget more if needed) although i dont think an answer should be limited to that budget as other might have a higher budget. I do think that a 4 cob set up would be ideal though for the average person visiting this thread.

6. If you wanna post a link to videos or written guides about putting together the cobs feel free to put em here!

Thank you very much for reading and I'm sorry for making such a long post but I Believe If these questions can be answered fully by someone, Canadians looking to get into DIY COBS will have to look no further than this thread.

CHEERS!

Welcome,
I used Digikey to source my Vero's. For the area you're using I would shoot for at least 640W-I think that a 3x3 array with 9 SE's in 3 rows should give an even coverage. I googled the Meanwell drivers I wanted and got multiple hits on sources. I ended up using Rapidled for my pin sinks and built my framework from channel from HD. It takes some basic wiring skills and the ability to use a power drill and hacksaw without a trauma surgeon sewing you back together. I used a mix of 3K and 4K arrays for my 8 bucket setup. It will probably be closer to $650 for the components for what I've suggested.

If you're using Vero 29 you don't need holders. In a tent you don't need reflectors. Par-Horta is Canadian and does sell limited DIY parts or kits as well as pre-made fixtures.
If your budget is closer to $500 than it is to $1000 I would advise you to use Bridgelux EB strips or Samsung F series strips. You'll get way more light on your plants for less money because you save hundreds on heatsinks, holders and reflectors. All you buy is the strips, drivers, angle aluminum for a frame, self tapping screws or magnets, wago connectors and some 18awg wire for running between strips. It's also the easiest to build.

http://www.futureelectronics.com (mean well drivers)
mouser.ca
digikey.com/ca

I had to use heatsinkusa.com and onlinemetals.com and shipping doubled the material costs. Everyone round here talks about the pin fin passive sinks as the sink to go with for COBs, I do not know of any Canadian shops though. I had totally forgotten about Newark.

Of course I also used Aliexpress, Alibaba and Ebay for various things. DIY'rs are typically used to this "one piece from here, one piece from there" kinda thing.

The Meanwell ELG 240w drivers sell on Electrosonic for less than $60. If you can design a build around those drivers you will save lots.

Some pinfins are avail here from Par-horta: https://www.par-horta.com/product-page/105-mm-heatsink
Not sure whether they are just out of stock on the bigger ones, or if thats all they sell (105mm)

I use active, my next ones will be one of these with some $2 ebay/aliexpress fans:
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/CSRichProduct.aspx?ProductID=MODULEDMICRO8630BMECHATRONIX7072643&IM=0&Language=en-CA
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/CSRichProduct.aspx?ProductID=MODULEDMICRO8650BMECHATRONIX3072640&IM=0&Language=en-CA

IMO best place to buy cobs is from Cobkits. I think it was $14 US to ship that padded envelope. Shipping was quite fast, you'll want to get creative with the value on the envelope though

For heat sinks, depending on the build type, there's a bunch of cheap one's on AliExpress including free shipping to Canada which is the key to affordability.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=heat+sink

For COBs I've used Digi (they have the newer strips as well)

For drivers I've grabbed them from e-bay, lots of choice, good prices

Don't know of one specific place to buy all the components from a single supplier, that's asking a little much here in Canada

GroErr said:

For heat sinks, depending on the build type, there's a bunch of cheap one's on AliExpress including free shipping to Canada which is the key to affordability.

Click to expand...

I've spent a LOT of time searching on there for suitable active and passive and have yet to fine something that is less expensive (with shipping) than buying here

Hey guys,

You can buy Bridgelux and a few other led brands on Futureelectronics and the meanwell drivers!

Also you can use arrow to buy bridgelux strips and cobs and the meanwell drivers aswell, they offer free shipping to canada.

DrBlaze said:

I've spent a LOT of time searching on there for suitable active and passive and have yet to fine something that is less expensive (with shipping) than buying here

Click to expand...

Many ship for free so if you find the right type (which is what I meant by the type of build) and it's free shipping I can't see that being cheaper here.

Danielson999 said:

If you're using Vero 29 you don't need holders. In a tent you don't need reflectors. Par-Horta is Canadian and does sell limited DIY parts or kits as well as pre-made fixtures.
If your budget is closer to $500 than it is to $1000 I would advise you to use Bridgelux EB strips or Samsung F series strips. You'll get way more light on your plants for less money because you save hundreds on heatsinks, holders and reflectors. All you buy is the strips, drivers, angle aluminum for a frame, self tapping screws or magnets, wago connectors and some 18awg wire for running between strips. It's also the easiest to build.

Click to expand...

