Vipar COB led grow (sog) - pics

As i have no spare funds for a new led light I'm going back to an old Vipar cob light (just to experiment). The unit has 9 'red/blue/green' cobs (with three light configurations - controlled by two switches). Using 5 cob configuration for Grow and will use the 9 cob configuration for the Bloom phase

If anyone has info on these older chinese three colour COB units I'd be very interested! I have grown with it in the past with good success (but i know they're not as efficient as other/newer cobs).

Original specs from Vipar

• Spectrum: Blue(430~450nm,460~475nm), Red(620~630nm, 650~670nm) Green (520nm)
  
• LED Quantity: 288 x3W Leds
  
• LED Rated Lifespan: 50,000 Hours
• Beam Angle of leds: 90 Degree LED
• Total Power: 440 Watts+-3% *(differed from my reading. Althought i only measured the first five minutes ..and the watts were still dropping)*
• Voltage: AC86-264V (Can be used worldwide)
• Dimensions: 19.2x19.2x3.0"(487x487x75mm)
• Gross Weight: 21.6Lbs(9.78Kgs)
• Working Temperature:-20-40℃

*fyi - When measured this units actual draw at wall was approx. 565watts (measured over first 5 minutes of turning on ALL cobs ..although watts were still dropping slowly - i think this is a cob thing)*


1 meter square grow tent (and 2 meters high) with a ScrOG net.

Three 1994 'skunk' plants (I've been holding on to a cutting which i continually took a single clone from since then to keep it alive - really should makes some fem seeds using CS This strain did the rounds in the early nineties in London/Uk. I 'believe' it would probably be skunk #1 ..maybe crossed with something maybe (or maybe a particular pheno of skunk #1 that sold well back then ..just guessing).

Two plants in 5 gallon smart pots and 1 in a 3 gallon square plastic pot. All pots enclosed in a tub ..excess water waste will get sucked up by my wet-dry hoover

Medium is CoCo, using Biobizz and Flora Nova Bloom nutes.

*3 weeks into growing after replanting up to current pots*

And so a new journey begins ..

a Sog is not a Scrog

Nutria said:

a Sog is not a Scrog

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well spotted, i guess i wasn't thinking. A gold star for you!

One week into 12/12 flower (light is currently set 18 inches above tallest growth). Applied AN Bud Igniter day 1 of 12/12 flower and yesterday applied the first bloom nutes. Scrog is filling out nicely and there has been decent vertical growth too. Into the Blurple zone we go!



ps: added a smaller plant (in a 4 liter round pot - for sh*ts and giggles) just to fill out a gap in the net. I hadn't started lacing it into the net when i took the pics (the day before). Hopefully, by next week, it will have filled up the gap.

Puff_Dragon said:

Total Power: 440 Watts+-3% *(differed from my reading. Althought i only measured the first five minutes ..and the watts were still dropping)*

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indicative of undersized heatsinks

CobKits said:

indicative of undersized heatsinks

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Interesting to know (the sinks are on the thin side), thanks. I had the thought cobs increase in efficiency for the first 30 minutes or so they are on. No hard science i just thought i'd read it somewhere.

The original reason i kept the unit around was if i decided to jump in and mod the base unit (with better heat sinks and top of the line modern cobs etc), it has multiple access hatches and i do like the different light permutations. The unit itself works great in a small 1 meter squared (2 meter high) grow tent. With the current unit I've grown 8 plants in that space and there were no 'low light' spots (kept the plants small only 27-30 inches high). Could easily grow a few large plants in this space but really i want to (scrog and) mod this light once i feel i have a basic grasp of electronics ..and, when i have some spare cash, finally get an 'up to date' cob light unit

if this is like many its got multiple small drivers

if you yank one of two drivers then wire the cobs from both in parallel you cut the current to all of them in half which will boost efficiency. put the other driver on the shelf for a spare

CobKits said:

if this is like many its got multiple small drivers

if you yank one of two drivers then wire the cobs from both in parallel you cut the current to all of them in half which will boost efficiency. put the other driver on the shelf for a spare

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That's fascinating (i'm a layman with electronics), I'd like to try that at some point. If i get some time in this bloom cycle i'll pull down the light and get some pics of the inner workings so you can see whats what. It would be interesting to be shown whats going on under the hood of this light. thanks again.

