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Modify Roleadro 400w COB light

visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
I purchased one of these before I knew enough, but now that I know a little more, I think this can be upgraded pretty easily. The OEM manufacturer that makes this style in China (http://www.ledaquagrow.com/LEDGrowLight/1473667124.html) also makes this light in a CREE version with 3070 chips. I could easily swap them out to the 3070's since it has 36v drivers inside (2 wired in series to each cob??)
Heatsinks are 3.5" square, .75" thick, actively cooled

I see these online occasionally (broken) for cheap, probably easy fixes and upgrades to powerful sunshine?

What do you think? And how the heck are these drivers wired?
P1170011.JPG
 

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Plant Lobbyist

Well-Known Member
Each CoB has two power inputs that run separate arrays on the cob.

The driver topping out at 36v, you can easily swap any 36vf ranged CoB in there to run at around 40w taking the 1200ma cc and driver efficiency into account.

It will run nice and cool and is a quick upgrade.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
The area this light will cover is only 2.35 sq/ft, numbers based on that, for one cob only. Numbers would be double for complete light. This light will be for new additions to bloom tent, so I think the dual 1212 setup should be just fine? in fact, they'll be vegging under 1212's, so it seems like the natural fit. And I'll have two extra drivers!


Driver Alone 36v
1212 3000k- 402ppfd
3070 3000k- about 410ppfd
3590 3500k- about 529ppfd

Series 72v
3590 3000k: 721ppfd
3590 3500k: 783ppfd

Parallel 36v
3070 3000k: 678ppfd
1212 3000k: 736ppfd
 
BM9AGS

BM9AGS

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
I purchased one of these before I knew enough, but now that I know a little more, I think this can be upgraded pretty easily. The OEM manufacturer that makes this style in China (http://www.ledaquagrow.com/LEDGrowLight/1473667124.html) also makes this light in a CREE version with 3070 chips. I could easily swap them out to the 3070's since it has 36v drivers inside (2 wired in series to each cob??)
Heatsinks are 3.5" square, .75" thick, actively cooled

I see these online occasionally (broken) for cheap, probably easy fixes and upgrades to powerful sunshine?

What do you think? And how the heck are these drivers wired?
View attachment 3878528
Click to expand...
Same as gogreenleds
 
SSGrower

SSGrower

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
I purchased one of these before I knew enough, but now that I know a little more, I think this can be upgraded pretty easily. The OEM manufacturer that makes this style in China (http://www.ledaquagrow.com/LEDGrowLight/1473667124.html) also makes this light in a CREE version with 3070 chips. I could easily swap them out to the 3070's since it has 36v drivers inside (2 wired in series to each cob??)
Heatsinks are 3.5" square, .75" thick, actively cooled

I see these online occasionally (broken) for cheap, probably easy fixes and upgrades to powerful sunshine?

What do you think? And how the heck are these drivers wired?
View attachment 3878528
Click to expand...
Did exactly this each 50w driver will run one cxb 3070, probably a 3590 too (36v) I did a lot of messing around with this light. It is very dependent on active cooling spits alot of heat into the area. The original blures can be made to run of a single driver but best bet would be get 2 more cobs and run them at 50w on an apropriate heatsink and replace the blurples with 2 more cobs, use thermal epoxy to be fast and cheap, ideal holders if you want to experiment with color temp etc.
 
BM9AGS

BM9AGS

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
Like this listing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roleadro-400W-COB-Full-Spectrum-LED-Grow-Light-with-Innovated-Chips-2nd-/232208239953?hash=item3610b08d51:g:C3EAAOSwJ7RYWLWA

Haggle the dude down to less than 50 out the door, buy a switch for $2 and a couple 1212's for $27 and you're rocking for $80 in a clean case, active cooling, AND two extra drivers.