Big thanks for the PAR-Horta recommendation. Any heat sinks ordered out of Canada ends up with the shipping costing as much as the heat sinks themselves. Also now I suppose im going to have to look into these strips now but thanks for the info!!! I pictured needing something like 4 or 6 cobs for a 4x4 tent. Knowing that id need 9 or 12 definitely changes things a little.

CBDseeker said:

Big thanks for the PAR-Horta recommendation. Any heat sinks ordered out of Canada ends up with the shipping costing as much as the heat sinks themselves. Also now I suppose im going to have to look into these strips now but thanks for the info!!! I pictured needing something like 4 or 6 cobs for a 4x4 tent. Knowing that id need 9 or 12 definitely changes things a little.

Click to expand...

I used RapidLED from the states, shipping wasn't bad only 60US for a 275USD order. Duties and taxes came to around 28$ cad so all in was around 400 CAD for 4 vero 29 c's heatsinks drivers etc shipped to my door. Those heatsinks you listed from newark are tiny at only 70mm I wouldnt use those. Par-horta is decent but over priced, you can also check out http://www.bcblondes.com/ they are another Canadian light maker but also overpriced IMO.
These lights are so easy to build if you use push in connectors and thermal pads, no soldering required, why pay someone 2x when you could DIY in an hour.

CBDseeker said:

Big thanks for the PAR-Horta recommendation. Any heat sinks ordered out of Canada ends up with the shipping costing as much as the heat sinks themselves. Also now I suppose im going to have to look into these strips now but thanks for the info!!! I pictured needing something like 4 or 6 cobs for a 4x4 tent. Knowing that id need 9 or 12 definitely changes things a little.

Click to expand...

No need to fear strips. This is a SpydrX light just as an example but you can build something much like this with less than $100 worth of aluminum and hardware. Add 12 strips ($240) and 2 x 300w drivers like the HLG-320 series ($240) and you've got a 600w light that will do a decent job in a 4'x4'. I guess it would cost more like $600 with the aluminum and tax/shipping and a few odds n' ends.

Danielson999 said:

No need to fear strips. This is a SpydrX light just as an example but you can build something much like this with less than $100 worth of aluminum and hardware. Add 12 strips ($240) and 2 x 300w drivers like the HLG-320 series ($240) and you've got a 600w light that will do a decent job in a 4'x4'. I guess it would cost more like $600 with the aluminum and tax/shipping and a few odds n' ends.

Click to expand...

What's the exact strip you would recommend for this particular set up? And are strips any better or worse than cobs? Why would someone use one over the other or is it just preference?

The best value is the Bridgelux EB series strips seen HERE
They provide even coverage across your canopy and they require no heatsinking other than the angle/sheet/flatbar/tube aluminum you decide to build the frame out of (which is quite easy with basic tools). It would cost $240 for 12 strips (free 1 day shipping from Digikey). If you were to get cobs, even if you did 6 of them at 100w per cob you're looking at $35-$40 per cob (free shipping/no duty etc) or basically the same amount as the strips but you also need 6 heatsinks that can handle 100w of cob. Those 6 heatsinks would probably cost almost as much as the cobs.

People are using strips and boards that spread the diodes out as opposed to keeping them tightly together like a cob. The advantage is better coverage/penetration, ease of build, no heatsinks to speak of and a nice even spread of heat as opposed to cobs which get very hot. With strips you can have no fear of them burning out, whereas a cob with a small fan on it could overheat potentially.

So basically, a strip build offers a better value as well as other perks like better coverage and an easier build. You can opt to go with the Samsung F series which are slightly more efficient (save a bit of money over time) but they are more costly per strip. If you want to keep your build cost down and get the most value, the EB series is your best bet and probably the best LED light build going right now in terms of performance.

The EB strips come in whatever spectrum you choose. 3000K for a flowering only tent or perhaps 3500K for a veg-flower tent. Some mix 5000K and 3000K etc. Connecting them is as simple as running the wire from your driver to your first strip, then simply run a short length of wire a few inches over to your next strip, repeat process until the last wire goes back to your driver. That's it. No soldering if you use wago connectors. You can add a potentiometer to dim the strips (B series driver) from 100% to 10% or you can buy an 'A' series meanwell driver that has a built in potentiometer that allows you to dim from 100% to 50% with a small screw built onto the driver itself.

You can simply use 1" angle aluminum like most people. Get it cut or cut it yourself into 46" lengths or so. Also cut 4 pieces to go around the outside of all your strips like a square frame that holds them inside and offers rigidity. Put 4 eye hooks on the frame so you can hang it and you're pretty much done. The rest is just mounting your driver on the frame or even outside your tent depending on where you want it. Pretty minimal build but it gets you in the game for the least amount of money.

