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eBay LED
- Thread starter 1toke
- Start date
I have heard of people getting burned on those before, just a head's up. Their marketing is at least, far from transparent. I believe the last light chileno showed is probably the most effective based on documented grow's. The Helios appear's to be simmilar to apollo style's with the exception of having better chip's in the center's of each module, so they should be quite effective. Integrated's need to be documented, as there are none done as of yet.
Looks like integrated is getting popular..magnum switched over. I'll be on the sideline for a while though. All these new styles of lights I can't help but think it has a lot more maturing to do. Maybe when they make an integrated loaded with cree, Philips, or whatever top led ill get a little excited again.
!
T
trem0lo
Now this makes me want to build some lights with non-Chinese LEDs.
They would be barebones, but with Osram diodes and Meanwell drivers.
An actual 92 watt unit would net at least 1g/w and would not be much more than $200.
These Chinese resellers need some competition.
growenator
New member
That is wayy cheaper than at advancedledlights.com.
Anyone have experience with these and/or this reseller?
For my first grow (2x4) I kinda had decided to go with a Lumigrow Pro 325 or CLW Solar Storm 400, but i sure would not mind doubling the output and saving 100$ with the Adv. Diamond 600. But then again will extra wattage output give a higher yield compared to a higher quality but lower wattage unit.
Researching LED lights is frustrating, i seem to find two more manufactureres and two more variables with each hour passed.
The output of most american made diodes is about 2-3x that of comparable chinese diode's at an equal driven current. Most american diode's can be driven higher as well, compared to chinese counterpart's. What this means is there is a more intense beam of light that doesn't necessarily need to rely on optic's for penetration like most chinese unit's do. There is an advantage in being able to use the optic's, in that it focuses your energy and allows you to use less electricity in theory. Now the disadvantage would be that your are dramatically decreasing your usable area using optic's geared towards penetration, while diode's being driven harder for penetration can rely on their primary lens to spread the light in a wider coverage area, and still get the intensity on a wider plane, where as secondary lens's tend to cause steep usable light drop-off's. So with that being said they are about equal, as to gain coverage as well as intensity, american unit's tend to draw more wall watt's, where as most chinese unit's using optic's can cover smaller footprint's with good intensity and lower wall watt draw comparitively. Just depend's on your grow style. If your a big room/tent, tree guy, then american all the way, or linking multi china's, if your a micro guy, then china is a good way to go. That is my view and 
. Take it easy 
...
. Take it easy ...
Firebrand
Active member
Welcome to the forum and this thread. Most agree with your last line, in here we hope to sort the wheat from the chaff. It's assumed that it is probably better to use two small units as opposed to one larger unit (2/300's = 1/600), consensus being that better spread and coverage can be achieved.
growenator
New member
Thanks for the replies and the welcome, appreciate it.
I'm eager to get growing, so I'll go with the Lumigrow unit. Being far away from any retailer means big trouble in case of failure, so I'd rather drop a few more bucks on a higher quality item. The Pro 325 should provide plenty of coverage in a 2 by 4 tent it seems.
Still i feel there is more research to be done on the china units. A panel produced in china shouldn't necessarily be worse than any other, but the engineering work might be skimpy. A panel engineered in the west and produced in china or other low-cost countries would an optimal combination. Just like most electronics. Probably there are such panels already.
I'm eager to get growing, so I'll go with the Lumigrow unit. Being far away from any retailer means big trouble in case of failure, so I'd rather drop a few more bucks on a higher quality item. The Pro 325 should provide plenty of coverage in a 2 by 4 tent it seems.
Still i feel there is more research to be done on the china units. A panel produced in china shouldn't necessarily be worse than any other, but the engineering work might be skimpy. A panel engineered in the west and produced in china or other low-cost countries would an optimal combination. Just like most electronics. Probably there are such panels already.