Could flip it for $120
Click to expand...
Yeah.....find the Chinese people producing it and just order them sans the shitty leds. I did a while back.....couple years and then the source said they wouldn't do it. But it can be done.....just gotta spend a lotta time on eBay talking with the Chinese
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the help fellas. I just ordered some stuff last night from cobkits to replace my veg light, trying to add a couple 1212's to that order now 8)

I'll keep you posted on final product
 
P

Plant Lobbyist

Well-Known Member
Been doing this for a while in picking up used fixtures from people selling them cheap. Originally just wanted them for the cases (they are very solid) but found that the drivers worked just fine for brand name LEDs so have been using them with CoBs and DiY strips. Ended up with a pile of cheap chip panels in the process so I figured that they should be useful for something. After playing around with them by lowering the current I can get them very useful as passively cooled side lighting when they are driven at 10-25% of what they originally were.

If you aren't keen on building frames and have a bit of electrical knowledge and know how, you don't have to go all out with meanwell drivers and expensive heatsinks. Nothing against going that route, or meanwell for that matter, I just see it to be overkill for the most part. So far I haven't had a generic chinese made driver or meanwell die in operation yet so they seem to be fine in my environment at least. The upside with using the generics is a) lots of spare parts around for new fixtures and b) if one dies, it won't take out the whole lighting system. Plus there is no rule that says you can use only 1 light but the rule of more light the better still applies to more lights are better.

There will always be the battles over which vendor has the best product but that is from an isolationist view. If you can see that growing plants isn't a race but rather a collaboration of effort then you will be more aligned to the outcome we all want - better quality and more of it.

Assuming quality to be a constant (acceptable to the grower) we will always use yield as the measurement of success. Currently we have been doing comparisons based on power consumption mainly because it can be compared to other lighting technologies. But it is probably not the best measure. The agricultural sector has been using yield per area forever so that might be the better way to measure. Space one has to grow is the true limiting factor for the hobbyist indoor grower.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
You make a lot of great points PL. Now that I know what I can do with this Roleadro and I have 2 extra 50w drivers, I canceled an order I made for a 50w driver. My builds are small, and I need customization abilities because I'm trying to go perpetual. For my veg area of 2 plants being mainlined, I'm replacing flouro's with a single 1212 pushed by one of these spare chinese drivers. Total cost $60, and $20 is shipping! I spent that much for the 2 flouros its replacing, but I can use them for germinating. I am splitting my tent with two lights focused on their own respective half, this Roleadro will be the second light I need after I upgrade it to 1212 cobs. One side for newcomers to flower tent under the 1212's, other side for finishers under 1818's. And round and round I go.

Quality is the only thing I care about, I'll produce enough quantity. Its hard to create a standard of measurement for quality because its so subjective. It can test high numbers, but that doesnt mean it tastes good, looks good. And the opposite is true too. So much seems to have changed since the last time I grew 5 years ago. Its crazy, and fun!
 
P

Plant Lobbyist

Well-Known Member
I ended up putting a power maximum for each grow chamber. For me what I found best is a 2.5x4 which gets me really close to 1m2 and I cap it at 400w total power. Some chambers use 8 50w generic drivers, others have 2 240s. I allocate 50w to each side and 250w to the top. I adjust the lights based on PAR readings to make nice even 250 PPFD at the grow medium surface increasing almost linearly to 850 PPFD 18" (47cms) up from the soil. When the plants grow up to that height I move the lights up another 18" and flip them, letting them stretch and bush out.

Because I run everything so low the heat isn't a problem. Circulation still is so I use 1 20" box fan to blow air down over the lights onto that canopy. DiY activate carbon filter on top of the fan does a good job and keeps the airflow just right. Religiously checking temps with an IR meter and PAR readings to make sure every thing is running smoothly.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
Plant Lobbyist said:
I ended up putting a power maximum for each grow chamber. For me what I found best is a 2.5x4 which gets me really close to 1m2 and I cap it at 400w total power. Some chambers use 8 50w generic drivers, others have 2 240s. I allocate 50w to each side and 250w to the top. I adjust the lights based on PAR readings to make nice even 250 PPFD at the grow medium surface increasing almost linearly to 850 PPFD 18" (47cms) up from the soil. When the plants grow up to that height I move the lights up another 18" and flip them, letting them stretch and bush out.

