So u want to build your led cob

[micmac]

METHOD 1: THE EASY WAY

Let’s use a common build for this tutorial: 4x 36 volt COBs on a Mean Well HLG-185H-C1400. This setup works out to be about 50 watts per COB, 200W total. Everything but the driver in this tutorial was provided to me by the good people at Horticulture Lighting Group so a special thanks to them for helping out the DIY community and be sure to check out their kick-ass Quantum Boards!

 

 

 

Components

 

My parts list for this build is as follows:

 

4x Citizen CLU048-1212 Gen. 6 COBs

4x IDEAL 50-2204-CT COB Holders

4x 120mm Pin-Fin Heat Sinks (these are good for up to 60 watts – if you drive your COBs harder, you’ll need bigger heat sinks)

8x M3 Screws to fasten COB holders to heat sink (these came with the heat sinks)

1x Mean Well HLG-185H-C1400B LED Driver

1x Thermaltake Thermal Grease – TG4

2x Wago 2 Conductor Connectors

1x 100K Ohm Potentiometer

1x LLT-L20 Waterproof Power Connector with Power Cord

A Few Chunks of Red and Black 18 Gauge Wire

4x IDEAL COB holders for the CLU048 chips.

 

 

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/ff4a94367fca3b8b0648e13cfc5570c6.jpg

All the components for the build.

4x Citizen CLU048-1212 Gen. 6 COBs in 3000K color temperature.

4x 120mm Pin-fin heat sinks from Horticulture Lighting Group

Wago 2-conductor lever nuts. These things are amazing.

 

 

 

 

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171010/823aaddad7ed1aa34a3ee800076fab2c.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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[micmac]

Tools

Here’s what I needed for tools for this build:

 

Wire Strippers

Screwdriver

Soldering iron (I’ve used this butane model for years and love it)

Old Plastic Card to Spread Thermal Grease

Assembly

1. Installing the COBs in COB Holders

The first step is an easy one. Take your COB and fit it into one of your COB holders. There’s generally a springy little tab that you’ll need to depress, and a couple corners you’ll need to fit your COB into. The back of the holder will likely have a plus symbol to indicate which side you need to match with the positive side of the COB. The front of the COB will have this same symbol – just make sure to match them up.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Apply Thermal Compound to the Back of the COB

There are a few different ways to do this. You can use thermal compound, which is the way I always do it, or you can purchase handy little thermal pads that are sized for your particular COB – though these may be more expensive. If you go the thermal compound route, put a pea-sized amount of it on the back of the COB and spread it out with an old plastic card:

 

 

 

 

 

3. Fasten the COB & Holder to the Heat Sink

If you’ve purchased the right heat sinks for your particular model of COB, they will have come with pre-drilled holes that match the mounting points of your holders. When you line the holder up, make sure that not only do the screw holes line up to fasten it down, but the screw holes for attaching an optional reflector also line up:

 

 

 

4. Terminate Your LED Driver AC Connection

If you’re unfamiliar with working with electricity, consider enlisting some help on the driver terminations – otherwise, do this at your own risk. Make sure everything is unplugged until you’re 100% complete and certain everything is wired correctly.

 

I really like the connector I used to terminate for this example because it’s waterproof and provides excellent stress relief for the cable (if the wire gets tugged on, it won’t rip it out of the connector). You can use a connector like I did, or a number of others like a NEMA 5-15P or IEC-style power connectors.

 

Consult your driver’s manual for information on wiring the AC connection. Some may have information printed on the case of the driver – mine tells me that the brown wire is my line (hot), the blue wire is neutral, and the green wire is ground. Make sure you screw the connections down very tightly no matter which style connector you use, and be sure there aren’t any stray strands of copper that manage to poke out. I terminated my driver into one side of the connector, then attached my power cord to the other side of the connector. I matched the black of the power cord to the brown of the driver, the white of the power cord to the blue of the driver (neutral), and the green of the power cord to the green of the driver (ground). Make sure you’ve properly identified the colors of your specific power cord – they may not be the same as mine.

 

 

 

For more info on terminating a standard power plug instead, read this instructional post.

 

5. Terminate Your LED Driver DC Connection

The same safety rules apply for the DC side of the driver as the AC side. Get help if you’re not comfortable with this and be sure to double-check all the connections, then only power it on when you’re positive everything is done correctly.

 

The DC side is much easier than the AC side. Most people use Wago connectors for the DC side, and they’re a breeze. Just strip back the driver output wires a little and then snap them into 2 separate Wagos. When you’re ready to connect all your COBs, the positive side of the COB run will be connected into these the positive Wago and the negative side of the COB run will go to the negative Wago (we’re using a series connection in this build).

 

 

 

5. Terminate Your Dimming Potentiometer (“B” Style Drivers Only)

If you buy a Mean Well driver that ends with a “B” (e.g. an HLG-185-C1400B), you’ll need to terminate an external potentiometer on it in order to dim the light. If you get the “A” version of the same driver, it will come with a built-in screw terminal that can be used to dim the driver. Here’s how to terminate an external potentiometer on a B type driver:

 

 

 

5. Build a Frame

This video covers the frame build process from start to finish for these 4 Citizen COBs.

 

 

 

6. Connect the COBs to the DriverComing soon

 

 

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[micmac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmJ3Pu3SW88&ebc=ANyPxKqgU8IJA4HR83TFmwmzg02JZO_iiASUiugZreKcWNSU7RZ8byGKDplk7YyfQJxNH7Uxa8HvoZvgJcPT-QLaWfQ7udFVgQ

 

 

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[micmac]

Wiring up the LED driver to the COB is pretty simple – it’s even easier if you can do it without having to solder. If you end up using Veros like I did, make sure to order a Pico-EZmate wire harness for each COB. If you’re using a Cree COB, see if you can get it with a solderless holder like these.

 

The first step to wiring the COB to the driver is to hook up the COB. In my case, all I had to do was plug the harness into the COB.

Now, connect the other end of the wire harness to the driver using the push-in connectors. Again, I’d recommend using the Wago connectors from the first build rather than the yellow connectors I used on this build. While these connectors do the trick, they’re harder to use and very difficult to get the cable out of when you’re done.

 

 

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[micmac]

Post some more tomorrow

 

 

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[Allotropy]

Wow

[Indycar]

Good onya, micmac. Great tute. No bullshit and to the point.

[micmac]

Thanks Indy try and get some more done soon but if anyone wants to use it now there's plenty for them to do

 

 

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[Gazza2001au]

Well done MM, Did u really pay USD$55 per 120mm heatsink from HLG? i bought 4x 140mm from CE i think i paid $23 each now i see they are over $30 each

 

Thought i would give this guy a plug hes heatsinks are under $20 https://cobkits.com/product-category/heat-sinks/ he is on one of the international growers forums and replies to any questions

Edited October 11, 2017 by Gazza2001au

[micmac]

Gazza I'm not doing this was just seeing a lot of problems ppl were having and after I talks with u I thought I may as well learn as much I could and stumbled across this and thought it may be able to help someone

I'm not making 1 no , this was early 2016 so prices have probably changed but the concept is there and I think it easy to follow if u likeI'll try and send u the full link

 

 

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Edited October 11, 2017 by micmac