Firebrand
Active member
Here's a new design that I have never seen before, does anyone have any experience with this type of LED light?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-SmartLam...00W-Grow-Lamp-Light-Hydroponics-/310724346503
http://www.greners.com/i/grow-lights/led-brand/theoreme-innovation/ti-smartlamp.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-SmartLam...00W-Grow-Lamp-Light-Hydroponics-/310724346503
http://www.greners.com/i/grow-lights/led-brand/theoreme-innovation/ti-smartlamp.html
relief
Active member
Week four and still not flowering. Never have I grown sensi star and it did not show some signs of flower within two weeks. No pistols at all, like its still in veg mode cycle. I've grown hazes and sativas all my life (look at my grow albums) and even they will show sex at 4 weeks into flower. You can take it however you want, but I will never buy another one of these LED lights (from this ebay dealer). I've had much better results with CFLs.
I bought 3 300 watt equivalent 2700k CFLS at home depot today and threw them in the grow closet.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/TCP-68-Watt-300W-Soft-White-CFL-Light-Bulb-28968RP/100676712
*Edit*
They're huge and cheap, but most importantly, they're putting off much less heat even though they're drawing the exact same amount of watts (200w). When the led would come on in the grow closet, it would heat the bedroom up too, just like an HPS or MH. Last night was the first night the room stayed cool.
I bought 3 300 watt equivalent 2700k CFLS at home depot today and threw them in the grow closet.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/TCP-68-Watt-300W-Soft-White-CFL-Light-Bulb-28968RP/100676712
*Edit*
They're huge and cheap, but most importantly, they're putting off much less heat even though they're drawing the exact same amount of watts (200w). When the led would come on in the grow closet, it would heat the bedroom up too, just like an HPS or MH. Last night was the first night the room stayed cool.
chileno1978
Member
That is weird! In veg the plant was looking very good, and 4 weeks now and no flowering? Hope someone with more led experience can solve the mistery
Firebrand
Active member
A question for the gurus, what needs to be done if anything when swapping out red beads for whites? The reds run at a lower forward voltage than the whites, will the resistor need to be changed? Or is it just a straight swap?
I want to get more white into the light, currently there are 73 reds in the panel, I would like to remove 20 reds and replace them with 20 whites. The panel I'm talking about is the 100 lamp 3w LED China light from EBay, the panel is shown in the 8th post of this thread.
I want to get more white into the light, currently there are 73 reds in the panel, I would like to remove 20 reds and replace them with 20 whites. The panel I'm talking about is the 100 lamp 3w LED China light from EBay, the panel is shown in the 8th post of this thread.
Smellyproof
New member
I found this at ebay: Blackstar 240w
Looks good and not to pricy. Anyone with experience with this lamp? I am most concerned about heat.. Im thinking about using it on top of my 250w CFL vert grow and my temps are perfect atm.
Looks good and not to pricy. Anyone with experience with this lamp? I am most concerned about heat.. Im thinking about using it on top of my 250w CFL vert grow and my temps are perfect atm.
Firebrand
Active member
Welcome to the forum. As to your question there are several threads you might like to read, hopefully they help.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=253011
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=248208
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=212588
I'm almost certain that I have read that the Blackstar LED's are very similar to the China lights in that they utilize similar components. The light is listed as 240w, it is assumed that it is driven at 2/3 power so actual output watts are around 160, heat gains should be minimal. As for pricing, if indeed the Blackstar is similar to the China light then pricing is an issue, as you'll get a much bigger bang for your buck with the China light.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-New-30...853?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5aefa47fad
In this thread we are attempting to evaluate the usefulness of the China light, you might want to wait and see what happens here before you shell out for a Blackstar.
Firebrand
Active member
This is the reply I received from an electronics forum when asking the above questions, I am learning quickly.
What this tells me is that it is a straight swap. I should have parts today or tomorrow, soon the experiment begins.
Smellyproof
New member
Thank you Firebrand! Very good info there. Blackstar seemed legit when i read their description on eBay.. It sounded like it was the best LED money could buy. Damn, Im apparently not hard to fool! Luckily for me, there is guys like you who help out!
Im looking for a growlight to complement my big ass CFL without generating to much heat. My search continues..
