My 16 COB Mobile (Light Spinner)

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

Hey everyone.

I was thinking about how I want to build my COB rack and came up with an interesting idea. The way I have it laid out for a 16 COB in a 4x4 allows for possible light rotation. Mobiles (think of a child's crib) aren't new or anything, but I don't recall seeing one for COBs. I only remember seeing a few, so they probably aren't that popular. Maybe just too expensive. Even if I don't make the nodes spin, I'll probably still lay it out like this.

I did a really quick mock-up of how it could look in Sketchup. In the pictures you'll see the four arms that extend to each of the spinners.

Each node would have a "Continuous rotation, high torque servo" with gears.
Power to the fans and COBs would use an "Electrical Slip Ring" to allow for rotation.
The main arms and the arms that connect the heatsinks are square and rectangle tubes for rigidity and running wires through.
This mock up shows heatsink bars and fans, but it could easily be modified for individual passive heatsinks
I plan on mounting my drivers externally, but there are so many ways they could be incorporated into the carousel, such as on the center plate
For each module I could see running 2 x 3500k, a 3000k, and a 4000K COB
The servos can be on a PWM controller or potentiometer for rotation speed

Servo
https://smile.amazon.com/SpringRC-T...eywords=Continuous+rotation+high+torque+servo

Electric slip ring
https://smile.amazon.com/Wires-Gene...77675069&sr=8-1&keywords=electrical+slip+ring

I don't know if this is something I'll build. Maybe if I get bored. It would be fairly easy and inexpensive though, so maybe just for the "cool" factor.

I have no idea what size servos or gears I would need. I know how gears and servos work, but not calculating out which servo and which gears are going to work most efficiently together using the least power.

If you guys think this would be cool and wouldn't mind giving me some info on servos and gears, maybe I'll tackle this when I'm ready to start building everything.

Airwalker16 · Oct 28, 2016

I'd love to see that come to fruition. But light movers aren't very necessary with multiple light sources already.

bxkid · Oct 28, 2016

Worth it for the cool factor alone...

ThaiBaby1 · Oct 28, 2016

Way too heavy, my idea was to use samsung hard strips mounted on something like a ceiling fan, no need for heatsinks

Airwalker16 · Oct 28, 2016

He's right about the weight, you'd be better off using Pin Sinks and framing them apart. Same spacing and all.

Tim Fox · Oct 28, 2016

passive sinks,,

vostok · Oct 28, 2016

I'm a star trek fan so I like this idea

but I'm on earth and will require a sturdier frame

good luck

Airwalker16 · Oct 28, 2016

It'd be a lot sturdier if you only used 2 bars for the wholearms assembly rather than 4 I'd think too?
Also, just realized that with PIN sinks, you'd be able to use a U bracket and make the cobs rotatable and able to change angles as well. You'd be REALLY able to get light right where you'd want it.

Airwalker16 · Oct 28, 2016

Like this, but on a Pin Fin and actually centered on the sides of it.

Danielson999 · Oct 28, 2016

I've seen people put all their plants on a rotating table like a lazy susan and just move their plants instead of moving the lights. You could simply just swing it over 30° every day so your plants get a different look. It also makes watering really damn easy if you're using soil.

ThaiBaby1 · Oct 28, 2016

Danielson999 said:
I've seen people put all their plants on a rotating table like a lazy susan and just move their plants instead of moving the lights. You could simply just swing it over 30° every day so your plants get a different look. It also makes watering really damn easy if you're using soil.

This ^ motorized.

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

Thanks for all the feedback!

I was thinking the same about whether or not the extra light would be of benefit. I wasn't sure about the weight. Chances are, the stronger lighter stuff is going to drive the cost up. I could have some carbon fiber rails made lol

Probably not going to build it...at least not now. I've got a pretty technical RDWC UC designed so I'm going to be pretty busy with that.

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

ThaiBaby1 said:
This ^ motorized.

Yeah, I've seen a couple home grown lazy growers. I'm building a hydro setup so this, unfortunately, wouldn't work.

Great idea though!

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

My initial idea was to build 4 independent nodes so that I could raise and lower each one depending on if I had decided to do a mixed grow. It was just an idea I haven't decided on yet.

Does anyone have a setup like the one I'm describing, and for that purpose?

Opinions?

CobKits · Oct 28, 2016

i like the ingenuity. i have a few sun circles from the 90s in my garage that i can donate that have the required electrical contacts. now that were beyond high intensity light sources as the only efficient option, movers are obsolete imo.

a passive array is more cost effective, reliable, and efficient

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

CobKits said:
i like the ingenuity. i have a few sun circles from the 90s in my garage that i can donate that have the required electrical contacts. now that were beyond high intensity light sources as the only efficient option, movers are obsolete imo.

a passive array is more cost effective, reliable, and efficient

So you would use 16 pin heatsinks (one for each COB) over 4 heatsink bars in a 4x4 tent?

I'm going to run them at 1050mA and have good circulation via active intake. They'd stay pretty cool. But I was thinking the pin heatsinks were more expensive because of the amount I needed.

JSB99 · Oct 28, 2016

JSB99 said:
So you would use 16 pin heatsinks (one for each COB) over 4 heatsink bars in a 4x4 tent?

I'm going to run them at 1050mA and have good circulation via active intake. They'd stay pretty cool. But I was thinking the pin heatsinks were more expensive because of the amount I needed.

Looks like alibaba has them pretty cheap. Is this a good one?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...8684019.html?spm=a2700.7724838.0.0.JtdFbO&s=p

Airwalker16 · Oct 29, 2016

That's overkill. Jerry hS em for like $12.

JSB99 · Oct 29, 2016

Airwalker16 said:
That's overkill. Jerry hS em for like $12.

Awesome! Can you check the name of that place again? I think it might have been mis-typed.

Airwalker16 · Oct 29, 2016

JSB99 said:
Awesome! Can you check the name of that place again? I think it might have been mis-typed.

It's a guy from alibaba named Jerry. You can email him at the following email address for pricing and getting an invoice to pay through pay pal. He also sells cobs, meanwell drivers and others, holders, other LEDs, reflectors, wagos, wire, screws. The works. Tell him Airwalk16 sent ya..

jl@kingbrite.cn

My 16 COB Mobile (Light Spinner)

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