CBDseeker said:

Hello I've been looking around the forums for about a week and figured it was time to post my questions all in one place instead of going between threads and looking through some out dated ones. I have to appologize in advance for not having any links (site wouldn't let me because being a new account with no other posts so i had to take them out) and the length of this post but i believe if we can get detailed answers to all these questions this could be an invaluable resource to Canadians looking to create their first DIY COB set up

I got a lot of questions so i'll try to number them as best as possible to allow for easy responses!

1. My first question pertains to Canadian suppliers of everything someone would need to create a DIY COB set up. It seems that in Canada (according the the threads i've read) it is not possible to get all your materials from one place and further more that it is impossible to get extruded passive heat sinks here in Canada (although the latest forums about this i can find were dated 2016 so perhaps there is now?) If answers to this questions could be known suppliers specifying whether they have cobs, holders, reflectors, drivers, wires, and HEATSINKS and the brands they carry that would be wonderful.

2. I have looked into .digikey and the problem i see to them is that i cannot find any meanwell products on their site, nor do they carry ideal cob holders or large etruded heatsinks. This also leads to another problem that I'm having which is that for example: I'm looking on digikey for vero29s.. I search search vero 29 and bam i get this which is 39 results. Which of these should be using? Even im looking at a site for cree cxb 3950s i get more than 1 result and don't know which i should be getting. so my question is that, when i see several results for a cxb3950, which should i be getting?

3. ca.mouser/ seems to be a good place, that although situated in the US, offer free shipping on orders over a certain price and pays the taxes and duties for the stuff coming over the border. They have Meanwell drivers, cree cobs, have ideal holders,

4. canada.newark seems to be the most legit place that i have found so far and the most important reason for that is.... you guessed it, they have heat sinks. I was able to find the hlg meanwell driver, vero 29s, ideal cob holders, reflectors and CML7001-52-10-101(had to remove link) heat sinks. So my question for this is, has anyone used this site as it seems it would pretty much be a 1 stop shop for canadian DIY COBS.

5. This is the question that I think would be not only most helpful to myself but anyone else in Canada looking to do a DIY COB set up.

What would be the best parts i should buy for a set up for a 4x4 tent including cobs, holders, reflectors, drivers, heat sink, wires, with exact brands, models, and links to those things. Preferable on the least amount of sites possible. It seems that Newark would be the ideal place to get it all in one place, but again, looking through the site myself I don't know the exact models of each part i should be getting. I feel someone going through newark with alot of experience with cobs could probably make a list of things to get for a set up from that site alone. My personal budget is $500 ideally(i could budget more if needed) although i dont think an answer should be limited to that budget as other might have a higher budget. I do think that a 4 cob set up would be ideal though for the average person visiting this thread.

6. If you wanna post a link to videos or written guides about putting together the cobs feel free to put em here!

Thank you very much for reading and I'm sorry for making such a long post but I Believe If these questions can be answered fully by someone, Canadians looking to get into DIY COBS will have to look no further than this thread.

CHEERS!

Click to expand...

Consider using cheap chinese 50 watt enclosed drivers and Citizen CLU 048 COBs. Try CobKits.com he will ship COBs and holders to Canada cheap, he has a thread here or email him (use RIU discount code), or try here for COBs https://www.ebay.ca/sch/export-estonia/m.html?item=222454656425&hash=item33cb54ada9:g:QIIAAOSwYXVYz-ky&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Citizen COBs are a viable and cheaper alternative to Cree and Vero29's

Heat sinks are an issue in Canada and one of the reasons I'm using and developing water cooling methods with low cost locally available aluminum extrusions. https://www.rollitup.org/t/canada-grows-to-the-4-plant-limit.948839/page-15

If I were starting a new build today I'd go straight to the newer strips like the Bridgelux and the like that @Danielson999 mentions above. Way easier builds, no heat sinks required, just an aluminum frame/strip to hold them, and overall cheaper than COB builds. They've already been proven to grow nice bud, as good or better than COBs.

Danielson999 said:

The best value is the Bridgelux EB series strips seen HERE
They provide even coverage across your canopy and they require no heatsinking other than the angle/sheet/flatbar/tube aluminum you decide to build the frame out of (which is quite easy with basic tools). It would cost $240 for 12 strips (free 1 day shipping from Digikey). If you were to get cobs, even if you did 6 of them at 100w per cob you're looking at $35-$40 per cob (free shipping/no duty etc) or basically the same amount as the strips but you also need 6 heatsinks that can handle 100w of cob. Those 6 heatsinks would probably cost almost as much as the cobs.