14/12/17 start of week 2 (1 week after previous pics)
flower heads have started forming (approx. 94 heads of differing size). They are a little cramped in the scrog but it's filled out nicely over the week. I did a little flower and leaf tucking plus i cut a few leaf tips down so they weren't covering any flower heads. The small plant i added last week has filled the hole on the left side of net. I think we're close to done with the stretching now (2 inches of vertical growth this week). Light is now 16 inches above highest growth. No signs of leaf damage from the light being at this height, so i'll leave the light as is and see if all is good.
Been cold the last week or so;
Temp lights on (run at night) 22.5C
Temp lights off 13.5/15C (a little chilly)

Puff_Dragon said:

Interesting to know (the sinks are on the thin side), thanks. I had the thought cobs increase in efficiency for the first 30 minutes or so they are on. No hard science i just thought i'd read it somewhere.

The original reason i kept the unit around was if i decided to jump in and mod the base unit (with better heat sinks and top of the line modern cobs etc), it has multiple access hatches and i do like the different light permutations. The unit itself works great in a small 1 meter squared (2 meter high) grow tent. With the current unit I've grown 8 plants in that space and there were no 'low light' spots (kept the plants small only 27-30 inches high). Could easily grow a few large plants in this space but really i want to (scrog and) mod this light once i feel i have a basic grasp of electronics ..and, when i have some spare cash, finally get an 'up to date' cob light unit

Click to expand...

What's happening is the COBs are heating up and their Vf is lowering. Current is held constant by the driver and the voltage is lowered (to maintain the constant current). Power is voltage times current so the power slowly drops as they heat up.

nfhiggs said:

What's happening is the COBs are heating up and their Vf is lowering. Current is held constant by the driver and the voltage is lowered (to maintain the constant current). Power is voltage times current so the power slowly drops as they heat up.

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Interesting, thanks for the headsup

22/12/17 (consider it start of week 2 flower - if you like counting from the first signs of pistols/flowers)

Well ..during this weeks grow i felt i was in an episode of the 1936 version of Flash Gordon!
However, I didn't find myself playing Buster Crabbe's heroic role. Instead i was playing Charles Middleton's Ming the Merciless! Maniacally aiming my LED Death Ray towards my hapless and unsuspecting victims. After one light cycle my poor babies gave me the nod that something bad was raining down onto them from the heavens *see pic 7 (leaf edges - top right in pic)*
So, moved light back up from 16in to over 18in. Peace seems to have returned to the scrog canopy now (with just a few battle scars). Flowers continued to stretch this week (approx 1.5in) and flowers have properly started now (fyi - first sign of pistols/flowering was on the 9th dec). It's gonna be cramped (see pic 4), but it's all good. Roll on first crop of 2018!
Temp lights on (run at night) 24/25.5C
Temp lights off 15C

29/12/17
Well it started out like any other week. My girls were instructing me to water them once every two days (judging moisture level of medium) and they were getting 2ml of Floranova Bloom to 1.5 liters of water.
All was quiet on the bud front (no change in size). There was always a sense that something was on the horizon, a tension looming. Yet the days rolled on by, and the buds just sat there. No vertical movement, no flower site expansion ..Twas as if we were playing a game of 'who moves first'. By day 6 I was thinking perhaps the colder nights had slowed growth. Lights off on day 6 came and night cycle commenced.
Day 7; to quote Dinah Washington 'what a difference a day makes'. I opened the tent to find that in 24 little hours my girls had been working overtime on some bud growth. Resin production looks to have started too ..considering the COBs are red/blue/green (with no dedicated UV light) I'll be interested if i notice a drop off in resin production compared to led units I've used in the past (that contained UV lights).
Looks like we're on our way now!

Temp lights on (run at night) 23-24C
Temp lights off 14C

05/01/17
Another week in review ..it's that pleasing phase where you're just watching those buds expand
Trics are all over the buds now (see pic 10) and buds are slowly expanding. It's interesting to note that the tric production 'seems' to be the same amounts as with a light including UV bulbs. Getting tempted to roll a joint against some buds to taste the resin, i'll see how long i can hold out

Feeding every other day.

Temp lights on (run at night) 23-24C
Temp lights off 15C

Puff_Dragon said:

05/01/17
Another week in review ..it's that pleasing phase where you're just watching those buds expand
Trics are all over the buds now (see pic 10) and buds are slowly expanding. It's interesting to note that the tric production 'seems' to be the same amounts as with a light including UV bulbs. Getting tempted to roll a joint against some buds to taste the resin, i'll see how long i can hold out

Feeding every other day.