Because I run everything so low the heat isn't a problem. Circulation still is so I use 1 20" box fan to blow air down over the lights onto that canopy. DiY activate carbon filter on top of the fan does a good job and keeps the airflow just right. Religiously checking temps with an IR meter and PAR readings to make sure every thing is running smoothly.
Click to expand...
Sounds like I'm just about caught up to your setup, relative to size. Mine is only 2x3, and I'll be pushing about 300w with the Roleadro cobs replaced. I have a PAR meter on the way so I can get light distance and driver power dialed, that will be a big help. I'm gonna take a leap of faith tomorrow/Thursday too when I move my 2.5 week old clones in 3g coco pots into DWC buckets modded to waterfarms. Net pots are nearly the same size as the buckets so it shouldnt be too bad. I needed a system that can handle me gone for 3-5 days, plus they will grow faster in a farm

So, you dont ratchet the light up as they grow? You just set it at point A for veg, point B for flower? Mine is 18" above flower tops right now
 
Geyapex Technology

Geyapex Technology

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
I found the post I need, below. I have three options for drivers: run them alone, run them parallel, or in series.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/2-drivers-1-cob.856082/

Parallel: 36v and 2.4a
Series: 72v and 1.2a
Alone: 36v and 1.2a

I'm going to crunch some numbers on the citi and cree calculators and see what I get
Click to expand...
Just one driver 36v/1.2A will work good for one 3070 as its rated working voltage is 36v :)
 
P

Plant Lobbyist

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
Sounds like I'm just about caught up to your setup, relative to size. Mine is only 2x3, and I'll be pushing about 300w with the Roleadro cobs replaced. I have a PAR meter on the way so I can get light distance and driver power dialed, that will be a big help. I'm gonna take a leap of faith tomorrow/Thursday too when I move my 2.5 week old clones in 3g coco pots into DWC buckets modded to waterfarms. Net pots are nearly the same size as the buckets so it shouldnt be too bad. I needed a system that can handle me gone for 3-5 days, plus they will grow faster in a farm

So, you dont ratchet the light up as they grow? You just set it at point A for veg, point B for flower? Mine is 18" above flower tops right now
Click to expand...

2 main settings for the lights (sometimes 1 more if needed) and then trellising to keep them within their limits. That is what works best for me. You will be able to find your sweet spots with a PAR meter.

My temps also run super low in comparison to most. 23-26c max lights on, 15-20c off. I also use an IR temp meter to make sure the leaf temps are at or lower than ambient. If above that means they have excess waste energy and then I increase the circulation. So far only leaves hitting more than 700-750 PPFD have gone over so I have been using that as my max light target.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
Plant Lobbyist said:
2 main settings for the lights (sometimes 1 more if needed) and then trellising to keep them within their limits. That is what works best for me. You will be able to find your sweet spots with a PAR meter.

My temps also run super low in comparison to most. 23-26c max lights on, 15-20c off. I also use an IR temp meter to make sure the leaf temps are at or lower than ambient. If above that means they have excess waste energy and then I increase the circulation. So far only leaves hitting more than 700-750 PPFD have gone over so I have been using that as my max light target.
Click to expand...

That is some great info, thanks PL. So, if I understand you correctly, the plants will grow more efficiently when its leaf surface temps are equal to or less than ambient? Generally, this seems to equate with 700-750 PPFD?

I'm assuming the 700+ range is where they are at the end of their "setting" (before you raise the light/harvest), meaning that they grow into the max PPFD range instead of maintaining in it. Like growing into a shoe thats too big. I'm I grasping it correctly?
Thanks!
 
P

Plant Lobbyist

Well-Known Member
visajoe1 said:
That is some great info, thanks PL. So, if I understand you correctly, the plants will grow more efficiently when its leaf surface temps are equal to or less than ambient? Generally, this seems to equate with 700-750 PPFD?

I'm assuming the 700+ range is where they are at the end of their "setting" (before you raise the light/harvest), meaning that they grow into the max PPFD range instead of maintaining in it. Like growing into a shoe thats too big. I'm I grasping it correctly?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Species/Strain dependent. And yes, that is what I have done for many years to see how much stress the plant is under.

It is easy to see for yourself, check out your plants leaves during a cycle and write it down. What works will become obvious.

I wouldn't call it growing into a shoe but more like a warm wading pool where the water level keeps rising, then needs to be drained.
 
visajoe1

visajoe1

Well-Known Member
Yes, its made by the same oem manufacturer in china. If you get that light, I would replace the cobs
 
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