People are using strips and boards that spread the diodes out as opposed to keeping them tightly together like a cob. The advantage is better coverage/penetration, ease of build, no heatsinks to speak of and a nice even spread of heat as opposed to cobs which get very hot. With strips you can have no fear of them burning out, whereas a cob with a small fan on it could overheat potentially.

So basically, a strip build offers a better value as well as other perks like better coverage and an easier build. You can opt to go with the Samsung F series which are slightly more efficient (save a bit of money over time) but they are more costly per strip. If you want to keep your build cost down and get the most value, the EB series is your best bet and probably the best LED light build going right now in terms of performance.

The EB strips come in whatever spectrum you choose. 3000K for a flowering only tent or perhaps 3500K for a veg-flower tent. Some mix 5000K and 3000K etc. Connecting them is as simple as running the wire from your driver to your first strip, then simply run a short length of wire a few inches over to your next strip, repeat process until the last wire goes back to your driver. That's it. No soldering if you use wago connectors. You can add a potentiometer to dim the strips (B series driver) from 100% to 10% or you can buy an 'A' series meanwell driver that has a built in potentiometer that allows you to dim from 100% to 50% with a small screw built onto the driver itself.

You can simply use 1" angle aluminum like most people. Get it cut or cut it yourself into 46" lengths or so. Also cut 4 pieces to go around the outside of all your strips like a square frame that holds them inside and offers rigidity. Put 4 eye hooks on the frame so you can hang it and you're pretty much done. The rest is just mounting your driver on the frame or even outside your tent depending on where you want it. Pretty minimal build but it gets you in the game for the least amount of money.

Click to expand...

This kind of soubds like a build dreams are made of. Less cost. Better performance, easy to build? ... no heat sinks?! Why WOULDN'T someone do this???

O can someone else like something of mine please so I can post links? Lol

CBDseeker said:

This kind of soubds like a build dreams are made of. Less cost. Better performance, easy to build? ... no heat sinks?! Why WOULDN'T someone do this???

Click to expand...

I have a 12 strip build running now, only 6 strips on during veg, and the aluminum flats are barely warm to the touch at 100 watts (50% power; 25% of total power). I can attest this is a simple and cost effective build with decent performance. I went with the 1400mA dimmable drivers and I can dim right through the response curve and see the performance from 200mA up to full 1400mA and it is cool. You can actually see where you hit peak brightness/current around 700mA which is almost 160L/W, but also allows you to waste electricity if you really want to drive them. Even at max I wouldn't call the aluminum flat sinks "hot" really. If anything right now I am having problems keeping temps up in the tent. I am really glad I went with the beefier drivers through, they were literally like $6 more than the next Mean Well down at the time (1050mA).

As for the thermal tape bonding the strips to the aluminum flats, (cheap blue reels from ebay) be committed as you do not want to have to try and remove a strip after the fact.

canadian1969 said:

I have a 12 strip build running now, only 6 strips on during veg, and the aluminum flats are barely warm to the touch at 100 watts (50% power; 25% of total power). I can attest this is a simple and cost effective build with decent performance. I went with the 1400mA dimmable drivers and I can dim right through the response curve and see the performance from 200mA up to full 1400mA and it is cool. You can actually see where you hit peak brightness/current around 700mA which is almost 160L/W, but also allows you to waste electricity if you really want to drive them. Even at max I wouldn't call the aluminum flat sinks "hot" really. If anything right now I am having problems keeping temps up in the tent. I am really glad I went with the beefier drivers through, they were literally like $6 more than the next Mean Well down at the time (1050mA).

As for the thermal tape bonding the strips to the aluminum flats, (cheap blue reels from ebay) be committed as you do not want to have to try and remove a strip after the fact.

Click to expand...

There is one point in this post worth highlighting. I've mentioned this before in other LED-related threads.

Your environment is as important as your light tech, one without the other is not going to maximize your yields or quality and makes the investment in the latest tech questionable. Whether COBs or Strips, you'll need to allow for your environment with less heat being generated and compensate. In some cases like mine, my driver to go LED's was too much heat to add another light and get better coverage when my 3.5x8 flowering space is full. I was using 2x 315w CMH and adding another would have brought my temps into the mid-80's at best, possibly higher. Using COBs @1400ma I'm able to run 800w to properly cover the space and maintain 80F and 50-55% RH year-round.

In other words if your grow space is in a garage with not a lot of insulation and you want to grow in winter, LED's probably aren't the best choice. hps or CMH would work better all-around by maintaining a good flowering temp range.

Higher heat = lower RH, as you drop your temps, RH goes up. Drop them too low and you're fighting potentially negative RH levels and chasing environment issues.