Temp lights on (run at night) 23-24C
Temp lights off 15C

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I think that light works decent actually for what it is and them plants look really good but feeding everyother day seems a bit much that's y the one plant has the edge of the leafs burning that's my 2 cents but other then that I think your doing a hell of a job bro happy growing

This is one of the lights I built all parts are from cobkits got 6 plants going under it at moment few days old hope they grow half decent might throw my scrog net over them but 6 might be to much under a 4x4 scrog we will see gotta put up my other 4x4 or my 8x4 or even my 9x5.

chuckie86 said:

I think that light works decent actually for what it is and them plants look really good but feeding everyother day seems a bit much that's y the one plant has the edge of the leafs burning that's my 2 cents but other then that I think your doing a hell of a job bro happy growing

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The burning effect seemed to correspond with me having the light too low (2 weeks, or so, ago). The leaf tips seem fine ..although i have cut back a little on feeding the floranova bloom (in coco) i was at 2ml for every 1.5Lt of water (i'd built up to that). Its my first time running this fert week in week out. Thanks for the headsup

That light you built looks great btw. That is one of the options i was thinking about (building my own from the ground up). The ads on this forum have pointed me towards some good cob kit sites
Hopefully you can do a thread about your grow with it



update: Incidentally i noticed someone is selling a second hand 4 cob version of my light on ebay for the whooping sum of ...£90
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIPAR-384W-LED-Grow-Light/112724227079?hash=item1a3ee33407:g:beoAAOSwIFtaM9WQ

hey puff, thanks for sharing your grow. I just bought myself some cob lights and am going to try them out this year myself. I have no idea between the differences between rgb cobs, white light cobs, white light led's etc but I seem to have a bit of everything by now lol.
I got myself another blurple panel too but a little voice has been nagging me saying why did I waste my money on the blurple panel but another voice saying, nah the blurple panel will be ok.

If it can get growth like you've got I'd be happy.

When I introduced my blurple panel my plants showed signs of stress even at 30" away so it certainly is strong... Time will tell. The browning on your leaves looks more nutrient related to me, especially since it's on lower leaves.

So you have grown with this 550w panel before, how did the gram per watt yield work out? Then again why am I asking, this number seems to vary by 50-200% from the original depending who you ask

Good luck with it and well done keeping a cutting alive for that long.

I've been keeping a great skunk pheno alive for coming up to 20 years now - reason I've kept it this long is because it has no smell. I'm growing 4 new strains atm, they are 1 week in vegg, my flower room has no smell, my vegg room stinks!
Haven't determined yet which strain is the smelly one but if I can smell it at 1 week vegg I think it's going to be too much in flower.

Thanks Blackmelo.


"So you have grown with this 550w panel before, how did the gram per watt yield work out?"

I honestly didn't check. I'm sure it wasn't great (as it was my first led/coco/indoor grow). I had 8 plants in a 1 meter square space (very tight), plants were approx 27in in height (in approx. 3 gallon square pots). I believe i got got about 2oz off each plant so not great ..too used to growing plants outside to full height and flower potential
I must do a longer check of the wattage draw on this light to see what it draws once heated up. My meter is acting up (and therefore mostly wont give a reading now).


"I've been keeping a great skunk pheno alive for coming up to 20 years now - reason I've kept it this long is because it has no smell."

Interesting. The old one I have is easy on the smell too. When i go into the room (with the tent in) it smells like an overripe bowl of fruit is in the room. Nothing unpleasant ..it's actually quite nice.
Must also remember to get some colloidal silver and make seeds (so i don't need to keep cloning this pheno

"I'm growing 4 new strains atm, they are 1 week in vegg, my flower room has no smell, my vegg room stinks!"
Haha yeah, once you find a low smell pheno (that has flavour and potency) it can be hard returning to hunting through those stinky 'other' plants for a keeper
I'm doing that soon; as i have about 10 new feminized strains (will pick a couple to run next - maybe Pineapple Kush and Strawberry Cream)

blackmelo said:

So you have grown with this 550w panel before, how did the gram per watt yield work out?

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Puff_Dragon said:

I had 8 plants [...]. I believe i got got about 2oz off each plant so not great

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So, about a pound