First DiY LED (Wall of text, just want verification)

Hey guys... so I have a P150 (continuous spectrum with 50w veg & 90w bloom). Last grow was my first grow and it went fine... got 3 oz of shit weed and 1 oz of pretty good stuff from autos. Veg was good, but I'm planning on adding 40 watts in bloom.

I have currently purchased:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/BXRC-30H4000-F-03/976-1157-ND/3913132
3000k, 97 CRI, 1.05A at ~28-29V. Vero 18 Decor Series. The above link has a link to an semi-incorrect product data sheet, the real one you want is
http://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default/files/resource_media/DS34 Bridgelux Decor Series Data Sheet _0.pdf & Find: BXRC-30H4000

I plan to run it at 700 mA with:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Mean-Well/APC-35-700/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvV8Y9YugmIguuQ%2bUe7cpZUIrZ5Lb3U9zc=

My plan is to hang two of these Vero 18's up in distinct locations (hang up one CoB at a time, separately). I would wrap something around the copper loops on the opposite side of the LED mounting in order to hang it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103107&ignorebbr=1
Note: I understand that the heat sink is probably overkill, but I like the convenience factor of just hanging it up.

My questions:
- Have I done my math right? On page 4 of the data sheet, the CoB states a 28.5 Vf at 700 mA, both of which fall in the range of the driver.
- My heat sink will be dissipating about 20 watts of power, do you think it's safe to use a couple of these to hang it up? I just want to make sure I'm not underestimating the amount of heat 20W produces.
- Bonus question because you're already here. Favorite thermal adhesive?

If you actually made it through, thank you very much.

Everything looks good assuming you're using one of those drivers per cob.

That cpu cooler will cool it fine as long as the fan is going. You won't need to run the fan anywhere close to full speed to keep the COB cool.

I would use aluminum wire to make a triangle type thing through the copper parts of the cpu cooler then attach a chain to the tip of the triangle to hang it up. The driver can then be ziptied to the upper part of the chain.

I have no experience with anything else, so my favorite TIM is arctic silver 5. I kapton taped the cobs down, and used pico ez connectors. Speaking of which, are you soldering your wires or using connectors?

After this next run you're going to want to replace that p150 entirely with cobs lol...

I think you probably should've gotten the regular Vero 18 and not the Decor series and should've gotten the 80cri and not the 97. I'm not clear on the specifics of why but the 97 isn't the best spectrum to grow with and the Decor also have a worse spectrum than the regular series.
If you haven't already messed with them and just got them recently digi-key will work with you on returning them and exchanging them for what you need.

On another note I noticed the price of the Vero 18s have dropped, I paid 12.23 per in august and september and now they're 10.75. So now i have to decide if i should stock up on some extras in case i want to expand, or to build a veg light or if I should push my luck and hope that they drop more before they run out of stock or just exchange them for the next generation.

Waiks said:

I would use aluminum wire to make a triangle type thing through the copper parts of the cpu cooler then attach a chain to the tip of the triangle to hang it up. The driver can then be ziptied to the upper part of the chain.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that sounds great. I was planning on just hanging the power supply up with another hook, but zip typing it with the rest of the apparatus might be easier.

J-Icky said:

I think you probably should've gotten the regular Vero 18 and not the Decor series and should've gotten the 80cri and not the 97. I'm not clear on the specifics of why but the 97 isn't the best spectrum to grow with and the Decor also have a worse spectrum than the regular series.
If you haven't already messed with them and just got them recently digi-key will work with you on returning them and exchanging them for what you need.

Click to expand...

If I make the step up to 100% cob I'll definitely put more research into that aspect. However, I was looking for supplemental light, as the p150 is pretty blue-heavy (a graph showed it equal in blue & red intensity when turned onto bloom), the 97 CRI seemed to provide the best targeted red without being too red (2700K). If you happen to remember where you read that 97 is worse than 80 CRI, I'd appreciate knowing, a quick google came up empty other than some people saying 97 CRI is less energy efficient (small grow, I couldn't care less). Nonetheless, thanks for your input.